Chapter 135

My mouth pops open in mock indignation as my sister fights her urge to smirk. “I have always been badass and cool, Juniper!” I protest, laughing.

“Ariel, believe me,” Juniper sighs, rolling her eyes but letting her smile run free. “You have been the opposite of badass and cool. You were like, a pink bubblegum fairy glitter princess –“

“And I still am,” I return, laughing. “Except now I can shoot a tin can off of a tree stump from half a mile away.”

“Ugh,” she groans. “Nevermind. Still not cool. Plus, now you’ve brought your mates home,” she murmurs, looking at Luca and then around to where Jackson is standing with our mom, clearly intuiting that he’s the other one. “Like this family needed more Alpha men around, all gigantic and eating everything in sight –“

“Not my Alphas,” I counter, grinning at her, my arm still around her shoulders. “I got them trained up real good.”

“So that’s the other one?” she says, raising her chin towards Jackson, her voice dubious.

“Yup,” I say, unable to keep the pride from my voice. That’s my man over there, standing awkwardly at my mom’s side with her arm around his waist as she happily laughs with Aunt Cora and Uncle Roger, introducing them to Daphne and Ben.

Juniper is quiet for a moment, her eyes flicking between Jackson and my mom. As we stand observing them, Jackson’s eyes move over to us like he can hear us thinking about him.

“Are you sure he’s your second mate?” Juniper asks, her voice low with doubt as her eyes focus on mom’s arm around Jackson’s waist. “Because right now, it kind of looks like he’s mom’s.”

I go absolutely still with shock, staring at my sister, before I burst into laughter.

“June!” I gasp through my laughter, and then I look back at where mom is leaning into Jackson’s side – being so nice to him, wanting him to feel comfortable in this big room full of people – but…yeah. Maybe looking a little too close to my mate to the eye of one who doesn’t understand how empathetic mom is as well as how incredibly awkward Jacks feels. I can’t help but laugh harder now that I’ve seen it.

“I mean, she’s all over him!” Juniper says, laughing with me, throwing out a hand towards them. Jackson frowns a little, not knowing what’s going on and clearly wanting to know.

“You’re so gross,” I groan, shoving my little sister playfully away from me before grabbing her hand and tugging her towards Jackson and mom. “She’s just being nice to him.”

“A little too nice, if you ask me,” June murmurs, letting herself be dragged along, moodily pretending she isn’t having as much fun as she is. “Don’t let dad see this – he’ll get all jealous, and then we’ll have a body to clean up. Which will be interesting, but messy.” I grin, ignoring her words. Because as much as she likes to pretend she’s a black sheep, Juniper is very much a part of this family, and she likes joking and teasing as much as the rest of us.

“Ugh, my two little girls!” mom says, dropping her hand from Jackson’s waist so that she can reach for Juniper and me when we come near. “I love seeing you two get along! It’s so rare, to have you not tearing each other to pieces!”

“Yeah, well, you’ve got about five more minutes of us being nice,” Junie sighs, letting mom fold her into a hug on one side. “So, enjoy it.”

“Welcome home, infant danger,” my uncle Roger says as Ben and Daphne step away, heading to the little bar in the corner for drinks. Roger lets out a booming laugh at his own joke as he wraps me into a hug. I squeak a little, laughing and leaning into him.

“Hey, uncle Rog,” I say, beaming up into his face.

“You’re in trouble, young lady,” he says, his face falling into mock-serious lines. I cock my head, curious. “You cost me a great deal of money.”

I burst out laughing, remembering suddenly the bet that the Captain placed on me at the beginning of the semester to come out tops in marksmanship – a bet he placed against Uncle Roger’s bet on someone else.

“What?” Cora asks, stepping closer and glaring between us. “What’s he talking about?”

“That’s what he gets,” I say, stepping away from my uncle and giving my aunt a kiss before moving subtly to Jackson’s side, intuiting that he’ll be more comfortable if I’m there. “For betting on Cadets.”

“Roger!” Cora gasps, swatting Roger on the chest. “You bet against your niece!?”

“Well, I didn’t know it was my niece!” he says, grinning and throwing his hands out. “I put my money on the one with the widest wingspan - I wasn’t going to bet on the one they called the Shrimp!”

“How much did you lose?” Cora gasps, ignoring his excuses.

“Baby,” Roger murmurs, stepping close and tucking a strand of Cora’s hair behind her ear. “What even is money, in the end, when we have such love between us, such beautiful children –“

“No, Roger Sinclair,” Cora snaps, stepping back and pointing a finger up into his face. “You are not getting out of it by seducing me – not this time -“

“Is it always like this?” Jackson murmurs, and I turn my head to grin up at him as Roger and Cora begin to bicker. He looks around the room, I think a little concerned about the number of people all talking at once, the pack of children screeching happily as they dash around the room, mostly following Jesse like the pied piper. My smile deepens, because even though Jackson is clearly one of the most powerful wolves in the nation at this moment, it’s so cute to see him freaked out by a welcome-home party.

“Yes,” June says on a deep and tragic sigh, drawing our attention to her. “It’s always like this. It’s horrible all the time.”

“Oh, my little drama queen,” my mom croons, stroking June’s face in a loving way that she knows is only going to bug Junie further, and which Juniper completely ignores.

But Jackson just nods slowly at June, like he completely understands. My sister holds his gaze for a moment, a little smile creeping onto her lips.

Juniper flicks her eyes to me. “I like this one,” she says, grinning a little, which makes me smile too. “He’s quiet. He gets me. You should keep this one, throw the loud one in the trash.”

She lifts her chin to where Luca is already surrounded by a group of our Alpha family and cousins, talking animatedly and showing off his boxing stance, clearly enjoying the attention.

Jackson just grins at Juniper as he wraps an arm around me and pulls me close to his side. I grin, deciding not to counter, pleased for Jackson and Juniper to each have found an ally in this family. They’ll need them, after all.

“Come come,” my mom chirps, happy and finally in her element now with her all of her children and her family gathered warm around her. She steps towards the bar in the corner, waving us to follow. “It’s a party, after all – let’s have some drinks and get things started.”

The little party goes on for hours, with a great deal of laughter, and drinking, and everyone saying hello. I let Rafe and Jesse take center stage, telling stories about the academy as Jesse’s three youngest siblings run around the room with some of the children of our other guests, chasing and playing with each other, their little shouts filling the air around the sound of our laughter and our stories.

As Rafe and Jesse talk I sit on my favorite ottoman at my dad’s feet, where I always sat as a little girl, a glass of wine in my hands. Daphne has settled on a pillow at my side. Dad puts out a hand, passively stroking my hair as the chatter carries through the room, everyone asking for more and more details about the story.

Mom settles into the corner of the couch, beaming as she watches Rafe – her favorite – tell the story of Academy life. There are significant gaps, of course, because while I’m sure my whole family knows where I’ve been for the past few months, we’re not telling all our friends yet. So, Rafe and Jesse riff a little, leaving out what they need to.

Luca, already comfortable, sits with Rafe and Jesse, adding in his own details and making everyone laugh with his wry quips. I watch him, impressed with the way he handles himself, the way that he adds to the story but still lets Rafe and Jesse take center stage.

But even as Rafe and Jesse talk, and Luca ingratiates himself with everyone else in the room, my eyes move inevitably to Jackson. He perches slightly on the back of the couch behind mom, a glass of whiskey in his hands, and he smiles and laughs with the rest of us as the story goes on. But when my eyes fix on him he immediately looks to me and passes a pulse of happiness down our bond, letting me know that he gets it – that he’s warm, and happy, and he understands now why I love my family so much, why it’s so important to me.

And I beam at him, truly glad – because it’s his family now too. And I want him to know that, and to feel it, and to love it as much as I do.

He simply nods, telling me that he’s on his way to it – even if he needs a little time to adjust. And then he takes a sip of his drink, and turns his attention back to the story, which is as much his story as the rest of ours.