Julien comes up behind me, one arm wrapping around my waist as he takes the note with his free hand. He skims it, then flips the paper over. Finding nothing else other than the vague warning, he makes a puzzled noise.
“Do you recognize the handwriting?” he asks.
“Nope. And I have no idea when it was put in my backpack either, so it could be referring to just about anything…”And isn’t that just my luck that on top of everything else? Now I have to figure out who in my rather small social circle might be just waiting to betray me somehow.
As if knowing exactly how quickly I’m descending into anxiety, Julien turns me around to face him, then tilts my chin up with one finger, forcing me to meet his eyes. “We’ll figure it out. For all we know, the note writer is the one we shouldn’t trust.”
“We?” I raise my brows.
“Of course,we.” Julien chuckles, then presses a kiss to my forehead. “You’re not alone anymore, Keir. You don’t have to do any of this on your own.”
“Somehow I think it’s still going to take me a while to get used to that,” I reply as I allow the tension to leak out of my body.
His lips brush across my forehead again. “And I’ll be here when you do.”
And he really means that. Because he’s mine and I’m his.
For maybe the first time, the fact that I found my actualfated matetruly registers. Sure, my heart got the idea, but my brain didn’t catch on until right this second. Just last night I was worried he might leave me because I’m so much trouble, but now it’s really sinking in thathe’s not going to leave me.
I’ll have to tell myself that about a million more times before I truly believe it on every level, but it’s definitely progress that I can admit to myself that he’s here to stay. After spending twenty-one years on the planet, most of them alone and four of them on the run…I actually have someone in my corner.
This is what Rachel meant when she said I’m Julien’s strongest ally. Because he’s mine too.
“Thanks,” I whisper, burying my face in his chest and wrapping my arms around his waist. “I know things are a little crazy right now, but—”
“It doesn’t matter,” says Julien. “You’re my mate. Whether things are crazy or perfectly calm, I’m not going anywhere.”
This time, he doesn’t bother with a gentle brush of lips over my forehead. Instead, he claims my mouth in a fierce kiss, his tongue sweeping past my lips to tangle with mine. I match his hunger, pressing as close to him as I can, practically devouring his mouth. He slowly pushes me backward, our lips never parting, until my shoulder blades hit the wall. His hands slide down my sides and cup my ass, then lift me so my legs can wrap around his waist.
My cock goes rigid and an answering hardness meets mine as Julien slowly thrusts his hips, creating an almost maddening friction that’s somehow both too much and too little. A keening, hungry noise breaks free from my chest and Julien lets out a groan. He deepens the kiss and snaps his hips forward, then slides a hand past my waistband. One finger trails down to—
A loud knock on the door startles us apart, the two of us red-faced and panting.
“What?” growls out Julien, still holding me up against the wall.
“Sorry to interrupt,” says Remy, a hint of amusement in the words. “But I thought you should know that you aren’t exactly alone right now.”
Julien sighs, leaning forward to rest his forehead against mine. “Who else is here besides Mom and Ben?”
“Well, me for starters,” replies Remy. “Dante and Brody are downstairs too.”
Julien slowly releases my legs. “Fine. We’ll be down in a minute.”
“Try not to get distracted again. I’ll pull Mom away from the kitchen and meet you and Keir in your office. We need to have a quick family meeting.”
Julien grumbles something, but my brain is stuck on a single word:family.
Rachel’s welcome and Remy’s easy acceptance of me are more things that hadn’t fully registered yet, but I actually have a family now. Evenwithoutadding Ben to the equation.
No matter what the problems going on in the pack are, Remy and Rachel are clearly on Team… Julier? Keilien? Andertisse? Yeah, I don’t think there’s a good combination of mine and Julien’s names, so I’ll just say Team Matisse. After all, Julien has claimed me as his mate even if I haven’t legally taken his name, and I have no emotional attachment to Anderson, anyway.
Julien gives me another quick kiss before we get dressed, and ten minutes later, the two of us make our way downstairs. My mate ushers me toward the office, then detours into the kitchen, where he grabs two cups of coffee, handing one of them to me as the two of us enter the office together.
Julien walks behind his desk, tugging me along with him. He sits in the chair, then pulls me down on his lap. Remy winks at me and my face heats. But I don’t move.
“So,” says Remy. “What’s the story with Keir’s dad?”
Julien and I share a look. I nod.
