She laughed, reaching over to take his hand where it rested on the gear shift. "I'm just... grateful. For all of this. For you."
He lifted her hand to his mouth and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. "I'm the grateful one. You could have run. Most humans would have."
"Most humans don't have a grumpy wolf following them around for months, learning their coffee order and giving them succulent plant care advice."
"Fred needed better light. I was being helpful."
"You were being a stalker."
"Watched," he corrected, but she could feel his amusement through the bond. "I watched you."
They pulled up to Adam and Faye's new cabin, which was lit up like a beacon in the darkness. Cars and trucks lined the long driveway, and through the windows, Jules could see people moving around inside. The door burst open before they'd even made it up the porch steps, and Faye launched herself at Jules in a hug that nearly knocked them both into a snowbank.
"You're here! Finally! I was starting to think Lex had kidnapped you again."
"It was one time," Lex muttered. "And technically, you're the one who started it when you kidnapped her and left her in my cabin."
"Best decision I ever made." Faye grabbed Jules's arm and dragged her inside, leaving Lex to follow with the cookies.
The cabin was warm and loud and packed with people. Jules recognized most of them now. Addison waved from across the room where she stood with Riko, both of them wearing matching ugly Christmas sweaters that Jules suspected Faye had forced on them.
"Drinks are in the kitchen, food's everywhere, and there's a pool going on whether Lex will actually smile tonight," Faye informed her. "I've got twenty bucks on yes, so don't let me down."
"I'll do my best."
The evening passed in a blur of laughter and food and warmth. Jules found herself welcomed into conversations, pulled onto the couch between Faye and Addison, handed drinks and plates of food by pack members whose names she was still learning. Lex stayed close, never more than an arm's reach away, his presence a steady anchor.
At some point, someone produced a guitar, and the pack started singing badly, enthusiastically, and with far too many verses that Jules was pretty sure they were making up on the spot. She laughed until her sides hurt, leaning against Lex's chest while he rumbled along to songs she'd never heard before.
"Having fun?" he murmured against her ear.
"The best." She tilted her head back to look at him. "Thank you for this."
"For what?"
"For everything. For not giving up on me. For letting me in." She laid her palm against the side of his face. "For choosing me."
His eyes softened, that hard amber going warm and liquid. "I didn't choose you, Jules. You were always mine. I just finally stopped being too scared to do something about it."
She kissed him hard, right there in the middle of the party, not caring who saw. Someone wolf-whistled. Someone else yelled "Get a room!" But Lex just smiled against her mouth and kissed her deeper.
Later, when the party had wound down and they'd said their goodbyes, Lex drove them back to his cabin. Their cabin now, really. Jules had officially moved in two weeks ago, her few salvageable belongings merged with his sparse furnishings. It still felt new, this life they were building together. But it also felt right. She wasn't sure what she was going to do with her parent's house yet, but she figured she'd worry about that after the holidays.
"I have something for you," Lex said as they walked through the door.
"Christmas isn't until tomorrow."
"It's after midnight. Close enough."
He disappeared into the bedroom and returned with a small wrapped box. Jules took it, suddenly nervous, and carefully peeled back the paper.
Inside was a necklace. A delicate silver chain with a small pendant—a wolf and a sun, intertwined.
"Lex..." Her throat tightened.
"The sun is you," he said, as if she couldn't figure that out. "And the wolf is?—"
"You." She looked up at him, eyes burning. "It's beautiful."
