“She’s worth more than you think,” he said, his voice low, intense. “I’m not gonna screw it up.”
“Never thought you would,” I replied, and this time there was no bite in my words.
“She’s stickin’ with us,” Menace murmured, almost to himself. His words told me he believed it, that maybe I should, too.
I sat in the silence, knowing we didn’t have much of it left. “We need to get a handle on all this. Before it’s too late.”
“Gonna find out a lot in two weeks.” He stood and moved toward the door. “Let’s hope we’re ready.”
“Goddamn, let’s hope.” I felt a strange mix of relief and tension as I stood and followed him.
I stepped out of the quiet church meeting, leaving behind my whirling thoughts and a crisp agenda for the pack’s survival. Returning to the backyard barbecue was like stepping into a Texas Indian summer, full of life and heat and something wild I’d tried to keep at bay. Juliet’s laugh caught on the breeze before I saw her, burning away the doubts I’d fought with all week. This woman who chose me and our mad world—my reckless girl who’d seen too many dangers at her heels. I found her near the crowd, under strings of twinkling lights. She looked up at me, radiant, and all my defenses cracked like the sound of the first shot in a war. Her smallwave and adorable smile shattered me. Pack women and children surrounded her, and she lovingly gave them her time.
She’d handled becoming a part of this world with amazing resilience. I’d explained to her that the supernatural world was vast well beyond shifters. Mapping out that the governing structure of the Supreme Council of Supernaturals consisted of representatives of Shifter Kings, Vampire Kings, Witch Queens, and even a Demon King and Angel King, almost knocked her for a loop. But yet again, she took it all in stride. I hadn’t yet informed her that her best friend from college was a vampire princess, but I couldn’t keep that from her much longer. I had a feeling Lucia would be on our doorstep any day now.
The aroma of grilled meat mingled with smoke floated under the deepening sky. I let it wash over me, trying to shove down the sense of doom that had followed me since we’d brought Juliet home from Costa Rica. She was my world, the wild heart I couldn’t live without, but trouble stuck to Iron Valor like glue. I knew better than to underestimate what we were dealing with. My jaw clenched as I moved across the lawn.
Everywhere I looked, pack members were wrapped up in the freedom we’d fought to protect. Groups stood in clusters with food and drinks, smiling and alive under the fall sun. Someone let out a whoop as a beer spilled, and I caught myself almost smiling at the sound. My gaze landed on Juliet again. Her golden hair fell like a halo around her shoulders in the light. She was the same storm that hit me the day we met at that bus station, and my soul burned to keep her even while I braced for the next gust of wind. I made my way over, determined to hold her like I could keep the whole damn world at bay.
Her eyes lifted as I neared, that untamed spirit blazing from her in waves.
“Was starting to think you weren’t gonna make it back to the party,” she said, hands resting on her hips like she’d been waiting just for me.
“Wouldn’t miss it,” I replied. I pulled her into me, drowning in the rightness of it. Her laugh spilled through the night again, and I drank it in like a man starved.
We swayed slow to the muted music, her warmth flooding through me. I held her like a lifeline, and she molded against me, fierce and mine in a way that still shocked me breathless. Her scent of ginger and sugar wrapped around me, drowning out everything else.
I knew there was a storm coming, but life was like that. We’d face the storms as they came, and we’d stand strong. “Juliet,” I said, and there was a warning in it I didn’t want to put there.
She looked up at me, all defiance and certainty. “What is it, Bronc? You've got that dark look in your eyes.”
My words stuck in my throat. Couldn’t bring myself to break her confidence. Not yet. “You an’ me, we got this. No matter what’s coming, yeah?”
Her laugh stopped short in her throat, and her eyes grew serious, deep like the Indian summer sky. She felt the weight of it as much as I did.
“What are you so afraid of?” she asked, words quiet between us, cutting through all the noise.
“Just thinking about what’s ahead. I got a feeling trouble is coming, and I just want you to be on your toes.”
“I’ll be ready.”
I could feel the confidence of her words flow through our bond. She was trying to convince us both. Her fire had me wanting to believe it, too. My hand moved to her back, pulling her closer, like holding her tight enough would erase all the other threats from our world.
Our bodies kept time beneath the twinkling lights, moving as one, pushing the worst possibilities to the edges of my mind. Her confidence poured into me, and I let myself get lost in it for one fleeting moment. My gaze drifted over her shoulder, finding the rest of the pack caught up in their celebration.
Menace and Sawyer danced close together, lost in their own orbit. They looked young and damn near happy, and it gave me a sliver of hope that this could work. Maybe we could all make it through without anyone getting hurt. Sawyer’s past haunted her the same way Juliet’s had, and I wondered if Menace would hold on as tight when the rest of it caught up with them. I hoped she wasn’t bringing more trouble to our doorstep.
Juliet caught my glance, followed it over to the two of them. “They look happy,” she said, resting her head against my chest.
“For now. Wonder how long it’ll last.”
“You’re awfully pessimistic tonight, Bronc.” Her voice was teasing, but I could feel the worry behind it. She knew how these things could go. She’d lived it firsthand.
“They gonna be a pair?” I asked. My lips brushed her ear, voice low and rough.
“They are if Menace has anything to say about it.” She gave a soft laugh, and I could feel her breath against my neck, could feel the certainty that she had in them.
“You like her?” I asked, knowing how much hung on that answer.
