Cassian drops a sweet kiss on Simon’s forehead and then one on mine. “Let’s get you somewhere safe, love. Where you can be with your pack.”
My pack.
Saints above, has any omega ever been so lucky?
CHAPTER26
Cassian punches a number into his phone and disappears to the head of the small jet as Ian pulls me onto his lap. A low purr reverberates through him, so deep, so overwrought that it’s practically a growl.
I curl into him, resting my head on his chest. He nuzzles me, seeking my scent, but Cassian’s sea salt and summer sunshine is layered over mine. “You’re happy?” he asks me again.
I nod against his chest. “I’m happy and… and I’m free.” I’m free to love the imperious alpha who holds me as though I could disappear like dissipating smoke. Only, I’m not truly free to love him, am I? We’ll still have to sneak around while I’m a student—and especially while I’mhisstudent. We have to be careful when we’re together on campus, can never be seen in any compromising positions, and we shouldn’t be seen together off campus, either. I can’t be with him the same way I can be with Cassian now. Not now, not yet. We’re at an impasse. I need everything I can learn at Fairhaven, and Fairhaven needs Ian as professorandprotector. I sigh and tilt my head up for a kiss, gratefully accepting the affection he gives me.
“This doesn’t change how I feel about you,” I murmur.
“Nor I you, my darling. I’m glad you’re safe now. I’m glad you’re free of Andrew Radcliffe.”
Cassian emerges from the front of the plane, pocketing his phone. He drops a soft kiss on my forehead as he passes me and Ian to drop on the couch beside Ian. “My mother extended an invitation to all of us to stay at our family estate. Junes, in light of our mating, I want to add another layer of security to our home. I’d feel better if we stayed with my family for a few days. Our estate is heavily warded, and we have private security on the premises around the clock. And my family is eager to meet you, of course. You and the rest of your pack.”
My pack.
The words send a wave of warmth rushing through me, and I nuzzle into Ian while nodding and shooting Cassian a small smile.
“We get to spend our first Yule all together?” Simon looks up at me, a sheen in his hazel eyes. “As a pack?”
“Yule’s already past,” I murmur.
Simon beams. “Not at the Leclerc house it sure isn’t.”
I glance up at Luca and reach for his hand. “Will you stay with us?”
“Anything for you, Juniper. Always.”
I lace my fingers with Ian’s. “Ian?”
My imperious alpha hesitates.
“My family will be discreet,” Cassian assures him. “They’ll understand how important you are to Juniper and will keep our confidence.”
Saints, I hate that we have to sneak around. That I can’t shout my love for my citrus-and-cedar alpha from every rooftop in the city of Fairhaven.
He nods. “I don’t think I could bear being parted from her after what happened to her. After what she just escaped.” He presses a kiss to the crown of my head, bundling me close. I know his instincts are screaming at him to protect me, to keep me close, but beneath those instincts is a wellspring of love so great it scares him.
The alpha who would fall on his own scribe if anything were to ever happen to me.
“I love you,” I murmur.
“My darling,” he breathes. “I love you more than you could ever know.”
* * *
I pullon the clean set of clothes Cassian was thoughtful enough to grab from the pack house as Simon and Luca gather up and fold my nesting materials. I step into my boots with a yawn and gratefully lean into Ian when he wraps an arm around me.
“Tired?”
“Unbelievably,” I say around another yawn.
“You did just have an intense heat,” Simon points out. “You’re always wiped out after your heat.”
