“Saints, Junes, you look fucking beautiful.”
Bethany clears her throat pointedly. “Language, Cassian.”
“Sorry, Mom. Junes, I was wrong. You look fuckingstunning.”
“That’s better,” Bethany says as she arranges makeup in the vanity’s drawer. “All right, don’t you two leave Jackie waiting. And make sure he stays for coffee! I’ve got a Yule present for him.”
I thank Bethany and Melissa, then follow Cassian down the hall. We only make it a short way, before he stops me and stares down at me, love shining in his dark eyes. He kisses my cheek as lightly as he can so as not to smudge my makeup. “You do look fucking stunning, Juniper. Sometimes I can’t believe that you’re mine, my amazing mate.”
It won’t be hard to show the world that I’m in love with Cassian, not when those words make my heart beat faster. Sometimes I can’t believe I’m his, either.
When we get to his father’s study, his friend Jack and a cameraman are already there getting set up. What Cassian failed to mention is that Jack is none other than Jack freaking Rudolph, one of the most talented and awarded journalists in the world. After graduating from St. Honora’s academy, he took the world by storm, investigating stories no other reporter was brave enough to touch. This is the alpha that’s brought down crooked cops, uncovered corporate malfeasance, and taken on some of the toughest organized criminal enterprises in the country.
He isn’t the type of journalist that covers high society gossip.
Cassian must pick up on my anxiousness, because he squeezes my hand to assure me, and I force a smile as the other alpha turns to face me.
He’s about as tall as Cassian, though not quite as broad. Like Cassian, his hair falls around his strong features in a rakish tousle. He beams when he takes me in, the smile lighting up his whole face.
“Juniper, a pleasure to meet you.”
I give him the demure smile I’ve been taught to use when meeting new alphas, but then I remember Bethany’s words. That’s not the omega I am anymore, and I don’t have to be her, that Rose heiress, in this interview.
“You must be Jack. Nice to meet you. I shouldn’t be surprised that my mate keeps such accomplished company. How do you and Cassian know each other?”
“Ah, you’re too kind, and you flatter me. As for how I know Cassian, we went to the same private school growing up. I was a few years ahead, but we were on the lacrosse team together. Cass was, as you would expect, the young star. Practically a prodigy. I was a benchwarmer who would rather have been spending my time in the library, but against the odds, we became fast friends, and have kept in touch since then. Pack Leclerc has always been incredibly kind to me, so when Cass called in a favor, I was more than happy to do it. I’ve done a few exclusive interviews with his fathers over the years—many of them in this study.”
“I’m sure those interviews were of far greater substance, but we appreciate you taking our story,” I tell him.
“You deserve to have someone tell it right, and that’s what I intend to do. Now, if you’re nervous or fumble through anything, don’t worry. We can do as many takes as we need to, and I’ll edit the piece myself. All right, let’s get a light and sound test on you both.”
He guides us over to the two chairs by the fireplace and works with his cameraman to adjust the boom mic and lighting.
When he’s finally satisfied, he takes a chair across from ours.
After a quick sound check, he smiles into the camera while introducing us as society’s latest love story. I barely hear the question he poses to my new mate as my pulse hammers in my ears, but what I do hear with perfect clarity is Cassian’s warm response.
“Is it cheesy to say that I knew from the moment I met her? She smiled, and that was it for me. I fell in love with her right there, on the boardwalk at Rose Beach.”
I don’t need my affinity to know his words are true or to feel the love behind them.
When Jack turns to me and asks when I fell for Cassian, my smile is genuine. “I was head over heels by the time we were walking along the beach as the sun set. It started as a silly, girly crush, but I think I knew there was something deeper between us, even then.”
“But circumstances separated you,” Jack says.
“Yes. I didn’t see him again until my debutante ball. He had been away at Fairhaven Academy for the past year, and we had both changed quite a bit. We’d grown up. My designation had revealed at that point, and that changed things for me.”
“It didn’t change anything for me. Juniper could have revealed as any designation, and I would have loved her still.”
“But your father had expectations for you. Is that correct?”
“Not only my father. I feel like everyone around me had this presupposition of the type of omega I should be, coming from a family like mine.”
Jack turns back to Cassian. “But that didn’t change the way you felt. When did you next see Juniper?”
“Unfortunately, I didn’t see her again until her first day at Fairhaven Academy. By some wondrous stroke of fate, I was chosen to be her peer advisor for the year. The moment I laid eyes on her, I fell in love with her all over again.”
“The two of you didn’t court, though. Why is that?”
