I shiver.
He hooks my strapless bra behind my back and spreads the gown out before me, helping me to step into it. Saints, but there have to be fifty buttons up the back. Cassian draws a touch down my spine, and I let out a soft whine as he does up the buttons. I watch him in my mirror, our eyes occasionally catching, his deep brown eyes flashing with desire. When he’s finally done up the last button, he sits me down in the chair before the vanity so I can put up my hair to show off his bite.
He watches me in the mirror, quiet as I work. As I’m pinning a loose curl back into the updo, I feel a wash of nerves through our bond. I turn to him. “You’re nervous. Why?”
“Thinking about tomorrow,” he admits. “Everything is about to change, and I don’t know if I’m ready for that. I’m worried I’ll be too busy to properly take care of you.”
“Oh, in that case, I know a beta I can steal. He’ll be all mine and oh, the things we’ll get up to without you…” I tease.
Cassian lets out a growl and closes the few steps between us to playfully nip at his bite. Desire floods through me and I perfume again. “That won’t be happening,” he promises.
I laugh and blow him a kiss in the mirror before pinning up another curl. “What else? You’re worried about more than just that.”
“I want to do my family proud. They believe in me so much, and I don’t want to let them down.”
I turn in my seat. “Oh, Cass. You could never. They believe in you—Ibelieve in you—for a reason. “You’re smart, hardworking. Determined. I know you’re going to succeed. You’re going to be brilliant. And if there’s anything I can do to help you, I’m yours. I’ll do whatever you need.”
He stoops to kiss me. “You aremine, my perfect mate.”
We’requiet on the long ride to Saint Galen’s. While it’s about forty-five minutes from Fairhaven by ferry and train, the drive is longer. It gives me time to think—too much time. Time to reflect on the last ball we attended. At least we won’t be walking into a pit of vipers this time, everyone ready to sink their teeth into us. Kel and my father won’t be there to torment me. But my father, he’s done so much more than torment me. He’s killing omegas as he chases results to his devilish experiments. And he’s succeeding.
Cass and Ian both set a hand on my knee, feeling my small spike of fear through our bonds.
But that fear is calmed, replaced by excitement, when westep from the SUV in front of the Great Hall, where the ball will be held. Sweeping steps greet us, drawing us up into an elegant ballroom, with classic architecture and beautiful marble floors. If the rest of the campus is this beautiful, I can’t wait for Cassian to show it to me.
We glide across the smooth marble, easily finding Pack Leclerc waiting for us. Bethany hugs each one of us, while Cassian’s fathers exchange handshakes with my men. Pride shines from Gerard’s face as he takes in Cassian, here at his own alma mater.
By the time most of the packs have arrived, I estimate that about fifty new students are starting at the consortium tomorrow. These new students will study law, medicine, business or education, via hands-on learning in small classes, something my mate is greatly looking forward to. While Saint Galen’s isn’t the only advanced degree consortium in this part of the world, it’s easily the best.
“I can’t believe I’m finally here,” Cassian says in my ear.
I offer him a dazzling smile. “I can. You deserve this, Cass.”
He scans the ballroom and frowns. “Due to Council decrees, the consortium didn’t enroll any new omega students this year.”
Neither has Fairhaven. Alyssa and I were the last new omegas at the academy, and we’re juniors now.
“We’re fighting that decree,” Gerard says. “Tooth and nail, but the Soldiers haven’t hesitated to pass legislation at scribe point.”
“Enough of that talk,” Bethany chimes in. “Once again, this is meant to be a celebration. Now, mates, one of you ask me to dance. Cassian got my first dance at the Lunar Ball, and I believe Juniper deserves that dance tonight, as radiant as she is.”
I may be radiant, but so is my pack. Both Simon andCassian have donned tuxes for the night, joining Ian, while Luca wears his black-on-black suit once more. We lookgood.
Cass offers me his hand. “About that dance, love?”
I let him lead me out onto the dance floor where many other students are dancing with their omegas and packs. Like mine, there’s more than one pack with a beta mated into it, and it makes me glad to see it. Simon will definitely have to be my next dance.
Cassian and I sway together to the light music of a string quartet. We don’t dance to show off, though we could, we dance to hold each other in motion. He cradles me to his body, leading me through small steps that never part us. It’s a dream, this first real dance we’ve had since being mated. Sure, he’s swooped me up into dances in the kitchen, but to be here, on the advent of such a momentous occasion, is truly special.
“You do look radiant tonight, Junes,” Cassian says, parting us only to give me a small spin, before drawing me right back to his hard body. “My beautiful mate.”
I stroke the lapel of his fine wool tux. “You clean up well, yourself,” I tease. In truth, I wish I had more opportunities to see my pack in their finery. They’re handsome and filled with sinful swagger, and everything I never knew I wanted. “Thank you for this, Cass. For being my mate. You gave me this life.”
A life I was always destined for as a high society omega. Before Andrew Radcliffe, my father had intended to bid out four mating contracts for me, filling them with powerful alphas—CEO’s sons, society scions. I would have had a life of balls and parties, and I would have hated every minute of it. Hated a lifetime of hiding behind a demure mask for fear of being punished by my pack behind closed doors. I would have been an entirely different woman, downtrodden and meek.
But now I have it all. A wonderful pack, a beautiful pack house, parties, balls… It’s a life I could never have even dreamed of.
And it’s all thanks to the alpha swaying me in his arms.
