I’m so over crying, but I can’t help it as I throw myself at him for a hug. His arms surround me in warmth as he holds me close.
“Thank you,” I mumble against his chest.
“I’d do anything for you, darlin’,” he promises, and I know he means it.
He hands me the urn, and we walk back to the house. I think about what Leon would have wanted me to do with these, but he was young, and we never talked about the possibility of himdying or what the aftermath would look like. I know immediately that my mom should have a piece of him. I also wonder if Shelby having a piece of him would help or hurt with what she’s going through.
For now, I’ll hold on to him, but I know I’ll figure out a way to keep Leon’s memory alive and honor his life in any way that I can.
“Do you want to stay home, or do you want to go to the party at the clubhouse?” Axel asks as I put the urn in a curio cabinet in the living room.
“What’s the party for?” I ask.
“Being alive and shit, I guess?” he shrugs, and I laugh.
“Is Cash going?” I ask.
“Nah, he still can’t drink, and he said it would be too loud.”
“We can go for a little while,” I offer.
I take another glance back at the urn, and I’m filled with so much love and tenderness. Having Leon’s ashes here, having some sort of closure to everything that happened, settles something in me. I take Axel’s hand, and we head over to the clubhouse.
“You know,husband. I think you’re gonna get lucky tonight,” I slur as I sit on Axel’s lap.
He throws his head back and laughs before plastering my neck and jaw with kisses. Tate and Cash both actively avoid touching each other’s bond marks, but Axel doesn’t seem to give a shit as he kisses every inch of me.
“You’re hoggin’ her,” Tate complains from the seat next to me.
I lean back, but there are far too many of those pretty pink drinks in my system. Axel holds my back, and Tate cradles the back of my head, steadying me as he presses a kiss against my lips.
“Which one of you is going to dance with me?” I ask.
Tate’s cheeks heat, and Axel laughs.
“You gonna complain about how I’m hoggin’ her now, asshole?”
“No,” Tate mutters, kissing me one more time before Axel pulls me up and tugs me to the dance floor.
Almost everyone is here, and the air feels so light and fun. I mean, I only have my birthday party to compare it to, and there’s still an undercurrent of stress, but nothing like it was before.
All the Omegas except the twins, Hannah and Maggie, are here. They seem the most resistant to accepting the life we are offering, but they chose to stay nonetheless.
Ellie is in the middle of the dance floor, eating up attention from a few of the guys, while Quinn and Mason sit in a corner together.
Shelby is noticeably absent and my heart sinks. The other beta girls are here, though. Cora is all over Maverick, and Kim is pouring drinks.
“Hey, no stress. Dance with your husband,” Axel encourages, pulling me out of my thoughts.
I smile up at him as he holds me through a slower song, and I press my cheek against his cut. We slowly sway to the music, and it hits me that this is all I ever wanted.
My home, my pack, and this family of a club.
It’s not perfect, but it’s mine.
I perk up when I see Shelby walk into the clubhouse. She seems shy as she walks through the space, heading for the bar. She doesn’t speak to me, so I let her be.
One day it won’t be so tense between us, but until then I’ll take it at her pace.
