“The first is the key to the lighthouse. Your key, that is, because…move in? That is from me because I can’t do another night away from you.”
She takes it out and turns it over. I watch carefully as she swallows several times.
“Yes.”
She says it so quietly that I almost think I imagine it.
“You will?” I shout.
“Yes!” She laughs. “I will. Today. Tonight. Forever.”
I lean across the space and kiss her. “You make my dreams come true,” I murmur before I sit back.
“The second part is this,” Mack says softly.
He pulls out his mother’s ring and holds it out to her.
“I contemplated giving it to you when we had our bonding ceremony, but today feels more like the start of our life together. This was my mother’s ring. She was a wonderful person, and I know she would have loved you. She wanted me to give it to the omega who won my heart,” Mack whispers and tears up.
I put a hand on his back, gently stroking in wide circles.
He slides the silver ring with its ocean blue sapphire onto her finger. It fits perfectly.
“I’m going to do right by you, Sofia. I’m going to be the best alpha. You will be happy, and you won’t regret this decision,” Mack says.
“Of course, I won’t.”
I notice the silence around us and twist in my chair, checking.
“What is it?” I say under my breath to Devon, noticing his distraction.
“Don’t know, but someone is causing a disturbance, and it’s heading this way.”
White draws my eye, and I look up and find Sully sitting on the railing, glaring at the commotion. The seagull is starting to really freak me out, not that I would admit it to anyone.
“Paul?” I call out. He turns, his face red and unhappy. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing. You just eat your cake. It’s nothing for you to worry about at all.”
What? The way he said that makes it sound like we should be extremely worried.
Mack stands up. “Perhaps I should go see.”
“No, if they needed you, they’d say,” Sofia says and takes another spoonful of cake. She moans, and all three of us forget the distractions for a second.
It doesn’t last long. Someone starts shouting. I hear Harry roar back.
Someone else shouts, someone I don’t know, and I hear the words, she cheated. What does that even mean? I stand up, too, and notice that the newly matched alphas from several tables have done the same. Alpha instinct is impossible to deny.
“You have to go!” I hear Lorelei say loudly.
There’s more conversation; a bigger mass of crowd is moving this way. I glance at Devon, who slowly gets to his feet, his eyes narrowed on whatever is coming.
Of the three of us, Devon is the more aggressive and stronger alpha, and I know he won’t tolerate a threat to her. None of us will, but Devon won’t even let it look at her.
Danger starts to growl.
Sofia’s spoon drops to the plate with a clang.
