“Thank you for wanting to be a part of this,” I tell him, resting my palm on my chest. “With everything you went through, you could have seen me as a trigger, as something that reminded you of everything you lost…”
“No, kid, I could have never seen you that way. You were the light, Vinna. You always have been, and you always will be the light that came from the darkness.”
I wipe at a tear that moves slowly down my cheek.
“Love you, dad.”
“Love you, Vinna.”
He pulls me in for another tight hug, and we stand there for a moment in the middle of dusk kissed trees, our love and gratitude radiating off both of us.
“Now…” he tells me as he pulls back, “let’s go dance until we’re sweaty and laugh until our cheeks hurt!”
37
We walk out of the trees to find people all gathered around in a massive circle. I’m not sure if one of my guys mastered fairy light or if there’s a supe here that wrangles lightning bugs for fun, but tiny lights are everywhere, illuminating the ever growing night. Beautiful pinks, reds and oranges streak across the sky as the sun dips lower and lower. The entire scene is breathtaking.
My dad leads me toward the gathered people, and slowly they part to let us through. I spot members of the Silas Pack and the elders. Knox’s family waves at me excitedly, and I return it as we move deeper and deeper through the gathered people. I spot Cyndol and Sabin’s family, and I give her a teasing look that saysI know you were in on this. She beams back at me, and I find myself once again wondering how long we’re going to be able to keep our training together secret from her family.
Cyndol gets more and more shredded every month, and I know it’s only a matter of time before someone asks why and how. I just hope by then they can all see her as more than some fragile caster female that needs to be coddled and caged. Cyndol is a warrior through and through.
My eyes land on Sorik. His blond hair is pulled back, and his face is lit up with happiness. I reach out the hand not holding my dad’s and pull Sorik out of the gathered people. I wrap my arm around his just like I did with my dad’s and let them both escort me to wherever it is we’re going. Sorik may not be my biological father, but his love and protection is one of the reasons I’m even here. He’s the most selfless being I’ve ever met and the best second father a girl could ever hope for.
He bumps his shoulder with mine, and his smile is beaming, and I mouthlove youto him as we continue to make our way through the crowd.
“No fucking way!” I declare when my gaze lands on Tok and Marn.
I stop mid step and stare at them, worried if I blink, somehow they’ll disappear. I step away from my dads and pull Tok and Marn into a tight hug.
“How are you here?” I ask, confused and elated.
“Suryn sends her best,” she tells me simply, and I shake my head, stunned. My Tok and Marn are standing right in front of me—in Solace of all places. The reality that Sentinels are getting closer every day to re-entering the world hits me, and I’m simultaneously ecstatic and fucking nervous. I step back from them, and Tok immediately wraps Vaughn up in a hug, and Marn tackles Sorik.
Just when I think my smile can’t get any wider, it does. I don’t even have words for how it makes me feel to see Tok and Marn treat my dads like the sons they never had but always wanted. Over the past six months, the four of them have developed such a beautiful relationship that it just makes me grin like a fucking loon whenever I’m in its presence. The hug fest and subsequent tears wrap up, and I’m once again on my dads’ arms, making my way to the center of the circle.
Mave and the sisters are somehow down here, and I look at them and then behind me, like somehow that’s going to reveal how the hell they got down here so fast. I shrug and let it go. I’m sure it’s the sisters’ sneaky magic at work. Aydin’s giant self is behind them, beaming at me like I’m all that’s precious and good in the world. Evrin seems to be vacillating between elation for me and amusement for Aydin’s over-the-top grin and leaking eyes. I chuckle and smile brightly at them both. Aydin wipes his eyes and then steps to the side.
Suddenly, there theyare. My breath hitches as I take them in. They’re in white also. Fitted, textured leather pants and a tunic-style linen shirt that comes down to their thighs. The hem of the shirt is asymmetrically longer on one side. A patterned leather vest tops it all off, buttons running from the top of their left shoulders to the bottom of the vest. There’s an interesting kurta feel to the look and yet also a hint of Renaissance.
They look incredible, standing shoulder to shoulder in a circle, emotion swimming in their eyes as I make my way closer. I’m overwhelmed with gratitude for these males and everything we’ve been through together. I love them so much and can’t even imagine a life or future without each of them in it.
The circle widens to let us through, and my dads place me in the very center of it all. I hug Sorik and then Vaughn and watch them leave to join the others all gathered around me. Bastien, Valen, Ryker, Knox, Sabin, Torrez, and Siah tighten their circle around me until their gorgeous and loving faces are all I see. I move in a slow spin as I look at each of my mates. Love and admiration war with so many other emotions that reinforce our connection and deep rooted bond, and I count my lucky fucking stars that they are mine.
“Vinna Aylin,” Bastien starts, and I spin until my eyes are locked on his hazel gaze. The extra green around his pupils sparkles with happiness, and I grin like a love sick fool at him.
“You are my life. I love you, and I cannot wait to spend the rest of my life with you and with my compeers. I vow to honor and protect you. To guide you and to be guided by you. I vow to keep our bond strong and to be there for not only you, but for each other too,” he tells me, gesturing to my other mates. “You are ours and we are yours. Nothing will change that until the day we both breathe our last breaths. I declare this bond unbreakable, and I will work to make it so.”
My eyes well up at his declaration, and I move so that I can kiss him. Valen’s voice ringing through the night stops me in my tracks though.
“Vinna Aylin, you are everything to me. I love you with everything that I am, and I know that love will still continue to grow as we tackle life together. I vow to honor and protect you. To guide you and to be guided by you. I vow to keep our bond strong and to be there for not only you, but for my compeers too. You, my love, are ours and we are yours. Nothing will change that until the day we both breathe our last breaths. I declare this bond unbreakable, and I will do everything in my power to make it so.”
Valen’s gaze is filled with fire, and it sears his vows into my soul. I stare back at him with the same intensity, making it clear that I feel exactly the same way.
“Vinna Aylin,” Ryker calls out. I turn to him, my heart already filled to bursting with love. “You are my Squeaks,” he announces, and a rumble of laughter moves through the crowd around us. I chuckle and shake my head.
Fuck, never going to get rid of that nickname now.
“You are strength and honor and all things right. I love you for all that you are and all that I am now because of you. I vow to honor and protect you. To guide you and to be guided by you. I vow to keep our bond strong and to be there for not only you, but for our family too. I vow to stand aside and let you claim who you were meant to be. And I vow to heal the hurts and make sure that we are always stronger because of them. You are ours and we are yours. Nothing will change that until the day we both breathe our last breaths. I declare this bond unbreakable, and I will always make it so.”
