Melvin’s voice was steady. “I do.”
The wind moved gently through the cottonwoods overhead. Leaves whispered against one another like quiet applause. Somewhere in the crowd Barnes sniffed loudly and Diaz elbowed her without looking.
The officiant smiled.
“Then by the authority entrusted to me, and by the promise you have made before those who love you, it is my honor to pronounce you married.”
Mac pulled Melvin closer before the last word left the man’s mouth.
The kiss was warm and unhurried. Not a celebration so much as a confirmation.
For a moment the quiet pulse beneath Mac’s ribs expanded again, brushing the clearing around them like the first breath of something newly alive.
Behind them the Alpha watched quietly, satisfied.
And in the rows of chairs beneath the trees, people who had fought beside them, bled beside them, and survived beside them felt it too.
Home.
By the time lanterns glowed between the cottonwoods, evening had settled over the meadow. Music drifted through the clearing while people lingered near long wooden tables covered with wine and plates of food.
Mac stood near the edge of the reception with a glass in his hand, watching it unfold.
Melvin was across the grass laughing with Diaz and Lucero while Marcus attempted to explain something complicated with his hands. Whatever it was, Diaz looked skeptical.
Mac smiled to himself.
A year ago none of this had felt possible.
Footsteps approached beside him.
Barnes.
She wore a deep green dress instead of her usual uniform. Her girlfriend stood beside her, fingers loosely laced with Barnes’s.
Barnes nodded toward the dance area. “I didn’t think Lucero could actually move like that.”
Mac followed her gaze. Lucero was trying to spin Diaz in a way that suggested neither of them had practiced beforehand.
“They survived Iraq,” Mac said. “A dance floor shouldn’t kill them.”
Barnes laughed.
Her girlfriend smiled at him. “Congratulations.”
“Thank you.”
Barnes lifted her glass slightly. “Hell of a place you picked.”
Mac looked out across the darkening hills. The property stretched beyond the lantern light into timber and open meadow, with the distant tree line marking the edge of the nature preserve.
“It felt right,” he said.
Barnes studied the view for a moment. “Yeah,” she said quietly. “It does.”
Across the clearing Reynolds was approaching. His tie was gone and his sleeves were rolled to the elbows.
“Sir,” Reynolds said automatically.
