Page 31 of Mating Mia (The Alphas’ Perfect Prey #2)

eighteen

. . .

Mia

L ater that night, my alphas and I are back at the waterfall, visiting my parents.

This time we have a bonfire roaring between us while my parents are canoodling and might as well be sharing the same space.

I sit on a smooth log that my father dragged close to the flames with Ash nestled contentedly in my arms, drinking drowsily from his bottle.

My father’s arm is wrapped around my mother’s shoulders while she leans into him, her hand resting on his thigh. The way they touch each other constantly, instinctively, as if separation is physically painful, still amazes me.

“More potatoes?” my mother asks, already reaching for the foil-wrapped packet nestled in the coals.

“I’m stuffed,” I say with a smile. “The fish was perfect.”

My father beams with pride. “Caught them myself this morning. Nothing like fresh trout cooked over an open flame.”

From the corner of my eye, I see Kane, Finn, and Jace exchange looks laden with meaning.

They’ve been doing that all evening—communicating in that silent way they have, a language of subtle glances and micro-expressions I’m still learning to decipher.

I can feel that something’s up and they’re hiding it from me. If it’s anything to do with Orion, I want to know, but I don’t want to ruin the mood right now by bringing up the enemy of my family.

“Your cooking skills are way better than mine,” I tell my father, shifting Ash to my shoulder as he finishes his bottle. “I nearly burned down our kitchen yesterday trying to make salmon.”

“You’ll get there. I had to learn from scratch, too, after I ran away. Ezra was the one who taught me how to cook fish without turning it into charcoal,” my mom says, smiling.

The mention of my other father, one of the two who died protecting my mother the night Orion’s pack raided their home, doesn’t bring the heavy silence it once did. We’ve reached a point where memories of Ezra and Theo can be talked about without so much pain.

“What would Ezra think if he were here right now?” I mutter out loud, wondering about my other father.

“He would be so proud of you,” Liam says, his eyes finding mine across the flames. “Both of them would. Seeing you with your son, with your alphas... this is all we ever wanted for you.”

Emotion wells in my throat, too thick to swallow around. For so long, I believed I was unwanted, discarded by parents who couldn’t be bothered to keep me. The truth that I was loved still feels like a miracle I don’t quite deserve.

“I never thought I could be this happy,” I admit, gently patting Ash’s back as he drowsily rests his head on my shoulder. “Sometimes I’m afraid to believe it’s real, that I get to keep this.”

“It’s real,” Kane says, his deep voice carrying easily over the crackling fire. “And it’s yours, for as long as you want it.”

Ash lets out a tiny burp, then sighs contentedly against my neck.

His weight grows heavier as he surrenders to sleep, his breath evening out into the rhythm I’ve memorized over the past six months.

Every inch of him is familiar to me now—the curve of his cheek, the smell of his hair, the way his tiny fingers curl around mine when I feed him. My son. My miracle.

“I think someone’s ready for bed,” my mother observes, setting aside her plate and wiping her hands on a cloth.

I nod, carefully transferring my sleeping son to my mother’s waiting arms. Ash doesn’t stir, completely relaxed in his grandmother’s embrace. The sight of them together—my mother cradling my son with such tender care- makes my heart swell almost painfully in my chest.

“We’ll just be a few minutes,” I say, watching as my parents disappear toward the cave entrance, my father whispering something to Ash that makes my mother smile.

When I turn back to the fire, I realize I’m alone. Kane, Jace, and Finn have vanished without a sound, leaving me sitting by the flames with only empty logs for company. Confusion furrows my brow as I scan the clearing.

“Guys?” I call, rising to my feet. “Where did you go?”

I peer into the darkness beyond the bonfire’s glow. Something gleams on the ground just at the edge of the light—small, pale objects scattered in a line leading toward the waterfall.

Curious, I step closer. They’re rose petals, I realize with a start. White rose petals forming a path into the darkness. My heart begins to race, though I don’t yet understand why.

Something about this setup feels significant, momentous, and my heart begins to race faster.

I follow the trail, each step carrying me farther from the fire’s warmth and deeper into the velvet darkness of the forest night.

The petals are easier to see as my eyes adjust, their pale color catching what little moonlight filters through the trees.

They lead steadily toward the waterfall, the sound of rushing water growing louder with each step.

As I round the final bend in the path, I stop dead in my tracks, my breath catching in my throat.

The clearing before the waterfall has been transformed.

Dozens of lanterns hang from the surrounding trees, casting a golden glow over the scene.

The ground is carpeted with more rose petals, forming a circular area directly in front of the cascading water.

And standing in the center of this illuminated space are my three alphas, arranged in a semicircle, each of them wearing. .. oh my god.

They’re in tuxedos. Sort of.

Each wears black dress pants and a bow tie, with formal suspenders crossing over their bare chests. No shirts, just acres of muscled skin gleaming in the lantern light, the formal accessories somehow making their partial nudity even hotter.

“Holy shit,” I breathe, unable to tear my eyes away from the sight of them.

Kane in the center, his broad chest crisscrossed by black suspenders, his bow tie perfectly straight against his throat.

Finn to his right, his lean, powerful body highlighted rather than hidden by the formal accessories.

And Jace to the left, hair styled back from his face, with a serious expression.

“Mia,” Kane says, his voice carrying easily over the water’s roar. “Come here, little omega.”

My feet move without conscious command, drawing me toward them like a magnet to true north. I stop a few feet away, suddenly aware that I’m wearing leggings and one of Kane’s oversized flannels, my hair pulled into a messy bun. I feel underdressed and totally unprepared for whatever this moment is.

“What’s going on?” I ask, my voice small against the backdrop of falling water.

Kane steps forward, the others moving with him until all three surround me in a loose circle. Then, all at the same time, they sink to their knees, looking up at me with expressions of intense love that steal the breath from my lungs.

“Mia,” Kane begins, and my heart races faster.

Is he about to freaking propose? “From the moment Jace told us about finding you at the cafe, we knew you were ours. I didn’t even have to meet you yet to know.

Our omega being mistreated was unfathomable, and my biggest regret is not stopping it earlier. ”

“It’s okay,” I whisper, my hand over my heart as I try to control my racing heart, but I can’t. Even though I’m their marked omega and had their baby, this moment is still precious to me.

“No, it’s not okay, honey,” says Kane. “Forgive me. Forgive us all for not pulling you out of that situation sooner. You’ve changed our lives for the better and brought a lot of light into my pack.”

Tears spring to my eyes. This is happening. This is really happening.

“He’s right,” says Jace, his eyes shining as he stares into my face with all the love in the world. “You’ve shown me what it means to deeply love.”

“You are the heart of our pack,” Finn adds. “Mia, I love you. We all do.”

My lip trembles as tears roll down my face. Kane reaches into his pocket, withdrawing a small velvet box.

“But we want to be yours in every way,” Kane says, opening the box to reveal a ring that catches the light and throws it back in dazzling sparkles. “Mia, will you marry us? Even though we’ve already marked you in wolf traditions and custom, we would like to make it official.”

The ring looks stunning and I can’t take my eyes off it. It’s a large diamond surrounded by smaller stones set in a platinum band that twists like vines around the central gem. It’s stunning, perfect, absolutely too much, and exactly right all at once.

“Yes,” I whisper, then louder. “Yes, of course I will!”

Kane’s smile is blinding as he rises just enough to slip the ring onto my finger. It fits perfectly, as if it were made specifically for me. Perhaps it was. The weight of it on my finger feels wonderful, a tangible symbol of belonging, of being chosen as their wife.

“We love you,” Jace says, rising to wrap his arms around me from one side while Finn does the same from the other.

“More than words can express,” Finn adds, his lips brushing my temple in a rare public display of affection.

“I love you, too. All of you,” I say, sniffling and wiping my eyes.

Kane completes the circle, his strong arms encircling all of us, holding our little family together. “Forever,” he murmurs against my hair. “For all our lives.”

I’m crying, and it’s hard to believe that over a year ago, I was trapped in a horrible relationship with a man who hit me and put me down every day, thinking I would never find anyone after I broke up with him. Kane, Finn, and Jace more than saved my life, they saved my soul.

The completeness of my happiness is almost too much to bear. I look back and I see movement beside the tree line.

My parents stand hand in hand, watching our moment with smiles that match my own joy. My father has his arm around my mother’s waist, pride evident in every line of his face. My mother holds her free hand pressed to her heart, tears glistening on her cheeks in the lantern light.

“Did you know?” I call to them, laughing through my tears.

“Kane asked for my blessing,” my father confirms, his voice thick with emotion.

“Oh wow, you did that?” I ask Kane, smiling. He must have been really serious about me to ask my dad.

“Of course I did,” says Kane, kissing me on the lips. “What kind of alpha do you take me for?”

“Sorry, gosh,” I say, laughing as my mother walks over to me to see my ring.

“Let me see,” she says, reaching for my hand to examine the ring. “Oh, it’s beautiful. Perfect for you.”

I can’t stop smiling, can’t stop the tears that continue to fall.

“I never thought I’d have this,” I admit, looking around at my family- chosen and blood, all together in this magical place. “I never thought I’d find you, Mom and Dad. Thought I’d never find mates who love me. And most of all, having a son to raise now.”

“You deserve every bit of it,” my father says firmly, his arm tightening around my mother’s shoulders. “And more.”

But suddenly our beautiful moment is destroyed when the crack of a gunshot shatters into the night.

It echoes off the rock face behind the waterfall.

We all freeze for a split second before instinct takes over. Kane shoves me behind him, his body instantly a shield between me and the threat. Finn and Jace flank us, creating a protective triangle around me.

“Well, isn’t this touching?” a cold voice drawls from the shadows beyond our lantern light. “A family reunion. How convenient for me to find you all in one place.”

A figure steps into the circle of light, and my blood turns to ice in my veins. He’s tall and broad-shouldered, with silver-streaked dark hair and eyes like chips of blue ice.

Orion .

He’s not alone. Behind him, at least a dozen wolves emerge from the darkness, surrounding our small group in a loose circle. But it’s who Orion holds that makes my heart stop entirely.

My mother was somehow torn from my father’s side in the chaos following the gunshot. Orion’s arm is locked around her throat, a wicked-looking knife pressed against her jugular.

“Sarah,” Orion says, his voice almost gentle as he speaks my mother’s name. “Still as beautiful as the day you ran from me. Did you really think I wouldn’t find you eventually?”