Page 26

Summer POV

“Summer, will you please help me with dessert?” my mom asked from across the table.

“Of course,” I said, squeezing Grayson’s hand before I stood.

Gabriel and I were engrossed in listing all the food they wanted to try to grill.

“What about watermelon?” Grayson suggested, his eyes shining with excitement.

“Good idea, buddy. I heard watermelon is weirdly good when it’s grilled,” Gabriel said, smiling down at our son.

“There’s nothing weird about watermelon!” Grayson said and giggled as Gabriel tried to tickle him.

My mom, Grayson, Gabriel, and I were just finishing dinner out on the back patio. Gabriel had grilled steaks—he had explained the process to Grayson, even letting him flip one. I made Caesar salad, baked potatoes, and roasted asparagus. My mom had spent hours making a blueberry pie from scratch.

We were celebrating.

After the pack meeting earlier this afternoon, where Gabriel had revealed the truth about the Alpha King, my mom, Gabriel, and I met up with Aunt Mia and Grayson, who were at the compound hospital visiting my dad. In the middle of the visit, Healer Nia came into the room to share my father’s latest CT scans.

His most recent test has shown increased brain activity. My dad wasn’t completely out of the woods yet, but it was a good sign. Healer Nia was hopeful that my dad might wake up. Aunt Mia was going to spend the night at the hospital to sit with her brother, and the rest of us came back to Gabriel’s house for a celebratory dinner.

As I stood up from the table to follow after my mom, I admired the beautiful pink and orange sunset. But when I looked down to see the colorful clouds reflecting off the surface of the pool, I inwardly cringed at an image in my mind of Grayson struggling to stay afloat in the water. I tried not to let the fear show on my face.

Even though I was terrified of my son ever swimming again, that wasn’t realistic. I wanted him to become a better swimmer, so if something like that ever happened again, he would be able to swim to the edge. After the pack meeting, Gabriel and I had discussed putting him into swimming lessons when he was ready to get back in the water.

I followed my mom into Gabriel’s kitchen, and the delicious scent of fresh blueberry pie hit me.

“It’s almost finished cooling,” my mom said, gesturing to her dessert on the stove.

“It looks delicious, Mom.”

She crossed her arms and leaned against the counter. There were dark circles under her eyes, and when she looked at me, her gaze was full of guilt.

“Honey, I’m so sorry.” Her voice broke as she whispered the apology.

My heart began to frantically pound.

“F-for what? Why are you apologizing? What happened?”

“It was my idea that you go on a walk that morning. It’s my fault that you were kidnapped,” my mom said, a tear rolling down her cheek.

“Oh, momma, no.” I stepped closer and drew her into a hug, inhaling her familiar smell of flour and a hint of the floral perfume she wore. “That wasn’t your fault. Axel was determined to use me against Gabriel. He would have found me eventually.”

I could feel my mom stiffen in my embrace.

“If Gabriel hadn’t killed him already, I’d track him down and kill him myself,” she said in a low voice as she stepped slightly away.

“He’s gone, Mom. I watched it happen myself.”

I traced the scar Axel’s knife had made across my neck. Since he hadn’t been in his wolf form when he gave it to me, the pink line would eventually fade.

But I was more afraid of the mental scars Axel and the Rogue wolf who attacked me when I was sixteen had given me. Before I left the hospital, I’d brought this up to Healer Aja. She recommended a therapist she knew from the Pryegate Kingdom who specialized in healing trauma. I had a video call scheduled with her in a week just to see if she might be the right fit for me.

“Do you think Aunt Mia stayed back at the hospital because she’s sad that you, Grayson, and I are moving back to Brindle Creek?” I asked as my mom carefully cut her pie.

Earlier today—right before we heard the good news about my dad—my mom and I talked to my Aunt Mia in front of the compound’s hospital. Gabriel took Grayson for a walk to the coffee shop to buy him a donut. My mom and I told Aunt Mia that Gabriel had made it safe for Grayson and me to move back to Brindle Creek. Aunt Mia had been ecstatic, but I could see the sadness in her eyes when she thought no one was looking.

“I do,” my mom said and sighed.

“Do you think she would ever consider leaving the farm to live with us?”

My mom shook her head with a sad smile.

“No, honey, I’m sorry. I don’t think she would,” she said, sliding a piece of pie onto a plate. “She loves being on the farm. It makes her feel close to Edward. I’m sure she will visit us and we will visit her.”

“You’re right. I’m going to miss her so much, though. And I know that Grayson will, too.”

“He will,” my mom agreed. “But it will be good for him to live close to his father and grandfather. And he will be able to get to know Gabriel’s parents.”

I smiled when I remembered Gabriel's parents meeting Grayson for the first time yesterday. It was a quick meeting at Gabriel's house. Gabriel and I didn't want to overwhelm our son after everything that had happened over the last few days.

Gabriel's mother had introduced herself with unshed tears in her eyes, and when Grayson gave her a hug, I saw them falling gently down her face. Then, Gabriel's father hugged Grayson close and told him how excited he was to have him as a grandson.

I was glad that Grayson had two more people in his life who loved him.

My mom handed me two plates to carry. One of them held a huge piece of pie.

“Who’s this one for? Gabriel? It’s massive.” I asked.

My mom smirked.

“That’s for my grandson. He’s a growing boy,” she said and winked.

I laughed, grateful for the people in Grayson’s life who loved him as much as his father and I did.

***

“And then there was a big dragon who came out of nowhere. He opened up his mouth, and a burst of flames shot out. But the wizard was ready for him. He cast a spell that turned the fire into ice and was able to save the entire village from the vampire, goblin, and even a dragon,” Gabriel said.

“Woah! George is such a cool wizard!” Grayson said. “I want to be just like him when I grow up.”

I smiled from Grayson’s doorway. Gabriel had offered to get our son ready for bed. I used the rare alone time to take a long bath and then dressed in my most comfortable pair of matching pale pink pajamas. When I checked in on the boys, I’d caught the tail end of Gabriel’s bedtime story about a wizard named George.

“All right, buddy. It’s bedtime,” Gabriel said and leaned down to kiss the top of his head. “Goodnight, Goose.” He patted the top of the dog’s head.

Goose thumped his tail from his spot on the end of Grayson’s bed.

“Fine, but promise to tell me another story about George tomorrow night?” Grayson said as I walked into his room and kissed his cheek.

“I promise,” Gabriel said.

When Gabriel shut the door, there was a panicked look on his face.

“What’s wrong?” I asked as we walked down the hallway.

“I’m awful at coming up with stories.” Gabriel ran a hand through his tawny hair. “The story about George the wizard is something my dad used to tell me when I was a kid. And my dad wasn’t really creative either. He just told me the same story over and over again.”

I giggled and bumped his shoulder with mine. My skin heated at the contact.

“So, you’ll tell him the same story tomorrow night, too. Or you’ll get books to read to him. It’s not really about the stories you tell him, but the time you spend with him,” I said.

We came to a stop near his office, and I leaned against the door.

He grinned and casually placed his hand above my head. He was close enough to touch.

My mouth became dry, and my eyes shot to his lips.

“When did you get so wise?” he murmured.

“I’ve always been wise,” I countered.

The sensual look he was giving me made my knees shake.

“You have,” he admitted.

Then, we leaned in at the same time…

But at the last second, Gabriel hesitated and leaned his forehead against mine.

“As much as I’m going to kick myself later for stopping this, we need to talk…about us,” he said, his voice thick with desire.

I bit my lip. I wanted to throw caution to the wind and allow myself to lose myself in him until I didn’t know my own name.

But he was right.

We walked into his office, and I stood beside his bookshelves. My legs were shaking for an entirely different reason than they were a moment ago.

Gabriel seemed nervous, too. He was pacing in front of me, his hands behind his back.

After a minute, he stopped and faced me. The serious look on his face made my stomach clench with anxiety.

“I am so incredibly sorry for keeping my father’s plan for me to marry Olivia a secret from you,” Gabriel said, his eyes burning with intensity. “That wasn’t right of me. The second I learned of my father’s plans, I should have confided in you, and we could have worked through the problem together. As a team. It was the same mistake I’d made when I broke our bond under the guise of protecting you.”

He took a deep breath and reached for my hand. His thumb traced circles over the back of my hand as he continued.

“From now on, I swear to you that I won’t keep any more secrets. I’ll tell you everything, and we can decide how to move forward. Together. If you just give me a chance to show you that you can trust me, I promise to be worthy of that trust.”

Gabriel held my other hand and stepped closer to me.

I looked up at him, my heart rate spiking.

“I love you, Summer Golding. You’re the brightest part of my life. You’re my sun. I want you to be my Mate, my Luna, my wife. Hell, I just want you to be mine,” Gabriel said and squeezed my hands. “I want to make a home with Grayson and you and introduce you back into the pack as my partner, as my Luna. I want to spend the rest of my life protecting you and Grayson and making sure that you guys have the best life possible.”

It took me a moment to process everything that he had just said.

When I didn’t immediately respond, Gabriel’s cheeks turned a cute shade of red.

“Of course, I know that you will need some time to trust me again, I just wanted you to know—“

I interrupted him by putting my right pointer finger against his lips.

“No,” I said.

His face fell.

“No…?”

“No more time,” I said and then grinned, using his hand in mine to pull him toward me until our chests were pressing against each other’s. “I want you now. All of it. I’ve been waiting my entire life to be with you, Gabriel. I don’t want to wait a minute longer. As long as you promise to never keep anything else from me and that this,” I gestured between us, “will be a partnership where we make decisions together,” I warned him.

“I promise, Summer. I swear it.”

“Then, I accept. I want to be your partner. Your Luna. Your wife. I want to be yours,” I said, and my heart filled with happiness.

“You're mine, just like I’m yours.”

We grinned at each and Gabriel pulled me into a warm hug. His hands slid through my hair. I lay my head on his shoulder.

When I pulled slightly away, I felt a tug in my chest, pulling me back toward him.

I put my hand over my heart and cocked my head

“Did you just feel that, too?” Gabriel asked. He had his hand over his chest like mine.

“Yeah, I wonder what that was about—“ I gasped as I looked at the small space between us.

The golden thread that had worked so hard to mend itself this past week flickered to life again.

No, it didn’t just flicker.

The golden thread remained, connecting our souls. It was invisible after a moment, but it was still there. I didn’t have to see it in order to sense that my heart and soul were connected to Gabriel’s.

Our mating bond was mended.

Gabriel and I’s gazes locked together. His green eyes were gleaming with joy, and his smile was wide and bright.

“The bond…” I trailed off and put a hand over his heart just for the simple desire of wanting to feel it beat.

“It’s back,” Gabriel said with awe in his tone. He lifted a slightly shaky hand and laid it over my heart, too.

For a moment, we stood in the middle of his room, feeling the other’s heart pound. Mine was beating for him, just like his was beating for me.

“I love you and Grayson more than anything, Summer,” he murmured with his eyes on mine, his hand covering my heart. With his other hand, he cupped my cheek and drew me closer to him.

Of their own accord, my eyes fluttered closed.

“You and our son are my whole entire world, baby,” Gabriel whispered. “There’s nothing that I wouldn’t do for you two.”

He was so close that his warm breath hit my cheek, and I shivered with pleasure.

“Thank you for trusting me with your heart again. I swear that you can trust me with it,” he said, just before he pressed a gentle kiss to my lips.

I savored the sweet kiss, and when he pulled slightly away, I grinned.

“I know I can,” I said and then kissed him again.