Page 43 of Virtually Guarded

The morning passed slowly, but the mood was a ton lighter than it had been during the gathering. Even though there was plenty of chaos and noise, everyone who was here now had shown up to celebrate the Anax and Kyle. They were happy to be here. Friends. Allies. With Xavier on duty, I was kind of on my own, but the people I’d already met made a point of including me in conversations, and I genuinely felt like I belonged.

The wedding itself happened early that afternoon, outside on the back lawn. I’d only sporadically seen the Anax and Kyle together over the past several days, because the Anax was busy with the gathering and Kyle didn’t really have a role in that, but now, watching them together, their love was breathtaking. Their vows, tailored for the fact that humans who weren’t aware of werewolves were present, warmed my heart. And when they kissed, I couldn’t help the tears that welled up in my eyes. They were fated mates, like Xavier and me, but they were way more than that. I didn’t have words for what I sensed between them, but I wanted it. This was what Xavier and I might be eventually. Lovers. Partners. Forever.

If I could ever accept that forever existed.

Once the ceremony ended, the party began. Food. Music. People walking around chatting like old friends, which to be fair most of them were, but they even talked to me that way. Xavier was still on duty, but he walked over to where I was sitting and pulled me to my feet, and he kept my hand in his as he wandered through the yard. A few people glanced at us and smiled, and that warmed me.

Mine. Xavier was mine. Even if we weren’t declared or claimed or whatever we had to do, we belonged together. Belonged to each other.

“Dance with me,” he said softly as a slow song began to play.

“I don’t dance.” Most of the time, when music played, I clumsily moved my body in something resembling rhythm, but that wouldn’t work for a song like this. Slow, sensual, the kind of song lovers danced to.

We weren’t lovers. Yet. But I felt something for him that maybe was close to love. What the fuck did I know about it? Love wasn’t supposed to be something you felt for someone you’d just met, but then there was the whole “love at first sight” thing the romance novels babbled about. Maybe that wasn’t only a figment of the authors’ imaginations. Of course, in our case, being mates had something to do with it, but I wasn’t sure anymore that the mate bond was the only thing behind how I felt.

“Ren?” Xavier tugged my hand, pulling me closer to him. “Please dance with me. I have to stay on duty, but I can spare a couple of minutes for this. Everyone here is a friend and ally, and there’s no danger to the Anax.”

So we danced. Body to body, his arms over my shoulders, mine around his waist. Swaying slowly, not moving our feet, which was fine because I probably would have tripped over him. The music wrapped around us, or maybe that was our bond. Something pulled us together, embracing us the way we embraced each other.

This was where I was meant to be. Moving sort of to the music in Xavier’s arms on a bright green lawn under brilliant, hot sunlight, surrounded by people who accepted me if for no other reason than that the Anax accepted me, and they had to do what the Anax said.

That wasn’t the only cause of their acceptance, though. I saw it in the smiles people cast toward Xavier and me. Felt it in the friendly way they spoke after the song ended and Xavier and I resumed wandering the yard. Beside my mate, under his protection, I was as much a part of this group as anyone.

I didn’t know if it would last. I prayed it would.

Most of the wedding guests left that evening, including Quinn, who made a point of coming over to talk to me as he and Malachi were saying their goodbyes. “I’m glad I had a chance to meet you,” Quinn said. “Keep in touch, yeah? It’s good to have friends in this world, and I’d like for us to be friends.” He waved toward the house. “The werewolf world, but the actual world, too. Especially people who get that your life isn’t instantly better just because you find a safe place to land.”

“That’s for damn sure.” I studied him. Something about him was soothing but powerful at the same time, and I couldn’t begin to identify it. “I’m glad to meet you, too. You’re going to be part of that Virtual Haven thing, right?”

“Yeah, absolutely, as long as it doesn’t interfere with my coursework.” He grinned as I looked confused. “University. I was changed partway through my third year. I’m going back to finish undergrad, and then hopefully going on to veterinary school.”

“Wow.” That was something I’d never even considered. “They let you—us—do that?”

“I have an in with the Anax of Canada.” He nodded toward that Anax, who was talking to our Anax and Kyle. “Malachi and I aren’t part of a pack. The island that we live on is our territory, officially, and we have permission to travel freely into or through the territory of the neighboring pack because otherwise we’d never be able to leave home. Going anywhere else, though, requires jumping through some hoops, and that includes me going to university in Prince Edward Island. We live in Nova Scotia. So Silas is helping to make it happen.”

“Oh.” I vaguely recognized the names of a couple of the Canadian provinces and was kind of proud of myself for remembering that they were even called provinces. School hadn’t been something that really held my attention, and it had been a long time since anything other than survival had mattered to me.

“Boy, are you talking his ear off?” Malachi walked over to join us. “Ren, it was nice to meet you.”

“You too.” I stood up a little straighter. Malachi was very formal, and something about him made me want to be too. “Quinn wasn’t talking my ear off.” I touched both ears. “They’re still there.”

Both of them laughed. Quinn and I exchanged phone numbers, and Malachi led him away toward the airstrip. I stood there for a minute processing the concept of having a friend who wanted to stay in touch with me.

As darkness fell and more guests left, Xavier rested his hand on my shoulder. “Are you tired? Tomorrow we go back to the Anax’s other house. It won’t be hectic, but the Anax might want to get an early start.”

“Oh.” We would be leaving this place. I’d known that, but I was just getting used to being here. Now I would have to get used to a completely different house in a completely different area. A noisier one, from what Xavier had told me. Directly across a harbor from Boston itself. With planes taking off overhead constantly, because Logan Airport was right on the other side of the harbor.

“It’ll be all right, Ren,” Xavier said quietly. “You’re one of the Anax’s wolves now. He’ll do everything he can to make sure you’re settled. So will I.”

“Thanks.” I pressed my lips together. “It’s getting late.”

“It is.” He smiled down at me. “We can go upstairs. Assuming you want me to sleep in your room again tonight. I don’t have to.”

“I want you to,” I blurted before he completely finished speaking. “I’ll sleep better with you there.”

“Then let’s go.”

We said good night to the Anax and Kyle and everyone else who was there, and Xavier led me to my room. Which wouldn’t be my room after tonight. Maybe if I asked the Anax, he would let me stay here. A caretaker, sort of. I could keep sleeping in this little room that felt so safe to me.