Chapter Ten

mid-November

 

It was time.

The farewell party had started something that couldn’t be undone. Jude had accepted him. Gale had accepted Jude. The mate bond had sealed during a night of traded blow jobs and finger-fucking Jude into incoherence.

Now, they would take it to the next level.

Keon brushed at the black T-shirt Gale had chosen for the occasion. He’d dressed casual, but smart, in black jeans and a black T-shirt. “Does he have any clue what’s about to happen?”

“None.” He’d done his best to keep the secret from Jude. “I told him you’d asked me to escort you to the podium because of a speech for Weston. He thinks I’m acting as temporary Beta, while Milo’s there as your mate.”

The last few weeks after returning home had been chaotic, reaffirming, life changing. Keon as an Alpha was everything he’d never thought to experience in his lifetime, everything he’d wanted for Yosi as he grew from a boy into a damned fine man.

It was hard to think of him as a mated man. Knowing he had his happy ending with Callum, mated and living together, their mating secured by Keon’s laws, was beyond words.

As much as he loved his brother, today was his day. It wasn’t all about him but it was the culmination of weeks of planning, something he’d had Keon’s help plotting for the last twenty-four hours.

Gale had given Jude the time he needed to get used to the idea of their bond after returning home. Feeling the bond and accepting it, realising what they had, realising Gale wouldn’t feel or act any different after returning to the pack, to Vihaan. He’d given Jude time to get used to being a spectacle.

He understood why Jude had resisted in Dnara, scared their bond was nothing more than lust and the excitement of the mission. Afraid Gale had experimented or acted freely in Dnara with no one to watch over him, to judge or criticise, with no one to see or know what they’d shared. Although he wanted to come home and mate Jude instantly, Gale had given it time.

They’d been discreet and hadn’t made a show of their attraction, but he hadn’t behaved any differently to how he’d been in Dnara.

Gale had faced his parents, sparking an argument with Jude, where the clash of volatile tempers had them snapping and pushing. In the end, Jude confessed he’d been scared Gale would regret their bond, and the rift it created with Gale’s parents. Considering the love and concern his anger bloomed from, it was easy to forgive. After what they’d done to Yosi, Gale didn’t much care for his parents’ opinions anyway.

Returning home to discover Yosi had mated Callum settled Gale’s mind about the next step. Yosi was safe, meaning it was time to live his life and be free.

Which meant giving Vihaan the royal Fuck You! he’d been dying to give it for years.

*

An hour later, Gale stood on the steps of the podium, the pack gathered for Keon’s announcement. Jude lurked in the crowd beside Weston and Janet. They’d grown close during their mission, enough to know Janet would mate the Vihaan guy from the fraternity once his course was done at the end of the year. Isaac had begun keeping a journal of raps and was learning dance moves, sharing what he’d learned with his friends.

On the podium, Keon made his speech, allowing the model, Leo, to step in and propose in the human style to Weston. Their Beta positively glowed. While he could have a room full of people drooling just by walking in, Leo only had eyes for Weston. While they kissed and celebrated their decision to mate within the fortnight, Keon cleared his throat.

Time to put his words into action.

While Keon was distracted—checking on Milo and his Beta and quieting the crowd—Gale ascended the steps and took his place at the centre of the podium, as agreed. As people stopped congratulating Leo and Weston, the sight of a warrior brought a hush over the pack.

“One last matter,” Gale said, catching Jude frowning in the crowd, mouthing What the fuck? Aware no one but the Alpha was meant to speak unless invited to, he’d cut in, as he’d agreed with Keon during their plotting.

Gale sent Jude a wink to promise it was safe. “The Meskli will be visiting primarily to deal with the situation Vega caused. Secondly, to mate Leo and Weston. Most important to the pack, Alpha Farley will be mating Alpha Keon to Beta Milo.”

He offered Milo a teasing wink, acknowledging the unofficial title, trying not to think about the crazy shit of recent days. “While I’ll be celebrating with you, the Meskli will perform one more task,” Gale continued, his eyes faultlessly falling to Jude’s and holding his gaze. “He’ll be mating me to my true mate.”

Without stopping to think, to consider the consequences, to notice the staring, Gale walked to the edge of the podium and jumped off. His step didn’t falter. People moved away, stepping aside with confused looks, leaving an unobstructed path to Jude.

As much as he’d agonised over the wording and positioning of every step, this part had taken no thought. He didn’t worry or second-guess because this was pure, real, and honest.

The second he was close to Jude, scent flaring rich and strong as the mate bond slipped fear into Gale’s veins, he knew what he wanted. Cupping Jude’s head, he kissed him, claiming him, warning everyone Jude was his.

Jude responded, arms around Gale’s neck. As his hands slid over Jude’s waist and back, Yosi gave a whooping cheer, copied hesitantly by the pack, in celebration of their mating.

Janet started a howling call, as she had at the party, with Isaac adding his voice.

Gale let it wash over him, focused on the taste of tears mingled with Jude’s kisses. Somewhere in the background, Keon called the meeting to a close, Isaac laughing as he explained the mock m’weko call to Yosi and Callum, the congratulations as various hands grazed his arm in celebration.

It didn’t matter.

He lifted Jude off his feet and was about to carry him home when Keon called out, “Let’s give them privacy,” and laughter followed.

Gale broke the kiss to breathe. “Is this real enough, baby?” he asked, making sure he understood why he’d waited. Why he’d let Jude sleep in his bed, night after night but never mentioned the mating. He’d wanted it to be special.

Nodding, Jude ignored the tears that spoke of how badly he’d wanted this, how long he’d waited, and how hopeless he’d thought it was. “Yeah. Real enough.”

He steadied Jude in his arms and kissed his tears away. “I needed you to know it wouldn’t be different.” He needed to know Gale had kept faith.

Jude kissed him, lingering long enough to get a response. “I believed in you all along. I was just scared. Every time I woke and didn’t feel you rejecting the bond, I wanted to cry.”

“I’ve waited my whole life to find my mate, and here you are.” Gale didn’t know how else to say it. Nothing Jude had been worried about had entered his mind until he spoke to Drew. Until he realised how scary it must have been to constantly be drawn in, to worry he’d be abandoned at any second. Rejected. “From today, it’s you and me. We fuck, we fight, we live, and we work…together.”

Jude nodded.

“If I see you sniffing around any other m’weko, I swear to the Mother I will rip his throat out,” he warned, fully prepared to display that Alpha-male stuff Drew kept harping on about.

Laughing, Jude kissed him. “You say the sexiest shit.” He shook his head and pressed another kiss to Gale’s lips. “Take me home. Mate me and fuck me, and let’s start living our new life.”

Yeah, that sounded like a great plan. A new life, together.

 

The End of Book 2.5

 

Next: Eliseo, in Lost in Dnara