Page 53 of Brick
They left and when the door closed behind them, Jade’s eyes stung with tears. Her whole life, she hadn’t had anyone really care about her, not like she had experienced in Thorn Hollow with Brick and his family and pack. Not only had they fought for her with that dangerous male who’d come for her, but they’d stood up to an entire anti-shifter organization to protect her. She was humbled to the core by what she’d witnessed since she’d come to town, and how very blessed she was to be so cared for by so many people.
Brick sat next to her and held her close.
“I’m just…,” she said through the soft sobs that made her voice catch, “I’m just so happy to be part of your family and pack. You’ve made Thorn Hollow a home for me. I just realized that I never really felt at home anywhere before. I never felt like I was part of anything. But you make me feel like I belong, like I’m part of a real family now. And I feel so safe with you.”
Safe. Protected. Wanted.
All the things she’d ever craved in her life she finally had, because she’d escaped her old pack and taken a chance on a new life.
“You are safe, Jade. I swear on my life that I’ll keep you and our future pups safe. You’re the most important thing in my life. I don’t want to ever get that close to losing you again.”
“You’re the most important thing in my life too.”
She turned into him and closed her eyes.
Pushing everything that had happened to the back recesses of her mind, she focused on the present and her mate, and the future and the hope that it brought.
The weight of the past lingered, but here, in Brick’s arms, it didn’t feel so oppressive. He traced lazy patterns on her arm and she felt the tension slowly seep away.
“We’re in this together,” he said. “You and me, hell or high water.”
She tipped her head up to smile at him. “Together.”
And for the first time in her life, she knew she wasn’t alone and she never would be again, thanks to her wolfy mate.
Chapter
Twenty-Two
The late afternoon sun lit the backyard of Brick and Jade’s new home, where laughter and the scent of grilled food drifted through the air. He manned the grill laden with burgers and steaks, watching Jade sit around a firepit, chatting with Cinder and Alli. Picnic tables were set up around the patio, and their closest friends and family members milled around the yard.
They’d worked their asses off over the last week cleaning up and moving into the house a few doors down from his parents. It had been left empty after the couple who’d lived in it previously moved to another pack out of state to be closer to family. The four-bedroom house had a great backyard with the woods at the back for privacy, a master suite, and a living room with a built-in bookcase that Jade had already half-filled with books after a delivery from a used bookstore in the next town.
Jade caught him staring at her and gifted him with a radiant smile that made him feel warm even in the July heat.
Damn, he loved her.
And he loved that they had a place of their own now. He’d liked living at the alphas’ house, but it wasn’t exactly the kind of place for a new couple to get to know each other, or the late night snuggle-fests, as Jade liked to call them.
Adam joined him at the grill.
“Everything looks great,” he said. “Congrats from me and Cinder with the new house. How’s your week off been?”
“Thanks,” he said. “Great, but busy. Having the housewarming was a good motivation to get moved in.”
“Do you miss the big house?” Adam took a drink of beer and smiled.
“Yes and no. I definitely miss your mom’s cooking and being so close to everything, but I absolutely prefer being in a place that’s just the two of us.”
“I get that,” he said. “Cinder and I have it a little different since we’ve got the whole floor to ourselves, but having other people in the house can be stifling.”
Like late night snuggle-fests anywhere the couple wanted.
He glanced over his shoulder at the house and smiled. It was a symbol of the next chapter of his and Jade’s life together. She was his and he was hers, and all of this was theirs to share.
Adam slipped away to mingle and Leo walked up.
“The house looks great. Congrats, man,” Leo said, clapping Brick on the shoulder.
