I looked out at the rest of the members of the audience as I sat in the theater the night of Haven’s and the company’s premiere of The Sleeping Beauty. The excitement in the air was palpable. I could scent it on everyone in attendance. I didn’t realize ballet would be so popular in the city near our pack, but almost every seat at the performance was sold out.
Reid sat between Nolan and me, but I wasn’t sure where Seb was. I’d thought I had scented him entering the theater, but then his scent faded and disappeared.
A hand waving caught my eye, and I looked down towards the front of the theater to see Shirley waving at me, a huge smile on her face and Jack sitting next to her, an almost identical smile on his face. I waved back at them, happy to see them supporting Haven.
They had become like family to us since they moved here, and I knew just how much they missed Haven, and how much they regretted the way everything went down when Jack had his stroke. For them to find her again after so many years was a help in healing those wounds.
Seb finally showed up, dressed in a white button-up with suspenders, carrying a bouquet of wildflowers tied together with a piece of twine I was ninety-nine percent certain he got from the back of his truck.
“Where the fuck were you?” I asked him as he sat down on the other side of me.
“I had to go get flowers,” he said, glaring at the three of us. “I didn’t get the memo,” he added, gesturing at each of our bouquets.
I looked down at mine and then over at Reid and Nolan’s. The bouquet Reid bought was almost as big as the one I’d had specially made, and Nolan’s was a respectable-sized arrangement of sunflowers.
“Seriously?” I asked, lifting a brow. “It’s a ballet. Of course, you’re supposed to bring flowers.”
“Well, no one told me! I walked in and saw you, Nolan, and Dickhead with yours and realized I couldn’t show my face without one, so I left. But of fucking course, all the shops were closed already, so I had to improvise,” he said.
“How am I related to you?” I muttered, shaking my head.
“Well, Mom and Dad—”
“Shut the fuck up!” I laughed, smacking him on the back of the head. “That was rhetorical.”
Sebastian just smirked at me and opened his program.
“What’s that?” Reid asked, leaning over me, his over-the-top teal velvet suit jacket brushing my hand.
“The program.”
“There were programs?!” Reid exclaimed, twisting around to look towards the back of the theater.
“Yeah, they were literally right there when you walked in,” Sebastian said, rolling his eyes as he kept them on his program.
“Shit, I didn’t see them!”
Reid stood up from his seat just as the lights dimmed and the conductor entered.
“Fuck!” he whispered as he plopped back down into his seat. “Wes, let me see yours,” he hissed, reaching to grab mine out of my lap.
I picked mine up and out of his reach. It was the special opening night edition that they were selling, and there was no way I was letting any of these stooges look at it.
“Touch it and lose a finger,” I threatened, a low snarl spilling from my lips.
“Damn, someone is testy,” Reid shot back, lifting his hands in surrender.
“I’m going to frame it,” I told him. “After Haven signs it.”
All three of them tried and failed to hold in matching shit-eating grins. “Fuck off,” I grumbled, settling back into my seat as the overture started.
As the ballet began, and we watched, Reid kept up a running commentary through our mindlink.
“I’m confused. Why is there a purple fairy? Where did she come from? She’s not in the movie!”
I glared at him out of the corner of my eye.
“I mean, don’t get me wrong, Haven is great. I just don’t understand where the purple fairy came from!”
“Shut up, I’m trying to watch!” Nolan grumbled.
“Why didn’t the fairies take her away? That’s my favorite part! ‘Make it pink, make it blue…’” All three of us turned to look at him with raised brows. “Don’t look at me like that! Maddie went through an Aurora phase, okay!? We used to watch it together!”
“I’m not even going to comment on any of what you just said,” Sebastian replied, shaking his head.
“Well, at least they used the same music,” Reid muttered.
Nolan sighed and rubbed his forehead. “Of course, it’s the same. It’s Tchaikovsky.”
“Bless you,” Reid said.
Nolan lifted the collar of his turtleneck to hide his mouth, and Sebastian snickered, earning him a small glare from a woman in front of us.
“Sorry,” he mouthed to her.
We turned our attention back to the stage, where Haven was beginning a duet with the dancer portraying the prince.
“Maybe I’m just biased, but I think Haven is better than the female playing Aurora,” Sebastian said, and Reid nodded.
Haven’s hand slid into her partner’s hand, and he spun her, then caught her by the waist. A small growl spilled out of my lips, my eyes narrowing and focusing on that tiny point of contact between them.
My friends all gave me a look, and I gave a small cough. “Sorry, there was something stuck in my throat.”
“Sure there was.” Seb winked.
When the performance ended, and the dancers came out to take their curtain call, the applause for Haven seemed to be the loudest out of all the soloists and principals. But maybe I just heard what I wanted to hear.
We waited at the stage door for what seemed like an eternity, but was probably only twenty minutes. But with my lycan pacing and just as eager to lay eyes on Haven after watching her dance on stage for the first time as I was, the time dragged on and on.
The door opened and closed again, and all of us turned to stare at it, only to be disappointed to find Maya walking out of the theater instead of Haven.
“Way to make a she-wolf feel appreciated,” she linked us, shaking her head and rolling her eyes. “I promise your girl will be out soon,” she added privately to me with a wink.
“I just have to say, it warms my heart to see such strapping young gentlemen have an appreciation for the arts,” an older woman standing near us said.
Reid flashed his signature smile at her and her friends. “Well, our friend is in the company, so—”
“Oh, how lovely! Which role did they dance?”
“She was the Lilac Fairy,” I told them, and I couldn’t stop the hint of pride from sneaking into my voice.
“She was just divine!” one of her friends replied to me. “Her stage presence and grace? Just wonderful!” she gushed.
My lycan sat up straighter and puffed his chest out. As if he was the one who should take credit for Haven’s performance.
“Yes, she was phenomenal,” I agreed.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the stage door open and close, and the voices of the women and my friends faded to almost nothing as Haven walked out. My lycan perked up, and our eyes never left her as she made her way through the crowd.
She looked breathtaking in a light purple chiffon gown with one strap that draped over her shoulder and down her back, almost like a cape. Her hair was still in her sleek, low bun from her performance, and the smile she wore on her face was dazzling.
Her eyes lit up when she saw me, and I smiled at her. But before she could reach us, she was waylaid by some enthusiastic crowd members, telling her how wonderfully she danced and asking her for her autograph.
We all stood at the edge of the crowd at the stage door, waiting for her as patiently as we could, watching her work through the admirers and fans. I could sense the anticipation from my friends that almost matched my own as she slowly made her way towards us. She was humble and gracious with each of her interactions, even though I could see her gaze sliding towards me every so often.
She even stopped and took extra time to speak with a little girl dressed in an elaborate tutu and a princess crown, bending down to her level and talking to her for several minutes.
And the entire time, both my lycan and I had the same thought— she would make a perfect luna.
I had already decided to take her as a chosen mate and make her my luna if she didn’t turn out to be my true mate. But seeing her interact with all of those people clinched it for me. She was a natural.
The last people she greeted were Jack and Shirley. They gave her quick hugs and words of congratulations before politely ducking out of the crowded stage door area to head home.
When she finally reached us, looking like a goddess with her skirt trailing behind her and her radiant smile and slightly flushed cheeks, I couldn’t help myself. I thrust my bouquet and gift for her into the hands of whichever of the three stooges behind me was closest, then walked right up to her, pulling her into my body by her hips.
Her cheeks turned even pinker as I lowered my face to hers and placed my lips to her mouth in a gentle yet passionate kiss. My lycan preened in my head as we staked our claim on her in front of everyone around the stage door.
“People are watching,” she muttered as I pulled back and took a calming breath to settle both my lycan and my dick.
“Good,” I replied, my voice a deep rumble in my chest. “Then everyone will know you’re MY Twinkle Toes.”
She shook her head at me with a half smile but reached up to peck me again on the lips.
“You’re ridiculous, Pal,” she chuckled.
“Maybe. But I’m your ridiculous Pal.”
Holy Goddess, when did I become so fucking cheesy?
The coughing and hissing behind me told me that my friends had definitely heard my stupid one-liner and were one hundred percent judging me for it. Idiots. I never gave them shit about their actions around females.
Okay, no, that’s not accurate at all.
I swear my lycan laughed in my head along with them, and I thanked Selene that Haven changed the subject. “Are you going to give me an official introduction?”
She tilted her head a bit and stood on her tiptoes to peek at them over my shoulder.
“Nah, they’re not worth wasting your time,” I joked, squeezing her hips a little.
“I can be the judge of that.” She laughed.
“Fine,” I grumbled, taking her hand in one of mine and reaching my other out behind me to grab her bouquet from whoever I had handed it to. “But first, these are for you,” I said.
I presented the gigantic bouquet of peach Juliet roses to her. I had no clue what the difference between Juliet roses and regular roses was, but the florist said they were very “in” right now, so I went with it.
She smiled at me and pressed her nose into one, taking a small sniff. “Thank you, Wesley,” she said, moving back into me to kiss my cheek. “They are lovely.”
I beamed, then turned towards the hooligans behind us, all of whom were standing there with identical shit-eating grins on their faces.
“Haven, these stooges are Reid and Nolan, my two best friends, and this is my brother, Seb, who you’ve already met.”
“Hi,” she said with a small wave to each of them.
They each handed her their bouquets—Reid gave her a fist bump when he gave her his giant mixed flowers bouquet. Nolan shook his head and rolled his eyes at him as he handed Haven his sunflowers.
Sebastian stepped up and hugged her before handing her the wildflowers. I had to hold in a growl, but I narrowed my eyes at him as he winked at me over the top of Haven’s head.
“Did you make this bouquet yourself?” Haven asked him as she admired the small bundle of tiny daisies.
“I did,” Seb said, with no small amount of pride.
“It’s so beautiful! How thoughtful!” Haven exclaimed, clutching them to her chest.
“Thoughtful? He forgot to even get you flowers!” I almost shouted, ready to slap the smile off of my stupid little brother’s face.
Haven laughed. “Clearly, he remembered. He gave me flowers right now.”
“He literally picked them off the side of the road after he realized he forgot flowers,” I said.
“But he still made an effort!”
“Whose side are you on here?” I scolded her, my hands resting on my hips.
“I’m not taking sides, Wesley, I’m just saying—”
“You’re totally taking sides,” I accused.
She looked over her shoulder at me, her eyes sparkling with that hint of mischief I was growing accustomed to from her. Then she turned back to Seb and stood on her tiptoes to press a kiss to his cheek, just as she’d done to me minutes before.
“Thank you for the flowers, Sebby,” she said.
“Only the best for you, Sparkles,” he replied, glancing at me with another wink.
I clenched my teeth together so hard I thought they would crack. Fucking Seb and his fucking wildflowers.
I strode forward, ready to yank her away from him and remind her who she should give all her kisses to when I remembered the gift. Or rather, when Nolan shoved the gift bag into my hands.
“Haven,” I called out, and she turned to look at me again.
I beckoned her over with my chin, holding the bag up a little. She sauntered over to me, eyeing the bag.
“What is it?” she asked, reaching for it.
“Ah ah,” I teased, lifting it out of her reach. “First, you have to tell Seb he’s a terrible friend for forgetting to buy you flowers.”
She squinted at me, then looked back at Seb and then at me again. Then she gave me that mischievous look again, and I knew I was in trouble.
So. Much. Trouble.
