Alpha in Heat
Page 29
“Been a while since you proposed,” Dom said to him.
“Yeah.”
“Ready to be married?”
Alec nodded, smiling wide. Dom knew that feeling.
As Brad began to play a slow song on his violin, a hush fell over the gathered audience. Dom stood to the side, watching as Caleb and Izzy made their way down the aisle, sprinkling flower petals everywhere they stepped. They were wearing snake hats this time—the snakes looked like they’d swallowed half of the children’s heads, and their long, stuffed bodies trailed down the children’s backs. Izzy’s little brother followed behind them, clutching the ring box. When they reached the end of the aisle, Thad handed the ring box to Alec, who kissed his head.
“You all did great,” Alec said, giving them a thumbs-up.
Then the music changed, and Alec’s stepbrother, Ben, walked down the aisle with their mom. Alec looked so excited, Dom thought he might burst. His pulse thrummed, though. It would be his turn soon.
When Ben and his mom stepped closer, Dom realized that it was the first time he was seeing Ben without shirt sleeves—Ben had tattoos of butterflies fluttering around his upper arms, same as Alec did.
Then his arm caught in the sunlight, and Dom realized that the silvery patches around Ben’s arms were scars, many of them. Kind of like how Jesse had scars, except his were all concentrated in one spot. It explained how Jesse had hit it off with Ben, whenever Dom and Jesse visited Ben’s Buns.
Dom never thought he’d had much in common with Alec, but maybe they shared more similarities than he realized.
Ben reached Alec, and the minister had them exchange vows.
“I do,” Alec said.
“I do,” Ben murmured.
Then they exchanged rings and kissed, and they looked into each other’s eyes with so much love, it almost rotted Dom’s teeth.
But maybe that was the same sort of look he gave Jesse. Maybe that was fine.
Alec led Ben over to where their children were waiting. Then the minister said, “And now for another very special pair.”
Dom’s lungs just quit. He couldn’t breathe. He stepped up to the front of the aisle, watching as Jesse murmured to Owen, pointing him at Dom. Dom held his hands out for their son.
With a grin, Owen raced down the aisle, the ring box clutched safely in his hands. His tiny feet pattered through the grass, and at one point, he almost tripped. But he steadied himself, kept going, and when he reached the end of the aisle, Dom crouched and gave him a big hug.
“You did it,” Dom said into his ear. “That was amazing.”
“Amazing.” Owen grinned, handing Dom the ring box.
Dom guided him over to where Jesse’s parents waited. He slipped the rings out of the box. Then he looked up, and there was his alpha at the end of the aisle, looking right at him.
Dom’s heart missed a beat. Jesse didn’t want to be given away—he wasn’t an omega. So this walk represented something else entirely: that this was Jesse making a choice, that this was him choosing to step into Dom’s life, and entangle their destinies from this point forward.
The music faded into the background. Jesse strode forward, scars glimmering on his head, his face, his hands. But he was no longer so conscious of them. Sometimes he wore glitter polish on his nails, and sometimes he pulled on flowing skirts. And he would smile at Dom, unabashed.
The way Jesse Sinclair had bloomed—Dom loved that he’d been there to witness every part of it. He loved that Jesse had become a pillar of his heart, he loved that he could growl Sinclair, and this man would become an animal—someone who fought and snarled, but who trusted Dom completely.
Sinclair reached him, and his gaze burned with a love that kindled an answering blaze in Dom’s chest.
They linked their fingers, coming to stand in front of the minister.
“I can’t believe I’m doing this with you, Sinclair,” Dom said under his breath.
Jesse grinned, his smile sharp. “Guess you better start believing it, Dom, before I put a ring on you.”
Dom loved the way Jesse’s fingers tightened against his. “Aren’t you going to swear at me?”
“You mean ‘Fuck off’, or ‘I hate you’, or ‘Fuck me’, or something else?”
The minister cleared his throat.
“I have plans for some of those,” Dom said.
Jesse’s smile grew. “All three?”
“We will be fucking off after this.”
“To do a lot of fucking?”
Dom laughed. “You may as well shout ‘I hate you’ every step of the way.”
“You won’t haul me over your shoulder like some damsel in distress.”
“No, you’re too heavy for that.”
Sinclair rolled his eyes, but he was smiling.
“Do you, Dominic McCoy, take this man to be your alpha?”
“I do,” Dom said.
“And do you, Jesse Sinclair, take this man to be your alpha?”
Jesse met Dom’s gaze, never once looking away. “Yeah, I do.”
Dom was pressing his ring into Jesse’s palm even before the minister pronounced them husbands. He slid his ring onto Jesse’s finger—a steel band etched with the outline of a blaze, embedded with a brown garnet the color of Dom’s eyes.
Jesse pushed a similar ring onto Dom’s finger—except instead of a garnet, there was a sapphire. A reminder of Jesse.
“Fuck, I love you,” Dom growled, hauling his alpha forward, kissing him roughly.
Jesse laughed huskily and bit him again, breaking his lip. “You’ll never be rid of me, Dom.”
Then he brought Dom’s unmarked wrist up, kissed his scent gland, and bit hard into it, so pain and pleasure jolted through Dom’s body. The third bonding mark he’d promised to give Dom. And the look in Jesse’s eyes: determination and desire, and a promise.
“You’ll have to believe me when I say I’m never leaving you,” Jesse murmured.
With a jolt, Dom realized that he believed his alpha. Every time Jesse returned for more, every day Jesse spent with him, every instance Jesse made a promise and kept it, he’d helped to patch the cracks in Dom’s heart.
Maybe you should let yourself heal, Gareth had told him a long time ago.
With Jesse by his side through all these years, maybe Dom had already been healing. He just hadn’t seen it until now.
He pressed their foreheads together, cradling his husband’s face. “I want an entire future with you.”
Jesse smiled and leaned into him, and his gaze told Dom everything he needed to know. “I’m all yours.”
Dom and Jesse’s bonus scene will go out to my mailing list subscribers on Apr 9, 2020, so be sure to subscribe before then! Alternatively, you can find all Meadowfall Firefighters bonus scenes on my reader group (Anna’s Wine Shack) - join us, we’re a friendly bunch!!
Don’t want to leave Meadowfall just yet? Start your reread at the very beginning of the Meadowfall Firefighters series, where Perry falls through the floor into his alpha’s bathroom - the book link is here! ;)
If you’ve devoured all of the Meadowfall Firefighters, why not try the original Men of Meadowfall series - it promises a roller-coaster of emotions and lots of hurt/comfort :)
The full Men of Meadowfall series
The next Meadowfall book (Wilkie’s!) should be ready sometime end-May/early-Jun! Sign up to my newsletter for sneak previews and release dates!
As always, take care, and be gentle with yourself!
Also by Anna
Meadowfall Firefighters
Non-shifters - hunky alphas and the broken men they heal. MPreg!
Men of Meadowfall
Non-shifters - broken omegas who find their happily-ever-afters with some really protective alphas. MPreg!
Shifters of Cartwell
Dragon and wolf shifters! MPreg!
Taboo books (Not available on Amazon)
Resistance is Fertile (non-con, breeding kink)
Ironwrought
<
br /> Vampire novellas, NOT Mpreg!
About the Author
A huge fan of angst and bittersweet tension, Anna has been scribbling since she was fourteen. She believes that everyone needs a safe place, and so her dorky guys fall in love, make mistakes, and slowly find their way back into each other's arms.
Anna loves fine lines on her notebook paper, and is especially fond of her tiny glass globe. She is currently living on the west coast of the US with her husband and a menagerie of stuffed animals.
For more book information:
https://www.amazon.com/Anna-Wineheart/e/B01KIFJ9S0
Or email Anna at
anna@annawineheart.com