by Jools Louise
He turned to receive a second medal from one of his entourage.
“Would Joe McKellar step forward, please?” Sheldon said, and David gasped in shock, seeing John’s grin widen. The man had surpassed himself this time.
Joe stalked through the crowd, which parted to let him pass, clapping vigorously.
“Joe, thank you for not shying away from doing the right thing, and for seeing shifters for what we are. Not as freaks or abominations, but as people, a race, in our own right, who want to live in peace as we have for centuries. I’d like to award you a Presidential Medal of Freedom, as well. I’m proud of what you’ve achieved, and what you continue to achieve, here in Sage.”
Sheldon pinned the second medal to Joe’s chest, who looked just as stunned as Alfie had.
Sheldon grinned at the big shifter and slapped his back. “Now, let’s party,” he said, laughing.
The music blared, and Sheldon retreated with his men, moving out of sight through the trees behind the bandstand. A roar sounded moments later, and a helicopter took off, spiriting him away back to Washington, DC.
David clapped as hard as anyone else, whistling loudly as his father stood there, looking a little dazed, as his husband, Aaron, came to stand beside him and kissed him passionately, hugging him, grinning the whole time.
The scene flashed off, and the anchor returned with headlines from the rest of the world. Skull jumped up to switch the thing off, earning him moans of disappointment from the kids.
“Hey, don’t blame me,” Skull said, rolling his eyes. Then he grinned. “It’s time to party, boys and girls.” They cheered, jumped up, grabbed adults at random, and tugged everyone out of the clinic.
David laughed at the undignified exit and cuddled against Sketch. He looked up as Kaden sauntered into the ward, looking sexy as fuck in his biker cut and leathers. David drooled and ran his gaze over his mate, wishing he could hurry up and heal quickly. His shifter powers gave him an advantage, but despite that, it would take a while until he was cleared for any kind of intense aerobic exercise.
They heard a series of explosions outside, but nobody flinched at the noise. “John…” Kaden sighed, shrugging. “That man is a menace.”
The rest of them laughed, with someone dragging a chair over for him to sit down.
“I brought beer,” Kaden said, depositing a twelve pack on the bedside table. Two were missing. “I had to bribe the doc,” he said with a grin, grabbing a bottle for each of them and handing them around. “To freedom and competition,” he said, lifting his bottle in a toast. David grinned and clinked his bottle against his mates’.
“To freedom and competition,” they echoed.
“And sexy bikers,” Skull added, cuddling up to Kaden.
“And sexy deputy sheriffs in uniform,” Sketch said, kissing David.
They all laughed.
“I have a thing about school teachers.” Kaden grinned, eyeing David with a lecherous leer. He licked his lips salaciously for effect.
David laughed, blushing furiously at the teasing. “Apparently, I have a thing for foursomes and shower sex,” he said, which had his mates toasting him before teasing one another relentlessly, posing and flexing for each other in between kisses and subtle fondling. David absorbed the affectionate banter like a sponge, closing his eyes as the day’s events and the late hour took their toll. He fell asleep with his mates’ voices in his ears, feeling as though he belonged to someone at last, someone other than Joe, that is. He’d been yearning for that same bond that his friends had found with their mates, and had worried that he’d never find it. He smiled to himself just before he faded out. To freedom and competition.
THE END
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