Epilogue
Five days later
They’d just left their home for the first time. The clan was throwing a dinner celebration to welcome the new mates. Shoni stared up at the handsome man standing outside their door in the corridor with black hair and silver eyes. The fact that he appeared so young astounded her. Hawk looked more like Chaz and Fray’s slightly older brother than their father. They maybe looked five years apart, if that.
Her new father-in-law smiled. “Welcome to the family, Shoni. It’s nice to finally meet you.” He inhaled deeply, and his gaze slid to Chaz. “The only scent she carries is yours. You’ve bonded well.”
She got chills. Hawk’s voice even sounded like Chaz’s. She cleared her throat. “It’s an honor to meet you.”
Chaz inched closer to her. “It’s okay.”
Hawk’s smile faded. “Do I frighten you?”
“No. You just look so much like your sons that it surprised me. I would have never guessed you’re old enough to be their dad. That’s all.”
The tension left Hawk’s face. “We don’t age the way humans do.”
“I’ve heard that a few times, but seeing the proof is something else,” Shoni admitted. “I apologize if my reaction came across as rude.”
Hawk gave her another smile. “This is a lot to adjust to, coming from the human way of living. You’re doing well.” He lifted his head, staring at something behind her.
Shoni turned, hearing voices. Fray, Lenore, and her cousin turned a corner at the end of the corridor, heading their way. All of them were meeting up to go to the celebration dinner together in a group. A tall man followed them. She didn’t know who he was.
Ember’s face lit up with a big grin when she met Shoni’s gaze. Her cousin reached down to grab at the long skirt she wore, hiked it about a foot, and ran forward. “Shoni!”
She grinned back and held out her arms. There was no way she was attempting to run in the long gown she also wore. Chaz had given her a beautiful blue-colored one to wear to the dinner. It seemed his clan were strange about women exposing too much of their skin during formal functions.
Ember hugged her. “How was your honeymoon?”
Shoni pulled back, releasing her. “Terrific.”
Her cousin visually examined her from head to foot. “You still look human.”
“She is,” Fray stated, stopping a few feet away. He held his mate Lenore’s hand. “We’ve been over this. Shoni and Len are just enhanced after drinking GarLycan blood.”
“Well, you look great and happy. That’s all that matters.” Ember waved her hand down her body at the pale green gown she wore. “That’s why I’m going to forgive you for this getup. I feel like I’m playing the role of an old maid in a historical play. Only faces and hands are allowed to be bared. I refused to wear a corset. Gali and Renna tried to talk me into putting one on when they helped me pick this outfit. Believe it or not, this had the least material of all the options. Some of them had trains.”
“Gali and Renna?” Shoni didn’t know who they were.
“They are Lord Aveoth’s mother and her aunt,” Ember answered. “Both are really nice. They want me to bring you to lunch with them. We’re going to meet up at least once a week to spend time together. You’ll like them. I’ve got to meet a lot of people here while you’ve been holed up with Chaz. This place isn’t so bad except for the dress code for parties.”
Shoni was relieved to hear that. “Do you like your new place?”
“It’s pretty cool for a cave. I expected something way more primitive, so that was a nice surprise.” Ember’s attention turned to Hawk. “Thank you for making Drillon back off about me tending to the clan’s livestock.” She made a face as she looked back at Shoni. “He has taken it upon his dumb ass to court me. Spoiler alert. I’m not interested. He tried to ban me from working with animals since I’m human. He said it was too dangerous.”
Shoni knew her eyebrows arched up. “Did you tell him what you do for a living and that you worked for a large animal rescue?”
“I did, but I’m pretty sure he thinks one of their chickens could kill my weak and pathetic human ass.” Ember rolled her eyes.
Some of the men laughed.
Shoni looked at the stranger in their midst. “Hello.”
He gave a little bow. “I am Delbius. Welcome to our clan.”
Lenore spoke for the first time. “He’s the official sword master here. He mostly teaches kids how to fight with them. What a cool job, right? We tried to talk May into joining us for the celebration dinner, but she won’t leave her home.”
Shoni remembered what she’d been told about May. She’d survived being kidnapped by bad Gargoyles. A pregnancy had resulted from her ordeal.
“She isn’t ready to mingle with the clan yet,” Delbius softly explained.
“She’s a really nice person,” Ember added. “I helped her pick out some baby things online yesterday. We were told it takes about two weeks for stuff you buy to ship here. It’s a whole ordeal when you live far from normal civilization. Packages get sent to some place named Howl, and then they have scouts that go pick it up and fly it back. It’s a town owned and run by one of the VampLycan clans. I’m learning a lot since we got here.”
“Howl only gets mail deliveries driven to them once a week from a larger human town, depending on the weather. Winters make us sometimes wait much longer for deliveries.” Chaz put his arm around her. “Shall we go? We don’t want to be late for our own celebration.”
The seven of them walked together to a massive cavern. Chaz held her hand. Long tables were spread through the room, and at least seventy people were inside. Most of them were men. A couple stood right inside the open double doors. He was strikingly handsome with dark hair and blue eyes. The woman he was with was a blonde. Both were smiling.
Chaz instantly bowed his head. “Lord Aveoth and Lady Jillian. I present my mate, Shoni.”
“Please just call me Jill.” The blonde winked at Shoni. “I’m sure we’re going to be great friends. Don’t let the title put you off. I’m not a snob.” She turned her attention to Ember and Lenore. “I really enjoyed having breakfast with you two this morning. We should start doing that a few times a week.” She held Shoni’s gaze again. “You’re invited, too.”
The handsome man at Jill’s side chuckled. “I’m officially welcoming you to our clan, Shoni. I’ve already met the others. I do hope you take my mate up on her invitation. I hold meetings in the mornings, but my Jill grows bored if she goes with me. She’ll have a much better time with all of you ladies.”
“Very true.” Jill laughed. She lowered her voice to a whisper, glancing around. “People mostly meet with Aveoth to bitch about stupid shit.”
Shoni glanced at the intimidating lord to see his reaction.
He appeared amused. “It’s my duty to listen to their complaints.”
A big man entered the room behind them. Lord Aveoth turned to face the stranger. “What’s wrong, Kelzeb?”
He glanced at her and Chaz and gave them a head nod, but his focus returned to his lord. “My apologies for interrupting the celebration. I just received a phone call from our Vampire liaison with their council. We have an urgent situation that needs to be addressed.”
“Excuse me.” Lord Aveoth placed a kiss on the top of Jill’s head. “I’ll be back as soon as possible.” The two men quickly left.
“Don’t be worried, ladies.” Jill seemed to want to reassure them. “Werewolf packs and some Vampire nests sometimes contact us for help. Whatever is happening won’t bring trouble here. No one would ever dare to attack us.”
Shoni looked up at Chaz.
He nodded. “That’s true.”
Jill chuckled. “We are all mated to the ultimate badasses. No one screws with them, or they don’t live to regret it. Now, let me show you to our table. Gargoyle etiquette is a little backward. We’ll be served dinner by some of the teenagers here first, and then we’ll mingle. There are some women who can’t wait to become your friends. We’re severely outnumbered at the cliffs by men. Our expanding group gets together to watch movies or do hobbies a few times a month. It’s a lot of fun.”
Shoni squeezed Chaz’s hand as they crossed the large room. Most of the people she glanced at smiled or gave her small head nods. It proved they were okay with her being there. She’d been a little worried that some might not be happy with her being human. That wasn’t the case.
Chaz pulled out the chair for her, and she took a seat. Jill sat at the head, and two women were across from her. She was introduced to Lord Aveoth’s mother and great-aunt. They were both friendly. Shoni relaxed more and started to have a good time.
Her new mate leaned in as the first course was being served to their table. “I told you it would be fine.”
She leaned into Chaz, holding his gaze. Shoni loved that he didn’t wear sunglasses at the cliffs. She was always able to peer into his eyes. They still amazed her with their beauty. “You did.”
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
“We’re going to be happy here.”
She believed that.