Epilogue
Rian: six months later
I sprawled on top a picnic blanket in the backyard and looked at the clouds slowly moving by.
The scent of charcoal and meat was heavy in the air, and I found it oddly comforting.
I looked to my right and saw Brodie snapping the tongs at Holden who was trying to steal a piece of something off the gigantic grill the pack had all pitched in to buy. No, I hadn’t been allowed to help out, and neither had Luca. Something about “literal millionaires” not being allowed to contribute this time.
We had a couple of picnic tables Brodie and Lina had built, and several blankets placed around the yard. The murmur of voices and the occasional laughter made me so damn happy.
“I’m going to go bother Papa,” Luca said from somewhere, and soon enough, he sat down next to me, then harrumphed and crawled halfway on top of me.
I didn’t hate it when he called me that as much as I made everyone think. Not that they believed me, those bastards.
“What’s up, kiddo?” I asked him.
“They’re about to eat. It’s tragic all that food doesn’t really smell great anymore.”
“Mhmm….” I knew it would take him time to adjust to it, like so many other things.
He began to hum a melody under his breath, and I was pretty sure he wasn’t conscious of doing it. Every time he did it and realized, he stopped immediately.
I thought—and so did Max—his brain was trying to get back to writing songs and singing, but Luca wasn’t there yet.
It had been a rough adjustment for him, being a vampire. Once he’d stabilized, he’d been in touch with his label and his remaining bandmates.
The bond between us was something I’d never take for granted. I could sort of feel him in a way I had never felt in those short moments I’d spent with my own sire. Holden had wisely suggested that it was all about what kind of a relationship you nourished.
Right now, all I could feel through our bond was contentment. Luckily said bond didn’t really extend very far, we needed to be in touching distance. We already lived in a house that could feel a bit too tight when it came to space and everyone mostly ignored what they heard or sensed from the various couples. I for sure didn’t need to know any more of Luca’s feelings when it came to certain brothers as I did now.
We laid there and soaked in the sun while the wolves and humans feasted nearby. I was… happy.
I’d thought I was content with my life in Seattle before all the panic attacks started, and maybe I had been. It was hard to recognize that version of myself now, when I looked back. I’d used my kink relationship with Brodie as a crutch as much as he’d done the same with me. It had helped me survive everyday life more than whatever small life crisis I could now walk through without feeling the urge to be taken out of my head by someone.
That said, my relationship with Holden included enough scenes to make truly vanilla people aghast. The thought made me grin.
I’d gone to two events after the Seattle one, and Holden had been with me both times. We’d had a wonderful time in New York in February, and then in Portland in May. I did better with him there by my side, but those trips took a lot out of me each time. Luckily, I had a wolf who took care of me when I needed him the most, and vice versa.
Last week, I’d gotten a gushing email from Sandy’s daughter, telling me that the cancer treatments for the baby were doing their thing and that she and her family couldn’t be more grateful. After responding to her, I’d started to look into even more places to make donations. Oh, and there might be a college fund for little Noah now. Funny how one had popped up.
Luca and I must’ve dozed off, because the sun moved across the sky a short distance, and the next time I opened my eyes, people were slumbering on various blankets around us. Brodie and Kye were tangled up together in the partial shade, fast asleep, looking peaceful in a way I had waited years to see in my best friend. Carys and Lina were near them, close enough for Carys to hold Kye’s hand, which she was doing in her sleep, while Lina curled up against her side, reading a book.
Holden was nowhere to be seen, but since everyone had a rare day off—the perfect time for a pack barbeque—he couldn’t have been far.
I spied Cindy in her luxurious catio next to the sunroom which Brodie and Lina had spent the late spring repairing. The house had never looked better, and Cindy had the palace she deserved, being able to roam freely in the catio that was half the size of the whole sunroom.
We’d built a deck extension to the back as well, and there was now a hot tub there for whenever someone wanted to soak. If we didn’t have the winters we had, an in-ground pool would’ve been great, too. But we had the river in the woods and the swimming spot we had cleared late May. Now you could actually swim in there. It would have to do and to be honest, it required much less maintenance than a pool would have.
Ben and Max were sitting at the smaller table on the porch, playing a game, it seemed. It would be a toss-up between a card game and chess, something that was relaxing to them. If their gazes flicked toward Luca every now and then, well, it was just what happened all the time nowadays.
As I concentrated my hearing, I easily found Holden, too. He was murmuring sweet nothings to Cindy. I could barely make out her purr inside the sunroom.
The breeze was pleasant, and I carefully stretched myself so as not to disturb Luca. His head was on my shoulder with his arm slung over my waist.
Holden emerged from the house and went to Ben and Max. He said something to them that made both of them chuckle quietly. The fact I couldn’t tell what he’d said meant that he chose to hide it from me. Curious. Then he rapped his knuckles on the table, and continued down the steps to the grass. He aimed directly at us, and I smiled as I watched him walk. Well, more like swagger, because holy hot damn was my man gorgeous.
His hair was a bit bleached by the sun from all the time we spent doing things around the yard.
He rounded our blanket to my side, then crouched and looked at me with every bit of the love he felt for me showing clearly in his gaze.
“Run.”
Exactly like the first time in Seattle, it took me a few seconds to understand what he had said. Then I was moving on autopilot. I slid out from under Luca as carefully as I possibly could and tugged on my sneakers—thank the universe those were my footwear of choice for the day.
Then I took off toward the woods, my heart racing like never before.
The night when Holden chased me down in my apartment in Seattle had been one thing, but it had been… safer. This, the forest surrounding the pack house? This was the real deal.
We’d needed something like this for a while now, and while his work issues were resolved—Gerrell had been fired with no charges, because Holden had put in a good word as long as the man left the state and never came back—everyone experienced stress on occasion. This was our way to purge it.
In most of the pack’s opinion, Holden had been too lenient, too nice, to a man who had tried to frame him for a serious crime. But holding a grudge wasn’t who Holden was. It was enough for him to know the man would never be able to work in law enforcement again and that his wife had kicked him out.
There were rumors, of course, about him only being with her because of some money she was to inherit when she turned twenty-five. Yes, she was twenty-four and he was nearly sixty as far as I knew.
His trophy wife had swiftly kicked him to the curb as soon as she heard of his plot to destroy Holden. She was still in town, apparently stewing away in her nice house, waiting for her birthday so she could use her money in whatever way she pleased.
All in all, the whole thing had been incredibly lame. But then again, life wasn’t a suspense novel, at least not if you did it right.
As soon as the woods swallowed me, I could hear the cacophony of noise everywhere. Not only my heartbeat and my feet pounding the path as I tried to run as fast as I could, but every critter and bird in the area.
I needed a strategy. My predator was behind me somewhere, I had no idea how much of a head start he’d give me, but I had a feeling he wouldn’t want to make this too easy.
Then a thought crossed my mind. What if he was coming after me in his wolf form?
I stumbled, then found my balance again before thinking quickly.
The river! It would suck running in wet shoes, but I could lose him in the water. I hoped. He wasn’t a hound dog, after all.
By the time I landed in the river, I cursed myself for not finding a better spot. I waded almost knee deep, glad that I was wearing sweatpants instead of jeans, at least. Wet denim was the worst .
I continued to jog in the water as much and as quietly as I could. Which, it wasn’t much, but then again, I was kind of desperate to lose my tracker.
Speaking of which, I suddenly heard a lone howl from somewhere behind me and cussed under my breath. Yeah, he’d gone full wolf and was letting me know.
I quickly climbed up the left bank, then scrambled through the brushes to a relatively easy-to-move area. It wasn’t clear or anything, but at least I could duck and weave enough to make decent headway. Then, I heard a splash somewhere downstream right about where I’d entered the water, and froze.
I knelt behind some bushes and forced my breathing to slow down and stay shallow. I peered through the gaps at the river I could just about make out. Then suddenly, I saw a dash of dark fur across the river.
He’d gone back, trying to find my scent!
I continued to move, slower so I’d be quieter this time. I moved deeper into the woods, and after a few minutes I realized he would catch onto my scheme. I needed to cross the river again.
Luckily I was almost to the shallower waters of the swimming spot. The in-between part was deeper, which wasn’t easy to navigate.
Knowing that he’d likely check the area, I crouched in the underbrush again. At least the wind was on my side. I could get a whiff of his uniquely wolfy scent on occasion. They smelled wild, like the woods and something that made a human’s lizard brain take notice.
Soon, I saw his large form pad to the shore. He lifted his head, then grunted and began to sniff around the area.
Then he loped along the riverbank to a spot I knew was the most shallow.
He was about to cross!
Since he’d end up behind me, I had limited time. As soon as I heard him splash across, I hoped to dear deity he would run the wrong way first.
I quickly and quietly took the steps to the river’s edge, sent a thought to the universe, and carefully stepped down into the river. Without making a sound, I waded to the other side.
I went to the boulder where we would sunbathe and leave our clothing when we went swimming, and rounded it so that I was less visible.
Of course, that was when I suddenly heard a low growling above me. I squeaked and dashed forward. The bastard! He’d come back and hopped silently on top of the boulder!
Since there was no other sound, I knew he was giving me another head start.
I ran back to the path leading across the land the wolves patrolled daily. It allowed me to move faster, and I flew across the woods. I knew he shifted fast, so when he caught me and was ready to pounce, I’d have a handful of seconds to try to run again.
This time, I heard the rustling in the brushes to my left, between me and the river. I panted for breath, a slightly hysterical giggle bursting out from my mouth. My fangs were out, and I could feel the tingling in my fingertips. We, too, had those claws after all. Except ours were freaky and unnatural looking unlike the wolves’.
Suddenly, a large wolf jumped onto the path about thirty feet from me. I had no way of stopping with the speed I was going, and I collided with it, flying over it and smacking into the ground, getting my breath knocked out of me with the impact.
Before I had time to get air into my lungs, let alone get up, I heard a chuckle behind me.
“Did my prey fall over himself?” Holden asked in a calculated, growly tone which was very unlike the man most people knew.
“T-Technically I t-tripped over you ,” I snarked as I pushed to my hands and knees.
He scoffed. “Semantics.”
Grabbing one of my arms, he tugged me upright with hard enough force for my feet to leave the ground for a moment.
I yelped, and then suddenly I was pushed against a wide tree trunk, face first. This impact didn’t take my breath, but it scraped my skin, and I could immediately feel blood on my lips where one of my fangs pierced something.
With one arm across my back, Holden tugged my sweats down, chuckling in a dirty way.
“Well look at that, my little slut boy went commando….” He sounded delighted, and yeah, easy access.
I hadn’t prepared for this scenario, but sometimes we enjoyed quickies and—my thoughts were scrambled by him nipping the back of my neck.
“Do I have your attention?” he growled.
“Y-Yes,” I managed to gasp.
Suddenly every cell in my being was alert to him and only him. Everything I was reached for him like a flower toward the sun.
“Good.” He kicked my feet apart and rubbed the head of his cock against my hole. “Just so you know,” he said in a conversational tone. “I’m going to take you apart and put you back together. I’ll be there to catch you every time you need me to. Forever, Rian. That’s what we said, it was our promise.”
I whimpered as he began to force himself inside me, my head feeling floaty in the best ways. He did this to me so effortlessly, and I couldn’t love him any more than I already did.
Whether his strong arms were gathering me close or holding me in place so he could give us what we needed, I was home.