Epilogue
Vengeance is Mine!
“This is a nightmare,” Jude groans. “Truly, why do people enjoy this? Why do you enjoy this?”
I laugh and glance over my shoulder at him, to where he’s dragging his feet behind the rest of us. Even Ren, who still walks with a slight hitch in her gait, a limp that makes me wince every time I see it. His cheeks are flushed, but that’s the only sign of any exertion on his part. His t-shirt is dry, his hair isn’t sweat slicked. And yet, he’s complaining.
I’m sure if he wanted to, he could dance merrily up the rest of this hill and not even be winded, unlike me. I’m sure my face is flushed. There are trickles of sweat running down my spine and the hair that’s escaped my double French braids is sticking to my forehead.
“Do you need a break, Jude?” I ask, slowing to a stop and using the momentary lack of motion to stretch my lower back while looking out at the surrounding vista. We haven’t even made it to the top, and it’s already gorgeous.
“Stop complaining,” Hale grumbles, handing me a water bottle with the unspoken command to drink. “Our pregnant omega is taking on these switchbacks like a trouper.”
Jude grins at the reminder that I am indeed carrying our first child. Pushing between Creed and Tic, he kneels on the ground in front of me, hands splayed over the very small baby bump protruding from my body. As he murmurs words I can’t hear, Hale taps the bottle in my hand as a gentle reminder. Rolling my eyes, I tip some water into my mouth and swallow.
“And me,” Ren says, bending to massage the muscle of her thigh just above her knee. “I’m a trouper too.”
I watch as she winces slightly but know better than to ask how she’s doing. She used to snap at me every time I asked until I snapped back that if she wanted me to stop asking, she had to actually volunteer the information. Since then we’ve come to an agreement. If she needs help or a break, she’ll say something, and I keep my worrying to a minimum.
Mostly.
Almost two years later and I can’t seem to stop myself from worrying about her, feeling that guilt.
Creed’s hand slides onto my lower back and gently massages the aching muscles there. “How are you holding up, baby girl?”
It’s sweet how much they worry about me, but I’ve had to remind them constantly that me carrying a baby doesn’t mean I suddenly turned to breakable glass. They have a tendency to hover, to coddle, to keep me from doing things I’m still totally capable of doing, just because they think I might hurt myself or the baby. And I’m not talking about skydiving or anything. No, I’m talking about things like using the step stool to reach one of the upper shelves in the kitchen, carrying a basket of laundry down the stairs, going on a hike like the one we’re on right now.
It took me three full days of begging for them to agree to this little jaunt through the woods, and even then they only agreed when I promised I’d pick an easy trail since Ren was coming with us. Tic, being who he is, verified that the trail was indeed listed as easy, but little did he know that trail ratings are all over the place and easy is usually more like moderate.
I don’t think they’ll be making this mistake again.
Honestly, I don’t think I’ll be making this mistake again, certainly not while pregnant. I’ll never admit it, but my body is one giant ache at the moment. From my feet to my back to my neck. And I’m not even carrying anything. No, my alphas are loaded down with things for a picnic, blankets and food and drinks and all I have is myself and the tiny life I’m growing. And I still feel dead on my feet.
“I’m great!” I say with far too much forced enthusiasm. It loses some of its verve when Creed’s fingers find a particularly tender spot on my back and I moan. “Really, really great.”
He chuckles. “Really? Is that why Hale and I are holding you up right now?”
My eyes open and I realize that he’s absolutely right. I’ve melted between them, sagging most of my weight on their much larger bodies.
Ren snorts as she takes a swig from her water bottle. “Admit you’re gassed, babe.”
I scowl at her. “I’m not! I’m totally fine. I can keep going. It can’t be that much farther, can it?”
Tic tilts his head like he’s listening. I do the same. Supposedly at the end of this trail is a super beautiful waterfall. That is our picnic destination. But… I don’t hear the thunder of thousands of gallons of water dropping into a pool. Which means we can’t be all that close.
“You want me to carry you, button?” Jude asks, apparently done with his conversation with our little bean.
“Weren’t you just complaining about how awful this is?” Ren asks.
“Do you think it will get less awful if you’re carrying my big butt up the side of a mountain?”
Jude grins. “I think it’ll make this about a million times better.”
“And you don’t have a big butt,” Hale says gently. “It’s just the right size for an omega who is growing our first baby.”
“You’re beautiful, angel.”
Tears prick my eyes and I didn’t even realize that I’d been hoping for one of them to refute my big butt claim. But as always, they know exactly what I need.
“Oh, baby girl, don’t cry,” Creed murmurs. “You know we hate it when you do that.”
I wave my hand and then swipe at my cheeks. “It’s the hormones! I can’t help it.”
Ren huffs and shakes her head. “You all are so adorable it makes me sick.” She pushes past us and starts marching up the hill. Her knee is completely healed now, and she has most of her mobility back. Most of the time she walks just as gracefully as she did before, her slight limp only coming out when she’s overdone it. The slight unevenness of her gait now tells me she’s on the verge of overdoing it.
She hasn’t danced since the incident. Not on a stage, not in the club, not at home.
My fault.
“Little mouse,” Hale warns. They can all feel the lingering guilt that I can’t seem to get over.
Not while my sunshine girl, my best friend, isn’t fully herself. She’s here, and she’s alive, but she isn’t… thriving. She’s just surviving and I hate that.
“I know,” I mutter before pushing past him and hurrying after Ren, ignoring the way the incline makes my legs ache. I catch up to her and loop my arm through hers, being careful to not take any of her weight on me. She’d hate if I tried, and I don’t think I could manage it, anyway.
Ren looks at me out of the corner of her eye as we trudge higher up the mountain. “I’m okay, you know,” she says. And I want to believe her. I do.
“Haven, I mean it. I’m okay.”
I hum and nod. “I know.” And then after a long pause. “I just think you could be more than just okay, Ren. I want you incandescently happy.”
“I know you do, babe.” She sounds sad as she says it. “I’m working on it. I just… its hard, you know?”
Hugging her arm tighter to my body, I nod. “I know.” I can tell she doesn’t want to talk about it more, so I change the subject. “How did the mixer go?”
Ren huffs out half a laugh. “Not great. Really not great. None of the packs smelled even remotely good to me.” I make a disappointed sound. I’d hoped—we’d hoped—that when she felt ready Ren would find a pack that she clicked with. In the last six months, she’s visited the three scent clinics in our area, signed up for countless alpha/omega mixers and still hasn’t found anyone she’s interested in.
I don’t know how much of that is her trauma peeking through and how much is just incompatibility. “Bummer,” is what I say in response.
Ren stops walking and turns to face me, her brow arched. I can’t even blame her. Under normal circumstances, I would have been a bit more effusive in my commiseration. But well, these aren’t normal circumstances.
I don’t fully meet her eye. “I’m sure something will change, Ren. Don’t worry too much about it.”
She peers at my face, blond brows pulled together. “Don’t worry too much about it? You’ve been pushing at me since I woke up in the hospital to find a pack, and now you’re telling me not to worry?” I twist my head to look out over the vista.
“Oh, wow!” I say with false cheer. “Look at that view.”
Ren is not remotely distracted. “Haven… What did you do?”
I whip my head back toward her. Am I really that transparent? I shake my head. “Nothing,” I lie. “I didn’t do anything.”
Ren glares at me as the alphas come up next to us, like that will make me crack. It might. She hums and then says, “Jude, Haven was just complaining about how much her feet hurt.”
“I was not!” I protest, but it’s too late. In a flash, Jude has me up in his arms, cradled to his chest, and is sprinting up the hill. There’s a shriek from Ren and I push up to look over Jude’s shoulder to see my best friend in a similar state to me in Tic’s arms. Her face is red and her legs are kicking.
“Vengeance in mine!” I call back to her. I don’t even know what I’m saying. I’m so damn tired, all the energy sapped from my body by the tiny human growing inside me.
“Oh, yes,” Hale says wryly. “So vengeful being carried up the side of the mountain.”
I laugh and settle more fully into my alpha’s arms as Ren complains loudly behind us. “What was that about?” Jude asks, bending to brush his lips over the top of my head.
I nuzzle into his neck. I’ll never tell him, but my feet were aching, and I am so freaking glad not to be hiking anymore.
“Mm, finding her a pack. She really doesn’t like the conversation.”
“Did you tell her?” I tip my head back to look up at him.
“No, it’s meant to be a surprise.” I sigh and rest my head on his shoulder again. “Besides, there’s no guarantee she’ll be picked.”
“Oh, no. She absolutely will be.” That has me looking at him again.
“What does that mean?”
He shrugs. “It means that while you took it upon yourself to send in the audition tape, I took it upon myself to make sure her name is on the list of cast members.”
A slow, sneaky smile curves my lips before I lunge up and pepper kisses all over my alpha’s face. He laughs and allows me to do it, his strides never slowing. “You’re the best,” I say against his skin. “The absolute freaking best.”
Jude beams down at me. “I try.” He glances over his shoulder. “But we can only do so much for her,” he warns. “We can get her to the show, but she has to do the hard part.”
I nod and relax into his arms as the roar of thousands of gallons of water falling over a cliff gets louder. “I know. But at the very least, maybe this will give her something to be excited about again.”
Jude kisses my head again, hands tightening just slightly where he’s gripping me. “She’ll be excited. How could she not be?”
It was a crazy idea to begin with a shot in the dark, a way to brighten up my sunshiny best friend. I can only hope, even if it doesn’t work out, that she’ll get some of her spark back. I glance over my shoulder at Ren, sitting petulantly cradled against Tic’s chest, arms crossed to show her absolute displeasure.
“It’ll work,” I mutter to myself, to Jude. “It has to work.”
Because in two months’ time, Florence Abigail Karlin will be a cast member of Alpha Love Getaway .