Epilogue
EPILOGUE
CIARYN - ONE YEAR LATER
A revenant has come to collect the bodies that litter at our den’s opening.
I remember the first time I saw such a creature: drinking the blood of a dying man as if it had been a starving animal. That description doesn't seem too inaccurate, given its skeletal frame hidden beneath its tattered black cloak and clanking metal armor.
He must be desperate to wander this far. The corpses are those of the hunters who came for my mate a year ago. Due to being exposed to the elements, their mortal forms are little more than sun-bleached bones and ripped cloth. Still, that matters little to a revenant. I have seen them dine on bones until there is no trace of a body having been there.
Blood they prefer, but a creature of their ilk will take any part of a body they can find. I suppress my shudder as I watch it through narrowed eyes. Lukar is at my side, ready to strike if it ventures too close. Ever since he found his mate, Wren, a few moons ago, he’s been even more protective of our home. Not that I can blame him.
The revenant’s bony hand reaches for one of the hunter’s rib bones. He breaks it with a simple snap and brings it towards its face. Nodding towards Lukar, I prowl through the cavern’s opening.
“Leave,” I command. “You are not welcome here.”
The revenant barely lifts its head. Its frayed cloak blows on a gentle breeze carrying the scent of decay.
“No one welcomes death, yet I arrive. You would do well to remember that, wolf.”
Its voice is a broken whisper—the last rasping words of a deadman.
“Are you threatening me?”
The creature merely waves a frail hand.
“I’m too hungry for ideal threats. Bored, too.”
I raise up on my haunches, and my ears flatten to my head.
“Sounds like you could use a companion.”
Again, the creature laughs weakly.
“My kind is solitary.”
I have no idea why I wish to press this issue. I should be running this foul creature off, but I find myself curious instead. It may be because I understand this revenant to some degree. If I had not found Stella, I would be in a similar position. Alone, unhappy, a ghost of the wolf I was meant to be.
“Are there no females of your kind?” I ask, genuinely curious.
The revenant levels a stare at me. Its eyes are hollow. The faint glow inside them barely flickering.
“No.”
“Then how has your kind come to be? Do you mate with human females as we do?”
The look in its dead eyes causes a chill to break out across the clearing. I back up a step, and my muscles tense anticipating an attack should the creature make one. After a heavy beat of silence, the revenant’s mouth twists.
“What kind of female would allow a death omen into her bed?”
I open my mouth, but the creature merely snatches up a pale arm bone and disappears into a whisper of dark fabric. I stare after him. His unanswered question lingers in the empty clearing. Indeed, what kind of female would want to lie with such a creature? Though I’m sure the same could be asked of the human women who have mated my kind.
If the revenant seeks companionship, I have no doubt he’ll find it someday. However, until then, I don’t want him or any more of his kind coming too close to our home.
“I’ll send more to join you for patrols,” I say to Lukar, who has come to stand by my side. “Until we are sure no more of his kind are coming.”
Lukar bows his head before taking off towards The Woods . I watch him disappear into the thicket before I prowl back through the den’s opening. The once-quiet cavern hums with life. Wolfmen and humans alike bustle about in a steady stream of everyday chores and duties.
A soft laugh echoes from a few feet away, and my blood heats instantly. As if her sweet scent wasn’t already luring me towards her, the sound of her voice certainly is.
Near the center of the den, I find her dressed in the simple green gown I saw her dress in this morning. She is talking with Brydon and his mate Elaine—a human woman of thirty, with whom Brydon crossed paths on his way back from town. Her horse had fallen and trapped her beneath it. Brydon had brought her back here, where Stella mended her broken leg, and she and him fell deeply in love as he saw to her recovery.
Love . There has been so much of it since that creature appeared and saved my Stella. Whatever mating blight my pack had been under was done away with overnight. Stella and I may have been the first pairing, but we are far from the last. Our pack's legacy will continue for generations.
Especially our line as I watch my mate rest a hand on her swollen stomach.
She is only a few months along and already showing a considerable amount. Pride floods my chest as I take her in. Stella is the most beautiful female I’ve ever seen, but somehow, during the year we have been together, her beauty has grown. Now, as she is round with our child, her loveliness nearly sends me to my knees.
I approach her slowly, coming to her side and wrapping my arm around her waist. Her smile is brilliant as she stares up at me. I kiss her softly, delighting in her taste.
“Alpha,” both Brydon and Elaine say. I nod politely at them and tuck Stella firmly into my side.
“Thank you for the pain-relieving herbs, Stella. My leg always hurts before it’s about to rain.”
“Happy to help,” my mate says before bidding the other two goodbye.
She turns into my embrace. Reaching between us, I run my hand down her stomach before lifting it in my hands. Stella lets out a soft moan, and her eyes glaze over.
“That feels wonderful.” Her hand rests atop mine. “I missed you.”
We have barely been apart for two hours, yet it feels like years since I last had her in my arms.
“I missed you, mate. How are you feeling? Are your back and feet still aching?”
She wrinkles her adorable nose and I suppress the urge to kiss it.
“A bit. Why did no one warn me how much your feet swell during pregnancy? I’m tempted to go barefoot until the babe is born.”
She lifts her mouth towards mine indicating she wants a kiss. I happily oblige her as our mouths move over each other.
“Besides that, I’m fine, Ciaryn. You need not fuss over me so much.”
I shake my head.
“When I found out you were pregnant, I should’ve demanded you remain in our bed where I could keep watch over you.”
We talked about waiting—about going on adventures and traveling. However, both of us had already seen all of the world we wanted to see. Together, we decided that our next adventure would be starting our family and making our lives even fuller.
“But, as I said before, I hate being idle and while my feet may hurt I’d much rather be on them than spending my days doing nothing,” she reminds me.
“Stubborn mate,” I sigh.
“But you love me regardless?”
“Of course I do.”
Stella grins and her blue eyes sparkle up at me.
“I have many months of pregnancy ahead of me Ciaryn. Once I get too big, I’m sure I’ll be longing for the days I can lie in bed from sun up to sun down. Until then, I have responsibilities as mistress of this pack.”
“Indeed, with so many new human females here, there’s never a shortage of things to be done,” I agree.
As head healer, Stella has been busy training other women in her skills. Every day I am more in awe of her than the last. Truly I am the most fortunate male to call her mine.
“But,” Stella says, her grin turning wicked. “I’ve finished most of my tasks for the day and could be persuaded to get off my feet for a few hours if you wanted to keep me company.”
She bats her golden eyelashes at me and my cock hardens in an instant.
My desire flames to life as I take in her blatant invitation. Without warning, I scoop her into my arms, and her riot of giggles makes my heart swell. She clings to me as she has always done—the same way she held me from that first evening when I took her from her home and into my life forever.
Making the journey to our room quickly, I set her down for only a moment. I slip her loose gown over her head and toss it away. Her shift follows next, leaving her clad in only her simple wool stockings. In addition to her round stomach, her breasts have also grown with her pregnancy.
I gently thumb one of her nipples, and she whimpers. Stella has always been responsive, but now all of her senses are heightened. There are days when a few kisses to her neck and a brush of my claws against her clit make her scream her release. I am the most fortunate of males.
Lifting her into my arms, I settle her into the silk atop our pallet. Our scents have become one, and our joint smell lingers everywhere in the room. I inhale her honey scent greedily as I kiss down her body. She thrusts her hips towards me. Her pink flesh is already dripping wet, begging for my tongue and cock even though she had both inside of her only a few hours ago.
“Please, Ciaryn,” Stella whimpers. “I ache for you.”
Oh, that will not do.
Giving my mate what she needs, I kiss her clit before spearing my tongue into her. Curling it a few times, I reach far into her inner depths and feel her delicate muscles clamp around me. Her hands hold my head as she grinds her climax out on my face. I taste her sweetness, lapping it all up before tucking a finger into her tight channel.
Once she is panting again, I replace my finger with my cock. The ridge of my knot is already formed. A flush erupts over Stella’s chest and cheeks, turning her deliciously pink. I meet her mouth with my own and swallow each of her throaty monas. Her little cunt grips me so tightly my head spins.
Her wetness coats my thrusting cock, aiding me to go even deeper inside her.
“Ciaryn!” she cries, clawing at my back.
I know what she wants without having to tell me. My claws tickle her clit, and her whole body tightens as she cries. At the crest of her climax, I breech her with my knot, sealing her to me. Our souls and hearts become one. By tethering us together, I can taste our love and feel it wrapping around us.
Her sharp inhale makes me kiss her harder until all she feels is pleasure. She comes again, her eyes open but unseeing. My name is slurred from her lips as her body goes limp. The sight of her spread out before me ignites my blood. I take in her swollen mouth and the savage bite on her shoulder, marking her as mine. I take in her full breasts and round stomach, and I let the pleasure kindle inside of me.
My spine tingles before snapping straight and pushing deep inside her. With a growl, I feel my come fill her in a rush. Torrent after torrent stays locked between the two of us. Once the last of my seed is spent, I roll us onto our sides so that I can cradle her stomach. The sound of pleasure she makes sends a shiver down my spine.
I stare at my mate—her flushed, freckled cheeks and golden hair. Her eyes are tired but full of enough love to steal my breath. We were both alone for so long. Even when I had my father, it was only when he was a shell of a male he had once been. Not until I found Stella did I feel like I belonged somewhere. My place has always been by her side, wherever that may be.
A yawn sneaks up on her. The pregnancy has made her tired lately. The golden light streaming in from the corridor makes her glow. She looks every bit the goddess I always tell her she is.
“Perfect,” I murmur, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. “Beautiful.”
Pink dots her cheeks, and it’s a wonder she can still blush after all we’ve done and said to each other. Our legs tangle together, and I cradle her close.
“When I was a girl, I never even imagined I could feel like this. Happy, safe, and well-cared for.” Her eyes fill with unshed tears. “I have you to thank for that.”
Whoever she was before this and whatever horrors she lived through are far from this place. No one will take her from me. I have spilled blood for her before and will gladly do so again should the need arise. I kiss her brow, silently vowing all of this to her.
“Whatever the future holds, we will face it together.”
Stella smiles. The love in her eyes steals my breath and makes me hold her closer.
“Always.”