Epilogue - Kira
Kira shifted uncomfortably on the hard folding chair, her hands resting lightly in her lap.
Her pregnancy was just starting to show if she wore this shirt—and only this shirt—and so she had worn it, too happy about her healthy, growing baby to want to hide it.
Unfortunately, being a halter-top, she should have paired it with a cardigan, especially for this late in the season.
It had been four months since they had discovered the demon-portal and Kira sealed it, and the weather was turning cold.
It wouldn’t be so bad if Joshua were sitting down here in the front row instead of being up on the stage, reporting the latest information to the pack.
“The potions that Chelsey created have shown us some low levels of demon activity, but there has not yet been another sighting. Please remain diligent. We are in a lull right now, but we’re not in the clear yet.
Our research has indicated that there may be more portals opening up soon,” he said, his voice gravelly.
There were nods in the crowd. Chelsey, seated beside Kira, leaned over. “Ha! Didn’t I tell you those potions would work?”
“You did,” Kira agreed, though she hadn’t ever doubted her sister.
“Some people might think potions are useless, but I’ll show them,” Chelsey continued.
Kira frowned. “What people?”
Chelsey paused. Her gaze flickered to Michael, up on the stage. As though sensing her gaze, he looked at her. Both of them started, then narrowed their eyes and looked away. Both flushed near-identical shades of pink.
“I see,” Kira murmured. She internally winced. Though the council hadn’t said anything yet, it was pretty much an open secret that they were hoping Chelsey and Michael would get together.
They could just keep on hoping. Chelsey would fight back against any sort of arranged marriage even more than Kira did.
The pack meeting moved on to happier topics.
When it was over, Lianne jumped up on the stage and took control of everyone’s attention by showing off.
She’d somehow mastered the ability to perform magic in her wolf form, something neither Kira nor Gwen could do.
These days, it was much easier for Kira to access her wolf form, but it was still a challenge.
“She’s a real ham, isn’t she?” Joshua chuckled when he joined Kira. He kissed her lightly. “Ready to go home?”
Kira grinned at him. “Not yet. I have somewhere I want to go.”
Joshua lifted one eyebrow. “Ah. Want to take a moonlight wolf run?”
She shook her head. It was getting easier and easier to shift to her wolf form, but it still exhausted her. While her wolf was building muscle mass, being so repressed for most of her life still meant it was weak. It would take time for her to strengthen it enough to really do what she wanted.
And tonight she had other activities in mind. Ones that she didn’t want to be too tired for.
***
“Whoa,” Joshua breathed. He gazed around at the protective shield Kira had formed around them. They were on their beach, the first place they’d made love. Here, beneath the dome, floating lights twinkled and soft music played.
“And from the outside, we’re totally invisible,” Kira said proudly. She’d worked hard on this spell. “Nobody can see or hear us, and there’s a special warding around the dome that will make people go around us if they get too close.”
“Are we practicing my magic?” he asked her, eyes twinkling.
Now that the witch hunter curse had broken, he could access his magic a little bit.
They didn’t think he could ever do actual spells, but he could still make potions and transfer magical energy to the other witches without physical contact.
If he connected with Kira, she could wield his magic as though it were her own, which was how they’d managed to defeat the demon in the end.
It was more access to magic than Rafael or Michael had, even though their mother was a secret witch, too.
“It’s amazing,” Joshua said.
She smiled at him, heart beating faster in her chest. “I wanted to show you something amazing, so I could tell you something amazing. I had another vision about our baby.”
Joshua’s expression tightened. In the last four months, he had struggled with her pregnancy.
They read through all the materials they could find, both from their pack and Bael’s.
The information they’d found indicated that the curse was passed from parent to child at the moment of first breath.
Now that Joshua’s curse was broken, it should mean their baby wouldn’t be cursed at all.
All the same, Joshua had a hard time hoping it was true.
He wanted to be happy, Kira knew. They had talked through it so many times, she knew it wasn’t that he didn’t want to be a father.
He was just afraid of what would happen to her and the baby, which was why she dedicated all her excess time to researching the witch hunters.
There wasn’t much. She had, however, found that it was real.
A curse was placed on the children of witches when they mingled with witch hunters.
But her vision? “I saw us with our baby. I saw him growing up, with us still with him. I saw his magic and his wolf. We did it,” she murmured, pulling him into her arms. “We defeated the curse, Joshua. We’re safe. All of us are safe. You, me, and our baby. We’re safe.”
Joshua searched her gaze for a long moment.
He stepped up to her, wrapping his arms around her.
Her body responded immediately, heating at his touch.
It was more than simple lust. Ever since their magic had combined, it was as though she could feel him no matter where he was.
Her desire and his echoed against each other, mirroring and increasing each other.
Her chest filled with warmth and light as she ran her hands over the contours of her mate’s body. She would never get tired of feeling this close to him. Having the warmth of him so close, his scent curling into her nostrils.
“Sometimes I wonder if you think it’s worth it,” Joshua said, his hands gentle on her hips, tracing the curve of her waist to her ribs, then down her spine to cup her ass. He kneaded into her soft flesh, sending shivers through to her core.
Kira tangled her fingers in his golden hair. “Do you? Being with my mate, having a baby that I’m so excited to meet? You think I wouldn’t think it’s worth it?”
Joshua brushed his lips along her jawline and down her neck. Her skin shivered and tightened against the warmth of his mouth and tongue. She groaned, thrusting her hips against him instantly. He was already hardening, and she grinned at the feeling of power that swept through her.
“There’s nothing worth more than this,” she told him breathlessly. “I would do all of it again if it meant I could stay with you, Joshua. I love you. I love you more than words can say.”
“I love you, too,” Joshua whispered. He flicked open her jeans and tugged them down to her ankles in one smooth motion, then knelt to help her lift one foot, and then the other. “Remember our first time? Sand everywhere. Fumbling. And somehow still amazing.”
“I remember.” Kira smiled down at him. “Which is why…”
She formed a few strands of light between her fingers and strung them together, then laid the spell down over the sand.
It formed a perfect barrier, one that would keep them from getting gritty in all the wrong places, yet still allowed the sensations of the beach to come through. Then she reached for Joshua’s shirt.
She lifted it over his head and let her hands play over the strong muscles of his chest and torso. Goddess, she loved this sight. Loved the way his breath hitched when she touched him, loved how his golden eyes turned molten when he gazed at her.
Joshua let her undress him, though he sometimes got in her way in his impatience to touch her in return. Finally, Kira had to put his hands on the top of his head.
“Don’t move,” she told him sternly.
She eased his pants down to the sand, then held them in place as he stepped out of them. Looking up at him on her knees always made her swell with desire. His strong body was so tall above her, and she was just at the right height to…
With a smirk at him, she took his cock in hand and gave him a languid stroke as she brought him to her lips.
“Kira,” he gasped, his hands tightening in his own hair. His hips rocked forward automatically.
“Nuh-uh,” she scolded, pulling back. “I told you to stay still.”
Joshua huffed. “I am staying still!”
Kira stroked him again. Again, he rocked forward. This time, though, he seemed to realize what he was doing and drew back again. She tested him twice more before leaning forward to kiss the crease of his hip. She brushed her cheek along his cock and flicked her tongue out, barely touching him.
“Goddess, Kira. You’re going to kill me,” Joshua groaned. “If you’re not going to, let me—”
He choked off as she took him into her mouth.
Kira tilted her head upward slightly, watching him as she suctioned her lips around the tip of his cock.
Joshua’s eyes widened in the way she loved and his breathing stuttered.
His fingers dug into his hair, still where she had put them.
His nostrils flared and he growled out a pleased sound.
“You’re so beautiful,” he moaned. “Kira. I need to take your clothes off. Please. Let me touch you.”
His begging was too sweet for her to deny.
She pulled back, his cock coming from her mouth and nodded.
Joshua dropped to his knees, his hands roaming all over her as he searched for the buttons he needed to undo.
Kira laughed, enjoying his search as he stripped her one article of clothing at a time.