Epilogue
Eric
“Eric, I had these hardwood floors installed just a bit over a year ago. I swear to… whoever or whatever is out there listening to me, I will kill you if you wear through them,” Bennie said from where he was sitting on the couch, a blanket covering his lower half, pale fingers wrapped around a video game controller.
And then there was that shit-eating grin on his face that I’d like to scratch off right now.
Of course, things were easy for him.
I was the only one he shared a meaningful bond with—and I was right here. His instincts weren’t running rampant because his mate was out there, during the day, teaching a bunch of middle schoolers.
I wasn’t sure what the biggest danger was.
Finn being almost an hour away from me. Finn being out and about alone during the day, when—even if I wanted to—I couldn’t get to him due to the distance between us. Or of course, those middle schoolers. Kids that age were fucking brutal.
“He’s gonna be back in about three hours.”
I snarled.
Three hours was a fucking eternity. It might as well have been three days, weeks, months, or even years.
I needed to see Finn. Needed to make sure he was okay. That no one—be it child or vampire—was threatening him. I needed to…
“Eric, stop.” Bennie sighed, patting the couch next to him. “Get your ass over here and sit down.”
I didn’t want to, but pouting like a child wouldn’t help me either.
What would help me was talking to Finn. But he’d already checked in with me twice. I couldn’t make him text me every hour, I knew that, but my body just hadn’t gotten the memo yet.
Nope, my nervous system was completely on edge, my vision bleeding red as soon as I stopped actively suppressing my vampire side from coming out, and I was one creaking floorboard away from throwing caution to the wind and storming out of our house.
I’d known it was going to be bad, but I hadn’t expected this.
“Talk to me,” Bennie said, nudging me when I sat down next to him, just like he’d wanted me to. Gone was the teasing grin I’d missed a lot during the past weeks. He was back to being serious, and that was just plain wrong.
“I knew us being apart would be hard,” I began, running a hand through my hair as the urge to just… get up and get out of here hit me again. I dug my fingernails into my scalp, drawing a bit of blood.
Fuck.
My claws were out.
“But I hadn’t expected it to be this bad.” I ground out, my fangs aching.
Finn wasn’t safe out there.
I mean, in theory, Ambrose shouldn’t be able to get to Finn because it was the middle of a sunny winter day. But the reality was that Ambrose had ample connections among human gangs and drug rings and… whoever else. He could easily employ one of them to abduct Finn.
And then?
It’d take me hours to know.
I’d be sitting here, waiting for him to come home, just for him to never show. I’d be left wondering if he was running late, had an accident, or if Ambrose had gotten to him.
“Can you check the tracker?” I asked, voice strained.
Bennie huffed out a laugh. “I can’t believe Finn agreed to that. Wait. Yes I can. The dude is so whipped he’d probably let you chip him like a dog.”
My hand darted out, wrapping around Bennie’s throat. No one compared my mate to a dog.
I snarled at him, watching Bennie’s shocked face through a red fog. It took me a few seconds to realize that attacking him for a dumb joke was a bit over the top, even for me, and I let go of him.
“Sorry,” I mumbled at the same time Bennie apologized to me too.
I grabbed a pillow off the couch and started kneading it, careful to keep my claws inside.
How was I supposed to last another three hours like this?
And again tomorrow? And the day after, and the day after, and the day after?
Finn had a full-time job. He’d be gone every day from Monday to Friday, while I was here.
Oh, I was supposed to sleep, but I’d been up ever since Finn’s alarm had gone off, and I’d sent him off with a blow job. I’d planned to head back to bed, but as soon as the door had closed behind him and I’d drawn the curtain, unease had trickled in.
“Have you talked to Finn about mating?” Bennie asked carefully, voice soothing, face purposefully blank.
“No.”
“Aries says…”
“I know what Aries says.” I interrupted Bennie and held up a hand. “It’s just… I want this to be Finn’s decision. I need to earn his trust back, and that means not pressuring him into anything.”
Bennie laughed, wrapping an arm around me. “I’m pretty sure mentioning that the option is on the table is not the same as pressuring him into something. Talk to Finn, okay?”
“Maybe.”
Maybe I’d just get used to the aching hole in my chest and all the horrible thoughts running through my head.
He was back.
Finally.
Oh, he wasn’t technically here yet, not inside our house, but he was close—in the driveway. I could hear him turn off the car, followed by the telltale click of him unfastening his seatbelt, rustling as he grabbed his bag, and then finally the car door opened.
I was still sitting on the couch, but it took me every ounce of restraint I had left not to race to the door and wait for him like a dog waiting for its owner. No, I could play it cool. I could pretend I was fine.
Because contrary to what Bennie thought was best, I wouldn’t tell Finn how badly our being apart was affecting me. I didn’t want him to agree to mate me just because he didn’t want to see me hurt. I could endure this until he was ready. I could…
The door opened. A soft click, followed by a billow of light as the curtain was pulled back.
A waft of Finn’s scent carried over to the couch, and I couldn’t wait.
I practically flew to the door. Over the backrest of the couch, through the living room and the hallway, until I had my Finn in my arms, his legs securely wrapped around my middle, my nose buried in the crook of his neck, inhaling his scent as my body relaxed for the first time since he’d left the house about ten hours earlier.
“I missed you,” I mumbled against his oh-so-warm skin. His heart skipped, blood rushing through his veins, his scent intensifying.
I groaned, my fangs aching.
“I missed you too,” Finn said with a laugh.
I didn’t think he understood just how much I’d missed him.
How much I’d needed to feel his body against mine.
How much I’d needed to feel his body heat that showed me he was alive.
How much I’d needed to scent the blood pulsing through his veins, even though a myriad of different smells clung to him, trying to dampen the enticing aroma that made him him.
The right thing to do would probably be to let him go. To give him space to take off his shoes and put his bag away or whatever, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t let go, and I couldn’t share, so I carried him right up the stairs until we were in our room.
Because it wasn’t just mine anymore.
It was ours.
It smelled like us. Our scents combined into a mix that screamed home in a way my room never had.
And there were all these little details that showed me I wasn’t living here alone anymore.
The night table was filled with Finn’s stuff—a bottle of water, a book, cough drops, and a box of tissues.
A couple of photos of him and his friends hung on the wall.
A different photo of him and me, sitting on the couch, smiling up into the camera, was wedged between my mirror and the frame.
Small things, really, seeing as all the furniture was mine. Minor details that shouldn’t matter all that much but meant every-fucking-thing to me.
Finn giggled, digging his blunt fingers into my shirt as I sat down on the bed and shifted until my back was against the headboard and Finn was sitting on my lap.
This was good.
So good.
The emptiness in my chest, the black hole full of nothing but dread and worry, slowly shrank away, overshadowed by my mate’s warmth, his fingers combing through my hair, lightly scratching over my scalp in a way that sent shivers down my spine and through my whole body.
By his weight on my thighs, his chest brushing against mine.
His palms brushing over my cheeks and grabbing my jaw, tilting my face up.
The warmth in his eyes and the gentleness of his smile as he leaned in and captured my lips in an oh-so-soft kiss.
I slowly let out a breath, my eyes falling shut as his flavor burst on my tongue.
Finn was here.
Finn was okay.
Everything was good.
“Are you… crying?” Finn asked, slowly pulling away a couple of inches.
I started to shake my head, but there was indeed moisture on my cheeks that I couldn’t explain otherwise.
“I…”
Didn’t have anything.
“What’s wrong?” Finn’s hands were still holding my face, and he wasn’t letting me off the hook. Didn’t let me look away. Even his eyes were holding mine prisoner. “Talk to me.”
“Like I said… I missed you.”
And I’m not sure I can take this uncertainty.
“I missed you too,” Finn said, his smile tender, cheeks red. “But I’m not crying about it. So what else is going on?”
I swallowed.
His eyes. His oh-so-warm brown eyes saw right through me. Right through the facade, boring into my very soul, making it not only impossible to lie but also to stay quiet.
“I don’t think I can take you leaving every day like this,” I whispered. “It’s… torture.” Was it my voice that was so scratchy, barely audible at all? My tears spilled over my cheeks.
Finn was here.
His scent surrounded me, his hands on my shoulders as he held me steady, his lips on my skin as he kissed away every single tear. They were hot, scorching me, melting away the last remnants of tension and worry.
“What do you need?” he asked, his breath fanning over my face.
“Mate me. Let me claim you, let me…”
“Yes.” His reply was a breathless whisper that I felt rather than heard. But it packed a punch, stealing away my breath.
I dug my fingers into the small of his back, needing to hold him right here, but also needing a moment to understand exactly what had happened.
Finn had agreed to mate.
I could claim him.