Epilogue
AURELIA
Three Years Later
Cabin doesn’t quite feel like the right word to describe it.
The massive rustic structure slowly taking shape blocks out part of the sun from this side.
It’s been three years since we broke ground, but with only a small window every year to build before the snow falls, it’s taken some time to even get this far.
I will admit my excitement has made me a little impatient.
We’ve been staying for part of the year at the ranch, but it’s not the same as the cabin.
Although this log cabin won’t be the same as the old either.
It’s bigger, grander, and most importantly, it will come with modern appliances.
It’s also being built on one and a half acres overlooking the lake with Big Bear towering behind it like a massive shadow.
We chose not to build it as high for easier access to town, but the guys are already talking about building a smaller hunting cabin somewhere more secluded.
The guys have been working around the clock to get it ready before the fall comes, so that we can finally spend our first winter inside, but I haven’t been allowed anywhere near by decree of my very protective, very obsessive mountain men, and I’ve obeyed until today.
Seth has been texting me pictures nonstop until my curiosity finally drove me up from the ranch.
“Let’s go see your daddies!” I say to my son and daughter as we leave the car.
Already, I can see traces of Khalil in the details with the roaring bears and howling wolves etched into the narrow support beams in the extended overhang.
The natural awning shields the front door and the steps leading to it, and I start toward them when one of my mountain men barrels through, having received my text warning him that we were on our way.
“You. Stop right there,” Khalil orders with a point of his finger when he sees me walking toward the construction site with our daughter on my hip and Nico clutching my hand.
He’s wearing a hard hat, dust-covered boots and jeans, and a loose muscle shirt that shows off his sweaty arms and makes my mouth water.
“Daddy!” Bliss squeals with a wave when she sees him, looking just like his ass.
Khalil softens even more when he sees his little princess, and he takes her from my arms when she reaches for him. Nico abandons me too to run over and grab his pant leg, and Khalil bends to lift him until he’s got a kid in each arm, and they’re talking his ear off.
“I thought I told you to keep your mama in line,” Khalil says to Nico the moment he gets a chance. “We had a deal. What’s up?”
“We wanted to see you, Dad,” Nico responds with a mischievous grin.
“I’m happy to see you too, Nic.” Khalil kisses his cheek, and when I try to slip by him now that he’s distracted, Khalil says, “You can’t go in, Aurelia, and you know why. It’s not safe for you and the babies.”
As in, baby number three…and four.
“I’m barely showing, Khalil. It’s fine. I’ll be careful. Please?”
Before he can tell me no, Khalil’s father comes ambling out of the cabin in a hard hat, and my babies get hyped and start yelling for him at the same time.
“Pops,” I say to the large man when he comes over to gently steal the kids from Khalil, “do you mind doing me a favor and watching the kids while your overbearing son gives me a tour?”
“Yeah, yeah. Go on, go on,” he says distractedly as he showers his grandbabies with affection.
“See?” I say to Khalil. “Problem solved. You can be right there to protect me.”
Sighing, Khalil gives in and takes my hand, stopping by a workbench to grab a spare hard hat for me.
The massive Douglas fir support beams on either side of the front steps catch my attention as he carefully arranges the hat on my head, and I make a mental note to goad one of my mountain men into fucking me against it later.
Khalil whisks me toward the double pane glass doors, and I take one last look over my shoulder at the kids with their grandpa before Khalil pulls me through the door.
The sound of hammering, sawing, and drilling fills my ears as we walk inside, our steps on the reclaimed pine floors echoing up to the thirty-foot ceiling. Directly across from the entryway and perpendicular to the front doors is a switchback staircase leading up to the second floor.
I glance to the left when we reach the wall propping them up and see a huge open space with a chandelier already installed, and I know from the plans that it’s the living room.
Khalil keeps me close to him, tucking me into his side as he leads me to the right toward the kitchen where the majority of the noise downstairs is coming from.
I take a moment to take in the plaster walls held up and framed by more massive logs and the antler tiered chandeliers everywhere we go.
“It’s all so beautiful,” I say tearfully and feel Khalil squeeze my hip as we enter the kitchen.
Immediately, I spot Thorin with his shirt off, and my gaze narrows when I realize he’s standing with his dirty-ass boots on my custom and very expensive granite table as he attempts to fix the chandelier hanging above it.
He glances over when we walk in and then double takes when he sees me before swearing viciously. “What the hell, Khal?” He jumps down and rushes over to me. “Wolf, what are you doing here?”
“I wanted to see.”
Thorin immediately touches the barely there swell of my stomach. “It’s not safe,” he says.
“Neither is ditching your shirt in a construction site,” I whisper as I trail my fingers down his glistening abs. “But that didn’t stop you from turning yourself into a little thirst trap, did it?”
His abs twitch from my touch, and then he presses forward when his mind shifts gears before he remembers where we are. Thorin then blows out a harsh breath and shakes his head. “Seth’s going to lose his shit.”
“Where is he?” I ask as I look around.
“He’s working on something in the bedroom. Come on,” Thorin invites as he takes my hand. “Let me show you.”
The two of them flank me as we head back the way Khalil and I came and toward the stairs that are crafted out of logs sawed in half. Their dedication to every detail nearly brings tears to my eyes again because I know they didn’t really care about the frills but did it all for me anyway.
This time, they had some help, and we pass a few of Papa Poverly’s crew that he brought up with him as well as a handful of locals to help get the job done since we are now sitting on a 14,000-square-foot house.
The three of us travel through a few winding hallways before we reach the master suite at the back of the house.
As soon as we walk through the double doors, my jaw drops at the view of Big Bear through the panoramic window behind the massive bed.
The house still isn’t furnished yet besides the dining table, lighting fixtures, and the bed.
“Oh my God!” I squeal, startling Seth who hadn’t noticed us come in.
Something falls out of his hand, and he curses as he scoops it up before tossing it on the bed and rushing over. “Sunshine,” he greets with a sigh before crouching to kiss my stomach. “Plums.” He glances up at me with a frown. “What are you doing here?”
I rub my belly with a smile. “What do you mean? The babies and I missed you.”
“Nice try,” he says as he stands and scowls. “You wanted to snoop around, didn’t you?”
“Yes. Now where’s my tour?” I demand eagerly.
“Come on.” Seth takes my hand and shows me around the room before leading me out with Thorin and Khalil, pointing out things and explaining all the rooms we weave in and out of on the second floor and then the first.
There’s a recording and dance studio for me, a boxing one for Khalil as well as a workshop for his woodworking, and a library for Seth and Zeke who like to read—one of the few things besides the group they have in common.
Thorin is the only one who doesn’t have a special room for himself because most of his hobbies took him outdoors, but I know somewhere on the property is a detached garage with every piece of sporting equipment known to man.
“The house is beautiful,” I say as we leave the living room with a view of the lake and walk toward the front doors. “Thank you for making it a labor of love.”
For a while it felt like we’d said goodbye to the Cold Peaks forever and that we’d never reclaim our home.
But once we learned it didn’t matter where we were, and that the only place we truly belonged was with each other, we realized there was nothing stopping us from coming back. At least, for part of the year.
I’m still the Aurelia George to everyone else.
But first, I’m mom.
Wolf. Songbird.
Goldilocks.
Sunshine.
Princess.
And…theirs. Yup. I even taught Bane how to share.
As we walk toward the front doors that have been thrown open to an unobstructed view of the lake, I can hear and see Nico and Bliss playing outside. I can almost see our future laid out for all of us too.
Their first winter in the wilds.
The snow fights after a storm.
The warm nights cuddled up by the fire.
Teaching Nico and Bliss how to hunt and survive in and out of the wilds and giving them the best of both worlds so they can decide for themselves which one they prefer.
“Now I really can’t wait for the wedding ceremony,” I say and we all have matching smiles as we leave the unfinished cabin.