EPILOGUE
BAILEY
A Few Weeks Later
“It’s delicious!” he says, exaggeratedly and not remotely convincingly.
“It makes no sense that they’re burnt outside and half-frozen in the middle,” I mutter, whacking the very crispy corndog off the edge of the table.
Jase shrugs and continues to chew.
“Gimme that!” I pluck the stick from his mouth and rush to the kitchen to toss the corndogs back into the air fryer.
He follows and puts his mouth to my mate mark from behind while wrapping his arms around me.
I fiddle with the machine, trying to get the dang thing to turn back on.
“You’re not gonna tease me about my inability to cook anymore?”
“Nope,” he declares and I can feel him grinning against my neck.
We got back from our trip about half an hour ago and we’re famished. I found a box of corndogs in the freezer and I followed the directions. The universe keeps telling me to give up on cooking, but I guess I’m just stubborn.
Italy was incredible the second time around and we are more in love than ever. He endured my need to soak up every sight we could squeeze into the two weeks without complaint, although he got looks everywhere we went. Far too many people notice his potent sexuality. And not just women, either.
When I got a little snippy about it our third day doing the tourist thing, he promptly marched me into the nearest jeweler where he bought wedding bands for both of us.
I love them so much, though not as much as my mate mark and his tattoo.
He told me he’ll see his tattooist in Drowsy Hollow and get his ring finger inked, which is so awesome, I think I might do the same.
Things have been quiet around here the past few weeks. The SCC is investigating Anya and has promised us an update. Alta is in prison and awaiting trial by the SCC. Eduardo passed away in his sleep in the cell below the town hall that same night they were apprehended.
The apprehending happened quite easily. I told Jason he really didn’t miss much as I watched on Joel’s laptop.
My brother tossed that necklace the second he emerged from the water on that side of the falls and it was a ringer, landing on Alta’s neck like he was trying to win Stacy the big stuffy at a carnival.
The sight of those six alphas emerging from the water made it so her henchman immediately raised their hands in surrender.
Erica, her sisters, and Dr. Blakely followed a few moments later in Mase’s boat and Jase showed up just minutes after that.
Eduardo’s remains, along with his son Cesar’s, were cremated and sent to Anya. The SCC has transported Eduardo’s son Fab to whereabouts unknown.
The pack is curious about this lull between Jase and Lincoln, but Joel and Grey picked us up from the airport tonight and told us Linc just left.
They killed two birds with one stone by dropping him off so he can fly out to Alaska.
The fact that Linc just took a tracking job there means Jase and me need to sit down and talk, which I’ve decided we’ll do over corndogs.
Because after corndogs, I want to do a shifted run with him.
I shifted each day inside whatever hotel room, bed and breakfast, or villa we stayed in, but I want to smell the forest and feel the wind in my fur.
Jase still has to command me to and from my forms, but on a positive note my wolf has grown just a little.
I still look like a puppy when shifted, but a slightly bigger one than before.
Yay, progress. I’m not complaining. I’m loving every minute of the journey, though after a rather explicit chat with Stacy about the glory of shift-fucking before we left does have me looking forward to eventually being full-grown.
I’d planned to reach out to Dr. Blakely and decline the Alaska job. But finding out Linc’s going there, I’m thinking I was offered that job for a reason, maybe a reason only Fate currently knows.
Jase presses off on the air fryer. “You tryin’ to cook the icy insides won’t bode well for that already charred exterior, baby.”
“Oh,” I say. “Right.”
He dumps them into the trash and drops four more frozen ones into the air fryer basket.
Now I’m the one wrapping my arms around his body while he presses buttons.
“I think maybe I am destined to be there for all the matings,” I tell him.
“I think I’m destined to cook all our meals,” Jase quips.
The machine starts up. So much for him not teasing me about my cooking.
“I think maybe we should revisit the Alaska thing, since Linc’s up there.”
“Told Linc we’d probably be not far behind him,” Jase says.
“When?”
“Before our flight at the airport when he and I were texting back and forth.”
I pinch his butt. He jolts and spins to face me.
I put my hands on my hips, which, for some reason makes him look at me like I’m naked.
“You didn’t say anything!” I exclaim.
“Figured you’d come to this conclusion as soon as you found out where he went. My baby and her FOMO.” He teases.
I wrinkle my nose up.
He’s not wrong.
He’s also not entirely correct.
I drop my arms dramatically.
“It’s not that I’m afraid of missing things, it’s that I want to be available to help.”
“I know.” He pokes my nose and lifts me up by my hips, setting me on the counter.
“So, we should go?” I ask, thinking about getting coverage for my job while we’re gone.
My brain is going a mile a minute thinking about the fact that Audrey can take care of the library, but she doesn’t have the skills to do the admin stuff for the pack.
Then again, Ivy recently offered to help with that if I needed it.
She’s not planning to open her dance studio until after her baby is born and is getting a little bored. Hm.
Jase interrupts my thoughts. “What if Linc doesn’t find his mate up there and he’s ready to come back here the week after we get there and you’re entrenched in that job? Or what if he and Joel find their mates on the same day in different places?”
“You’re a meanie,” I complain.
Laughing, he moves in, and I recognize the intent in his eyes, so I slide off the counter, sidestep him, and take off running with a squeal. He catches me at the bottom of the stairs and throws me over his shoulder before climbing up.
When I’m deposited on the bed, I spring to my feet and get into the low wrestling stance I’ve seen him and Linc get into by the bonfire many times.
He looks me over and his eyebrows go up. “Ooh. You wanna wrestle, little lady?” He wiggles his eyebrows.
Oh yes, I’ve had the wrestling with Jase fantasy many times.
I wiggle my fingers while I bounce on my feet, essentially jumping on the bed.
I’m definitely losing this match. But I also know I’m about to win in a different way. Because he throws his shirt off, sinks his teeth into his bottom lip, and shoves the bench at the foot of our bed out of the way.
Arousal surges through me. I’ve been waiting to lose a wrestling match to Jason for a long, long time.
And I’ve already got a plan in mind for acting out another fantasy, too. Tomorrow, I’m thinking I’ll charge up and pull out my little silver bullet, which he hasn’t seen yet. We’ll see if he tells me he’s got something bigger and better. Because he certainly does.
The air fryer dings a few minutes later, but Jase already has me naked and pinned on my back. The new batch of corndogs are ready, but it looks like Fate really does want us to eat them cold.