Epilogue
Five months later
“Shouldn’t you be leaving about now, Ava?” Lily calls from the back of Elizabeth’s Little Bookshop.
“Is that okay?”
“Of course! Go! I’ll see you later.”
Lily comes over to replace me at the cash register, while I ease my bulk off the seat where I spend a lot of time sitting these days.
I gather up my purse and step out of the store into a bright, sunny June day.
The scent of tree blossoms has been wafting in all morning, filling my veins with tingles of anticipation.
My belly feels like a beachball and my back is aching—despite the comfy chair that Stinger picked out for me and Lily gladly installed behind the cash register.
But I couldn’t be happier. Lily has been amazing these months.
I’m banned from climbing up on steps or lifting anything at all, and she’s always checking in with me, telling me to let her know if I need a break.
And although the store is real busy these days, she insisted I take the afternoon off.
My phone buzzes as I walk to my car. It’s Stinger.
“You sure you don’t want me to pick you up, Sweetheart?” comes his gravelly voice.
I laugh, because it’s the third time he’s asked me. “No, I’m fine. I can still get behind the wheel, you know.”
“Just checking. See you soon.”
“See you in a minute, babe.”
“Love you.”
“Love you, too,” I whisper, warmth flooding me. These words never get old. I still get the same rush as the first time he said them to me.
Anticipation surges in my veins as I pull up on the old parking lot. There are a bunch of cars parked there these days. As I open the car door, Stinger is there, reaching for me, helping me to my feet.
He takes me into his arms, snuggling me against his big body. We hug like this every time we meet. The physical contact is important for his animal, he says, and I love it.
He’s full of questions. How was your morning? Is your back still sore? Was our baby moving a lot?
I laugh from pure happiness. He’s the most attentive father-to-be on the planet.
A few months back, I introduced him to audiobooks and it’s been a game changer.
All those books he couldn’t read because his dyslexia was so bad—now he can listen to them as he works.
And he’s devoured one after another. Turns out he’s a bookworm, too.
Makes me sad that he missed out on reading for all those years, but better late than never.
He’s downloaded a bunch of guides on parenting, and he’s always popping up with snippets of information.
“How’s it going?” I ask.
“All ready!” His voice is full of pride as he indicates the front of the building.
Perdue Home, reads the sign over the old supermarket. We picked out the name of the store because it felt real apt. We’ve both found our forever home in each other—in this town of the lost.
The sign has been decorated with gold and silver balloons to mark tonight’s grand opening, and it looks great.
Stinger and his crew have been hard at work these past months, and the old supermarket has been completely transformed.
Turned out the two of us were a pretty good team when it came to coming up with ideas for the layout and design of the store.
Then he hired an interior designer to help bring them to life.
There’s a supermarket on the lower level, while the upper level is dedicated to homewares. It’s minimalistic, but stylish, with calm lighting—because we both hate the garish lighting in typical supermarkets.
Inside, Stinger gives me a tour of the opening night celebrations—a bar serving free drinks, a big buffet table, and a bunch of counters advertising customer incentives, like loyalty schemes, and competitions for free groceries.
“I’m so excited!” I tell him, squeezing his arm.
“You think it’s gonna be a success?” His eyes are adorably vulnerable, and my heart swells with pride and love for this man who’s changed so much in the past months.
I pull him down for a kiss. “Of course! People have been talking about it non-stop for weeks.” It’s true. There’s such an obvious gap in the market, and I think Perdue Home is going to fill it perfectly.
Stinger’s massive chest rises and he scans his wristwatch. “Okay, two hours to go.”
Come five p.m., there’s a line of people waiting to come in. A line! My heart pitter-patters in anticipation.
Stinger opens the door to his first customers, and people stream into the foyer.
He waves his arms, gathering them all together.
Among the crowd, I spot the members of his ex-pack.
And there’s Vaughn and Lily. Forge and Maya who owns the tattoo shop, and their little cub, Vulcan.
Beau the investigator, with his mate, Savannah.
Elinor and her new roommate. My heart flutters.
All these people are our friends. They’ve come here to see the success Stinger has made of this broken-down store.
“Just want to say a few words,” Stinger mumbles, and he pulls out a bunch of cards from his back pocket.
I blink. What’s this?
He clears his throat. “Folks who know me well know I’m not real good at this.
And I’ll be honest, it sure takes a lot for me to stand here.
But there’s no way I could open this store without letting you all know that all this is down to my beautiful mate, Ava.
And not just because she’s given me so much help getting this business up and running.
“When she met me, I was broken and angry and screwed up. Never thought I’d live a normal life, never mind have a family. I know I’ll never deserve her, but somehow this goddess has agreed to be my mine. And I spend every single day making sure she doesn’t regret that decision—”
He breaks off and there’s a ripple of laughter.
“Through Ava’s love, I’ve gotten more civilized. Found my place in the world. A purpose in this community that has welcomed me. All because she helped me believe in myself. I just want to say, thank you, Sweetheart, for everything.”
Tears fill my eyes as I rush over to Stinger. His own eyes are swimming, and he holds out his arms and I fall into them.
“I’m so proud of you. You know that?” I whisper to him. He dips his head and we kiss, to a chorus of awwws.
I was confident the grand opening would be a success, but it surpassed all my expectations.
The free stuff was a big hit, but people were also shopping, big time.
All the shopping trolleys were taken all night long, and Stinger’s ex-pack mates, who were operating the cash registers—filling in for the moment, could barely keep up.
“I think you’re gonna need to hire more staff,” I tell Stinger when nine p.m. comes and the final customers are shepherded out of the store.
He slides his arm around my waist. “I dunno, I think the guys are kind of in their element here.”
I follow his gaze, to where the usually surly Farris is helping an old lady bag up her shopping.
“Agghhh!” I exclaim.
Stinger’s head snaps toward me. “Was that a really bad joke?”
“No, it’s not that.” I yank out the front of my pants, try to see beneath my belly. “I think my waters just broke!”
“Oh, my god.” Stinger looks panicked “But you’re a month early!”
“Maya said she gave birth at eight months,” I gasp out. “Think it might be a shifter thing. She said it was lucky, because Vulcan was massive—Ohhh…” I clutch my belly as a strong pain ripples across my abdomen. “Contractions.”
“Let’s go.” Stinger looks around wildly.
“Let’s chill,” I say, panting and laughing at the same time. “The hospital is only forty minutes away. And the baby isn’t about to drop out of me.”
“Okay, okay.” Stinger takes a deep breath, and I grin at him, full of affection. He’s way more wound up than I am.
“Go ask your crew to close up, and we’ll just drive to the hospital. And then we’ll probably be there all night.”
Turns out my prediction was wildly inaccurate.
Two hours later, I’m on a bed in the little shifter-friendly hospital we found, and Stinger is letting me grip his hand as tight as I want.
I’ve heard his knuckles crunch a couple of times, but he doesn’t complain.
The contractions have been coming close together and I’ve been panting and complaining nonstop.
“Ten centimeters,” says the doctor who’s peering between my legs. “Okay, you can push now.”
Stinger wipes my sweaty forehead with a soft cloth before planting a kiss on it. “I’m here for you, honey,” he murmurs.
I make a sound of appreciation. He’s been a great support.
After his initial panic, he calmed right down.
It’s weird, but I feel like he’s been taking some of my pain away.
Yes, it hurts. But it’s not unbearable. And I’m real glad.
The baby is not showing signs of distress and she’s in the right position.
I want her birth to be as easy for her as possible.
“Aggh!” I cry out as the strongest contraction so far hits me.
“Push,” says the doctor.
I squeeze Stinger’s hand even harder and push, push, push for all I’m worth.
It hurts like crazy, but it’s happening. I can feel my baby coming through the birth canal. Slow at first, then there’s a big rush, and… she’s here.
“Waah!” goes a tiny voice.
“Oh, my god. Our baby.” I turn my head to Stinger. My eyes prickle, and suddenly we’re both crying. Me and this big scary wolf man. Overwhelmed at our baby arriving in the world.
“Well done, sweetheart,” he murmurs, peppering my face with kisses. “You’re amazing.” He gives me a sip of water and wipes my face tenderly, and we wait impatiently while the doctor examines her.
“A perfectly healthy baby girl,” he says, handing her to me with a smile.
I take her in my arms, and Stinger and I exclaim as we see her face for the first time. Her skin looks pink and healthy, and she has a thick mop of black hair and pale blue eyes.
“Hello, little one,” I murmur, smiling broadly.
“She has your lips,” Stinger murmurs, his voice hoarse with emotion.
“She has your eyes.”
“Isabelle?” I say.
“Isabelle.” He nods. “Suits her, right?”
“I think so.” I grin.
We picked out the name a long time ago, but we wanted to see her before we committed to it. “Isabelle Riley, you’re going to be the happiest baby that ever lived,” I whisper.
“And the strongest,” Stinger adds.
Neither of us can tear away our gaze for a long time.
“We made her,” I say. And that night at the truck stop floods back to me. So far removed from the life Stinger and I share nowadays, but I wouldn’t change a single thing.
Thank goodness for that freaky blizzard. Like a stroke of fate, it brought Stinger to me, and gave us our little girl, all in one day.
“I love you,” Stinger tells me, over and over, and my heart soars. Everything Stinger said in his speech could be true of me. I’ve grown so much over these past months, all through his love and support.
Despite all my daydreams, I never really believed I’d find true love. But here it is. Not a silly fantasy, but something real and precious and hard-earned. Between me and my big-hearted, protective wolf mate.
THE END