Epilogue
JASON
ONE YEAR LATER
“ G ood morning, Officer Breckt.”
“Boscos,” the ogre guard greeted us.
It was routine now for me or Dad—sometimes both, like today—to do a comprehensive sweep of the woods. We didn’t worry about protesters or people trying to sneak to and from the portal anymore, but there was a lot to take stock of and to report on when running what was now a state park.
Normally, a year would have been the shortest possible time frame to get the land declared such, but given Dad had done the research previously and had started the process over twenty years ago, and because the portal was considered federal property now that it was stable and had been made public, the process had been fast-tracked. We had been official park rangers for over three months.
It was awesome.
“Anything to report?” Breckt asked from her post beside the portal.
There was a bit of a structure around it now, like the official one, so it looked like a freestanding doorway. There was also a more permanent canopy over the area, but because the portal resided in a state park, we had lobbied for it to remain as open to nature as possible.
Ricky’s team had needed to bury a few stabilizers in the ground—something he understood, since it was the same as what was in the walls and floor of the portal room in the facility—but that was it. It made what structure was there seem in complete contrast to the trees, but seeing the flux of shimmering colors like oil on water, stable instead of sparking, was a true comfort.
Of course, keeping things mostly open to nature meant the bathroom for the guards was still a porta potty. There was only ever one guard on duty now at any given time, even at night, because humans wanting to travel to the monster realm tended to not use this one, unless they really wanted to meet the leshy. And they could if they planned their visit ahead of time, but since only a few of the leshy had expressed interest in immigrating or even visiting, an occasional ambassador passing through was usually it.
And it was usually only me and my folks, going over to visit my dad’s side of the family.
“You?” I asked Breckt.
“Boring as it should be,” she answered. “Keep staying out of trouble, okay?”
“No promises,” my dad joked.
Sometimes we turned into one of our other forms for patrol, either to commune with the woods, to calm a frightened animal, or just to frolic as one of the other parts of ourselves, but usually we were human. I think Dad had missed it, honestly, because it made him feel closer to me and Mom.
We were just about done for the day, and it was beautiful out, warm and sunny. I didn’t think I’d ever get tired of being able to spend so much time just out in the elements, and it was my job, that I got paid for, by the state. Even better was having Dad part of it with me.
“Oh, shoot, son, look at the time,” he said, checking his watch. “We should get back.”
“One more stop, remember? See you around, Breckt!” I called, and then shifted into the werewolf I’d once thought was all I was so Dad would remember our final visit.
He turned into a werewolf with me, and we bounded toward a particular spot in the woods not far away. One with an easy to miss cave on the side of a hill covered by trees.
Confessing about the wolves had been a little dicey, but several people had encountered them during the chaos of protesters in the woods. We couldn’t hide it. However, once it was proven that Dad and I could communicate with them and vouch that they wouldn’t venture outside the woods or attack any wayward humans—or monsters—they’d been given sanctuary.
The males of their first and second litters had gone off in search of their own mates, and the newest litter was about a month old. We had an understanding, a kinship, me and the alpha, who’d bitten me what was almost two years ago now and had started me on this journey. The pack didn’t mind us dropping in on them in any form, able to smell that it was us regardless, but they definitely preferred the werewolf version.
Dad and I stopped just outside the den and gave a little woof to announce ourselves. We really just needed to check that no puppies had wandered off and needed to be herded home. At the sound of our arrival, all five members of the newest litter came bounding out to tackle us in play.
The older members of the pack came out slower, bowing and showing submission. We were the real alphas, because the pack’s alpha, Larry, I’d named him—which was a totally cool reference, thank you, after the original 1941 The Wolf Man main character—bowed to us too and even came over to lick my face as his usual sign of submission.
I still didn’t hear words, but I understood him and other animals in a way I’d never thought possible. I didn’t even need to use words myself. With Dad having been here to teach me, it was like a silent conversation that was all instinct.
You and the family good?
Well and happy.
Any weirdoes around?
No one who has ventured too close to our home.
Awesome. Stay safe, buddy. I’ll come play with the puppies again another time.
Dad and I left the wolves, shifted human, and continued toward the house, where Ricky should be returning any minute now.
He wasn’t an intern anymore but an official full scientist as part of Zinnia and Beck’s team. Kai was still working at the library. Even Whitmore was finally on track to return to Elder Ridge and get a permanent position here instead of in Edgewind. I’d really hoped all that time away would mean Kai’s crush would have dissipated, but apparently not, because he was ecstatic at the news, and hadn’t been dating anyone else in the hopes of one day winning Agent Asshole over.
Well, Agent Not That Big of an Asshole.
No protests had stopped Bina from starting and finishing her senior year of high school, but there had still been a few. There probably always would be. But for the most part the town had learned its lesson about letting things get out of hand. Even Colt Jensen and Ronald McDickhole were trying their best.
I didn’t let the few remaining assholes bother me. They couldn’t bring me down, not when I had Mom, Dad, Ricky, and quite a few other amazing people in my life.
“One sec, Dad,” I said, even though we were almost back to the house. “My phone’s been vibrating so much the past few minutes, I’m afraid it might jump right out of my pocket.”
Dad chuckled and paused while I got out my phone to check it. I had several messages, a few of which were from Cael and Teracht—through text, since I had eventually deleted the Monster Match app. I didn’t need it. But for everyone who had found love through the app, I was happy for them, and in a way, it had helped me find love too.
Cael: Good luck today, Jason. I was nervous when Miles and I went through this with his family. I am sure it will go splendidly.
Me: thx dude
Teracht: I hope you find cohabitation rewarding!
Me: ricky and i have been living together at my parents house for over a year man
Teracht: Having personal space with one’s mate is different! But I am sure you will cohabitate well.
Me: thats the plan!
We couldn’t live in my parents’ basement forever.
I also had a message from an unknown number.
UNKNOWN: Hello, Jason! This is Kyvian, the incubus from Pandora's Books in Gilmer Ridge. Our mutual friend Kai gave me your number. I hope you don't mind! We’re two peas in a pod, bookstore owner and librarian, and what with his folklore knowledge. I don’t suppose you and your father would be up for a call sometime to answer more of my leshy questions?
Me: sure dude. maybe tomorrow? busy day today.
UNKNOWN: That would be fantastic! I will send you some available times.
Another message from Teracht came through.
Teracht: As a courtesy for your mate, remember to clear away any cobwebs from corners, and do apologize again for that time you visited, and he got stuck in one of mine. Caleb still brings it up.
I chuckled. With any luck, there’d be more and more tester towns around the country eventually. More and more monsters to call friend.
“There you two are!” Mom said when Dad and I finally emerged from the woods.
She was on the porch, setting up tables and chairs so we could have lunch outside when Ricky arrived with his family. He’d gone to pick them up from the train station—all seven of them.
He borrowed a van from work.
“I so did miss sundress season,” Dad said, pulling Mom from the tables into a kiss. Which would have been adorable if he didn’t immediately go from a passionate kiss to her lips to kissing down her neck. This was one of the first times in a long while that she didn’t have to cover up hickeys.
“You two are like teenagers,” I said. “And I love it! But I also hate it, so please stop.”
They chuckled and managed to disentangle right in time for us to hear the sounds of the Ruas family with an eruption of jubilant noises from the other side of the house. We went inside to meet them as they piled into the living room. They’d be staying at a hotel—there wasn’t room for Ricky’s parents, grandparents, sisters, and brother in our modest home—but meet and greet and lunch was first.
Mom had met them at graduation a year ago, but none had gotten to meet Dad yet.
It was another eruption of noise, introductions, hugs, and questions that we struggled to answer coming from different directions. Ricky’s sisters, Carmen and Angela, both about to start college next year, were immediately fawning over Mickey, who had come over to sniff our new guests. He had long since been fixed and had all of his shots.
No biting or scratching , I told him. These are friends. Nothing to be afraid of.
Through the loud purring that began, I was pretty sure Mickey’s response was: More people for pets!
Mom had already agreed that the cat was mine and Ricky’s, so we’d be taking him with us when we moved out. I had a feeling Mom and Dad would get another one though.
“Can you really turn into a cat monster that looks like this little guy?” Carmie asked me, while she and Angie were giving Mickey belly rubs.
“We can turn into pretty much anything,” I said, “but let’s save the show and tell for after we eat. I’m starving!”
I must have had lipstick stains from Ricky’s mom and grandmother, because as my folks started a quick tour of the house while the meat in the slow cooker finished its final minutes, Ricky came over to wipe my cheeks with his thumb.
His hair wasn’t bound, though he had been keeping it a little shorter so it wasn’t quite the fro it used to be. I liked the shorter coils just as much, and I think Ricky preferred that this hair didn’t get any snickers out of me.
“You know what I realized?” he asked, slipping his arms around my waist, as we enjoyed what brief moment of quiet and just us we were likely to get this weekend.
“What?”
“It’s a full moon tonight.”
“Is it? You know, even though that whole psycho… uh…”
“Psycho—”
“I can get it! Psychosomatic!” I snapped my fingers. “Ha! Even though that isn’t an issue anymore, I still get a rush being outside under it. Maybe even the kind worthy of sneaking into the woods tonight to celebrate?”
“Shh.” Ricky chuckled, though the tour was over in the dining room now, well out of earshot. Even so, he conceded, “Maybe. When should we tell them?”
“After lunch? Although, since we’ll be outside, the screams of joy might cause Officer Breckt to come running.”
I took Ricky’s hands from being around my waist and held them in front of me—his left hand in particular, which didn’t currently have the ring I’d given him on it, but we wanted that to be a surprise for everyone. There had been a lot of surprises over the past year. The past several.
As it turned out, I’d always been who and what I was. I just hadn’t had a name for it right away. Sometimes it could take a while to figure out what to call yourself, and that was always okay, even if someday, everything changed all over again.
I was a monster. I was a leshy. I was gay. I could be a bit of a dick. I was trying and always would try to be better. I was a son. I was a park ranger, who’d have thought? I was Ricky’s, always. My boyfriend. My best friend. And soon to be something else.
“I can’t wait that long.” Ricky shook his head. “We should tell them now or I’ll explode.”
“Are you sure?”
“Rip off the Band-Aid!”
I laughed. “Okay.” I kissed him, taking one more moment to have Ricky all to myself, even though, after this, he was going to be mine forever. “Hey, Mom! Dad! Everyone! Before you finish that tour, Ricky and I have something to tell you.”