22. Epilogue- Bethany
I’m nervous.
I shouldn’t be nervous.
I lift my hand and hesitate before my knuckles hit the fly screen door. Saint crowds in behind me and lifts his knuckles and knocks for me.
The door opens, and Auggie lets out a scream and almost flies through the screen door as she tackles me.
And just like that, whatever fear was holding me in a choke hold vanishes. She stands like that for a whole, sobbing into my shoulder, but it’s good tears. I can feel how happy she is.
“Is Raider here?” I ask hopefully.
Auggie shakes her head. “No, he’s got a game.”
The disappointment I feel is sharp. I owe him an apology. I’m going to need to sort that out one day soon.
“What the ever-loving fuck?”
Auggie whips around. “What is it, Charles?”
“Locke’s mansion burned down last night, and he’s missing,” Charles shouts. “We need to go find him.”
I follow my family inside, leading my pack into my childhood home. My home.
Just like I promised, Auggie hugs every one of my uncomfortable alphas, treating them like one of the Raines.
My throat tightens. They are one of us now. And I’m one of them. I wonder if they realise they’ve just been adopted into Pack Raines.
They look around curiously, but they don’t quite fit, and I realise this isn’t home to me, either. It’s one of them, but my home is our bar, our house, our bed. This place is full of memories, but it belongs to my parents and their pack. I’m suddenly so grateful they took me in, that they gave me all these opportunities, that they allowed me to be who I wanted to be.
But I’ve outgrown it.
“Hey, Dad.”
“Hey, darlin’, you look good.”
“I feel good.”
My dad spots the bonds on my neck and smiles widely. “I see we’re having a celebration.”
“What is with these bloody Raines kids running?” Charles snarls, and I realise in delight that he’s referring to me, too. It always makes me a bit teary when they do, even though they have never, ever treated me as different.
“Let him go,” I say to the room.
It falls silent. “What?” Auggie asks in confusion.
“Locke needs to find his own happiness. Give him a few weeks before you start searching.” I hesitate, unsure how much to tell them. “Please. Let him have a few weeks.”
“He’s a rockstar, it’s not like he can disappear-” Sol says and looks around curiously, “can he?”
I shrug. “If he runs far enough, he can.”
Auggie studies me for a moment and takes my cheeks in her hands. “You got very wise, my girl.”
I beam at her.
“All right. Animals need to be fed, chores need to be done. Boys, pick a pack member. I want to see what you’re made of.”
I groan but turn as Auggie grabs my arm.
With resignation, I watch as Saint, Crow, and Hunter are dragged off by my dad and uncles.
“Want to help me cook?”
I nod. I used to always cook with Auggie. It was our special time.
I peel the potatoes while she cuts them. But I can feel her heavy stare. The kitchen is very rustic, but the stove is new. Everything else looks the same. I smile at the pictures of cakes on tins lining each cupboard.
“Ask me.”
“Was it worth it?”
I hesitant only one moment. “Absolutely. I knew they were out there. I just needed to find them.”
“How were you so sure?”
“Because you found yours. I saw what you had, and I wanted it. I had to have it. You shouldn’t have set such high standards.”
Auggie blinks rapidly and pauses, looking up at the ceiling. “Well, that’s just…” she cuts off with a sob. “I’m happy for you.”
I smile down at the potatoes. “I would have made Raider miserable. You know that, don’t you?”
“I know.”
“I didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.”
“I know. I’m sorry I let them push. I’m sorry I pushed. It was wrong of us.”
“It’s okay. This is exactly how it was meant to work out.”
Auggie and I talk, but we avoid any deeper subjects, and I don’t ask about Kelly or Raider again.
When the guys come in, I laugh at Saint’s black expression and his darkly muttered hiss about hating cows and how he’s eating an extra big steak when we get home.
Crow bursts into peels of laughter and says he’s found a cat he wants to bring home.
Hunter stays in conversation with Sol, the two of them getting along like a house on fire.
We sit at the enormous table, where I ate so many meals before. There are empty chairs, people missing, but it still feels right. The Raines’ sons and cousins will come home when they are ready. This absence is not forever.
With my pack beside me, I’ve finally achieved the dream, the one that fuelled my desperate flight from the farm at sixteen, chasing a belief that no one else believed in.
And here I am.
With a pack. Scent matches. Bonded.
Saint turns towards me, looking between my eyes as if to make sure I’m okay. Crow sits so close his thigh is pressed against mine, while he animatedly talks with Sol about music. Hunter smiles from the other side of the table. He butters a slice of bread and places it on my plate.
My stomach flutters.
I bite my lip to hold back the smile.
Crow leans down, his lips pressed to the shell of my ear. “We love you, Bethany Raines. And we will forever.”
I turn and find my pack all looking at me knowingly. They planned this. Tears well in my eyes. Here in the place I left because I was so desperate to have real, true love…they are giving me the words I’ve been dying to hear.
Auggie sniffles and leans into Wayne. “Our baby is all grown up.”
I splutter, but Saint turns my face to his with one finger under my chin.
“Forever.”
Hunter echoes him.
Yeah, I think I will love them forever. And maybe even longer.