EPILOGUE
Orion
One year later…
I hadn’t been this nervous in all of my five-thousand-plus years on this planet. My stomach twisted and flopped like an ancient trireme ship sailing the Aegean Sea. For good reason too. For the first time in a long time, I was back on my native soil.
Thanks to Cupid, I’d been able to make amends with Apollo. He no longer wanted me dead and even laughed at the miscommunication that precipitated my death. Sanctimonious prick. All the desire I’d once had for him was gone. Staring at him, I couldn’t help but wonder what I’d seen in him in the first place. No one could hold a candle to Kaden, not even the Greek god of the sun. I wasn’t about to share my revelation with Apollo. My former flame was a bit on the insecure side.
Kaden and I were an hour south of Athens in Cape Sounion, Greece, at the ruins of the Temple of Poseidon. Built around 440 BC, the temple was constructed in the typical rectangle with tall Doric columns and broad stairs leading to the inner shrine. Parts of the altar were still intact, while rounds of fallen columns littered the ground like a toppled wedding cake. Set atop a cliff overlooking the sparkling Aegean, the location had been a perfect spot to pay tribute to the god, my father.
I’d been in touch with Poseidon again, thanks to Apollo agreeing to bury the hatchet. He would meet us for dinner later, but in the meantime, I had some work to do.
The sun was beginning to set into the sea. Kaden and I sat, his back to my front, on the craggy cliff, ready to watch the show. I pressed a kiss to his cheek. “What do you think?”
Kaden grinned. “I still can’t believe we’re in Greece. This has been a trip of a lifetime for me, getting to visit all the ancient sites I’d only ever read about. These last two weeks have been heaven on earth.”
“Yes, they have, and it’s all thanks to you.” I’d spent every second of the last year I could with Kaden. There had been a bit of an adjustment period and some rocky days filled with growing pains, but I wouldn’t trade any of them. Every hardship, every loving look, and hours of bone-jarring sex had only served to cement our relationship.
“I’ve never seen a sunset quite like this before.” Kaden sighed, his gaze set on the horizon, which was golden with the sun’s dying rays. Above the gold were swirls of orange mixed with shades of pink and purple.
The topic of Kaden’s werewolf side had been one of those instances of rocky days. There were times when he couldn’t have cared less that he’d been shunned from his pack and others when he was so devastated he couldn’t get out of bed. It was a touchy subject to bring up. I’d thought long and hard about what I was about to say, and I hoped my next words wouldn’t doom my plans. “I’ve been thinking,” I began, butterflies rioting in my gut.
“Always a dangerous thing.” Kaden laughed and leaned back against my chest.
“When you’re right, you’re right,” I agreed easily. My eyes were on the colors in the sky while a warm breeze stirred my hair. “I want to heal you,” I whispered.
Kaden turned to look at me with a confused look on his face. “You have healed me. I’ve had countless paper cuts, stumbles, and falls over the last year. You’ve healed every single one of my injuries.”
“I want to cure your allergy.” My breath caught in my throat as I spoke. “We’ve talked so much about how being shunned has affected your life. If I were to put an end to your problem, you could go back to them as a whole man.”
He shook his head, looking as if he were gearing up for a fight. “I appreciate you wanting to do this for me, but if my family couldn’t accept me with my defect, then they don’t deserve to have me in their lives regardless of your being able to fix me or not.” Kaden’s voice held no anger, only a weariness I’d heard in him every time we talked about his condition.
“I hear you. Trust me, no one knows more about being shunned than me. This is the first time I’ve been back to Greece in nearly five thousand years.” Hearing the amount of time out loud never failed to make my heart ache. “My family were the gods and goddesses of Olympus. They could have sought me out at any point over the millennia, and they didn’t. Part of it was they were afraid of what Apollo’s revenge would look like, but that’s an awful lot of years for them to have kept their distance.”
“I know I sound like a whiny brat, but my answer is still no.” Kaden snuggled back against my chest.
“What if I cured you for you?” I knew I was dangerously close to inciting Kaden’s anger, which was the last thing I wanted on today of all days.
“I don’t understand.”
“I know how much you love being in wolf form. I also know what a toll the allergy meds take on you physically as well as mentally. What if you didn’t have to deal with those symptoms anymore? You wouldn’t have to tell a soul, certainly not your family. You could just enjoy running free.”
“I never thought about it like that before. Every other time we’ve talked about it, I couldn’t help thinking it was this mutation that kept me from fitting in with my family, but the real truth of the matter is I wouldn’t have been good enough for them no matter what.” Kaden took a deep breath. “Do it.”
Pressing a kiss to the back of his neck, I set my magic free. Any pain Kaden felt hurt me double. He deserved to live his best life, and I was determined to do whatever I could to help him. “Your wish is my command,” I whispered, my eyes on the sunset and our future. “How do you feel?”
Kaden was silent for a minute. “Physically, I don’t feel any difference, but my wolf is ecstatic. He can’t wait to run free.” He turned around to straddle my legs. “How do I ever thank you for this amazing gift?”
“Oh, it’s simple. All you have to do is agree to make me the happiest man in history.” Opening my closed hand, I revealed a gold wedding band.
“Holy shit!” Kaden gasped. “Does this mean what I think it means?”
I nodded, unshed tears turning my sight glassy. “You make my entire world shine. Your love is a gift I treasure with my entire being. My heart and my soul belong to you for all of time. Marry me, Kaden. Let me spend the rest of our lives showering you with love.” I held my breath. Kaden wore a look of stunned awe. I couldn’t tell if his reaction was a good omen or a bad sign.
Setting his hands on either side of my face, Kaden kissed me. It was the sweetest kiss of my life. “I can’t imagine living for one second without you by my side. This last year has been the best of my life. I find a hundred new reasons every day to fall in love with you again and again. You’re everything to me. My sun. My moon. My stars. It would be my greatest honor to be your husband.”
“Is that a yes?” My heart pounded so loudly I could barely hear my own words.
“Definitely a yes!” Kaden held out his hand. My own shook as I slid the ring onto his finger. “It’s gorgeous.” The gold band sparkled in the dying rays of the sun.
I wrapped my arms around Kaden, hugging him tightly. For the first time in a long time, I felt free. Not defined by my past. No longer bitter or heartbroken, but whole. Kaden thought I was the one who’d spent the last twelve months healing him when, in fact, he healed me.
Above us, twinkling in the twilight, was the constellation Orion. Burning bright, like our love, for all eternity.
THE END