Epilogue
Sol
“Thank you, Sol! We will be back next week as usual.” Stephanie had been attending my wellness and riding school with her omega son for a year now and was one of many omega parents who’d found a sense of peace on the vast land and with gentle horses that had helped me as well.
They were the last session for the day, so I closed up the office and headed toward the main house where we’d be having friends over soon.
After a year living with Sol, I had opened the wellness center for omegas for fees so small they were affordable to families who struggled. The session also included a hearty meal cooked from the vast array of goods that Rhys got paid in from the farmers who used his land.
Unfortunately, I’d soon found out that money was easier spent than earned.
Now, it had been two years since the night of the hunt when Rhys had dragged me out of the woods. To say that it had been a pivotal moment in my life would be an understatement.
A lot had changed since then in both of our lives. We’re settled now, but the road had not been smooth to get here.
My parents had harassed Rhys and me for compensation payments, bringing lawyers and influential people into the mix.
Rhys had been willing to discuss terms with them, but I’d refused.
They would not see any of my mate’s money.
Since Mother was known for her spite, begrudgingly I knew where I’d got it from; she’d written petition after another to the military to look into our case.
Rumors had begun to circulate about Rhys being the lesser Alpha for allowing me free rein and giving me access to our finances.
With that arose questions as to our dynamic.
It shouldn’t have ever been anyone’s business but Rhys’s work environment had become even more toxic than before.
The people he’d called friends, whom he’d trusted with his life for years, had turned their backs on him, refusing to work with him and insulting him.
To avoid a dishonorable discharge, Rhys had decided to retire.
With his rank and achievements, it had been a reasonable compromise.
It had pained me that he’d been forced to uproot his life because he chose me over his career, but he’d been telling me every day that he wouldn’t change a thing.
During that difficult time, I had become close with Ole, the omega who lived with his Alpha, Eldin, only a short drive away.
Friendship with them had opened my mind to many things my caged upbringing prevented me from knowing.
The martial-arts trained couple tracked down people who kidnapped and sold omegas, risking their lives to help others.
Some omegas wanted to return to their families, but the majority had no place to go.
Ole and Eldin had been making their tiny house open to anyone who needed help, but they had no finances or land to accommodate their growing project.
Rhys had the land and I was armed in spite.
One people found out, we had omegas and offering materials and labor to build a safe house for a community that wanted a place to call their own.
Rhys’s retirement had meant we had a smaller income, which had pushed me to begin another project—opening a wellness center school for omegas. The interest was there, but not the money.
The one thing living in a wealthy household had taught me was that money did not equal happiness.
Tentatively, I’d reached out to several of my old friends who had been mated and pitched my idea as a way for rich omegas to not only relax but learn equestrianism.
When the sheltered people learned that their money was helping other omegas and their children attend classes, and was also funding a safe house, they flocked like birds to the cause and brought their heavy purses.
My faith in humanity had grew along with every pair of willing hands, every donation, and every kind word and gesture.
So many omegas from the strict south had found a community where they felt safe, without having Alpha eyes on them, controlling and reporting back.
Rhys had used all his influence to have official approval from the military to run the house, with added clauses that no Alphas were allowed on the premises unless explicitly invited, and a radio frequency in place in the parameter to prevent random Alphas from nearing the property.
After what I’d seen happening to Dryden that night he’d found me, I wished that on all Alphas being aggressive toward an omega.
As the school was finding its footing, Rhys had been overseeing the expansion of the safe house.
I’d never been so busy in my life. Nor had I ever been happier.
After at day at the wellness center, I finally opened the door to our home and grinned at the scent of my mate in the air.
“Rhys?” I kicked off my shoes and padded into the kitchen.
“Hi baby.” He pulled me into his arms and kissed the breath out of me, then continued down my neck. “I missed you.”
“You saw me on the lunch break.”
He nuzzled the sensitive spot behind my ear. “I want to suck you off.”
“Don’t we have guests coming soon?”
He glanced down my body and lifted his eyebrows. “It won’t take long the way I do it.”
“You’re impossible.”
Dressed in loose linen pants and a black shirt that exposed his chest, he was sexy in an effortless way. I’d prefer him naked, but that would have to wait.
Rhys kneeled in front of me and looked up with his beautiful brown eyes. “Please let me suck your cock, Master.”
The words uttered in his breathy, low voice got me every time. “I need a shower—”
“After.” Rhys nuzzled my groin, tearing a moan out of me.
I pushed my fingers through his hair, which he’d grown longer, now reaching his ears.
“Go on. Make me come as fast as you can.” We’d have time for more later.
“Your wish is my command.” He unbuttoned my satin pants and licked my growing erection, then took it into his mouth to the hilt.
I gripped the edge of the counter behind me and moaned as heat coiled in my abdomen. Holy shit, he was good.
Sol was swirling his tongue, then hollowing his cheeks while looking up at me as if it was me giving him the exquisite blow job, not the other way around. I thrust gently, then harder, the way he liked it, and chanted his name. My mate, my Alpha, my brilliant partner in life.
And the hottest mouth my dick has ever known.
I shot into his throat, and he swallowed greedily until I was done.
With one last kiss to my groin, he stood up and grinned. “Thank you.”
“I’ll torture you so good tonight.” I grazed his hard dick through his pants with the back of my hand.
“I hope it will hurt.”
“It will, I promise.” With reluctance, I pushed him away. “I’ll be right back.” I ran off to shower and change, entering the living room just as our guests arrived.
Ole entered first with a basket of fresh pastries, dressed in jeans and a polo shirt that accentuated his muscled body.
As an omega, he was naturally smaller than Rhys or his mate Eldin, but his physique showed how strong he was.
Behind him walked Eldin, wearing a simple T-shirt and black cargo shorts, carrying their toddler on his hip.
Reena had on the cutest yellow sundress with horses on it and matching knee pads.
She wiggled out of her dad’s grasp and reached out for me, babbling something that resembled my name.
“Hello little warrior, are you ready to play?”
She nodded and patted my cheek with her saliva-covered hand.
I was the happiest uncle, but I was not ready for children myself. Maybe I never would be. For now, I used hormonal contraception to enjoy messy lovemaking and have easier heats.
“I have good news,” Ole said as we all sat down on the couch and armchairs around the coffee table.
“You know how the northern districts allow a selected number of wealthy omegas to attend university, right? The reputation of our safe house has reached so far, we’ve had lawyers from the north offering pro bono services to omegas needing to escape abusive relationships.
” Ole kissed Reena’s head, took her from my arms, and set her to the ground where she crawled to the rug covered with toys ready for her.
I grabbed one of the pastries Ole brought and bit into it with delight.
Rhys’s love had taught me that I didn’t need a strict diet, that I could eat well but give in to my sweet tooth as well.
Maybe I was a size or two bigger, but chocolate was worth it.
Besides, Rhys didn’t mind, and worshipped my stretch marks as if they were stripes earned in battle for self-acceptance.
“That’s fantastic.” Rhys pulled out a box of new wooden toys from behind the couch and set it in front of Reena. She squealed in delight and upturned the contents with a clatter.
“We have a list of names and numbers, but we could use your old connections, Rhys,” Eldin said and fished out his phone from his pocket.
“I can do that. It won’t be instant, but I still have a trusted friend there who wants to help. Send the doc over.” Rhys tapped his phone to Eldin’s and opened the file on his device.
“I just checked on the new family settling in,” Ole said. “They seem to be doing well. The dad cried from gratitude during the orientation last night, but his son skipped off to play with other kids right away.”
Between the four of us and Reena, we ran the wellness school and the safe house, helping as many people as we could, spreading the love and joy we found in our mates to others.
Two years ago, I was happy that I’d found a mate who loved me with his whole heart. Now, I had friends who became my family, and a community that supported each other.
When everyone had left, I took a blanket and headed outside.
I sat cross-legged and looked toward the setting sun that bathed the grass ahead in warm colors. Our horses roamed across the land, looking as relaxed as I felt.
Rhys hugged me from behind, cradling me in the vee of his legs. He buried his nose in my hair and inhaled. “I love the sun streaks in your hair. I love your new moles.” He kissed my nape. “I love how you channel your spite into doing so much good in the world. I love you, my sunshine.”
“I love you too.” Sniffling, I snuggled closer to him. “I didn’t know I was capable of all we’ve accomplished together. And we’re just starting. I’d be forever grateful that you dragged me out of the bushes by my ankles that day.”
Rhys chuckled. “I’m glad I kept the stilettos as a memento, then.”
I elbowed him in the side, and he laughed even harder.
With a contented sigh, I looked ahead toward a view that had only existed in my dreams two years ago. “I don’t have to imagine my happy place anymore. I live in it.”
THE END
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