Epilogue
Monte
One month anniversary.
Life certainly looked different for me now.
It was hard to believe that it had been exactly one month since I set eyes on my girl and she changed my life forever.
Pete said we were still in the honeymoon phase of our bond. I couldn’t even think about her without smiling. She made me happier than I ever knew possible.
Of course, when he thought no one was watching, he still looked similar every time he glanced at Sadie.
We spent a lot of time with them now as Zoey and Sadie had become practically inseparable. I was pretty sure Remy was jealous of all the time I got to spend with her now. It was hard to explain to him though. Maybe one day he’d get it.
Having another couple to walk through life with was great. Pete understood all the craziness of having a mate in college and had helped me with adjustments to living life for two because everything wasn’t just about me anymore.
Overall, we’d made the transition pretty easily, at least I thought so. I much preferred living with Zoey to living by myself. I wasn’t even sure I could sleep without her snuggled up next to me. It was different, but good.
I walked into the doghouse after a tough day of classes. Zoey had told me she had plans and would meet me for dinner.
Since she still had duties as President of Theta, we mostly stayed at her place now, but when I knew she was busy or we just wanted a change of scene, my room at the doghouse made a great getaway.
I figured since I had a few hours to spare, I’d catch up with my brothers. But as I got closer to the house, I could feel her presence more strongly.
Confused, I walked in through the front door to find her sitting in the middle of the girls and all of my brothers.
“He’s going to kill me for showing you this,” I heard her say with a giggle.
This wasn’t the fake persona Zoey, this was my real, genuine mate, and I loved that she could feel that comfortable with my people, my family, my Pack.
“What’s going on here?” I asked.
She jumped and accidentally hit play on the remote.
“I’m Monte. Rock climbing is a hobby and a bit of a passion for me. And I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit jealous of this newest harness from Rock Steady . . .” I heard myself on the TV as I launched into my spiel about the harness she was trialing when we were snowed in at the lodge.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Oops. You aren’t supposed to be out of class for another two hours,” she accused.
“My last class got cancelled.”
“Well, go hide in your room and pretend you’re in class,” Caleb said.
“Yeah, Zoey promised us the outtakes,” Dakota said.
“We’ve all seen the videos, now we get to see the real behind-the-scenes shit,” Braxton added. “So go away so we can laugh at you without feeling guilty about it.”
I groaned as my self-made infomercial continued in the background.
Refusing to leave, I took a seat at the back of the room. I couldn’t believe this was happening.
On the TV it went from that to Zoey falling off the rock wall. I easily caught her but then looked at the camera and grinned. “Now that’s how you catch a damsel in distress,” I said with a wink. And then I lost my footing and dropped her as I stumbled to find my balance. “Oh shit.”
The room exploded in laughter.
“That was much later.”
“They know. I compiled all the best outtakes into one file,” she admitted.
I groaned. It only made them laugh harder.
This continued for another two hours. Pretty much every second of it was shots of my failures, and there were plenty of them.
After the harness review went live, her fans had lost their shit over our chemistry on screen.
So after our mating she manipulated me into doing another video with her, and then a third.
It had gone public that we were a couple and her fans’ feedback told her they couldn’t get enough of the two of us on screen together.
I was still holding my ground and refused to become a permanent face on her channel, but I did concede to the occasional appearance.
“More,” Remy cheered.
“Sorry guys, that’s all I have for today, but next week we’re filming a, um, pleasure item that someone out of San Marco sent me. Those outtakes should be priceless.”
“Ew. No thanks. I don’t want to see Monte like that,” Rose whined.
I laughed. “You wish. While I’m perfectly willing to fully test the item, there will be no video during the trial of it.”
“Thank God for that. No one wants to see you like that,” Kevin teased.
“Speak for yourself!” Zoey professed. Then her cheeks turned bright red.
The room erupted in laughter.
“Okay, we’re done,” she quickly added, jumping up to retrieve her thumb drive from the television and then walking over to hug me as the group dispersed. “Sorry about all this.”
“It’s fine. I’m not mad.”
“I know. But just in case, I planned something special to make up for it.”
“You did?”
“Yup.”
“What?”
“It’s a surprise.”
I let her lead me out of the house and to her car. I was surprised to find it was loaded with bags.
“Are we going somewhere?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“It’s a surprise.”
She got into the driver’s seat, so I sat in the passenger seat. Before she started it up, she pulled out a box and removed a silk scarf from it.
“Apparently there are lots of uses for this. It came with the vibrator that Emma from San Marco sent me. She gave a full list of options. We’re going to start with the blindfold.”
I grinned. “You or me?”
“Since I can’t exactly drive and wear it and you don’t know where we’re going, I’m going to say you.”
“What are you up to?”
“You’ll see,” she said with a giggle as she secured it around my face.
“How long do I have to wear this thing?”
“Just until we get there.”
“What about the vibrator?”
“Later. I promised you I wouldn’t try it out alone.”
I couldn’t wait to use it on her, though I never in a million years thought I’d be interested in something like that.
I always thought of toys like that as something private for someone not getting any.
It never even occurred to me that it could be fun in a shared way, but now I was excited to find out.
There was nothing I wasn’t willing to do or try with Zoey.
“How much longer?” I complained after what felt like an eternity on the road.
“We’re almost there.”
I reached over and felt around to find her thigh. I gave it a squeeze and slid it back toward her body until I found exactly what I wanted. I fumbled around with the button on her pants as she swatted my hand away.
“Do you want me to wreck?”
“Of course not. Just relax and keep the car on the road.”
I tried again. This time I made it into her pants, but when my finger touched her, she jumped and I imagined we were very near death when I heard the rumble strips.
“Bad idea, got it,” I said, jerking my hand back. “I do like this blindfold thing though. Kind of heightens all your other senses. Unfortunately, that includes signs of a near death experiences.”
She laughed and gave me a shove. “Jerk.”
“Are we there yet?”
“You’re worse than a child.” But the car came to a stop, and I heard her put it in park.
She got out but left me in the car.
“Can I take this blindfold off now?”
“No,” she yelled.
I waited impatiently a few minutes longer. I was just about to take it off when my door opened. She took my hand in hers and pulled me from the car.
“Okay, now.”
I removed the blindfold and looked around. We were at one of my favorite spots to go rock climbing.
“It’s beautiful here, right? I was told you love it.”
“I do.”
She held up two Rock Steady harnesses.
“I heard you like these, so I called in a favor. You already know I’m terrified of rock climbing, but it’s something you love so much that I want to give it another try . . . with you.”
She bit her lip nervously.
“If I wasn’t already head over heels in love with you, I would be now.”
I pulled her into my arms and twirled her around, kissing her.
“You really meant it?” I asked, just to be sure.
“Nervous, but I trust you, so yes. Let’s do this.”
I didn’t wait around for her to change her mind. She already knew the basics and would be fine with me by her side.
I got the necessary setup in place and had her up the cliff face just as the sun was setting.
“Walk over to me, but don’t let our ropes cross in the process.”
She did as told, and when she was in arm’s reach, I snagged her around the waist and pulled her to me.
She squeaked and I realized her eyes were shut.
“You’re missing it, doll. Open your eyes.”
Hesitantly, she did.
Her jaw dropped as she looked past me to the sunset.
“Oh my gosh. It’s breathtaking.”
“Nothing like it, doll. This is what climbing is all about.”
She rested her head on my shoulder as we watched the sun set.
“We should get down before it really gets dark.”
“Yeah, okay.”
But first, she kissed me.
I wanted so badly to deepen it. My mind even wandered to the prospect of making love up here, but I pushed it aside. That was an idea for another day.
She didn’t just stare at the rock on the descent like she had on our journey up. She kept looking past me out into the valley.
I loved the look of peace on her face. It portrayed exactly how climbing made me feel.
Once back on solid ground, she threw her arms around me.
“That was the most terrifying and awesome thing I’ve ever done.”
“Will you do it again?”
“Yes,” she said without hesitation. “But only as long as you’re there.”
“I wouldn’t miss it for anything.”
As soon as we got back in the car, she blindfolded me again.
I groaned.
“Do I have to wear this the whole way back?”
“No, but also, we aren’t going back tonight.”
“What are you up to?”
“You’ll see.”
A short time later, as she came to a stop and put the car in park, I took off the blindfold and laughed.
Cedar Ridge Lodge.
“There were some tough memories here, doll.”
“I know, but some good ones too. Thought we could use a fresh start with a weekend do-over.”
“You mean a whole weekend alone with you . . . and the vibrator?”
“Yup.”
“Sounds like a perfect weekend to me.”
I jumped out of the car, grabbed our bags with one hand and then tossed her over my shoulder with the other as I raced towards the building.
She was protesting and laughing at the same time when I set her down in front of the check-in desk.
Karla smiled when she saw us. “Ms. Jones and guest I presume. Checking in?”
“Actually, it’s Mr. and Mrs. Jones now,” I told her without taking my eyes off my beautiful mate.
Karla’s head jerked towards us. “Seriously? That was fast.”
Zoey shrugged. “When you know, you know.”
“I guess. Well, here’s your key. I put you back in the presidential suite, same room as before. I hope you enjoy your stay.”
“Oh, we will,” I said, kissing my mate before dragging her off for a weekend we’d never forget.