Epilogue
Two years later
I sprawled on the couch, legs up, AirPods in while I spoke with Ross. I’d been calling to get an estimate of people’s availability before setting an actual wedding date. Barrett had asked me to marry him this past weekend, and I’d been thrilled. It hadn’t exactly been a surprise—he’d rented a cabin out in the woods for a romantic getaway and threatened the whole clan with death and dismemberment if anyone interrupted us, so I’d guessed he was up to something. Still, his proposal made me incredibly happy, and I’d immediately said yes.
Hence I was now in wedding prep mode, starting with trying to nail down a date.
Ross being one of the harder people to schedule, I’d called him right after speaking with Huxley.
“So, anytime in summer is out?”
“ Too many shenanigans happen in summer ,” Ross explained on a long sigh. “ November is generally good. September and October are all either prep for our haunted house or we’re actually in the throes of it. ”
“November, eh? I’m okay with that. People don’t generally do winter weddings, so the dates will be easier to schedule. Not to mention a little cheaper.” I wrote a note to myself in my fancy three-ring binder. Marissa had given it to me and it said Fairy Tale Pending on the front.
Which was accurate. Maybe cheesy, but accurate.
“ How big of a venue do you need ?”
“Huge, man. Huge. And bring your dancing shoes, since dancing is huge in Cuban culture. I didn’t even realize until I lived with them for several months how much they love to dance. Also, I don’t know if Huxley has been keeping you up to date on what’s been going on the past six months—”
“ Er, we don’t actually talk all that much. Why ?”
“Well, we’re basically becoming your clan, just a 2.0. It started with the witch coven hanging out with our pack, and then people started hooking up, and now I’ve got at least eight who are either married or engaged. Their coven and our pack are basically merged at this point.”
Ross let out an incredulous sound. “ You’re not serious .”
“I’m not even exaggerating. Then, after that started happening, it was like this signal to the other supernats that we’re chill or something, I don’t know. We started finding these nomadic people who didn’t have a home, and they’d ask for a place to stay for a few while they got their feet back under them, and then they just…didn’t leave. I now have kobolds, house goblins, three dryads, and a whole flock of Thunderbirds—”
“ A whosawhatsit ?”
“Thunderbirds. Native mythology to North America, really. They’re huge, wingspan is up to twenty feet. Our territory overlapped with one of theirs—they’re more in the mountains—and they figured out we’re chill to hang with, so they started participating in our moon runs, and now they’re just in the pack. Apparently.”
“ Barrett sure is easygoing about adopting the strays .”
“Tell me about it. I thought it was my sexy charm and dynamic personality that had him taking me in, but apparently not. Anyway, the only ones still keeping their distance are the vampires. I think Oscar had been plotting something up until he realized we’re now outnumbering him three to one, and all of a sudden, he’s been quiet and low profile.”
Ross chuckled, evilly amused. “ Good. That’s how we like him. ”
“Yup, for sure. Anyway, if you’re good with November, I can run the date by Barrett—”
From outside the window, a lot of barking started up. Huh? That didn’t sound right. Wolves had a sort of bark-growl sound, or a bark-howl. This had a totally different sound to it. This sounded like actual dogs, and there was quite the range, from something deep to very high-pitched.
I had the feeling something had gone awry. Suspicions, dark suspicions, coiled within my mind. Barrett and Luis had been talking about dogs the other day, saying something about “missing having a dog.” I hadn’t paid it much attention at the time.
That may have been my mistake.
I got up immediately, heading for the window. Through the glass, I got a visual of the situation. Three different SUVs had pulled up to the curb, and different members of my pack opened up doors with excited squeals before coaxing one dog after another out of the vehicles. All types, too—mutts, pitties, shepherds, terriers; I mean, it was a very wide assortment.
The dogs hopped down lightly and immediately sniffed everyone in sight before letting out happy barks.
“ Jesse ? You still with me ?”
“Ross, I might have to let you go. For some reason, three SUVs loaded with dogs just pulled up in front of the house.” Under my incredulous eyes, dogs just kept unloading from the cars. Was this a cartoon? Had they stuffed a million dogs into those three clown cars? “I swear, I think they emptied the pound.”
From somewhere nearby I heard an excited, “PUPPIES!”
Aaannnd that had been Ria.
Ross laughed. He laughed because it was me having to deal with this and not him. Some friend he was. “ I definitely need to let you go. Good luck with that .”
“Yeah, thanks. I have a feeling I’m going to need it.”