Epilogue
DAWN
TWELVE YEARS LATER
“Talbot, I’m going to be late,” I murmured, and his response was muffled by the blankets… or my thighs. I pulled the blanket back and mock glared down at the man with my legs over his shoulders. He pouted but moved up my body.
“Fine, but just know that this wise teacher thing you have going on really makes me hot.”
I rolled my eyes and dragged him in for a kiss. “You and your twin have that in common.” My lips brushed against his, soft and gentle. “I feel like I’m going to mess it up. What if I slip, and she finds out?”
Eden Academy had called regarding Omega lessons for one of their students.
I’d been watching the school out in the wilds of Canada for a while, and we’d even sent off a couple of students to learn up there.
The lions next door had sent Bohdie for Alpha training, which was how I got roped into the job, and even the MC that now lived down in town sent their children.
Where else would you send a child with wings other than a supernatural academy?
Bohdie couldn’t have known the turmoil it would throw me into. For over a decade, we’d kept our connection to the wolves of Dark River a secret, but today, I’d see Enit again.
Talbot wrapped his arms around me. “Then you let it slip, and we’ll deal with it. It could even be a good thing. They are obviously happy up there, Dawn. We all know you made the right decision at the time, but no one said it had to be forever. They are older now. They’d understand.”
I wasn’t so sure, but I didn’t know if those were old hurts trying to flare up once more or insecurities.
Either way, I wasn’t the same girl I’d been back then.
I had the love and security of three men who would tear the world down to make me feel safe and happy.
I had a home among people who didn’t care that I was a wolf and accepted me as their own.
They didn’t care that I couldn’t give them Alpha offspring, or that I stole the hearts of all their upper leadership.
They treated me as one of the sleuth. They came to me with their problems, and I did my best to make sure everyone was well cared for.
That was what I’d teach Enit, that being an Omega didn’t mean taking away bad feelings. It meant helping people overcome their own problems. It was support and unwavering care. She was an Omega, but her happiness was just as important as everyone else’s.
The only thing the old Omega in our pack had taught me was how to take a punch and how to splint my own broken bones.
Sadness welled up at the thoughts of her, my mother, and my aunt as they always did, but that was before. The pack was happy now.
I’d visited Nevada last year, so I knew for a fact that they were flourishing.
The Alpha out there was kind and gentle, but with enough latent power that he could bring anyone to their knees, and Buenaventura had never left.
He and my aunt had fallen in love, and there was nothing that would get past him.
We’d attended their mating ceremony, and I’d cried so much that my eyeballs had felt like sandpaper.
I was happy for her. She deserved the devotion she received from Vente, although she hadn’t made it easy for him over the last decade.
Talbot snuggled me into his chest. I never got tired of how much of their bodies they could wrap around me. “It’ll be all okay, baby. You’ll see.” He smacked my ass. “Now get out of bed, you’ve lain around enough.”
I pinched his nipple. “You’re the one who said I needed two orgasms to start the day!”
He laughed as he rolled out of bed and walked me to the shower. “I stand by that, but now we’re in a time crunch, so it’s going to have to be a shower orgasm.”
If I could trust in anything, it was that my mates kept their word.
Vance had given me his office for the day, but I was fairly sure he was going to sit on the couch on the opposite wall and hope I didn’t go into an Omega meltdown, which was a possibility. The ghosts of my past and the happiness of my present were about to collide, and I didn’t want to mess it up.
Franklin had volunteered to help Shirley Sue in the preschool I ran every morning.
Shirley Sue was on track to be the next Alpha, which was unusual for a female, but we were an unusual sleuth.
Staying in touch with the littlest members of the den allowed her to build bonds for when it was time for Vance to retire.
It was a while away yet. He was still young and fit, but the preschool was my baby.
It gave mothers some self-care time, and it helped the older kids keep it wrapped until they were ready to settle down with their mates, so no teenage pregnancy.
It also helped appease my Omega needs. It was a win straight across the board.
Talbot set up the laptop in front of me, and as the time ticked down, I got more and more anxious. Eventually, Vance came over and bundled me up in his arms. “Easy, Omega. It’ll be fine.”
I nodded, despite the imposter syndrome.
I rubbed at the mate mark on my shoulder—Vance’s mark.
It was old and silver now, but it still brought me comfort.
The twins had put theirs on either side of my upper thighs, the perverts.
They enjoyed tending to them, even after all these years, and I wasn’t going to lie, I quite enjoyed it too.
Vance’s chest rumbled with a low growl. “Sweetheart, if you keep smelling this sweet, we’re going to have to delay this meeting again.”
He kissed me, a deep, plundering kiss filled with love and desire. He wasn’t really helping the scent thing. Goddess, he was still so handsome, despite having a little touch of gray in his golden beard.
Stepping away, he pushed me toward the office chair. “You’ve got this, my love.”
Talbot pulled up the right screen and kissed the top of my head. “Love you, sunrise.”
A wave of warm emotion flowed down my bond with Franklin too, and I sent it back twofold. How had I gotten so damn lucky?
I sucked in a deep breath as the screen loaded.
My heart clenched in my chest as the young woman on my screen took me back twelve years. She looked like an exact replica of my aunt, but with the white blond of my own hair, though it was styled into a cute, shaggy pixie cut.
She had a pleasant smile on her face, and she looked so like the little girl I knew, I expected her to reach out and wrap her arms around me like she’d done when she was young.
It was equally obvious, however, that she didn’t recognize me. She was beautiful, and I knew then I’d done the right thing over a decade ago.
“Hello, Enit. My name is Dawn,” I told her softly.
The girl frowned, and her head tilted slightly to the side, as if she was remembering the ghost of a dream—or in this case, a nightmare. “It’s nice to meet you. Finally.”
I let out a soft, shuddering breath. “Finally.”