Epilogue
AURA
If you’d told me three years ago that I’d be standing in Blackwood Forest at a birthday party with wolves, bears, and dragons, and no one fighting, I would have laughed.
Or run.
Or assumed it was a trap.
But here I am, holding a bowl of potato salad while wolf kids chase dragon toddlers around a smoky barbecue, and the only real risk is that Hunter’s third try at cooking venison ribs fails like the first two.
“Those are charcoal,” Goldie, the bear’s mate, calls cheerfully as she passes the grill.
Hunter squints at the grill. “They’re smoked.”
“They’re cremated, dude,” Evan corrects mildly. “I told you we should have served them raw.”
Goldie grins at me and lowers her voice conspiratorially. “It’s fine. If they blacken all the meat, we can eat the flapjacks I made.”
“Mmm...” I say. “I love flapjacks.”
“Evan calls them crispy porridge,” she says with a bright laugh.
“I don’t know if that makes them more or less appealing.”
I’m still smiling when Ahya’s voice cuts through the clearing.
She’s four today.
Four.
Her growth slowed, thankfully, so now she looks her age. Still, there’s a calmness and maturity in her that’s older than her years.
She stands on the picnic table like a little woodland queen, her red curls shining in the sun and her hands on her hips. For a moment, I picture her as the girl in the red hood, walking bravely through the woods and making friends with wolves instead of being afraid.
But this isn’t that story. There’s no wolf here to harm her. Now, they stand behind her, protecting her always.
She bossily directs her younger wolf siblings, Thoren and Fredrick, in the construction of what she insists is a “castle tower.”
It is, objectively, a pile of logs.
“Higher!” she commands.
“Careful,” I call as Kaspian attempts to scale it using partial claws.
Kaspian, Kelan’s son, already has his dad’s intensity but is lacking his patience. When he gets excited, shadows flicker under his skin, emerging in obsidian scales, just like his daddy.
“Use your hands and feet, not your talons,” Kelan says calmly beside me, though his shoulders are tight.
“He loves being a dragon,” Scarlet says. “He gets that from you.” She smiles, smoothing the skirt of her gorgeous red dress.
Kelan raises an eyebrow. “What’s not to love about being a dragon? Wings are awesome. Power is spectacular. Fire is the best!”
“He climbed the kitchen island yesterday to reach honey and left claw marks everywhere,” I remind him.
“Hatchlings are a menace,” Ronyn mutters. He still burns hotter and fiercer than the rest of us, but now that fire warms more often than it destroys.
Scarlet laughs, and it sounds easy now. We’ve come a long way from the days of worry and silent sadness.
Dana, golden and thoughtful like her father Darial, is examining a beetle in the grass rather than participating in the structural recklessness.
Rosaline, my little firecracker, roars at Hunter’s triplets, and they roar back, all of them laughing. Ronyn watches his daughter with pride and amazement, still in total awe of her existence.
Behind us, a burst of flame whooshes unexpectedly.
We all turn to find Darial crouched beside the grill, breathing a careful stream of fire beneath the ribs.
“It needed some help,” he says defensively.
The heat flares higher than intended, and Hunter yelps as a spark bites his forearm.
“Hold still,” I say automatically.
Hunter stares at the reddening skin. “It’s nothing—”
I’m already beside him, magic coming to life under my hands, soft and warm, ready to heal. I touch his arm, and the burn disappears, the red fading away.
Goldie exhales slowly. “Every time you do that, I want to cry.”
“It’s simple healing,” I say gently.
“It’s so much more,” she corrects.
It isn’t simple. It never has been.
Healing takes something from me, like the slow drain of giving blood, a weakness that seeps into my bones if I use my power too much. It’s why I choose my moments.
But sometimes… I hear things.
A news story of a child suffering or a mother counting down the days she has left, and when that happens, I find a way.
I always find a way. It could be in a crowded street or a hospital corridor. With a fleeting touch that no one questions, I can ease the worst of it, taking the edge off the suffering before I slip away.
They never know it was me, but for a little while, they get to breathe without pain, and sometimes, when the goddess is willing, they’re renewed.
Hunter flexes his arm and grins. “All right. That’s impressive.”
“Be more careful,” Kelan warns Darial.
“I was multitasking,” he says, lifting his hands in surrender.
Scarlet shakes her head. “Dragons.”
“Wolves,” Darial counters lightly.
“Bears,” Goldie adds, rolling her eyes.
Everyone smiles.
Goldie laughs as Evan lifts one of their twins high into the air. Her five boys move like a single wild group: two dark-haired twins and three lighter triplets tumble between wolf pups and dragonlings as if there has never been a divide between them.
Near the fence line, Marcus and Theo argue amiably with Robert over lumber contracts. Nixon takes over the grill, flipping burgers with Finn, while Reed pretends that he isn’t competitive about whose marinade is superior.
Cami, the calm wolf mystic, sits with Nixon’s mother beneath a wide oak tree. Beads click softly between her fingers as she watches everything with knowing eyes.
She smiles, as if she’s already seen this future.
Maybe she has.
Like Ahya, she sees past the boundaries of time.
Kelan steps beside me and slides his arm around my waist. His gaze sweeps the clearing with his usual vigilance, but today there is no hint of threat for him to respond to. Instead, he has a chance to focus on our family, his expression one of happiness and pride.
“She looks like you,” he murmurs.
Ahya throws her head back and laughs at something Thoren says. “She is herself,” I answer.
My firstborn is a wild sprite, a force of nature who will do more for the world than I ever will. She doesn’t need to follow in anyone's footsteps. One day she will lead in ways none of us can yet imagine.
I can’t see into the future, but I know my daughter will have a special part to play.
***
After we’ve all eaten the mostly perfectly grilled meat and salads, Scarlet brings out the cake. It’s red velvet, of course, and topped with a bear and wolf made from fondant. Ahya gasps and claps her hands.
Scarlet sets it down carefully. “Four candles,” she says softly.
Ahya clasps her hands to her chest in theatrical awe. “It’s perfect, mama.”
“It’s a little crooked,” Scarlet admits. “But I do get better with every year. I guess practice makes perfect.”
“It is perfectly made with love,” I reassure her.
Scarlet looks at me and nods. I’m relieved her eyes now hold no fear, only understanding. We share motherhood, even if it looks different for each of us, and I’ll forever be grateful for the love and guidance that she and her wolf mates provide to Ahya.
Before the candles are lit, I kneel and pull a small velvet pouch from my pocket.
“I have something for you,” I tell Ahya.
Her eyes widen as I open the pouch and draw out a delicate chain of woven silver and gold threads. At its center hangs a tiny charm shaped like a leaf.
“It’s magic,” I say quietly. “Wherever you are, you’ll know I’m close to your heart.”
Ahya’s expression turns solemn in a way that makes my heart ache.
“For me?”
“For you,” I whisper. “Because magic runs in your veins, and you should never feel alone in it.”
Scarlet’s breath catches, but she nods once.
There will come a time in Ahya’s life when love and guidance about her wolf shifter nature won’t be enough, and I’ll be there to lead her on her magical journey.
Maybe Kelan will model leadership, Ronyn protectiveness, and Darial gentle humor.
We will always be there for my sweet little girl.
I fasten the chain around Ahya’s neck. The charm glows softly, almost like it knows her.
“You’re my magic mother,” she says firmly.
“I am.” I kiss her cheek and she presses her chubby hands to my cheeks, showing me what love looks like to her in flickering pictures of her family, and all the people sharing this birthday celebration. It’s so beautiful, I have to swallow tears, so I don’t ruin her party.
Thankfully, Nixon chooses that moment to clear his throat gruffly. “I can’t find the matches.”
“No problem,” Darial says, shifting just enough to breathe a soft puff of fire onto the first candle.
The wolf pups and bear cubs all clap excitedly, and our dragonlings smile proudly.
I kneel next to Ahya as everyone gathers around. Kelan stands behind me, his hands warm on my shoulders. Ronyn and Darial are on either side and our kids crowd in, curious and bright-eyed.
“Time to blow out the candles and make a wish,” Scarlet says.
Ahya squeezes her eyes shut.
The forest stills.
Then, wind rushes through the trees. Leaves fall and spin like golden confetti. Sunlight shines through the branches in a single bright beam that feels like the Goddess's approval.
Ahya blows, and all four flames extinguish at once.
For a heartbeat, no one speaks.
Then Kaspian claps, Rosaline shrieks with delight, and one of Goldie’s triplets trips over a log and lands face-first in the grass.
Laughter and cheers explode across the clearing.
As the cake is cut and someone argues over the frosting distribution, Ahya throws her arms around my neck.
“I love you,” she whispers.
My throat tightens. “I love you too,” I tell her.
And now I can say it without guilt or shame because, though our family isn’t traditional, we are happy, and that’s all that matters.
Scarlet rests her hand briefly over mine as she takes Ahya’s hand.
I stand and lean back into Kelan’s chest as Ronyn licks icing from Rosaline’s fingers and Darial patiently explains to Dana why beetles shouldn’t attend birthday feasts.
Blackwood Forest used to bleed with division.
Now, it’s filled with laughter.
Wolves, bears, and dragon children will grow up thinking this kind of unity is normal.
Maybe that’s the greatest magic of all.
I'm no longer running.
I’m standing right in the middle of this world filled with love.
And there’s hope here for all of us.
If you’ve made it to the end of this book and this series, please know how grateful I am that you chose to spend your time with me in Blackwood Forest.
If you’d like to read more, click HERE for a bonus chapter.
When I first imagined the world of Blackwood Forest, I knew it would be filled with fairy tales, magic, danger, and fierce love, but stories only truly come alive when someone reads them. Thank you for letting this strange, passionate, magical world unfold around you.
Check out the other two books in the series here: Blackwood Forest Series
Keep reading for a excerpt from Shared by the Bears.
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