Epilogue - Hunter
One Week Later
Rubbing Delilah's shoulders as she stares into the room where Gwen is being kept, I can feel her shivering with worry as she gnaws on her bottom lip.
“I just wish I knew if she was okay…” Delilah whispers with a heavy-hearted sigh. “Mentally, I mean.”
“Considering what you described in her mind when the dark magic was inside her, I can't imagine that she'll be the same when she wakes up.” I turn Delilah around and stare deeply into her eyes. “But we'll deal with it when she wakes up.”
“If she wakes up,” Delilah murmurs with a pout, prompting me to wrap my arms around her.
“I’m just glad that I got you back, D,” I sigh, tightening my arms around her. From the first time when Delilah and Gwen’s minds were connected, the dark magic threatened to harm my mate. That’s how Delilah was infected the first time—when she used a ritual to prove Gwen’s innocence.
But that night, when the witches overpowered the dark force and dissolved it out of Gwen with white magic, Gwen fell unconscious, and she hasn't woken up since.
Delilah, her mother, and Arianna have all tried to use rituals to wake her, talk to her, but Gwen refuses to let anyone in, too traumatized by the events that occurred that night to even open her mind and allow Delilah to speak to her.
She probably blames herself for inflicting harm on us, though subconsciously, and won’t let Delilah in after doing more harm than good.
It's going to take time for her to heal, and for now, she's just choosing to stay closed up behind walls of her own making. The pack healer is only there to make sure that Gwen's body is nourished, and all we can do is visit to check up on her.
“Hey, Hunter…Delilah…” Arthur greets us as he comes into the clinic with a bouquet of mixed flowers in one hand.
“Hey, Arthur…” Delilah and I both return in unison, exchanging glances as Arthur heads inside Gwen's room and replaces the old flowers in the vase with the new bouquet.
“Poor Arthur…Gwen's gonna break his heart…” Delilah murmurs as she stares at the gentle giant inside Gwen's room.
“Why?”
Delilah sighs and takes my hand, and we leave the clinic together.
“She likes him, but she's afraid that she doesn't love him the way she's supposed to.”
“Well, that might be a good thing,” I chuckle nervously as we head toward Delilah's parents’ place. “That night when hell broke out at the cottage, the panic led Arthur to discover his fated mate.”
“What?!” Delilah exclaims when we stop at the porch. “Are you serious? Then what is he still doing visiting Gwen?”
“Turns out his mate is the healer,” I chuckle, and Delilah's hand flies to her mouth, her eyes glittering with amusement. “Plus, Arthur is a big softie; he still cares about Gwen as a friend.”
“Gwen has a lot of people who care about her. I just hope she wakes up.”
“Well, I hope we can find the dark lord and the witches working for him before they wreak havoc on us again. Things are awfully quiet, and it's unnerving.”
“Let's just enjoy it for now,” Delilah offers with a shiver. “I could use a little more quiet time.”
“Yeah, me too,” I say as I step forward and press a kiss to her forehead while simultaneously opening the front door. Delilah pulls back and offers me a warm smile, not letting go of my hand as she enters her parents’ house.
Alpha Gabriel and Luna Layla are already waiting at the dinner table for us, playfully jabbing at us for being late. Delilah and I take our seats at the table, and dinner begins with Alpha Gabriel telling us that he has some important news to share.
“In light of your marriage and the subsequent events of last week…” he begins, reaching for his wife's hand and glancing at her with a firm nod. “I have decided to retire as Alpha of Shadow Fang.”
My eyes widen in surprise just as Delilah's jaw drops.
“Father? Are you serious?”
Alpha Gabriel chuckles lightheartedly. “Of course, I am.
Hunter displayed some invaluable leadership skills last week, and witnessing it had me realize that perhaps it's time to pass the torch. You two are married now, anyway. Hunter will make an excellent alpha for this pack. There is nothing else left to do or wait for. I might as well take an early retirement.”
“That's what I told him,” Luna Layla chimes in with a giggle. “Gabe dedicated his life to being this pack's alpha. We didn't really have the time to travel or do things we would have wanted to do.”
Delilah smiles at her mother, tilting her head to one side as her parents gaze at each other with love in their eyes.
I reach for Delilah's hand and give it a gentle squeeze. She squeezes back, and I realize it's the reassurance I need, because I'm going to be filling her father's shoes very soon.
I have my work cut out for me, I know that.
Apart from becoming this pack's alpha, there's still a dark warlock out there who's after my wife and any witch with ties to the coven that took him down the first time around during the Blood Moon War.
We're doing everything we can to track him down and hunt him before he comes for us again, but we've had no luck finding him yet.
“Another thing that convinced me that Hunter will make a good alpha,” Alpha Gabriel continues, “is his love for my daughter.
I know I doubted you before, Hunter Black, but you've proven that the sacred true mate bond conquers all, and from it, only love can thrive and successfully lead this pack.
It doesn't matter that you are not a royal nor an alpha-blood, but the Moon Goddess chose well for our daughter.”
I purse my lips as I bashfully look down, honored to have the esteemed alpha’s approval while also having the support of my wife, my mate.
“Speaking of royals…” Luna Layla begins, and I lift my eyes to find her watching me with a knowing glint in her eyes. “Prince Hastings of Estonia is marrying a princess from Barbados, an alpha wolf from a tribal pack on the island.”
“Wow! That's amazing, and such a relief…” Delilah breathes out as she quickly flicks a glance at me. “I'm glad he's getting married and finding his own happiness.”
While Delilah's parents agree with the sentiment, there's a flicker of suspicion that passes through me, but I decide to let it be.
At least until Delilah and I are back home.
As dinner goes on, Alpha Gabriel and Luna Layla tell us about their plans to induct me as the alpha and Delilah as the luna of Shadow Fang in an official ceremony during the next full moon.
A blood moon in September is an ideal time for this, and Delilah's parents joyfully make plans for the ceremony. Eventually, dinner comes to an end, and Alpha Gabriel excuses himself to attend a meeting with an ally pack.
“Soon, you'll be the one attending all the meetings,” he chuckles.
“You're gonna have to teach me all your ways, Alpha Gabriel,” I muse in response, and the older man clicks his tongue.
“Nonsense. You'll do great, Hunter. Besides, everyone seems to like you,” Gabriel commends with a pat on my back.
“You'll have no trouble making the right friends in the right places.
It'll come in handy when you're hunting down that warlock. And I have no doubts that you will handle that situation well.”
I nod and glance at Delilah. “Of course, Alpha Gabriel. My priority is to keep your daughter safe, as well as every werewolf in this pack.”
Gabriel smiles thoughtfully, approval in his eyes. “This is exactly why I like you, Hunter,” he chirps as he leaves.
While Luna Layla accompanies her husband to his office, Delilah and I take our leave and head to our cottage, my mind dwelling on the flicker of doubt that sparked when the prince was mentioned tonight.
“What's wrong?” Delilah asks with a measured frown as she steps onto the porch and turns to me.
“Nothing,” I shrug, but Delilah cocks her head to one side and narrows her eyes at me as if she clocked that something is bothering me.
“I might have a lot going on right now, with Gwen and everything, but I know when something is bothering you,” she comments, prompting me to fold my arms and lift my head to meet her fixed gaze.
There's no point in hiding anything from her.
“At dinner, when your mom brought up the prince, you were acting strange. Relieved to hear that he's getting married.”
Delilah arches a brow at me, her eyes twinkling with slight mischief. “Is that jealousy I'm sensing again?”
I scoff dryly as I roll my eyes. “Jealousy? Hah! That's ridiculous! I have nothing to be jealous about! I don't even know why—”
Suddenly, a smooth, long finger presses against my lips to stop me as Delilah’s bemused giggle lights up the air.
“You are cute when you're jealous,” she titters as she removes her finger from my lips and wraps her arms loosely around my neck.
“That’s not what you said last time,” I point out as I settle my hands on her waist.
“I thought it,” Delilah counters, then sighs as I pull her closer. “It’s nothing, it really was just relief, and confirmation, too.”
“Confirmation of what?”
“Just…everything that's happened these past few weeks.
I was so stuck in my head that for a while, I had these dark thoughts about the prince.
It was very brief, but everyone was suspicious in my mind at the time.
On his last night in Scarborough, I thought he was implying that he was jealous of you being married to me.
I'm just relieved now that I probably made that all up in my head, just like I did everything else.”
“Well, I don't mind it,” I chuckle as I playfully squeeze her butt, smirking mischievously. “The prince is allowed to be jealous of me. He might be getting married, but he's not marrying the best she-wolf and witch on earth.”