Epilogue - Bryan
It’s been three months, and I still can’t believe this life is mine.
I’m leaning against one of the wooden posts near the edge of the pack gathering with a bottle of beer warming in my hand while I watch the celebration unfold.
Lanterns are strung between the trees, music drifts from somewhere near the bonfire, and wolves mingle in clusters throughout the space. Laughter rises and falls like a tide.
But my attention is fixed on one person.
Skylar is standing near the refreshment table with Fern and Ruby.
She’s wearing a simple blue dress that hugs her curves, and her copper hair settles in little ringlets around her shoulders.
Fern says something that makes her throw her head back and laugh, and the sound carries across the yard to where I’m standing.
My wolf stirs beneath my skin, satisfied and content in a way I never thought possible.
That woman is mine. My mate. My future. My everything.
James appears beside me with his own beer in hand. “I say this as your friend. The staring is getting creepy.”
“I’m admiring my mate. That’s not creepy.”
“It’s a little creepy.” He takes a swig of his beer and follows my line of sight. “She looks happy, though. Happier than I’ve seen her in years.”
“She deserves to be happy.”
“She does.” James claps a hand on my shoulder. “You’ve done good work these past few months, Bryan. The security team respects you. The pack is starting to trust you. That’s not nothing.”
I nod but don’t take my eyes off Skylar. Working with James has given me purpose again. I’m using the skills the Black Ops taught me, but for protection instead of vengeance. It’s honest work that lets me sleep at night without dreaming of blood and death.
“Go get her,” James prompts with a knowing smirk. “I can tell you’re dying to drag her away from this party.”
“Is it that obvious?”
“Painfully.” He laughs and shoves me toward the gathering. “Get out of here. We can handle things without you for one night.”
I don’t need to be told twice.
I make my way through the crowd and nod at familiar faces as I pass.
Connor raises his glass in greeting. Dylan gives me a brief nod before turning back to Sera.
Dina catches my eye from across the way and offers a small wave.
She’s settled into Silvercreek well these past few months.
Skylar helped her find a cottage near the medical center, and she’s been training with Sera to become a field medic.
The hopelessness I saw in her eyes during those first days has started to fade.
Skylar spots me approaching, and her smile turns from friendly to something warmer. Something just for me.
“Ladies,” I say as I reach the group. “Mind if I steal my mate for a while?”
Ruby grins. “By all means. She’s been talking about you nonstop anyway.”
“I have not,” Skylar protests, but her cheeks flush pink.
“You absolutely have,” Fern agrees. She pats her now flat belly out of habit and adds, “Go on. I need to breastfeed the baby anyway.”
I take Skylar’s hand and lead her away from the gathering before she can argue. She comes willingly enough, though she sends one last look over her shoulder at her friends.
“Where are we going?” she asks as we slip into the tree line.
“Home.”
“The party just started.”
“I don’t care about the party.” I stop walking and turn to face her. The lanterns are distant now, and their glow barely reaches us through the branches. “I care about getting you alone.”
Her breath catches. “Bryan...”
I don’t let her finish. I bend and scoop her into my arms, cradling her against my chest while she lets out a surprised laugh.
“What are you doing? I can walk.”
“I know you can.” I start moving through the forest, following the familiar path to our cabin. “I want to carry you.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“Do you want me to put you down?”
She wraps her arms around my neck and snuggles deeper into my hold. “No.”
The cabin comes into view after a few minutes. I carry her up the porch steps and through the front door, kicking it closed behind us. The fire I built before we left for the party has burned down to embers, but there’s still enough heat in the room to chase away the autumn chill.
I carry her straight to the bedroom and set her down beside the bed. She looks up at me with those lustful eyes, and my wolf growls with want.
“I’ve been thinking about this all night,” I admit. “Watching you laugh with your friends, seeing how beautiful you look in that dress. All I wanted was to get you alone.”
“You have me alone now.” She reaches up and hooks her fingers into the front of my shirt. “What are you going to do about it?”
I answer by capturing her mouth with mine.
The kiss starts slow and languid. I take my time learning the shape of her lips all over again, tasting her like I have all the time in the world. Because I do. We do.
She melts into me and slides her hands up my chest to curl around the back of my neck. I ease her backward until her thighs hit the edge of the mattress, then pull back just enough to look at her.
“I love you,” I tell her. “I don’t think I tell you that enough.”
“You tell me every day.”
“It’s not enough.” I find the zipper at the back of her dress and drag it down slowly. “It’ll never be enough.”
The fabric parts beneath my fingers, revealing inch after inch of soft skin. I push the straps off her shoulders and let the dress pool at her feet. She’s wearing a simple white bra and matching underwear, and the sight of her makes my mouth go dry.
“Your turn,” she whispers.
I pull my shirt over my head and toss it aside. She reaches for my chest on instinct, gliding her fingers along the lines of muscle. Her touch is reverent. Accepting. She’s never once looked at my scars with anything but love.
I unclasp her bra and slide it down her arms. Her breasts spill free, full and heavy, and I cup them in my palms. I roll her nipples between my fingers, and she gasps.
“Lie down,” I tell her. “On your back.”
She obeys, settling against the pillows while I strip off my jeans and boxers. My cock springs free, hard and aching. I see her gaze drop to it, and she licks her lips.
I slip my fingers under the waistband of her underwear and draw them down her legs. Then I crawl onto the bed and settle beside her, propping myself on one elbow so I can look down at her face.
“You’re so beautiful. I still can’t believe you’re mine.”
“I’ve always been yours.” She reaches up and pulls me down for a kiss. “Even when I hated you, I was yours.”
I cup one breast and roll her nipple between my fingers. She arches into my touch with a soft moan. I trail my hand lower, over the curve of her hip, down to the heat between her thighs.
She’s already wet for me. I groan against her mouth as I slide my fingers through her folds.
“I want to watch you,” I tell her. “I want to see your face while I make you come.”
I circle her clit with slow, steady pressure.
Her eyes flutter closed, and her lips part on a gasp.
I drink in every reaction, memorizing the way pleasure transforms her features.
She obeys. Her dark gaze locks with mine, and the intimacy of it makes my heart skip a beat.
I increase the pressure on her clit and rub faster now. She struggles to keep her eyes open.
“Bryan...” she moans.
“That’s it.” I slide two fingers inside her while my thumb continues working her clit. “Let me see you fall apart.”
Her inner walls grip my fingers as I pump them in and out.
I curl them to find that spot that makes her back arch off the mattress.
Her hands fist in the sheets, and her breathing turns ragged.
She’s close. I can see it in the flush spreading across her chest and the way her thighs start to tremble.
“Come for me, Skylar. Now.”
She shatters with a cry. Her body convulses as pleasure rolls through her. I work her through every wave and gentle my touch only when she starts to whimper. I withdraw my fingers and bring them to my mouth and hold her gaze while I lick them clean.
“You taste incredible,” I tell her.
She tugs at my arms and replies, “I need you inside me.”
“Not yet.” I roll onto my back and pull her with me. “I want you on top. I want to watch you ride me.”
She straddles my hips and positions herself over my aching cock. I grab her thighs as she sinks down slowly. She takes me inch by inch until I’m buried completely inside her. From this angle, I can feel every flutter of her inner walls and every tiny movement she makes.
“God, you feel good,” I breathe with a grunt.
She plants her hands on my chest and starts to rock. The sight of her above me, breasts bouncing and her head thrown back, makes me lose my mind. I let her set the pace while my hands roam over her thighs, her stomach, and up to cup her breasts.
“Bryan...”
“I’ve got you.” I thrust up to meet her movements, and she cries out. “Take everything you need.”
She finds her rhythm and rolls her hips in slow circles that drive us both higher. I watch her body move above me. Her breasts sway with each movement. My hands settle on her hips to guide her but not control. Tonight is about her pleasure as much as mine.
She leans back and braces herself on my thighs. The new angle lets me slide even deeper inside her. Her head falls back. A moan escapes her lips. I reach between us and find her clit, where I rub circles in time with her movements, and her moans grow louder.
“That’s it.” I watch her chase her pleasure. “Show me how good it feels.”
She rides me harder. Her pace increases as she nears the edge. I thrust up to meet every downward roll of her hips and drive myself deeper with each stroke. The pressure builds at the base of my spine, but I hold it back. I want to see her fall apart first.
“I’m close,” she gasps. “So close.”
“Let go. I want to feel you come around my cock.”
Her body goes rigid above me as she cries out, and her inner walls clamp down around my length in rhythmic pulses. The sensation drags me over the edge with her. I hold onto her hips and thrust up one final time to spill inside her with a groan that tears from somewhere deep in my chest.
She collapses forward onto my chest, and I wrap my arms around her and hold her close. Her heart pounds against mine. She shivers as we cool down, and I pull the blanket up over us without letting her go.
We lie tangled together in the aftermath. Neither of us moves to clean up or roll over. We just hold each other, skin against skin, heartbeat against heartbeat.
“Can I ask you something?” Skylar’s voice is sleepy, muffled against my chest.
“Always.”
“What are your plans? For the future, I mean. Now that everything with Rafe is over, and you’ve settled into the security team. Do you ever think about what comes next?”
I consider the question. A year ago, I wouldn’t have had an answer. My entire existence revolved around the next mission, the next target, the next Cheslem wolf to put in the ground. The future was something that happened to other people.
But that was before. Before the lottery drew our names together. Before Skylar gave me a second chance I didn’t deserve. Before I finally understood what it meant to have something worth living for.
“My only plan,” I tell her, “is to spend every day earning the second chance you gave me. To wake up beside you every morning and fall asleep with you in my arms every night. To build a life here, in this pack, with you.”
She tilts her head back to look at me. Her eyes are shining with tears that make something behind my sternum ache.
“That sounds like a good plan.”
“I love you, Skylar. I’m never leaving again.”
“I know.” She smiles against my lips. “I love you too.”
We fall asleep wrapped around each other, and for the first time in longer than I can remember, I don’t dream of blood or death or the ghosts of everyone I’ve lost.
I dream of the future. Our future.
And it’s beautiful.
*****
THE END