Epilogue
GABE
The entire pack had gathered at my cabin for the ceremony, plus a couple of others.
Coach Julian was here, along with Darlene Mitchell, a local druid with bouncy blond hair and a perpetual smile who had kindly offered to lead the ceremony.
She wore a flowing evergreen dress, an ombre effect making the dress lighter toward her chest. Delicate light blue and ruby red flowers were stitched into it, rising up from the bottom and following the lines of her legs all the way up to her plunging neck line.
They matched the black and white floral tattoos that wound up both her arms.
“Oh I can’t wait for tonight,” she had said as she arrived at the cabin, clutching a heavy leather book to her chest. “I just love love. Especially between two hunky shifters.” She had given me an overly suggestive and very endearing wink.
“It’s just one shifter,” Eli playfully said, his hand warm in mine. “I’m human.”
“Even better. Hot and diverse. Love crosses all barriers!” And then she tapped her way into the cabin with a pair of shining red platform shoes and introduced herself to the rest of the pack.
Not only was she fabulous, but she brought an infectious joy with her that made the night even more special than it already felt.
The energy was jubilant.
The smell of grilled meats and sweet baked treats filled the inside of the cabin, drifting out through the open doors and onto the large back porch where most of us were gathered.
Everyone wore their fanciest outfits and had their hair and make-up done so that it looked like a gathered group of handsome and beautiful movie stars, not primal shifters waiting for a full moon.
Which was a little ironic since the second the moon took her seat above us, the transformations would happen and these clothes would get ripped to shreds.
I readjusted the midnight blue tie around my neck. I wasn’t exactly fond of dressing up—I much preferred either gym clothes or nothing at all—but neither of those were options for tonight’s event.
After the festivities, though? Well I’d have to consummate the bond somehow and that certainly wasn’t happening with a suit and tie on.
“Nervous for tonight?” Dyl asked me as I sat down next to him at the small round table off to the side. We’d all already eaten dinner so there were still a couple of napkins and plates in front of me.
“Actually…” I mulled over his question for a moment.
“I do have that buzz I get before a big game.” My gaze drifted toward the opposite end of the porch, where Eli stood with Chris, Raquel and the druid Darlene.
Raquel straightened out the bright yellow (canary, to be exact) pocket square and dusted off the shoulders of his fitted suit.
This was new to all of us. No one in my pack had found their fated mate yet, so no one really understood entirely how tonight worked.
Except for Darlene.
She apparently was a pro at full moon ceremonies. She traveled all over the world to officiate them.
“It’s a big night,” Dyl replied. He wore a suit similar to mine with the same midnight blue tie I had on.
He’d also gotten his hair freshly cut, buzzed all the way around.
The slash of white from his birthmark still visible across the side of his head.
“Makes me wonder if I’ll ever be as lucky as you. ”
I gave him a genuine smile. “Isn’t your middle name ‘Get Lucky’?”
“Get-in Lucky. And that’s just because I get a lot of ass. Not because I’m lucky enough to find my true love.”
“You will, Dyl. You’re too much of a catch not to.”
“Thanks, man, but I don’t know. My track record isn’t exactly great.
Hell, a few months ago I ended up getting kidnapped when I thought I was getting some.
Talk about a dick-appointment gone wrong.
” He shrugged and offered me a cheeky grin.
“That’s ok, though. I’m fine with my fate being that of a dumb fuckboy for the rest of my life. ”
“That isn’t your fate, Dylan. And you aren’t dumb. Sure, you have a very thin grasp of things like geography and you did think Mario and Luigi were based on real-life plumbers—“
“—Not my fault my uncle owned a plumbing company that was begging to be sued.”
I laughed, reaching over and giving Dyl’s shoulder a friendly squeeze. “Regardless, you’re also one of the biggest hearted, funniest, charismatic, and selfless man I’ve ever known. You’d lasso the moon if someone asked you to. Your fated mate is out there, and you’re going to find them.”
“Thanks, Gabe.” His grin grew wide. “It means a lot coming from you.”
Dylan and I were close in age but he still felt like the little brother I never had. A lovable goofball who had a knack for getting himself in trouble. I’d always have his back, same way I knew he’d have mine.
He leaned back in his chair. “Who knows, maybe it’s the new Physical Therapist we’re getting.” He chuckled, almost to himself. “Wouldn’t that be wild?”
“Crazier things have happened,” I said.
“Ok!” A sing-song, jubilant voice called out. I turned to look at the druid. “Time to take your places. The ceremony shall begin in five minutes.”
“Well,” Dylan said as he stood up, reaching a hand out to help me onto my feet. “Time for you to get fated.”
ELI
Tonight was the night.
In only a couple minutes, I’d be standing underneath the full moon, surrounded by bipedal wolf people, staring up at the blue eyes of my mate and making things ‘official’, tying us together for the rest of our lives (and possibly afterlife but the jury still seemed out for that).
The Elijah that had arrived in Burlington nearly a year ago would have turned and ran.
Wouldn’t have been confident enough or accepted the fact that love was real and he’d actually found it with a damn shifter.
I’d been broken and defeated. Was looking for a fresh start and a new place to call home, a new team to call friends.
Turns out I found so much more than that.
I found my pack.
It had been a tumultuous road to get here and I was beyond grateful I got to walk that road with Gabe.
He looked so breath-takingly handsome tonight.
Like a prince ready to take his crown and proper place on the throne.
He wore a jet black suit and a crisp white shirt with a midnight blue tie that made his eyes pop like gems. He still had the shadow of a beard on and his short hair had been perfectly cut.
We’d been hanging out all morning—helping his sister settle into the new care facility.
It was teasingly called Ritz-wood because of how nice it was.
A place Gabe had told me he wished his sister could be in but couldn’t make it work financially.
That was before I came into the picture, though. I didn’t hesitate, offering up to split the cost between us to make it more affordable. It took a little bit of convincing but Gabe had given in and his sister was now living in what could be classified as a five-star resort.
I stood in front of him, my hands clasped into a loose fist, my smile a permanent fixture on my face tonight. The ceremony did feel like it was wedding-adjacent. There weren’t any seats, nor any flower girls or ring bearers, but the vibes of a wedding were definitely all here.
This gathered group—majority of which were about to transform—had become my family. No need for safe rooms tonight. At least not during the ceremony. Gabe didn’t have any neighbors close by. Once it was over, they would likely all run into the woods to burn off energy until the sun rose.
I had asked Gabe what he wanted to do after we tied the so-called knot. All he told me was to be prepared because the ceremony would need to be consummated. He emphasized the last part of that word. I had other questions to ask him but never got the chance to.
Guess I’d be finding out tonight…
“Thank you all for gathering here tonight,” Darlene said.
She held a black leather tome in her hands.
I had to have a long explainer about druids and their connection to shifters and nature itself.
Apparently they had the power to manipulate plants and could sometimes speak to some animals—wild stuff, but I’d heard (and seen) of wilder.
“Oh, before we start, here.” Gabe pulled an oversized clip-on dark blue tie from his pocket. He handed it to me. “So you can put it on me after I shift.”
“Oh my heart, you’re going to melt me,” Darlene said, a hand to her busty chest. She looked like a cross between Dolly Parton and a witchy girl who made a living selling her spells on Etsy.
“Now. Before the shift, let me start by saying I’m honored to be chosen to lead tonight’s ceremony.
It is a rare thing to witness fated love and even more so to cement it.
Thank you.” She gave us both a deeply earnest smile.
“As for the ceremony,” she continued, craning her head back to look up at the sky. “Let it begin.”
Then, as though she coordinated that moment with the moon itself, the shifts began to happen. Gabe fell to his knees on the hard wood of the deck. So did the rest of the pack around us. I took an involuntary step backward even though I’d seen this happen already.
Like the shifts into their wolf forms, these shifts were concealed by an odd haze in the air.
As if I were looking at Gabe through a clouded camera lens.
I could make out some details but nothing that would likely make my stomach turn inside out.
I had a quick thought about what it would look like photographing this—something I’d have to ask Gabe later.
Only a minute or two passed when the haze lifted and Gabe rose up to his seven-foot something height, his blue eyes looking down at me past his elongated jaws. His lips curled into what could only be described as a smile, even though it revealed canines the size of my fists.
The rest of the pack had also shifted, their clothes ripped to shreds at their feet. Coach Julian watched in quiet awe. He had known that shifters existed but apparently had never actually seen them in their were forms.
Gabe leaned downward. He extended a clawed hand and lifted the tie that was in mine.
“Oh, right,” I said, having already forgotten.
I reached around Gabe’s thick, furry neck and clipped the tie on.
It brought my nose right up against him.
He smelled like pine and lemon and sex and love and every god damn good thing there was in this world.
“Great. Now, let us begin. Please, hold your fated mates’ hands.”
I held my hands out and placed them inside of Gabe’s clawed grip. I had big hands but they looked like tiny doll parts in Gabe’s. He closed them around me. I smiled up at him, my heart filling with an indescribable joy.
“Tonight, we are brought together by the weaves and will of destiny, lapped over by the tides of the full moon. Here, in front of us beat two hearts as one, steering two souls as one, tying together two futures as one. A love that transcends barriers is what cements you two together and what will always bond you. Through this life and the next, through turmoil and pain, through joy and celebration.” She turned to look at me.
“Elijah Sager, under the binding power of the full moon, do you accept your mate’s bond? ”
I looked into Gabe’s blue eyes, recognizing him even under the visage of his were form. “Yes. A hundred percent, I do.”
“And Gabriel Sanderson, under the binding power of the full moon, do you accept your mate’s bond?”
A second of silence elapsed before Gabe tilted his head back and let out a long, drawling howl toward the night sky.
The rest of the pack followed suit. The night filled with the sounds of their howls.
It echoed in my bones. I looked down and realized that a glittering white light had begun to swirl around us.
It grew brighter, sparkling as it wrapped around Gabe and I.
My hands tightened around his furry grip.
Although I wasn’t entirely sure what was happening, I also knew I wasn’t scared.
The light encased us as if in a cocoon, making me close my eyes against the brightness. A warmth cascaded through my chest and out toward every inch of my body.
Then the light vanished, but the warmth remained.
Darlene waited until it all died down before continuing. “The bond between fated mates has been sealed and witnessed by the Burlington pack.” She closed the heavy tome in her hands with a loud clap. “Now, you may kiss your mate.”
I looked up at the massive wolf-man standing in front of me.
I rose up on my tip-toes, put both hands on his massive face, tilted my head and pressed my lips to his snout.
His tongue lolled out and lapped mine. I chuckled and kissed him back, my heart full of love and my future feeling brighter than ever.
My man.
My fated mate.
My Gabe.
THE END.
Thank you for reading FULL MOON FACEOFF!