Epilogue
ANGEL
The main part of camp bustles with activity when Garrett and I arrive for the Christmas Eve feast. Every shifter family brings a dish to the tables in the camp’s center, nestled by four bonfires which add plenty of warmth and light to an otherwise chilly, dark night.
“I love how the firelight bounces off the tree’s decorations,” Garrett says, still holding my hand.
“I hadn’t noticed that. You’re pretty observant about your surroundings.”
“Comes with the job description. I’m still working on interacting with other shifters part.”
I kiss his cheek. “You’re doing fine. Perfect in fact.”
“Feeding my ego, huh?”
“You don’t have an ego. That’s part of what I love about you.”
He kisses me back, square on the mouth, and not a short kiss either despite all the kids around. A few whistles lead to me ending the kiss.”
“Don’t let them get to you.”
“I’m not. But we’re here to celebrate, not perform.”
“Yeah, one performance a season is enough for me.”
“No more Howling Howliday Cousins tonight?”
“Hell, no. Especially with so many shifters here. I don’t recall this feast being so huge.”
“Maybe because you’ve skipped the last few.”
“No more skipping. Not with you at my side.” His hand hooks around my waist, and whispers, “Tonight would be a good night to blood-bond.”
“And interrupt the kids’ fun? Never. How about next week?”
“New Years? Fabulous idea. You deserve fireworks.”
“I deserve you.” I lean in for another kiss, a shorter one this time. “I don’t want to tell anyone yet either.”
With a squeeze of his hand, we head toward one of the bonfires, where Mila’s sitting between Hayden’s legs, his hands massaging her neck and back.
“When’s this baby coming?” Garrett asks.
“It’s a white wolf,” Mila says. “They don’t work on anyone’s schedule but their own.”
Hayden merely grins.
“How’s the scenting?” Mila asks.
“Getting there. Have you and Anna finished testing?”
“Nearly done. Eighty-nine percent of the guards have some level of cadmium in their tissues.”
Garrett releases a long whistle. “That’s high.”
“Too high. As for the rest of the pack, I’ve only found cadmium in ten percent of the shifters. In more kids than adults.”
“Why the kids?” I ask, concerned.
“Their systems don’t flush out impurities as easily, especially if they’ve only recently shifted. And the teens push their limits, meaning a lot of runs to and even over the border.”
“The guards spend some of their days corralling and getting them back in our territory.”
“Those were fun times.” A wry smile fills Garrett’s face. “Each time I got caught, I got lectured by the guards. It only made me want to try again, to see if I could outsmart them.”
“Now I understand how you became so good at infiltrating,” Hayden says.
Mila turns onto her side, struggling for a comfortable position. I’m surprised she’s out here at all instead of her house. But when I think about it, there is nothing more comforting than being surrounded by pack.
When I caress Garrett’s cheek, he takes my palm and kisses it, right where he’ll use the knife to blood-bond me in a week. I smile but say nothing as our eyes meet and we trade looks.
“We’re fortunate we caught the outbreak as soon as we did,” Mila continues, well aware that we’re talking in public. “The guards’ cadmium levels aren’t as high as Angel’s. They’ll heal quickly. One to three weeks.”
“We’re lucky we caught it at all,” Hayden says. “That’s due to you, Angelina. No one wanted you to suffer, but it’s what saved us.”
I blush. “It’s nice knowing some good came out of my being sick, but I didn’t do anything.”
“You stuck with us. Didn’t give up on yourself or us. And you trusted my Mila to help you.”
“You feel like pack now?” Mila asks.
I face the Christmas tree and take in all the new decoration I’ve added with the kids. Figuring out how the WSSO used the cadmium was important, but it doesn’t feel as important as what the kids and I did together.
“What are you looking at?” Garrett follows my gaze. “There’s a lot of new ornaments on there. Is that what you’ve been doing all week?”
“Not just me. The kids, too. Couldn’t have done it without them. I think once I’m fully healed, I’ll resume working with Sadie Lynn. Not before. I don’t want to risk another accident like what happened with Alex.”
Garrett stands suddenly, eyes locked on one of the lower-hanging ornaments. My stomach tightens as he walks over to the penguin wearing the red scarf and white skates. His fingers hover before tracing the ornament. “This was for Marla.”
“I retrieved it from the garbage.”
“I don’t understand.”
“So no one forgets her.” I touch a nearby ornament, a glove the kids decorated with glitter and wrote the name Ray.
“This is for Tiberius’ brother who died in a research facility.
And over here…” I touch a piece of quartz painted with the name Matt the Rat.
“Oh my, I should take this one down. The kids shouldn’t have written rat on here. ”
“No, leave it.” His hand covers mine, easing it away from the ornament. “We called him Matt the Rat because he always told on us as kids. He never minded the nickname. Matt took pride in upholding the alpha’s rules. He eventually became an enforcer. Did a hell of a job, too, until…”
Garrett’s voice drifts off. “I haven’t thought of him in years. You did all this, Angel?”
“With the kids, yes. We spoke to a good portion of the pack, asked for items that held meaning to their surviving family or friends. If they didn’t have a personal item we could hang on the tree, the kids created ornaments out of stones, pinecones…
anything they could decorate and add the fallen shifters’ names. ”
His eyes widen slightly, understanding dawning. “This is why you went to Tiberius and the other males I saw you with.”
“It started with the ornament you threw out. I never wanted you to forget Marla. But I didn’t want to be her replacement either.”
He takes my face in his hands. “You could never be anyone’s replacement, Angel. You’re my everything.” His kiss takes away any doubts I had.
“She was a friend, nothing more,” he repeats.
“I know,” I say, because I do, down to my soul.
This shifter wouldn’t lie to me, even if he knew how.
“Because she had meaning in your life, I don’t want you to forget her.
That’s when I realized you weren’t the only shifter hurting.
There would be others who lost family and friends in defense of this pack. ”
“The kids decided to call the ornaments Guardian Angels,” I explain as other shifters gather by the tree, pointing at and touching select ornaments. “Here they stand watching over us in perpetuity, never to be forgotten.”
“Angel, I have a confession to make,” Garrett says, his fingers moving on to trace the names of other fallen shifters.
My wolf sits up, a little wary, but I stroke her. We’re home here. Nothing Garrett could say will change that. After all, he is our home.
Garrett motions to Petra, a sweet seven-year-old who bounces over with a huge smile on her face, her hands behind her back.
“Now?” she asks Garrett.
He nods.
She swings her hands in front of her, holding a carved wooden ornament, in the shape of Idaho, with a crescent moon over where my pack used to be, and the words Crooked Elc in gold glitter.
“I didn’t spell it out for her,” Garrett says.
“Oh, it’s perfect!” I hug Petra first, then throw my arms around Garrett.
“It was a joint effort, right, Petra?” he asks.
“I picked out the glitter, Lina. Can I go play now?”
“Certainly, darlin’.”
She races off to join the game of freeze tag over by the food tables.
I hold the ornament up, watching the glitter sparkle in the glow of the bonfires.
Garrett’s hand rests on my lower back as I gaze at the ornament. “I enlisted Petra’s help because I have no artistic talent.”
It’s hard to talk right now, because of the tears I’m fighting to hold in and the lump in my throat. Garrett seems to understand, because he keeps talking, giving me the chance to collect my thoughts.
“About a week ago, just after Mila diagnosed you, I went to Sadie Lynn. Figured she might know what you were up to. Not that I wanted to pry, mind you, but I was worried about you, Angel. Anyway, Sadie Lynn didn’t want to say anything at first, until I begged her.”
Begged?
“Not my finest moment, but I was really worried about you. I guess she saw that, or maybe she just didn’t want me getting in your way.
Either way, she told me what you were up to.
I can’t even begin to tell you how humbled and proud I felt, Angel.
That you’d try to heal my packmates after everything you suffered.
That’s when it occurred to me, you’d lost more than any of us.
Your entire pack. Everyone you loved, should be remembered, too. ”
I press my lips against his and whisper, “Thank you. For making me a part of your pack.”
“Our pack, my love.”
“Is it okay if I change my mind about blood-bonding?”
His entire body freezes, and I realize my error. “Oh, God, no, Garrett. Not if, I mean when. We could blood-bond here, with all the pack, those who are here, and those… those Guardian Angels who watch over us.” I point to the ornaments.
He lifts me up and twirls me. “She said yes,” he shouts at the top of his lungs. My Angel agreed to blood-bond me!”
Cheers erupt around the camp.
I swear I hear someone say finally and it’s about time. How easily those few words—said with pure heart—warm me.
“Quick, someone get the ceremonial knife from my cabin. We’re doing this, now!”
“Before she can escape you?” Damien asks.
“Yes!” Garrett says. “I’m not taking any chances.”
As if I’d ever leave him… Damn, but I love this shifter, and every one of his packmates.
Within minutes, Damien’s standing in front of us, beneath the majestic branches of the Christmas tree, ornaments sparkling in the moonlight, a ray bouncing off the ceremonial knife in his hand.
“The family blood-bonding knife,” Damien says. “Nice touch, Gare. I didn’t think you were a romantic.” He slices along Garrett’s palm, blood dripping to the earth.
Garrett beams with pride. “Nothing but the best for my Angel.”
His Angel… I look up at the top of the Christmas tree. There’s no angel up there.
Damien turns my palm over, but my eyes slide to Garrett, watching his expression as the knife slices across my flesh. I barely feel it. Probably because of the awe filling Garrett’s expression. He didn’t expect this day would happen.
Neither did I. But my wolf and I know it’s right. Perfect in fact.
Even with the pack around us watching, it’s as if Garrett and I are alone, becoming one as we clasp our hands together.
The blood from our open wounds mixes, binding us together, even before Damien finishes wrapping the ritual gold cord around our hands.
A presence I know is Garrett sweeps through me, becoming part of me in a way I never imagined. He’s really mine now. And I’m his…
“Now I know why we never had an angel for our tree,” Garrett says as he pulls me flush against his body. “We were waiting for you, Angel.”
“I’m hardly an angel.”
“You’re my angel. The only one I’ll ever need.”
My eyes never leave Garrett, my mate, my blood-bonded mate, as my heart and soul open wider than I ever thought possible.
His thoughts, hopes, and dreams move through me like a huge, calming wave.
I can’t read his mind, not yet, maybe never.
It’s hard to say what the blood-bond will grant us.
But I know what’s in his heart, because I feel it beating in synch with mine.
I truly am home…