Epilogue - Elize
The sound of an alarm went off, and I groaned, hating that it had just woken me from my deep sleep. “Shut it off,” I mumbled, throwing my arm out. “I’m still sleeping.”
“Sorry, I thought I turned it off last night,” Troy whispered as he moved. I could hear the alarm going silent, and I peeled my eyes open.
Troy was lying on his back next to me. His hair was a mess, and I took in his bare chest. My mind traveled to last night and how deep he’d been inside me. I instantly blushed thinking about how we got home.
Troy and I were wasting no time. Since the big love confession a couple of weeks ago, we’d been doing it every chance we got.
I could still remember raking my hands down his chest. Of course, because of his healing abilities, you couldn’t see them now. He looked untouched, while I knew I had hickies that covered my body.
Troy turned his head and gave me a smile that made my stomach flip. “Morning, beautiful.”
I blushed and softly smiled. “Morning.”
He scooted closer to me, reaching a hand up and twirling some of my hair. I stared into his eyes, falling in love with them more each day. “It’s early. You should go back to bed.”
“Says the man who set an alarm.”
“It was an accident.”
I chuckled. “Are you going to stay in bed?”
He shook his head. “I’m up, so I might as well get ready. I have a meeting with Ivan in a couple of hours anyway.” He kissed my nose before he slid out of the sheets. I watched him walk away, taking in his bare ass. I smirked.
“Nice butt.”
He paused as he got to his dresser and gave me a smirk. “Thanks, you have a nice one yourself.”
I watched as he got dressed, unable to stop my eyes from watching him. Troy tucked his shirt into his pants and tilted his head at me. “You’ve been staring.”
I nodded. “You look good.”
His eyes narrowed on me. “Keep talking like that, and I’ll strip back down and fuck you.”
I bite onto my cheek, a part of me wanting to. But I knew he had a busy day ahead of him, and I didn’t want to get in the way of any free time he had.
“How about this. Since I know you have a busy day, and I know this because you told me, we have a nice dinner tonight and do whatever you want when we are done.”
His eyes sparkled as he moved closer. He gave me a mischievous smile. “Oh? Anything I want? Position included?”
I nodded. “Anything. If you want me on my knees, then I will gladly do that.”
He cupped my face. “You’re an evil little thing.” He kissed me softly before breaking free. “I love you. I’ll call you later. Get some more sleep.”
I rolled back and curled myself into the sheet. I tried to fall back asleep, but my mind was wide awake now. After ten minutes of tossing back and forth, I finally gave up. I showered and made myself a cup of coffee.
I was just pouring my creamer when there was a knock at the door. I walked over and pulled it open, surprised. My mother stood there with a smile. “Mom?”
Her smile grew, and she threw her arms wide. “Morning, sweetie. Are you ready?”
I stammered. “Ready for what?”
She frowned and dropped her arms. “You forgot.”
My eyes widened as I remembered that I had asked her to join me to check in on Victoria.
My jaw dropped. “Oh god! I didn’t forget. I just haven’t had my coffee yet. My brain isn’t fully awake yet, Mom.”
She raised an eyebrow, giving me a look like her mom would. “Your face says otherwise, honey. You forgot.”
She stepped inside as I turned. “Okay, it might have slipped my mind. I wasn’t joking about being fully awake yet.”
She shut the door behind her. “I’ll forgive you.”
I snorted as I walked back to my coffee. “Thanks. Just give me like twenty minutes to finish this, and we can leave.”
She softly chuckled as she sat down at the island. “I’ve told you how proud of you I am, haven’t I?”
I nodded. “You have several times.” Ever since the blowout with Martin, both of my parents had been reaching out, and I was trying to mend our relationship.
She smiled. “I am. Your father and I are so proud of you. You’ve grown so much, and seeing you and Troy being the leaders of this pack. It’s amazing. We always knew you would accomplish great things.”
I felt a blush roll over my face. “Thanks, mom.”
“Do you feel like you belong?”
I tilted my head at her question. “What do you mean?”
She rested her hands on the counter. “You’ve always said you felt you didn’t belong. So, I just wondered if you feel like you belong now?”
I nodded, unable to stop the smile. “I do feel like I belong. This pack has been kind, and Troy has been amazing. Being able to spend time with you guys. It’s been nice.”
“Good.” She nodded her head. “I’m glad.”
I swallowed. “Mom, I’m sorry about everything I’ve done.”
She shook her head. “Sweetie, you don’t need to apologize for anything.”
“I know that I put a wedge in our relationship.”
She shook her head. “Elize, you did nothing wrong. Your father and I should have tried harder. We shouldn’t have let Martin take the reins. You were our responsibility.”
I shook my head. “Mom, you and Dad were great. I just…”
She reached across the counter. “How about this? We both forgive and move past it. Because it’s in the past and there is too much to look forward to.”
I smiled softly and nodded. “That sounds like a good idea.”
“So, how about you finish your coffee and we can hit the road.”
I finished my coffee, and we headed across town.
Over the past couple of weeks, I’d been having meetings with Victoria to make sure everyone was adjusting to the changes of being in the pack.
I wanted to make sure that everyone felt included, and if there were any issues, I wanted to know about them.
We arrived at a small house where Victoria and Charlie were staying.
I couldn’t help but smile at the small house that reminded me of a cottage.
Victoria was sitting outside pruning some flowers.
She looked like she was in her element with a soft smile plastered on her face.
Charlie was sitting on a bench reading a book.
He was in a rocking chair, and they looked like that perfect old couple.
We headed out of the car, and Victoria looked up. “Elize! Hi, honey.”
“Hi, Victoria. I brought my mother, Eva, along today.”
Victoria softly smiled at my mother. “Oh, that’s nice.”
“Hi, Charlie.”
Charlie waved a hand, not breaking his eyes away from the book. “Good morning, dear.”
We headed inside, where Victoria had the sheets spread out that we were tracking everything on. It stated where everyone was and how long the agreements were set for. Since the plan was only to keep them in the pack for a short time, we didn’t have anything arranged for the long term.
“Does anyone want something to drink?” Victoria asked as she started herself some tea.
“No thanks.”
My mother shook her head as she looked at the papers. “This is very detailed. I can see you guys have been keeping track of almost everything.”
“We wanted to make sure nothing was missing.”
“Which brings up an important question.” I took a moment to think of the easiest way to ask Victoria. She was the leader of the Convent, and I wanted to be respectful. My mother and I sat down. “What do we want to happen to the buildings in the convent?”
Victoria looked over at me. “What do you want to happen?”
“I’m not the leader. But I strongly disagree with the idea of tearing them down.”
Victoria gave me a soft smile. “They are old buildings, dear.”
“But they are important. So, Troy and I were talking about it, and we thought we could turn the space into a training ground. Give it a little remodel and keep it all standing.”
“That sounds nice,” my mother added. “They are always looking for more space. The pack is constantly growing.”
“The buildings would be repaired. We can keep the healing center and use it when needed. The space could be used by anyone in the pack. We could even have children’s retreats out there. It wouldn’t just have to be for training.”
“That’s actually not a terrible idea.”
I smiled. We had been pondering what to do with the buildings. I wasn’t ready to just forget them, and I knew they were important to the people of the Convent.
“It will take some time before they can start, but as long as we’re all in agreement with the idea. I’ll let Troy know.”
We stayed with Victoria for another hour.
Victoria told stories about me in the convent, and my mother shared stories about when I was little.
We all had a good time before my mother and I headed out.
“Do you want to have some lunch later?” We paused on the street.
“I bet your father would be able to join us.”
“I would love to, but I’m joining Troy at a meeting with the other Alphas, and it’s over lunch. How about tomorrow? I can bring Troy with.”
She nodded. “Tomorrow works. Do you want a ride home?”
I shook my head. “I’m just going to walk. I’m going to pop at the bakery and get cookies for the meeting.”
She hugged me before she crossed the street to her car.
I headed down the road to city hall. I smiled as I passed people, getting smiles in return.
Over the past couple of weeks, a lot had changed in the pack.
After everyone started to heal, word spread about the truth, and people were livid with the council for hiding it.
The council had retreated, almost as if it had disappeared. I knew they were around, but it was clear they were lying low. Which I think was a good thing because Troy seemed to have more of a hand over his pack this way.
Troy was working long days and trying to help with getting the Convent more comfortable in the pack. It was clear that things were starting to change.
I opened the door to the bakery and inhaled the smell of fresh bread. I placed my cookie order, sat by the window, and waited. I couldn’t help but smile thinking of all the changes.
I looked forward to the day when Troy and I would finally catch our breath and settle into our lives. I knew it was just around the corner.
My eyes spotted a man across the street. I stiffened as I realized it was Martin.