Epilogue
Taylor
Three Months Later
Warm air blasted across Taylor’s face as he stepped into La Fourchette. It was damned cold outside, and as he wiped his nose across the back of his hand he was pretty sure he had icicles hanging from his nostrils.
After scraping his muddy boots on the mat, he stretched and slung his jacket over the coat rack.
Chatter and music hit him like a wall of noise, and waitstaff hurried past with stacked trays. The restaurant was booming as usual, and he found that the sensory overload tickled his brain in a comforting way.
“Man alive, I’m tired,” he sighed, the parquet floor squeaking as he strode towards the bar.
“Taytay!” came a high-pitched squeal, followed by the thud of Marty’s feet as he barrelled head first like a fucking rhino into Taylor’s chest. Marty threw his arms around him, and as Taylor buried his nose in the top of his head, he could have sworn he’d had another growth spurt.
“Evening, buddy,” he said, squeezing him tight. “Good day at school?”
Marty beamed up at him, gripping his hand as he tugged him towards the bar. Johnny was mixing drinks in a black sleeveless shirt, and holy hell, the way it made his arms look was actually criminal. He glanced up, giving Taylor a lopsided smile.
“Yep!” Marty replied. “We made Diwali lamps from clay. Look!” Shoving Gabriella aside, Marty reached across the bar and handed Taylor a purple and green blob with a tea light sticking from the top.
“Namaste,” he said, nodding sagely and slapping his hands together whilst standing on one foot like a monk.
“Amazing,” Taylor replied, eyeing the so-called lamp.
“It’s for you,” Johnny said, poking out his tongue. “To put on your desk at work.”
Taylor wrinkled his nose, because he could already hear Amil’s sarcastic little voice. That’s an insult to Hinduism, you prick.
“I love it,” Taylor said, tucking it away in his pocket.
The rest of the kids were lined up behind the bar, nursing their usual milk and apple slices. Taylor flicked the end of Clementine’s braid before settling himself on a stool between her and William.
Taylor eyed William. “It’s meant to reach your belly button, dude,” he said, tugging on the end of William’s ridiculously short school tie.
William scowled, running his fingers over it. “Shut up. Gabby kept grabbing it.”
Gabriella laughed, her afro bobbing as she snatched at it. “Only because you never take it off!”
William blushed at that, and it made something in Taylor’s chest ache. According to Kat, William had never been to school consistently. Never worn a uniform, never had a fresh pair of shoes, or his own pencil case stuffed full of gel pens—which was the biggest crime of all.
Like Taylor, he’d always been different from the other kids, but now he had something that was his, even if it was just the scratchy grey trousers and awful salmon and navy tie of West Newton Secondary School.
“Hi, by the way,” Johnny said, unclipping the hatch and stepping out from behind the bar. He had an apron slung low around his hips, and actually those fitted black dress trousers looked pretty fucking illegal too.
He smiled and kissed Taylor square on the mouth, earning them a round of groaning and retching noises from the kids.
Little bastards.
Taylor ran his eyes over Johnny’s face, over the tired but contented smile that lifted the sides of his mouth these days. He looked good. Like, really good. His hair had grown out over the autumn and Maman had put cornrows in to protect it from the heat of the kitchen.
Taylor reached up and ran his fingers between the braids, tugging on the dangly ends at the back.
“Good day?” Johnny asked, retying his apron and dipping back behind the bar. He poured Taylor a beer, and Taylor would have absolutely been lying if he said the image of Johnny as a sexy househusband didn’t turn him on just the tiniest bit.
Taylor nicked an apple slice from Marty’s dish and crunched it loudly. “Oh, you know. Same old people, different day. I rescued a badger from Keith’s basement earlier. Got its leg stuck in some old fishing line. Bitey little bastard.”
Johnny grinned, pouring himself a glass of water. “They are wild animals.”
Taylor smirked. “I meant Keith. Anyway, where’re Maman and Papa?”
Johnny sighed, downing the rest of his drink. “Gone out dancing. Allegedly. Although Papa looked way too giddy about it.”
Taylor pressed his tongue between his teeth, wiggling his eyebrows. “Good for them. Keep it up and you’ll have another sibling running around.”
“Ew, gross!” Gabriella groaned, burying her face in her hands. Clementine only grimaced and pushed up her glasses.
Johnny pressed his lips together, hiding a smirk. “They’ve started sex ed in school.” He leant across the bar and whispered, “It isn’t going well, as you can see.”
The evening drifted on, and as much as Taylor had hated school, he did agree to help the kids with their homework.
Well, that had been a mistake, because after trying and failing to understand long division he had never felt so fucking dumb.
He stayed quiet after that, choosing instead to watch Johnny as he ran the bar and ordered the waitstaff around.
Damn, the man was bossy as hell when in his element, but did Taylor like that?
Yes.
Yes, he did.
They waited for the final few customers to pay up and filter out, and as soon as Johnny pulled down the shutters for the night, the obnoxiously loud music of Dance Dance Revolution blasted into the restaurant.
Johnny grinned, shaking his head as he slung an arm around Taylor’s neck and perched on his knee. “How did it go today?” he asked, leaning against the bar so the stool didn’t topple over with their combined weight. “Are they giving you your guns back?”
Taylor sighed, resting his cheek on Johnny’s shoulder. He’d been called into a meeting with the inspector after Isla had sung his praises to the higher-ups.
“They offered,” he replied, taking a long swig of beer. “Even kept my old Glock for me. But I said no thanks.” He smiled, watching as confusion pulled across Johnny’s dark features.
Johnny pressed a thumb under his chin, looking him in the eyes. “Why? I thought you wanted them back.”
Taylor hummed, running his tongue over his teeth. “I did. Right up until that meeting. But then they said I’d have to move to a city division because firearms aren’t really appropriate for Dingly.”
“And?”
“And they were there, on the table. But I just looked at them and thought…” He shrugged, the tightness across his shoulders melting away. “No, thanks. That’s all I can say, JP.”
“But I thought—” Johnny shook his head. “So you want to stay in Dingly? Long term, I mean?”
Taylor’s mouth twitched into a smile as he thought about the funny little town and all the funny little people in it. “Hell yeah, I do.”
He was still smiling when Johnny kissed him, when the sounds of the kids’ cheers rang out from the back room, and he realised that he didn’t need guns, or a fancy job title or even a decent childhood to make him feel whole.
All he needed was what he already had, right now, in his lap. And his heart.
And was that gushy as fuck? Hell yeah, it was.
Johnny’s eyebrows flicked up as Taylor shifted him onto his other knee, because Taylor’s dick was most definitely nudging Johnny’s arse through his trousers.
“I was thinking,” Johnny whispered, pressing his mouth to Taylor’s ear. “It’s been a long, hard day, and I’d really like to go to the woods and let off some steam tonight. Get a little rough.”
Taylor drove his face into Johnny’s neck, glancing over his shoulder towards the back room. “When are your parents getting back?”
Johnny smirked. “Late.”
“You gonna make me wait, JP?” he replied, sucking Johnny’s earlobe.
“I’ll make it worth your while.”
He shifted his hips, making Taylor’s cock rub along his thigh.
Taylor groaned. “Alright, boss.”
All was quiet on Bell Lane, but Taylor’s ears twitched as he kept his head low and stalked through the woods in the dark. His hackles were all the way up, scruff puffed out like an alley cat as anticipation rolled through him.
Johnny was close, his scent lingering between the trees after running off ahead.
There was a crack, then a snap, making Taylor’s head shoot up.
The dull thud of paws thundered across the undergrowth, splitting the ferns and making Taylor’s back end drop.
He pivoted, spraying up dirt, and just as his nose caught the direction of the scent, Johnny’s massive black body burst from between the trees.
Air exploded from Taylor’s chest as Johnny smashed into him, sending him skidding back and into a thick oak tree.
Taylor twisted, righting himself just as Johnny circled back around.
They crashed together, Johnny’s jaws on Taylor’s scruff, biting, growling, pulling him around like he was a rag doll.
Well, Taylor couldn’t have that.
Ramming his head into Johnny’s chest, he lifted the other alpha clean off his feet, flipping him, sending him sprawling onto his back and deep into the thickest part of the undergrowth.
Taylor followed, damp gorse snagging at his fur, moss slippy beneath his paws.
He could smell the evening rain curled in the ferns, water spraying across his face as he followed Johnny into the night.
They were running again, zigzagging back and forth, daring each other to make the next move.
They reached a clearing, circling again before excitement got the better of Taylor and he lurched forwards.
Punching through heaps of wet leaves, they collided, both up on their hind legs, biting, snarling, breathing hard as their fangs flashed in the moonlight.
“Fight me, alpha,” Johnny said, his jaws clamping around Taylor’s shoulder. “Show me your strength.”
Taylor growled, thrashing his bigger body and driving his claws into Johnny’s soft belly. They gnashed at one another, rolling end over end until they landed on their backs in the dirt. They twisted, covered in mud, legs tangled as they flattened bushes and smacked into trees.
Taylor’s wolf was alive, so fucking alive as all his pent-up alpha energy got channelled into something other than anger.
It made his heart hammer against his barrel chest, blood pounding through his head and all the way to the tips of his ears.
He wanted to be rough. He liked being rough and testing his strength with an equal.
Johnny kicked him in the chest with his hind legs, sending him crashing back.
“Too slow,” Johnny said, saliva dripping into Taylor’s fur as he jumped on his back and bit him again.
Feral grunts and snarls echoed around the woods, making birds evacuate their nests and flee into the night sky. Taylor didn’t care. The forest was theirs and only theirs for the night.
Johnny dragged him by his scruff all the way to the treeline, and it was red raw by the time they reached the rocky outcrop overlooking West Newton. They stopped, panting and steaming into one another’s fur.
Dropping to his haunches, Taylor gazed over the network of lights, sighing with contentment as Johnny flopped next to him. They licked one another’s muzzles, cleaning away the sweat and dirt.
“My mate,” Johnny said, pressing his nose into Taylor’s scruff.
Taylor nuzzled back, working his pointed nose into Johnny’s undercoat. “My home.”
Closing his eyes, Johnny rocked Taylor onto his back, pinning him with his long, jackal-like legs. He shifted back, running his fingers through Taylor’s coarse fur and over the pads of his damp paws. He buried his face in Taylor’s neck, inhaling the scent of his lupine body.
Taylor shivered, a chill rippling over his human skin as he shifted back too. “What is it?” he asked.
Johnny only sighed as they lay there, naked and filthy at the edge of the rocks. If anyone walked past they’d probably think they were fucking insane.
Johnny nibbled his bottom lip, his dark eyes staring down into Taylor’s. He opened his mouth several times, before letting out a flat sound and kissing Taylor’s temple. His mouth lingered in Taylor’s hairline for several seconds before pulling back.
Taylor fidgeted, wriggling his hips and pinching Johnny’s arms. “Well?”
Johnny’s Adam’s apple bobbed. “I’ve been thinking.”
Taylor hummed, giving Johnny a playful smile. “Yeah, you do that a lot.”
A wave of nervous energy pulsed over the bond, making Taylor’s stomach do flips.
Letting out a sharp breath, Johnny rested a hand over Taylor’s chest. “Only that… when we told the pack about us…” The words trailed off and he tugged at one of the braids at his nape.
Taylor cocked an eyebrow and pushed up on his arms, nudging Johnny back so he straddled his thighs. “Jesus, dude, spit it out. You’re giving me heart palpitations.”
Johnny chuckled and shook his head. “When we told the pack, and marriage was brought up, you seemed… disappointed when I said it wasn’t happening.”
Taylor leaned forwards, kissing Johnny’s neck. “Yeah?” he said with puzzled amusement. “So what if I was? It hardly matters now we’re bitten and knotted. What’s a bit of paper between us?”
Johnny licked his lip, pushing Taylor onto his back. Nudging a knee between Taylor’s thighs, he settled himself between them. His gaze lingered over Taylor’s face, catching on his lips. “Only that we… we could. Get married, I mean.”
Something red hot swirled in Taylor’s gut, and were it not for the pitch black of the winter night, Johnny would have seen the flush creeping up his chest. Flicking his eyes away from Johnny, he stuck out his bottom lip in a look of mock indifference.
“I mean… we coooould. If it’s something you want. ”
Johnny thumped his chest, snatching at his chin and pulling his head round. “I’m serious, Tay.”
A grin tugged at the corner of Taylor’s mouth. “Oh yeah? Got me a ring have ya?”
Johnny snorted, grabbing one of Taylor’s hands and bringing it to his lips. Without warning, he sucked Taylor’s ring finger into his mouth and bit the base of it. Hard.
“Ouch! JP!” Taylor laughed, pinching Johnny’s nipple.
A trail of saliva dribbled down Johnny’s chin when he finally let it go.
Johnny smiled, kissing Taylor’s knuckles. “Marry me, Taylor Campbell. Meet me at the end of the aisle and let everyone know that you’re mine and I’m yours. We’ll have a big fucking party, and cake, and pepper soup and maybe… maybe you can invite your mum. If you want to. What do you say?”
Taylor grinned, wrapping his arms around Johnny’s neck. “What do I say?”
Johnny nodded.
“I say, Victoria sponge or lemon drizzle?”
The End