Epilogue #2
The wedding is everything we could have hoped for. We left the beautiful clearing to return to our house, where a catering company from Clearwater set up long tables and benches for a gourmet meal. We’d set up a wooden dance floor, and I got to dance with all three of my mates under the stars.
Now the guests are leaving in small groups, driven to Clearwater by a fleet of hired cars so no one has to drive drunk to their accommodations. Emma thought of everything, and she truly planned a masterpiece.
She’ll be able to relax on our honeymoon, though.
While we gave her free rein for wedding planning because it meant a lot to her, the three of us arranged our overseas trip as a surprise to her.
She’s been trying to figure out where we’re taking her, but so far, we’ve managed to keep it a secret.
We’ll even make it a mission to keep her from glimpsing our plane’s destination when we take her to Portland tomorrow for our flight to New York City, from where we’ll be flying straight to Rome for a three-week Italian vacation.
I’ve never been to Italy, and I can’t wait to eat my weight in pasta and make love to my mates every day.
Carter hugs my brothers goodbye and receives a series of thumps on his back. My siblings like to play tough, but I saw at least two of them crying during the ceremony. My family is great, and I’m so glad they accepted Emma without blinking.
Speaking of which…
I scan the last of the guests, searching for her. She should be immediately visible, what with her white dress and radiant smile, but I don’t see her anywhere.
Maybe she went inside the house to the bathroom or to change…
Troy appears on the porch and descends the steps, walking straight toward me. “Hey, did Emma find you?”
I frown. “No, I was just searching for her. Did she say she needed me?”
His eyebrows draw together, and he squints at my family, one of the last to be leaving us tonight. “Yeah. She was acting a bit shifty. You don’t think…?”
He doesn’t finish the thought, and I’m glad, because of course Emma wouldn’t just leave. But if she didn’t, where was she? She’d been glued to us all evening, as much as we’d followed her around, and I thought we’d get a chance to celebrate our marriage now that the last of the guests are leaving.
Troy closes his eyes and lifts his nose to the sky, sniffing. “I feel her pulse through the ring,” he murmurs. “She’s excited, not scared, so it’s nothing serious, but…”
“Hey, guys.” Carter joins us, having said goodbye to the last of the guests. “Where’s Emma?”
I shrug, worry gnawing at me. Maybe she just got overwhelmed and had to take a moment for herself, but why wouldn’t she tell one of us? We’d give her space, of course, but I’d feel much better knowing where she is.
Then a phone vibrates, and Troy and I turn toward Carter because the sound came from him. He takes the device from his pocket and frowns down at it.
“It’s Emma,” he growls.
Then he turns the phone toward us. It’s a text that simply says, Bedroom.
My heartbeat picks up, all the hairs on my neck standing up. It’s relief and anticipation combined, because hell yeah, bedroom sounds like a great idea.
Troy is the first through the door, racing through the living room and into the hallway. But even as I follow, something seems strange—yes, Emma’s scent is there, and potent, so it hasn’t been long since she’s been here, but I can’t hear anything from the bedroom, and the ring is telling me…
“She’s not here,” Troy declares the moment he enters the bedroom.
Carter and I crowd into the room behind him and stare at the scene in front of us.
The window is open, the curtains billowing in the evening wind.
On the neatly made bed, Emma’s wedding dress is displayed, set out just so, the skirt smoothed, the bodice arranged artfully on a pillow.
Most importantly, her charm necklace rests on top of the dress, the silver-and-moonstone pendant glinting in the low light.
And next to it, a folded note.
Carter lunges for it and opens it. His claws are emerging, testifying to his fraying control. He curses and crumples the paper, dropping the little ball at his feet.
“What does it say?” I demand.
He looks at me, his eyes shining golden. “Catch me if you can.”
CARTER
She fucking ran.
Our mate, our wife, is giving us the best wedding present, showing us just how well she knows us.
I claw at my tie and manage to yank it off without strangling myself.
A shirt button flies off as I work the top of my shirt open, then tear it off me in one sharp tug.
Troy is doing the same, kicking off his shoes, wrestling with his belt buckle, but Sebastian just stands there, gaping, his eyes glassy.
“Did she really…?” he chokes out.
He’s hard already, I can see that much, but he’s clearly glitching, because he should be moving, godsdamnit.
“Take off your clothes,” I bark, barely resisting the urge to add a layer of alpha command.
He scrambles to obey, while I stomp to the window and sniff. Yeah, she went through here, sneaking out like a thief in the night. Wicked little human. We’ll catch her soon enough and give her the punishment she deserves.
“Have all the guests left?” I demand, motioning at Troy to check.
He stomps to the living room and hollers, “All the cars are gone. We’re alone.”
That’s what I’ve been waiting for. Kicking off my dress pants and underwear, I let my instinct take over and transform. Fur sprouts all over my back, arms, and legs, my fangs grow out of my jaws, and my tail breaks free, swishing this way and that.
Sebastian is jumping on one foot, trying to take off a sock, then topples over onto the bed with a yelp. Frustrated, he lets his claws punch out, shreds the sock, and shifts to his half form. “Ready,” he announces, nose already in the air, sniffing for Emma’s trail.
I glance at the window, debating jumping straight out and following her that way, but we’d likely scuff up the windowsill if not break half the damn window, and then Troy would have my ass.
Instead, I jog back to where we came from and join Troy on the porch.
Sebastian follows us as we round the house and find Emma’s trail under the bedroom window.
“The scent’s still fresh,” Troy growls. “She can’t have gone far.”
Sebastian whines, hunching over to take a good whiff. “She took off her amulet, guys. Does that mean what I think it does?”
My body shudders with pent-up tension. “Yeah. It does. Emma is ready to have our babies.”
At that, Sebastian shifts into his full wolf form, puts his snout to the ground for a moment, then takes off, running at full speed.
“Asshole!” Troy laughs, then shifts, launching himself after him.
I let myself fold into my four-legged form, too. We’re faster like this and better trackers. Emma doesn’t stand a chance.
I lift my snout to the sky and let out a long howl, warning her. Then I kick off the chase, running after my mates.
EMMA
I run, laughing breathlessly as I dodge bushes and duck under branches.
The footpath I’m following could barely be called that, a faint trail through the dark woods.
The beam of my flashlight dances wildly, illuminating patches of dirt.
My sneakers are quiet on the forest floor, but I know my mates will be able to hear my footsteps, so I must reach the place I set up before they catch me.
It all depends on how long it took them to notice I was missing.
From the way their heartbeats spiked a moment ago, I would bet that they’ll be on me within minutes.
Then a howl pierces the night air, eerily beautiful, and goose bumps break out all over my body.
I’m still too far away from the clearing.
I changed into my running shorts and a tank top before getting away, but I’m already sweating.
I took up running to be able to keep up with the guys when we go exploring in the woods, but maybe I’m too excited for my own good because my breaths are coming faster and faster, my heart beating wildly against my ribs.
This will either be a disaster or the best night of my life—I can’t decide. I wanted to do something special for our wedding, but maybe I should have just kept things normal, bought a pretty set of lingerie, and laid myself out on the bed like an offering.
Instead, I’m here, running in the dark with nothing but a flashlight, sweating my ass off when I could be seducing my husbands right now.
“Dammit, Emma,” I mutter to myself, “you should have taken the easy route.”
A twig cracks somewhere behind me, and I skid to a stop, studying the dark forest. For the first time, it occurs to me that I might not be alone here.
We don’t usually get wildlife close to the cabin because wild animals, including large predators such as wolves and bears, avoid the werewolves’ territory.
But I’ve run far from the house, close to a mile.
Well, maybe not, but it’s nighttime, so who knows what else is crawling around in these woods?
Now my heartbeat speeds up from something other than excitement. Cold sweat breaks out on my skin, and I take a careful step to the side, considering whether I should turn back and run toward the cabin, but…
Crack.
Another sound, somewhere to my left.
Shit.
It’s either the guys, and they’re punishing me for running from them, or I’m about to be mauled by a bear on my wedding night, which would be the stupidest—
A large, dark form peels itself from the shadows, and I jerk back, dropping my flashlight.
A scream makes its way halfway up my throat before I recognize Sebastian, my beautiful russet-colored wolf.
In the darkness, he doesn’t resemble the cuddly mate I know and love, though.
He’s massive, his teeth glinting in the beam of my fallen flashlight.
“Oh my God.” I drop to a crouch, hanging my head. “You scared the crap out of me.”