Chapter 12
TWELVE
Jameson
Five Years Later…
Five years ago, I pulled a bleeding, furious, terrified woman out of the back of a moving
truck.
Today, she’s barefoot in my kitchen, singing badly to the radio while flipping pancakes and threatening our kid with a spatula.
Life is wild like that.
I stand in the doorway with a mug of coffee in hand and just… watch her.
Fern’s hair is longer now, lighter from the sun. She has a faint scar on her wrist that never fully faded, but it no longer defines her. It’s part of the story she survived. She wears my old T-shirt like she always does, soft and stretched and unmistakably mine.
And she’s smiling.
Really smiling.
Not the guarded one she wore when she first landed in my arms. Not the careful one she practiced while learning how to be safe.
This one is real.
“Daddy,” a small voice announces from beside me, “Mom says you’re staring again.”
I glance down.
My daughter, my impossible, fierce, stubborn, bright-eyed daughter, has her hands on her hips and my bear’s glare perfected already. She’s four. Too smart. Too bold. Too much like her mother.
“I’m supervising,” I say solemnly.
Olive squints. “She’s fine,” she tells me seriously.
I bite back a laugh.
Fern snorts from the stove. “She’s not wrong.”
I move forward and wrap my arms around my mate from behind, pressing a kiss to the side of her neck. She leans into me without even looking. The bond hums between us, steady and warm and permanent.
“I’ll always supervise you,” I murmur.
“I married a menace,” she replies fondly.
Our daughter clears her throat, and I pull back to look at her.
“I need more syrup.”
Fern laughs and slides her plate across the counter. “Eat your breakfast, wild child.”
I smile as I look at my family. It’s crazy to think it’s already been so long.
Five years.
Five years since the cult fell.
Five years since Midnight Haven stopped being a secret and started being a sanctuary.
Five years since Fern stopped waking from nightmares and started dreaming about the future.
Five years since I made her mine.
Night Grove Falls has changed in that time. Midnight Haven is bigger now. Stronger. Open. No more hiding in the shadows. We protect. We rescue. We teach. We heal. Survivors come here from all over. Some stay, some don’t, but they always leave safer than they arrived.
Roxie and Fern now run the outreach division. The two of them are as close as ever. Facing the cult and surviving has made them and their bond stronger.
Roxie and Abe live close by, and we see them every single day. Our mates are always setting up dinners and playdates. Abe and I go along with it because we would do anything to make our mates happy.
Fern and I got married a month after the cult shut down. We could finally breathe then, and I knew the time was right. I proposed, and we were married here in town, in the wildflower field behind our home.
We found out a month later that we were expecting. Olive was born, and things haven’t been the same since. I went from being alone to having my mate, and now our daughter. I keep pushing to try for another, but I know Fern likes things the way they are.
The back door bangs open, and Naomi comes barreling in.
“Olive!” she shouts.
Olive jumps down from her chair, and the two hug like they haven’t seen each other in years when it’s been less than twelve hours.
“Hey,” Abe says as he and Roxie come in next.
“Hey! Are you two hungry?” Fern asks.
“Always,” Roxie says, rubbing her stomach.
I shake hands with Abe, and we stand back, watching over our families.
He nudges me. “Full moon tomorrow night. Want me to ask one of the single guys to cover your shift for you?”
I stare at Fern and grin. “Yeah, that would be great.”
“On it, boss.”
I roll my eyes at the nickname.
He moves to Roxie’s side, and I help Olive and Naomi back into their chairs. I smile as they dig into their breakfast, pouring them some orange juice before I make up my own plate.
“Full moon tomorrow,” Fern whispers to me, a sparkle in her eyes.
“I know.”
She pouts. “You have to work.”
I grin. “I took care of it. Tomorrow night, I’m all yours.”
“Good,” she says, leaning up on her tiptoes to press a kiss to my lips.
She shoves a plate into my hands before I can deepen the kiss, and I growl as I watch her sashay to the table. My eyes are glued to her hips, and I lick my lips as I trail after her.
My bear rumbles happily inside me as we all sit.
I smile, enjoying the chaos of our lives as we all dig in.