Epilogue Our Knotty Valentine #2
Tank is in the center, his massive frame somehow looking humble and almost vulnerable in this position. His dark eyes are fixed on my face with an intensity that makes my knees weak, and in his hands--cupped carefully like he's holding the most precious thing in the world--is a ring.
Not just any ring.
THE ring.
It's the exact ring from my Pinterest boards--the one I've pinned a hundred times, the one on my "One Day Manifestation" board that I created when I was feeling hopeful and romantic and foolish.
A delicate rose gold band with a cushion-cut pink diamond surrounded by smaller white diamonds, designed to look like a blooming flower.
It's elegant and romantic and unique, and it's absolutely, one hundred percent the ring I wrote about on my Valentine's "To Do List" when I was being ridiculous and dreaming out loud.
"Wouldn't it be nice to be proposed to on Valentine's Day?" I'd written, not really believing it would ever happen.
It's not exactly Valentine's Day anymore--we're a few days past, technically, thanks to the whole kidnapping and recovery situation.
But the fact that these men love me enough to make this happen anyway, to arrange a drone show on a private island, to track down the exact ring from my secret Pinterest board, to kneel in the sand and ask me to be theirs forever. ..
They know me. They actually know me. They paid attention to the little things, the silly things, the dreams I thought I was keeping to myself. And they made them real.
The proposal is perfect in a way I didn't know proposals could be.
Private enough to respect my discomfort with crowds and public spectacles, but grand enough to feel celebrated--a display that anyone watching the sky from a distance can acknowledge without intruding on the intimate moment.
They've given me privacy and proclamation at the same time, and I don't know how they managed to thread that needle so perfectly.
Julian clears his throat, his usual aristocratic composure slightly ruffled by what I assume is genuine nervousness. "Is she in shock?" he asks, directing the question at the others without taking his eyes off me. "Should we be concerned? She's not saying anything."
"Maybe it's just slow reaction time," Elias offers, a nervous grin playing at his lips. "She's been through a lot. Her processing speed might be compromised."
Tank rolls his eyes, somehow managing to look long-suffering even while kneeling in the sand holding an engagement ring. "Would you two shut up and stop ruining the moment? I'm trying to propose here."
"You're all ruining it," Julian mutters. "This is why we should have rehearsed."
"We did rehearse," Elias protests. "You just kept changing the script."
"Because the original script was boring--"
Sasha, apparently deciding that enough is enough, comes bounding back from his beach exploration and launches himself directly at my legs. His paws hit my thighs with enough force to jolt me out of my frozen state, and I stumble backward with a surprised yelp.
"Sasha!" Tank scolds, but there's no real heat in it.
The impact seems to knock something loose in my brain, because suddenly everything catches up to me all at once--the proposal, the ring, the drones still spelling out their message in the sky, the three men I love kneeling in the sand waiting for an answer.
"YES!"
The word explodes out of me with approximately zero dignity, accompanied by a squeal so high-pitched it probably registers on frequencies only dogs can hear. Sasha barks in solidarity.
"Yes yes yes yes YES!"
I'm running before I consciously decide to move, sand flying up behind my bare feet as I sprint across the beach toward them. Tank barely has time to brace himself before I'm launching myself at him, tackling him with enough force to send us both sprawling backward onto the sand.
He laughs--a full, genuine laugh that rumbles up from his chest and vibrates against me where I'm now lying on top of him like an overly enthusiastic starfish. "I'm taking that as a yes," he manages between laughs.
"It's a yes!" I confirm, kissing his face repeatedly--his cheeks, his forehead, his nose, the corner of his mouth. "It's absolutely a yes! It's the most yes answer I've ever given to anything in my entire life!"
Above us, the drones are shifting again, rearranging themselves into a new message. I catch sight of it over Tank's shoulder and squeal again, fresh tears springing to my eyes.
SHE SAID YES!
"They said yes," I breathe, staring at the words glowing in the sky. "The drones know I said yes."
"That's because I'm controlling them," Julian says dryly, holding up his phone. "I'm very good at dramatic timing."
Tank sits us both up, still laughing, and suddenly Elias is there too, wrapping his arms around me from behind in a hug that's all warmth and campfire smoke and overwhelming joy.
Then Julian joins in, his embrace more reserved but no less genuine, his expensive cologne mixing with the other scents to create something that smells exactly like home.
We're a tangle of limbs and laughter and happy tears on a beach in Brazil, and I can't remember ever being this purely, incandescently happy.
"Okay, okay," Tank finally says, gently extracting himself from the group hug. "Let's do this properly. Stand up, Sweetness. Let me put this ring on your finger before I lose it in the sand."
Elias and Julian help me to my feet, steadying me when my knees threaten to buckle from sheer emotional overwhelm. Tank rises too, brushing sand off his pants, and then takes my left hand in his with a gentleness that makes my heart ache.
"Rosemarie Carlisle," he says, his voice low and serious despite the smile playing at his lips, "will you officially, legally, and enthusiastically become our Omega, our partner, and eventually our wife?"
"You already know the answer," I whisper, my voice thick with happy tears.
"I want to hear it again."
"Yes." I watch as he slides the ring onto my finger, the pink diamond catching the light of the fireworks still exploding overhead. "Yes, I will be your Omega. Yes, I will be your partner. Yes, I will marry all three of you and spend the rest of my life being ridiculously, obnoxiously happy."
The moment the ring settles into place, a fresh wave of fireworks erupts across the sky--bigger and brighter than before, a celebration written in fire and light. The drones rearrange themselves one final time, spelling out a message that makes me laugh through my tears:
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE PACK!
I stare at the sky, at the ring on my finger, at the three men surrounding me with varying degrees of smug satisfaction and genuine adoration. Sasha is running circles around us, barking at the fireworks like he's personally responsible for making them happen.
"This is," I announce, my voice wobbly with emotion, "the first and absolute best late Valentine's Day ever. I demand we do this again next year."
All three of them groan in unison.
"Not the kidnapping part," Elias clarifies quickly. "Please, for the love of all that is holy, not the kidnapping part."
"I don't think I can afford another private island on such short notice," Julian adds, though there's no real complaint in his voice. "The logistics alone were a nightmare."
"I'm not shooting anyone else," Tank says flatly. "Once was enough. My paperwork quota for the year is full."
I laugh, the sound bright and carefree in the tropical night air. "Fine, fine. We'll skip the kidnapping and the shooting next time. Just the proposal and the fireworks and the drone show."
"We can work with that," Elias agrees, pulling me into another hug. "Though technically you can only be proposed to once."
"Then we'll renew our vows. Every year. On Valentine's Day. With increasingly elaborate drone shows." I grin up at him. "It's called romance, Elias. Look it up."
Sasha barks his enthusiastic approval of this plan, tail wagging so hard he nearly knocks himself over in the sand.
Tank steps closer, his scent wrapping around me like a physical embrace--cedar and pine and the salt of the ocean breeze, all mixed together into something that smells like home and safety and the promise of forever.
His hand comes up to cup my cheek, tilting my face toward his, and even after everything, even after all the time we've spent together, the intensity in his eyes still makes my breath catch.
"What do you say we make this a proper knotty Valentine's Day?" he murmurs, his voice dropping into that low register that does things to my insides, that makes my Omega instincts sit up and take very interested notice. "I believe we have some unfinished business."
The medication has been wearing off gradually over the past few days, and I can feel my heat building again--a warm pressure low in my belly, a heightened awareness of every scent and touch and whispered word.
My skin feels sensitized, alive, hungry for contact.
It won't be long now. Maybe tonight. Maybe tomorrow morning.
But soon, very soon, my first heat with my pack will begin.
And I've never been more ready for anything in my life.
"I'd gladly be your knotty valentine," I whisper back, letting my Omega instincts purr with anticipation, letting him see exactly how much I want this, want him, want all of them. "Your knotty, thoroughly satisfied, very enthusiastic valentine. For tonight and every night after."
Julian and Elias exchange knowing looks behind Tank's shoulder, a silent communication passing between them that speaks to how well they know each other, how seamlessly they work as a unit.
"I think that's our cue to head back to the villa," Julian says, his voice carrying that particular aristocratic amusement that means he's already planning something, already three steps ahead of everyone else. "Before we scandalize any passing dolphins or wildlife officials."
"Do dolphins even swim at night?" Elias wonders, genuinely curious.
"I'm not taking any chances. I have a reputation to maintain. The North name cannot be associated with public indecency, even on a private island." Julian pauses. "Especially on a private island that I'm technically renting from a very important business contact."
Tank ignores them both entirely, his attention wholly and completely focused on me.
He leans in, closing the distance between us inch by agonizing inch, and kisses me--soft at first, exploratory, then deeper and more demanding, a promise of everything to come written in the press of his lips and the stroke of his tongue.
When he finally pulls back, both of us breathing hard, his lips brush against my ear as he whispers:
"Our knotty Valentine. Perfect in every single way. I don't know what we did to deserve you, but I'm grateful every single day."
I grin so wide my cheeks hurt, my heart so full it feels like it might burst right out of my chest. Then I pull him back down for another kiss, this one deeper and more demanding, trying to pour every ounce of love and gratitude and want into the press of my lips.
He responds in kind, one hand tangling in my hair while the other wraps around my waist, pulling me flush against him until there's no space left between us.
"Okay, definitely time to go inside," Elias announces, though I can hear the smile in his voice, can hear how happy he is for all of us. "Last one to the villa has to explain to Sasha why he can't sleep on the bed tonight."
"He absolutely can sleep on the bed," I protest between kisses, unwilling to let go of Tank but also unwilling to let my dog be excluded from anything.
"Not tonight he can't," Tank rumbles against my lips, his voice a low vibration that I feel all the way to my toes. "Tonight the bed is occupied. Very occupied. All night. Possibly into the morning."
"He has a very nice dog bed," Julian calls back, already walking toward the villa with his usual elegant stride, somehow looking put-together even in linen beach clothes. "The most expensive dog bed money can buy. He'll survive one night of not hogging the blankets."
Elias follows, pausing to scoop up Sasha under one arm like the dog weighs nothing.
Sasha, for his part, seems perfectly content with this arrangement, his tongue lolling happily as he's carried toward the villa.
Tank sweeps me up bridal style without breaking our kiss, and I laugh against his mouth as he carries me across the sand, our pack heading home together.
Above us, the drones are doing one final display--a cascade of hearts that drift and scatter across the sky like flower petals falling from heaven. The fireworks have faded to intermittent sparkles, the grand finale complete, but the celebration is far from over.
The early hours will be filled with lustful bliss--my first heat spent with the men who are not only my valentines but my Alphas, my partners, my future husbands.
Three men who saw me at my lowest and loved me anyway.
Three men who tracked down my Pinterest board dreams and made them real.
Three men who burned down anyone who tried to take me away from them and then whisked me away to a private island in Brazil to propose under a sky full of their love written in light.
Six weeksago, I was living my life in my small apartment, wondering how I’ll avoid the ultimate fate of bonding with a pack arranged by my family that said they wanted the best for me.
Now I'm being carried into a villa on a private island in Rio de Janeiro, wearing an engagement ring that cost more than my entire former life, surrounded by three Alphas who would move mountains and shoot kneecaps to keep me safe.
The grapes worked. The ridiculous, delulu, under-the-table grape tradition actually worked. Julian will never live down being wrong about that.
I really couldn't be more blessed.
As Tank carries me through the villa doors, as Elias's laughter echoes off the white walls and Julian's voice murmurs something about champagne, as Sasha's happy barking fills the air and the distant sound of the ocean provides the perfect soundtrack--I realize that this is it.
This is the life I was always meant to have.
This is the love I was always meant to find.
This is my pack, my family, my forever.
I finally got my happily ever after.
THE END.