24. Epilogue
Arlo
Five years later
“Welcome, come in!” Aunt Helga wears a big smile on her face as she holds the door for us.
“Great to see you, Auntie,” I say, folding her into a tight squeeze.
“You too, dear. And there he is, my nephew!”
She rushes past me, and I’m all but forgotten as she gives Gunnar a quick kiss on the cheek, then devotes all her attention to our son Riley, nestled against Gunnar’s chest. When she coos over him, Riley gives her an adorably gummy baby smile that never fails to make my heart melt from the cuteness.
“Such a sweet little lad,” Aunt Helga says.
“Ugh, isn’t he? Oh, look. You have to see this. He got vaccinated last week and we took him out dressed in this.” I show her the picture on my phone of Riley in his little rabbit onesie.
Helga covers her mouth. “By the gods, that is simply precious.”
Gunnar chuckles and guides me into the longhouse. “Wait until you see him in his walker.”
“A what?”
Before Gunnar can reply, we’re greeted by the whole Erikson pack. Kieran rushes up to us and hugs us both. “OMG, hi, little sweetheart!” He waves at Riley, who smiles. “He remembers me!”
“Of course he does. You’re his favorite uncle,” I say.
Anders happens to overhear that as he marches by with a bag full of pastries from his and Jamie’s shop.
“His what, now? I thought I was the favorite uncle!” He dumps the bag on the table and rounds on Gunnar.
He covers his face. “Where’s the baby? There he is!
” He splays his hands and grins goofily at Riley.
Anders’s little game never fails to make Riley erupt into cute little baby sounds of delight.
Kieran clears his throat. “Gunnar, Arlo, this is my friend Amanda!”
The woman beside him waves so hard her body shakes, her grin impossibly wide. “Hi! I can’t believe I’m finally meeting the whole family—pack, sorry!”
“A pleasure. Just warning you, they’re all a bit much, and Gunnar is the best Erikson.”
Gunnar blushes and shakes Amanda’s hand when it’s offered.
Just then a small gray wolf goes stampeding by. He’s being chased around by five-year-old Ed, Kieran and Wulfric’s son, who is laughing like a little villain.
Kieran sighs. “Just a moment. Ed! Don’t pull Jace’s tail!” He rushes after the toddler.
Amanda laughs. “I still can’t believe he’s a dad. Coming here really changed his life for the better.”
“We’re happy to have him with us,” Gunnar says. “Drinks, Amanda?”
She lifts her eyebrows. “Sure. What have we got?”
“Mead, mead, and mead!” Gunnar thrusts a tankard into her hand.
Amanda takes a sip, smacking her lips. “Oh my gosh. I can’t believe I’m having actual Viking mead… Wow. Sorry. This is a lot!”
I laugh. “No worries.”
“So, do you guys live here or in Kieran’s and my time?” she asks.
Gunnar takes a hearty swallow of mead. “At first, it was a bit of both. Arlo worked in your time at the TTA.”
“The Time Travel Agency place?”
“Yeah. I worked the farm here. When we decided to start a family, it was just easier to stay in your time.”
Amanda nods. “Makes sense. That must have been crazy for you, huh? To go from living here to our messed-up timeline.”
Gunnar shrugs, but I remember too well how he struggled at first with all the differences from this timeline. “It was an adjustment. Arlo got me a job at the TTA. I help feral ulfhednar recover.”
“And he’s bloody brilliant at it, too.” I can’t help but give Gunnar’s hand a squeeze, overflowing with pride for him.
My potion was a major success, helping to treat countless ulfhednar alphas and prevent others from going feral, and the TTA started a new program to treat those who had already gone feral. Gunnar has helped many patients rehabilitate after months or even years lost to their berserker rage.
It warms my heart knowing we’ve helped make a difference.
“Gather round!” Wulfric’s booming voice rings through the house. He sets a bowl of salmon and turnip stew on the table. “Supper is ready!”
Just in time, the door bangs open and in walks Lyall carrying several heavy-looking bags. “Wait! Don’t start without us!”
Behind him, Soren snorts. “Relax, sweetheart.”
They don’t seem to be in a hurry to have kids. Last we spoke, Soren did say they’d adopted a second cat, though, so it seems they have their hands full as it is.
Against Gunnar’s chest, Riley starts to fuss. Gunnar sniffs the air. “Time for a change.”
“Here you go!” I fling open the diaper bag and hand him wipes and a fresh diaper.
“Thanks, Lo.” He pats my back, telling me without words he’ll return shortly.
I join the pack at the table where we’ve assembled a bit of a potluck. Wulfric made his stew. Helga prepared venison with a red berry sauce. Amanda brought pizza covered in all sorts of toppings. I brought fish and chips from our favorite pub. Lyall and Soren brought—
“Are those… peanut butter and jelly sandwiches?” I ask, leaning over to inspect the pile of sandwiches on the plate. I know they’re an American staple, but I can’t say I ever understood the hype.
Lyall nods enthusiastically. He points to different sandwiches on the plate as he says, “That one is made with chunky peanut butter and raspberry jam, that one has strawberry, that’s blueberry, and grape.
That side of the plate is all the same flavors, but with creamy peanut butter.
That pile is all fried PB and J. Those are sweeter varieties with whipped cream, marshmallow fluff—”
I gawk at Soren, who smiles at Lyall like he’s the most adorable thing to ever exist. “Do you think he likes PB and J?”
He laughs. “The customers at the bar love them. Our revenue has gone way up since Lyall redid the menu.”
“What’s next, PB and J cocktails?”
Lyall’s head snaps in my direction. “Soren! Write that down. That’s a fantastic idea!”
Oh goddess…
Gunnar drops into the seat beside me, grinning. “Is he going on about those sandwiches of his?”
“Your brother is a culinary genius,” I assure him. “How’d he do?” I give Riley a kiss on his hair.
“He’s perfect,” Gunnar says, his voice so full of warmth I can practically feel it. “Like you.” He sweeps down for a quick kiss on my lips, and my heart damn near beats out of my chest.
“Jace, shift back. We’re eating!” Jamie calls, setting Astrid into her high chair. Anders opens a baggie with Cheerios and hand feeds them to his daughter, his eyes all soft and gooey.
When the rest of the pack joins us at the table, Wulfric takes in a long breath, gaze sweeping over every face.
He bounces Ed on his lap, allowing the boy to play with his beard.
Wulfric takes Kieran’s hand, lacing their fingers.
He smiles and says, “It warms my heart to see you all here. The gods may have taken us in many directions, but as always, they have brought us back together. I love you, all of you. Truly, there is nowhere else in all the nine realms I would rather be. Now, let’s eat! ”
Cheers ring out as we toast, flagons knocking together.
Anders passes around a horn full of mead and dares Lyall to chug it all, which he does, of course. This then turns into a contest to see which brother can drain the horn the fastest.
I give Gunnar a warning look. “Don’t you dare.”
He pouts but nudges my shoulder. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”
Dinner at the Erikson house is always a raucous affair, but I wouldn’t trade this rowdy pack for any other in the world.
We end up staying at the house for a few hours more.
Helga watches over the children while the brothers, their mates, and Jace go for a run along the shore as wolves.
Amanda and I watch with smiles as the wolves chase each other and splash around in the moonlit sea.
Gunnar’s bond is wide open, and his feelings of joy flood my veins.
I can’t wipe the smile from my face. Knowing that he’s happy makes me happy, too.
When the wolves have run and howled their fill, Gunnar lopes over to me, bumping his huge head against my stomach for pets. I rub between his ears. “Ready to go?”
He shifts back, his furs crawling back up to his shoulders. “Aye. Let’s collect the kiddo and go home.”
With a wave to the wolves and Amanda, I take his hand, and we walk the road back to the longhouse.
Gunnar bumps his shoulder against mine. “I can’t wait until Riley is old enough to shift and run for the first time.”
I get teary-eyed thinking about it. “Don’t say that. I want him to be little forever.”
“Bjorn and Riley would have loved each other.” His smile wavers, and grief hits our bond.
I squeeze his hand. “Yes, they would have.” I was surprised when Gunnar had come to me one day and told me he wanted to start a family.
After everything he’d been through, I wouldn’t have blamed him if he’d never wanted to have another child.
Gunnar has so much love in his heart, though, and he’s come so far in his journey with grief.
“Did you think about Bjorn and Leif a lot today?”
He sniffs and blinks away the tears. “No, actually. Mostly, I was just happy to be around the pack, but there are times when it sneaks up on me.”
“I’m sorry.”
He shakes his head. “I’m not. It just means I loved them and love them still. But I love us. I love our life. Our son.” A smile brightens his face. “You know, I think Riley’s going to start talking any day now.”
“Why’s that?”
“I could have sworn he called me a twat as I was changing his diaper.”
I shove his shoulder. “No!” I try so hard not to curse around him. “Ugh. Promise you’ll still love me if his first word’s a swear?”
Gunnar barks a laugh, then swoops down to plant a tender kiss on my cheek. “I promise, until my very last breath.”
Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed Gunnar and Arlo’s story.