Epilogue
Aria
One Year Later
The Katu compound smells different now. Lighter. Warmer. Like safety soaked into the walls after years of being soaked in blood.
I walk across the training yard with Silas’s jacket draped over my shoulders, even though the sun is warm and the breeze is soft. The dire wolf inside him hates when I leave without wearing his scent.
I don’t mind. I like smelling like him.
The pack is scattered across the yard. Marc is doing push-ups with Godrick sitting on his back like a smug boulder. The twins are arguing over who cheated in their “totally friendly” sparring match.
Caine passes by with a mug of coffee, nodding at me in that quiet, steady way of his. His power still fills the air like heavy smoke, but the sharp edges of his Alpha energy have softened around me the last few months.
Not because I earned it. Because I belong.
A year ago, the idea would have terrified me. The idea of belonging anywhere was a threat. A cage. A weapon. But now? Now I walk through the compound with my head up, my leopard stretching lazily inside me, content. Watching. Belonging.
My mate emerges from one of the cabins, shirtless and sweating, a towel slung over his shoulder. Silas spots me instantly—he always does—and his lips lift in a slow, warm smile that heats my whole body.
He crosses the distance in a few strides and presses a kiss to my cheek.
“Morning, little leopard.”
I lean into him without thought. “Morning.”
His hand slides to my waist, thumb brushing circles against my hip. The bond hums between us, steady and warm like it has every day for the last year.
“You heading to Peyton’s?” he asks.
“Yeah. She said she’s baking.”
Silas grins. “Good luck surviving that.”
I swat his chest lightly. “Be nice. She tries.”
“She tries to kill us with sugar.”
I laugh, and his eyes soften like they always do when I laugh, like it’s a rare treasure he’s terrified to lose.
He kisses my forehead. “Come find me when you’re done?”
“Always.”
He watches me walk away, his wolf brushing against my leopard through the bond like a warm, familiar touch.
And I head toward Peyton’s kitchen.
The moment I open the door I’m hit with a wall of chaos.
Smoke. Flour. A very loud, terribly angry smoke alarm.
Peyton stands on a stool wielding a broom at the ceiling like she’s fighting a wasp nest. Calum is flapping one of Caine’s jackets at the alarm, cursing under his breath. The twins are laughing hysterically while trying to open a window that is very clearly painted shut.
“Perfect timing!” Peyton gasps, hopping off the stool. “Aria, sweetheart, quick, take this.”
She thrusts a tray of blackened, smoking cookies into my hands.
“Uh... Peyton?”
She grimaces. “They were only in for seven minutes.”
Calum mutters, “Seven minutes in hellfire, maybe.”
Peyton elbows him sharply. I set the tray down and help her clear the counter. Despite the disaster, the room smells like cinnamon and vanilla. Warm and soft, like home.
The alarm finally stops screaming. Peyton sighs dramatically and leans against the counter.
“You’d think after all this time I’d get better at baking.”
I smile. “It’s ... experience.”
“Trauma,” Calum corrects, smirking.
Peyton waves him away and takes my hands in hers.
“I’m glad you’re here,” she says softly.
My chest warms. “So am I.”
She busies herself wiping flour off her apron. “Silas is hovering today.”
“He always hovers.”
“Mmm.” She smirks. “You love it.”
I roll my eyes, but my smile gives me away.
For a few minutes, we move around the kitchen in comfortable silence, cleaning up and preparing a new batch of dough that Peyton will undoubtedly burn.
Her presence is calming. Her energy soft and familiar. A sister, not by blood, but by battle and bond. My truth sits heavy inside my chest, waiting. When the counter is finally clean, Peyton leans against it, tilting her head as she studies me.
“You’re chewing your lip,” she says.
“I am not.”
“You only do that when you’re nervous.”
My stomach twists. “Maybe.”
She folds her arms. “Aria. What’s wrong?”
Nothing is wrong. But something is ... big. Life-changing. I take a breath.
“Peyton... I want to tell you something.”
Her expression softens instantly. “Anything.”
I twist my fingers together. “I want to find them.”
“Find who?”
“The others.”
Her brow furrows. “You mean ... the hidden leopard clans?”
“Yes.”
Her eyes widen.
I keep talking before fear can choke me. “They’re still out there. Scattered and hiding. I don’t know how many, or where, or what shape they’re in. But they don’t know. They don’t know what the Hunters are doing. They don’t know how bad the world has gotten for shifters.”
Peyton steps closer. “Aria...”
“Every pack has suffered. Every species. Wolves. Bears. Leopards. Dire wolves. But the leopards...” My voice breaks. “We’re already so few.”
The room quiets. Even Calum and the twins go still.
I swallow hard, fighting the burn in my throat. “If the Hunters find them before I do, they’ll be wiped out. Silenced forever. And I can’t let that happen.”
I’ve lost enough. I’ve buried enough. I’ve survived enough. It’s time to fight for more than survival.
“I want to warn them,” I whisper. “I want to protect them. And I want to bring them home if they want a home.”
Peyton’s eyes shine. “Aria...”
“I know it’s dangerous.”
“It is.”
“I know Silas will freak out.”
“He absolutely will.”
“I know this might start something bigger than any of us can predict.”
“It might.”
“And I’m scared.”
Her expression softens. “Of course you are.”
“But I want to do it anyway.”
Peyton steps forward and pulls me into a tight hug. I stiffen for only a second before melting into her warmth.
“I’m proud of you,” she whispers fiercely. “You’ve come so far. You’re strong enough now to choose things that scare you.”
A tear slips down my cheek. I wipe it quickly. When we pull apart, the entire pack is standing in the doorway. Silas, Caine, Calum, Godrick, Marc, and the twins.
All of them.
All listening.
Silas moves first. He walks toward me slowly, carefully, like I’m something fragile but powerful. His hand cups my cheek.
“You want to find them,” he says quietly.
“Yes.”
“You want to warn them.”
“Yes.”
“You want to protect what’s left of your people.”
I swallow. “Yes.”
He inhales deeply, eyes shining with pride so fiercely it steals my breath. “Then we’ll help you.”
My heart stops. “We?”
“The pack,” Caine says from behind him. “You’re one of us, Aria. If your people are in danger, ours are too.”
Marc salutes sloppily. “Road trip!”
The twins cheer, Godrick groans, and Peyton grins. Silas leans his forehead to mine, brushing his thumb over my bottom lip.
“We go where you go,” he murmurs. “We fight who you fight. We protect who you protect.”
“You’re not doing this alone, little leopard,” Godrick adds.
My throat tightens. “You’d all really ... come with me?”
Silas smiles. “You’re pack. And no one hunts our pack.”
The bond thrums between us, warm and steady. The fear is still there. The danger is still real. The path ahead is jagged and unknown.
But I’m not walking it alone. Not anymore.
I take Silas’s hand. “Then let’s start.”
He kisses my palm gently.
“Whenever you’re ready.”
And for the first time in my life, I am.
The End