54. EPILOGUE Roseland
EPILOGUE Roseland
Two Years Later
“You need a spanner to tighten that loose screw.”
I narrow my eyes, trying to read the rest of the email.
“Harlot. Help. Help. He’s gonna eat me!”
I sigh in exasperation and turn to the side, glaring intently, as if I can somehow convey through telepathy how fucking annoying he’s being.
“Bite me, bitches. Bite me. Bite me. Bite me.”
The pink and grey galah bobs his head and then collapses on his back, wings spread, paddling his clawed feet in the air like a lunatic, and he is the most insane bird.
Unfortunately for me, Rosey has decided that I’m his person. I wish he hadn’t been named Rosey, but now if you shout Rose in our house, two of us answer. It’s diabolical.
I get up and hold out my arm. He jumps up and climbs onto my arm, walking up until he’s sitting on my shoulder.
“Hi-ho, Silver.”
I snarl as I walk up from the bunker, passing the photos that are hung on all the walls. All of us, smiling, laughing, loving. I touch the cat bobble-head toy Sage has left on the step for me and pick it up, setting it beside the collection of animals he’s been slowly drip-feeding me.
They make me smile, these tiny gifts.
I can smell muffins. Yum. I smack my lips and moan.
Rosey imitates me.
“The problem with birds,” I say when I walk into the lounge room where the rest of the pack is sitting. King’s fresh out of the shower, but he’s not wearing a shirt, and I admit, I do check him out. “Is how clever they are.”
“Oh?” Rolly says from where he’s sitting, flicking through the TV screens so fast I have no idea how he knows what he’s looking for. He pauses and brings out an orange.
“Hey, Merle, I stole this earlier.”
She sees it, and her eyes light up, but then she slaps Rolly’s arm, climbing on him to try and rescue her orange.
“Oh?” Rosey imitates over and over in Rolly’s voice, almost exactly. It's unnerving.
“Well, that’s just creepy,” Rolly says with no sincerity whatsoever. “Kiss me, and you can have it.”
Merle kisses him, he relinquishes the orange.
“Kiss me, kiss me, kiss me,” Rosey screams.
“You should be listening to all the stuff he’s been saying. No more swearing. In fact, no more speaking around him. No more TV.”
Merle gets the giggles, shaking silently, her eyes sparkling. Rosey sees her and flies across the room to land on her head.
“Fuck!” I say, defeated.
“FUCK!” Rosey screams.
I groan.
“What?” Blaze says with a raised eyebrow.
“It’s just so cute,” I say in defeat.
Daega snorts a laugh and stands up, hugging me. I think it’s sympathy, and to be honest, I appreciate it.
He gets a message and smiles widely.
“Mark?”
“Yeah, he’s with Sariah, and he wants to know how to make a woman happy.”
I pause. We all do. Merle lifts her head slowly, staring at Daega.
“What did you say?”
“I said Sariah just wants someone who is going to be there. And chocolate.”
Merle lets out a happy chirp and sits back, content again now she doesn’t have to kill her omega.
Blaze walks to the window, looking out. He does it every night. Like he’s watching, checking. Guarding.
He cares more than he shows, and he watches over all of us obsessively.
I cross to his side, checking as well, before kissing his cheek. “I’m going to make snacks. I’ll be back, and we can start the movie.”
Sage gets up and follows me.
He goes to the kitchen, but I walk around the house, checking each room like I always do.
Okay, so, maybe Blaze and I are the same cut of obsessiveness.
King’s massive gym. Blaze’s room, where he practices his swords and has all the things that make him who he is.
Sage has a room full of weapons and security cameras that he shares with Pix.
Bobblehead toys are hidden everywhere. My space is a library that I’ve discovered Merle really enjoys being in, and Rolly has his gaming setup and a theater.
We have a massive bedroom that fits all our stuff in, with two bathrooms and two massive walk-in robes. It’s just under a third of the size of our house, which is located near the place where Callea is buried. In fact, a short walk will bring you to that field of flowers.
And outside is a massive tree that you can climb.
I lift the photo off the fridge, looking at it. Merle is sitting on the lowest branch, while Sparrow, Wren, Pigeon, and Egret are sitting around her. Korax didn’t come, but then no one thought he would.
The girls are having nightmares, but they are forgetting. They are adapting to life. With therapy and help, safe homes and love, they will be okay.
I put the photo back on the fridge and turn away.
We haven’t asked her, and she’s never mentioned whether she wants kids, but I know we as alphas have discussed making sure she never has to go through the trauma of childbirth.
We’ll have a discussion with her very soon, and if she confirms that she doesn’t want children, then we’ve organised a doctor to make sure we can never get her pregnant.
It’s the least we can do to protect her health.
All six of us are agreed: no one wants to traumatise our omega more than she’s lived through already.
Sage grabs my chin and draws me back to the present.
“What are you thinking about?”
“I’m thinking we somehow ended up with everything we ever wanted and I didn’t dare even hope for.”
“Even me?” he murmurs.
“Especially you,” I whisper and touch my lips to his. “I love you, Sage.”
“Even though we’re stepbrothers?”
I scoff, laughing. “You’re obsessed.”
“And you are my obsession, and now, you’re all mine.”
I lean my forehead against his. “Thank you for coming to get us when I called you that day. You were my first and only thought. Even though I was an ass.”
He’s silent for a long moment. “I would have come for you any time you called. Thank you for trusting me with our omegas. For trusting me with you.”
I exhale roughly and wrap my arms around him, holding him tight.
“Are you coming back?” Rolly shouts.
We part and snatch up the snacks. I walk into the lounge and sit down. Daega crawls up on my lap.
“I missed you today, Alpha.”
“Did you have fun hunting, though?” I kiss his knuckles.
“I did,” he grins and yelps when Rolly and Sage tackle him, pulling him to the floor where they sandwich him.
Merle shifts towards me and smiles as she presses her fingers to my chest to get her balance. She leans in and kisses me. We both ignore the bird as it comes to sit on my head.
“Are you happy, Omegas? Do you need anything?”
Merle looks at Daega.
“No, we’re good,” he says.
“Shall we kill someone for you?” Blaze asks politely.
Merle smiles and shakes her head, pointing at him, laughing at his murderously hopeful expression.
“Oh, don’t lie, you find my murderous side adorable.”
Merle laughs again.
The movie starts, and I end up lying against Blaze, his fingers playing in my hair. King holds my legs. Merle lies on me. The bird is asleep on its stand. I have my hand twisted in Sage’s hair, and he’s got his arms around Rolly and Daega.
I remember those lonely years, working long, desperate hours. Too scared to love anyone because I might cost her her life. Never knowing who was alive, who was safe, never able to explain. I must make a sound because the omega on me shifts until she’s looking at me in concern.
“I’ll give you everything that makes you happy,” Raven whispers. “Anything you want, Alphas. I’ll protect you. Always.”
I tangle my fingers in her hair and drag her head to mine. Our lips touch, brush. I remember the promise I made Dove. The one I made, Raven. The one I made to Merle. To keep them safe. To protect them.
Somehow, I managed to keep my promises.
“I have everything my heart could ever desire. Everything I want. I don’t need anything but this pack,” I whisper. “I am more happy than I deserve.”
Raptor stares back at me, smiling wickedly. “Oh, I think we can make this night just a little bit happier.”
“Is there anything you want?” Blaze asks Raptor.
She blinks, and her expression clears. It’s a minute difference, so slight no one would know. You’d have to be in love with her and her alters to recognise it.
“We don’t need anything else but our happy ending,” Kestrel says.
“Then we promise to give you that, too.” I stare intently into her eyes.
She was broken.
She was strong.
She was everything and so much more than I had ever dreamed. “No one will come at us again, or they’ll end up buried and rotting in pieces.”
“So bloodthirsty, Alpha,” Sage teases.
I exhale roughly. “When it comes to this pack, yes, I am. This is a dream I didn’t think I’d ever get. I won’t let anything take it from me.”
Raven sits up and grabs my face. “No one is taking us from you. Or they’ll meet the Nightingales or Pack Phoenix. We are safe, Rose.”
She stands up and strips off her clothes. I sit up, watching her incredibly sexy body as she sways enticingly.
“Now, come to bed, Alphas.”
Daega gets up and chases after her. Then King, Rolly, and Sage.
Blaze looks at me, his strength rivals my own. He presses his forehead to mine. I close my eyes, falling into the strength of the other alpha.
“Be happy, Aaron. You won. They are safe. The bad guys are dead. Now, you get to fuck your omegas and drink coffee on the porch with your feet up, get old, fat, and wrinkly.”
A laugh explodes out of me.
“Sounds too good to be true.”
“Ah, well, there’s always the odd person or two we can go hunt to keep our skills sharp.”
I jerk my head in his direction, watching him walk away. My heart thumps, and I realise I really, really want that.
“Blaze? What does that mean?”
“It’s your birthday in a few days, Detective. I have a surprise for you.”
I chase after him, letting them lead me into temptation.
Into the shadows. It’s where I belong. Standing shoulder to shoulder with my omegas and my alphas, wherever they are, my place is with them.
We were gone, like ghosts, we were barely living, but not quite dead. Separated on our many paths, divided by intentions and trauma. Now, we are joy and love and grief tangled up in memories that burn too bright and yearnings that are quenched by hearts fulfilled and dreams reforged.
We are RIP Alphas.
And there’s only one thing left to say.
“Goodnight.”