Epilogue
EMMY—A FEW MONTHS LATER
“You’re going to stop bugging me about this furry book club after I go once, right?” Zoe asked, as I dragged her toward the clearing the pack always met in with one hand. Finn was holding the other.
“Yes,” I promised.
Finn snorted. “Furry is the wrong word for this, and you know she’s not going to drop it.”
“Don’t let his doubt sway you.”
“He knows you pretty well at this point,” Zoe pointed out.
I waved that off. “It’s just one book club meeting, and you loved that dragon book we were supposed to read.”
“You didn’t even read it, and you’re making me go to this thing?” Zoe asked.
“I’ve been busy planning things for my kindergartners.”
“They’re priority number one for her right now,” Finn told Zoe.
“I don’t know, she talks about you more than she talks about them,” Zoe said.
Finn couldn’t hide the small curve of his lips. The man may as well have grinned.
The way I loved him made him so freaking happy. Which was good, because the way he loved me made me feel the same.
“Finn read the whole series already, and he gave me a detailed explanation of the story. And the sex scenes. I’m plenty educated on the book,” I said.
“TMI, Em,” Zoe complained.
“What? How? I didn’t even say anything!” I protested.
“You mentioned both sex and your werewolf mate within a few sentences. We both know where your mind went.”
I laughed.
We finally reached the clearing. Everyone else was there already. Ethan and Connor had even shown up.
I guess being ten minutes late did mean most people would beat us there. Whoops.
Zoe stopped abruptly on the edge of the circle. I tried to tug her toward the chairs, but her hand had gone slack.
“What are you…” I trailed off when I looked over at her and found her blushing.
“Fuck,” Finn muttered.
“Well, this just keeps getting better,” Ethan drawled.
I followed her gaze to Connor, and found the man sitting stiffly in a camping chair. His fingers dug into the fabric, and his eyes were red.
Shit.
That wasn’t good.
Zoe took a step back.
A snarl tore through Connor’s chest.
“She can’t run from him,” Finn told me in a low voice.
Running from a male wolf was always a bad idea. Especially when you were being hunted by him. That was a one-way ticket to being bitten.
I reached for Zoe’s hand again. Before I caught it, she turned.
And ran.
Shit.
Connor’s wolf roared through the human. He shifted, and the wolf tore through him, taking control in a heartbeat.
When the beast charge after my friend, I started hurrying after him.
Finn dragged me into his arms, holding me tightly to his chest.
“I have to help her,” I argued. “I can’t just—“
“Connor’s wolf won’t hurt her,” Finn growled. “Anyone else who goes after them will be free game.”
“She shouldn’t have to do this alone,” I protested.
“We all did, Em,” Abby reminded me. “No one can figure out a mate bond for you.”
They were right.
I still hated that Zoe was going to have to deal with it on her own.
“Here, Cupcake.” Ethan offered me a s’more I hadn’t noticed him making.
Finn barely suppressed a snarl.
I took the treat, knowing he could control himself.
He dragged me to a chair close to Ethan’s, and sat me down on his lap.
Sugar would get me through the book club meeting.
I took a bite of the s’more before offering one to my mate.
I wasn’t sure what was going to happen with Zoe and Connor… but I was sitting with Finn, surrounded by the people who had basically become family, eating dessert and talking about romance books.
When I left, Finn and I would go back to setting things up for the wolf-inspired craft my kindergarteners would be making the next week.
After we were done, we had a date scheduled with our oven and a few icing bags, ready to work on the cake for Graham’s birthday.
I had loved my life before Finn was in it… but everything was better with him there.
Everything.