Epilogue
KEITH
I ran my cloth along the length of the canoe, admiring the way the light bounced off the polished wood.
But it wasn’t just a reflection I saw along the fiberglass-covered hull.
I saw the many months of research, choosing supplies, and all the work that had gone into finishing my first ever water vessel.
Still, there was even more to it. When I’d started it, I’d been lost and alone, so adrift in life that I thought I’d never make it to the shore. Perhaps that’s why I’d decided to make a canoe, which was way outside of anything else I’d ever done before.
So much had happened, it was like the canoe had already been on a journey before ever touching the water. I had found the love of my life, dated her, gotten engaged, gotten married, and we’d begun construction on our own house.
It was far more modest than her parents’ home. We were using one of the lots between Riccardo’s house at the start of the street and the mansion at the end, but it would be perfect for us and any children we might choose to bring into the pack in the future.
“You don’t have to put it in the water if you’re not ready, dear,” Olivia said sweetly from where she was lounging on one of the beach chairs that we had brought. “It’s not a very good birthday gift if it’s stressing you out.”
I looked over at my wife, a term that still made me giddy whenever I used it, and drank her in.
While I had always found her beautiful, marriage had done her good, if I did say so myself.
Although she was already quite strong, she’d decided to start weightlifting with me, and I was a fan of the way it had thickened her thighs and broadened her shoulders.
Not to mention that all those squats had given her quite the shelf in the back for me to hold on to when I fucked her up against the wall.
“You’re ogling,” she teased, lowering her sunglasses to give me a look.
“What else am I supposed to do when you’re so ogle-able?”
“I’m pretty sure that’s not a word.”
“I’m pretty sure it is, because I just said it.”
“That’s not how language works.”
“Hey, if Shakespeare could make up like a bajillion words, why can’t I?”
“Oh, so you’re Shakespeare now?”
“I mean, I can be if you’d like. Are you trying to subtly hint that you want to be seduced by the Bard?”
She shut her book and cackled at that, rising from the chair like Aphrodite being birthed by the sea.
Even after several months of marriage, we were still in the honeymoon phase.
If I had my way, that sensation would never end.
“I think we have enough costumes in your closet. At least until we have the new walk-in one you’re building when we move into our home. ”
“Hold on now,” I said, opening my arms so she could walk into them. “Whose definition of ‘enough’? Because I can think of several outfits I wouldn’t mind you trying on...”
“Is this about that one vampire cosplay again?”
“It is about Selene from the movie Underworld, yes.”
“You know it’s gotta be some kind of sacrilege to ask your werewolf wife to role play as a vampire in the bedroom.”
“Excuse you! The proper term is shifter wife!” I waggled my eyebrows in that way that never failed to make her giggle or sigh with fond exasperation. “And if you want to be a traditionalist about it, fine, I’ll be Selene and you can dress as Lucian, the leader of the lycans.”
“And that would do it for you, huh?” She was calling my bluff, but what my darling wife was underestimating was what I would do to see her dolled up and all badass like the characters in that movie.
“Why wouldn’t it?” I retorted as I continued wiping dirt off my canoe.
A relatively silly exercise to do when I was about to put it in the water, but part of me still couldn’t believe that it was finally complete and lake-worthy.
“Michael Sheen was very attractive in that movie.” I was secure enough in my masculinity and my total desire for Olivia to muse that I couldn’t think of a single role where the actor wasn’t handsome.
She scoffed. “I’m not sure I should be encouraging this crack ship pairing. Isn’t his whole thing that his soulmate was killed by the head vampire guy and Selene ends up with a human who was bitten by Lucian and then later by her to make the first hybrid and it’s a huge deal?”
My head snapped back in her direction. “Wait a minute, I thought you said you never watched it! That you had moral reasons for not indulging in vampire propaganda!”
At the time, which had been early in our relationship, I had been certain that she was teasing me, but I’d never seriously brought it up again just in case.
“I… might have read the plot summary on Wikipedia,” she said, her eyes skipping away from me and going over to the lake, where the mid-afternoon sun was spilling golden light over the inviting waters.
However, I knew my wife far too well for that kind of avoidance.
“Olivia,” I said, calmly but firmly.
“What? I got a little curious. It’s not like I watched the movie without you.”
“Olivia,” I repeated, but this time even more firmly.
“I... I...”
“Olivia.”
She hung her head in mock shame, barely looking up at me through her thick lashes. When that didn’t work (although I did almost succumb to that particular brand of kryptonite) she heaved a sigh.
“I’ve been watching shorts of it on TikTok when I’m in the bathroom.”
“Aha! I knew you’d like it!” Sometimes, my darling could be so stubborn about some things, but it was part of her charm.
“Like is a strong word. I didn’t even know what movie I was seeing a one-minute clip from at first. And by the time I realized it, I was already kind of invested!”
“It’s okay, I won’t say I told you so,” I said, although we both knew I was thinking it. “Now, just imagine how much you would have enjoyed it if you saw it in actual movie form and not split up into random clips on TikTok with music playing loudly over it to avoid copyright issues.”
She snorted, but I knew that I definitely had a foot in the door for watching the rest of the movie series. Except for the one from 2016. That… that could stay unwatched.
“Don’t you have a boat to launch?”
Oh right, that was a thing, wasn’t it?
“You’re just trying to distract me from the Underworld talk.”
“Yes, I am,” she said, crossing to the back of the truck we rented to pull out a paddle. “Is it working?”
The way I figured it, I had a choice. I could belabor the point and maybe get a more hopeful answer on that Selene costume, or I could move on like my wife was strongly hinting and finally have the project I’d been working on for multiple years come to full realization.
Also, if I recalled correctly, there was a certain polka-dotted set of clothing items that Olivia had packed that I wouldn’t mind seeing.
“I don’t know,” I hedged, rubbing my beard. “The train of thought is slipping, but it’s not totally off the rails yet. If only there was a beautiful, talented woman clad in my favorite colors to occupy my mind...”
“You’re ridiculous,” she said with a laugh before pulling her tunic top over her head and revealing the exact bathing suit I was thinking of.
The two-piece was deep blue with gold polka dots.
In our first year together, Olivia had been quite nervous to wear two-pieces, but now she was comfortable in them. “Is this what you wanted?”
“It very much is!”
I strode over to her, and she made no attempt to dodge me as I caught her in my arms and kissed her senseless. Or maybe I was the one getting kissed senseless, because everything else slipped my mind the minute our lips touched.
Eventually, she cleared her throat, raising an eyebrow at the same time as she lifted the paddle between us.
Right. I really needed to stop forgetting that.
However, it was hard to, considering that Olivia had rented an entire lake cabin to celebrate both my birthday and the maiden voyage of my canoe.
There had still been plenty of adjustments and growing pains with getting used to having a giant family that was also a wolf shifter pack, but my desire for my wife hadn’t waned at all.
In fact, if anything, it had grown even stronger and more ravenous, so having our own little getaway where we could soak up the sun and indulge in whatever we wanted to do with each other occupied a lot of space in my brain.
“All right, I’ll get the boat on the launch and you put the cooler in, then we’ll head out onto the water.”
“Don’t forget, I need to reapply sunscreen on you before we go out on the water.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I said, only a little put-out that I never got to return the favor for her.
Not just because my wife was a wolf shifter and it took quite a bit to burn her without it instantly healing, but also because she was Italian and tanned like nobody’s business while I remained the same pasty white ghost as always.
I used to be self-conscious about that. Knowing that my wife still found me attractive even when I was the same shade as a piece of paper had greatly helped my attitude about it, though.
So, with only a bit more teasing and a little impromptu groping under the excuse of sun care, my canoe ended up in the water with both of us inside of it.
And it was better than I could ever have imagined.
I rowed lazily, utterly enraptured by the magic of the entire moment.
From the way the gentle current of the lake caused miniature waves of cerulean to lap against the polished sides of my canoe, to the sun spilling coral and gold across the surface of the water, to the way those same rays of light shone down on Olivia, hitting her shoulders, cheekbones, and even her thick, curly hair like celestial glitter.
I knew most people would say that I was just mooning (heh, ’cause she was a wolf, get it?) over her, but my wife glowed under the illumination like a gem.
It was as if nature itself saw her beauty and character and had to pause to pay homage.
I really was one lucky man.
“This is so relaxing,” my wife murmured, reaching into the cooler to pull herself out a snack and electrolyte drink. She handed me one as well, and I paused my rowing to guzzle it down. I would need all the hydration I could get for all the activities we were going to get up to in the cabin.
“You know, I never really understood the whole thing about boats because they always struck me as noisy and smelly. But I’m realizing now it was likely the motor and fuel. This? A girl could get used to this.”
I nodded, but mentally, I was already calculating how many beach trips we could logically make in a single year.
“Yeah,” I said instead. “It really is quite peaceful.”
She smiled at me, and I couldn’t help but think that the sun had to be jealous of her radiance. “You know, I’m really proud of you for finishing this.”
I flushed, my heart picking up in speed as it always did whenever my wife complimented me.
And she did that often. I’d never been in a relationship with someone who showed me so blatantly how much they liked me.
Beyond our sexual chemistry, I knew without a doubt that Olivia liked me for me.
Even with all my flaws, even with all my insecurities, she was my biggest fan. And I was hers.
“Aw, it’s no big thing,” I said. “I probably should have finished it a year ago.”
“Keith, be reasonable! In the past few years, you’ve taught six community workshops, started dating, proposed to me in a chicken shop, made a lovely engagement present for my brother that my family is now using at every wedding, found out about the magical world, got married, repaired your bed frame three different times, built another bed frame for Riccardo and Ginger’s anniversary, started putting together what we need for our house, and kept up with your work commissions. ”
“Well, when you put it that way, it’s almost impressive.”
“It is impressive! As are you!” She leaned all the way forward, hands on my knees so she could kiss me on the lips. “And don’t you forget it. Capiche?”
“Capiche, amore,” I answered.
“Good. Now get back to paddlin’.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
And I did it gladly.
We drifted in and out of conversation similarly to how we drifted across the placid water, flowing wherever our hearts and minds took us and enjoying every bit.
Eventually, the sun began to set, plunging the world into royal shades of cooler colors that eventually gobbled up all the warm ones that had comprised the heavens an hour before.
I rowed to shore, sore in that productive way that reminded me of a good workout, and maybe a little sun drunk. Everything felt hazy, a bit like a dream. It was kind of crazy that I was having the best birthday of my adulthood when I hit the big four-oh.
As I pulled the canoe on shore and helped Olivia out, she looked at me with pure fondness in her gaze. I could live to be as old as a shifter and I would never grow tired of seeing that expression on her face.
“You hungry?” she asked.
“Starving.” Although we had packed what we thought was enough snacks and drinks to stay out on the water for several hours, rowing built up quite the appetite.
“How does Chinese sound?”
I gave her a curious look. We’d brought another cooler full of groceries that were now in the fridge in the cabin, but I hadn’t seen anything that would lend itself to Asian cuisine.
“Good, but where are we getting it from?”
“I did some research when I chose this place, and there’s a Chinese restaurant in town that delivers out here.” Her grin grew even broader. “Apparently, they have the best crab rangoon.”
I laughed, because how could I not? I kissed her sun-warmed lips. She tasted like summer and happiness, a potent combination, and I almost couldn’t pull myself away.
“That sounds perfect.”