Epilogue
Kioni
Six Months Later
“Yes!” Ryker shouts too enthusiastically and reaches behind him to pet Nyx, who has her head through the opening between our seats. She tilts her head away from his touch, and I chuckle under my breath. “Seriously?” He throws his hands up.
I feel bad for him, but it’s comical. He’s spent so much time with her over the last several months in training, and she still rarely lets him pet her.
She will follow his commands, but he’s chopped liver when it comes to affection.
I trained with them too, but this is Ryker’s thing.
Whether it was an attempt to befriend the beast, just for fun, or a competition to have the best canine, he went all out, and I won’t take that away from him. When we are working, she is his.
“K9 en route. Coming around the corner now,” I respond. We were already on our way from the drug bust where the suspect had fled. After we assisted in clearing the area, we hightailed it out of there, assuming this was going to happen.
I weave around the parked vehicles, and the moment I have it in park, Ryker is jumping out of the vehicle and opening the door for Nyx. She searches for her target as we run with her.
“Suspect just ran behind the yellow dumpster,” a winded officer informs through the radio clipped to my vest, and we veer to the left when we see yellow.
Not a soul can outrun the three of us. I realize we take things a little overboard sometimes, but I think all the officers should.
You never know when you might need to chase someone.
We see the man vanish behind a building at the same time Nyx does. You can practically feel the energy radiating from her body.
“Stop immediately, or I’ll release the dog,” Ryker shouts after the fleeing suspect.
The man glances over his shoulder and attempts to run faster.
“This is your final warning. If you do not stop, the dog will bite you.” You can hear the subtle excitement in his voice.
His lips are curled into a devious smirk as he reaches for the clip on her leash.
“Get ‘em, Nyx,” he commands, and she transforms into a furry missile, about to strike in three…two…and he’s down.
“Good fucking girl,” we murmur in unison, but the screams of her prey drown our words out.
I wonder how many stitches this one will need?
“Release, Nyx,” I demand. She steps backward, giving us room, but never takes her eyes off him, prepared to intervene at any moment.
These are the rare moments Nyx allows Ryker to pet her. But it only lasts a few quick seconds before she says, that’s enough and pulls away.
Ryker is wearing a suspicious grin on our way to the station later.
“What?” I ask him, crossing my arms in front of me.
“Nothing,” he replies in a soft tone, not taking his eyes off the road to glance over at me, which makes it even more suspicious.
“Ryk, what is it?”
“Just had a good day is all.”
“Mhm.” I side-eye him, not believing his nonsense.
I pull up Sam’s location to determine where she’s at before accessing the cameras. The need to know where she is and lay eyes on her hasn’t lessened one bit. If anything, it’s gotten worse. Which I didn’t think was possible. I fucking love that woman with every fiber of my being.
My phone goes from my hands to the floorboard.
“Ryk, what the fuck?” I snap after he smacks my phone out of my hands.
“She’s fine.”
I snatch my phone off the floor only to find that she has turned off her location. My stomach drops. I’m not sure I’ll ever fully heal from the scare of almost losing her forever. My jaw clenches, and I turn to Ryker.
“Her location is off.” There are ways around this, but given his odd behavior, I’ll see what he has to say before I go psycho stalker-girlfriend on her ass.
“I told you she’s fine,” he retorts.
“Where is she?”
“I can’t tell you that.”
I draw a slow breath before calling her.
What are you up to, little wolf?
“Hey, babe,” she singsonged.
My eyes fall closed, and I empty my lungs. The sound of her voice eases the ache in my chest.
“Love, you can’t disappear on me. Where are you?”
“I’m with my sister—”
“Hi, Ki,” Taylor yells in the background.
“You’ll find out soon enough when you get home. I’m safe and I love you.”
“I love you too,” the words falling easy off my tongue.
Turning towards Ryker, I glare holes into the side of his face, and he pinches his lips to stifle his laugh.
“Do you trust me?” he asks.
“That’s a dumb fucking question,” I reply.
“Then believe me when I say she’s perfectly fine and you are going to love what she is doing.”
We pull into the parking lot of the station, and I have to stop my relentless tapping of my fingers on my legs.
Do I trust Ryker? Absolutely. But as much as I’m Sam’s security blanket, she’s mine.
Nyx follows us to our desks where there’s a bed, food, and water just for her.
She’s only part-time. That’s all her mommy approved of.
If Sam is not at work, Nyx isn’t either.
It’s unusual, but what isn’t when it comes to us.
And it helps that Captain has a sweet spot for both of my girls.
I get through the last of the paperwork in record time so I can hurry home to see what the love of my life is up to.
She hasn’t sold her house yet. It’s hard for her because she loves it so much, but it’s even harder for her to be there and not relive the worst moment of her life every time she steps outside and looks towards the treeline.
The door Nyx almost destroyed to get to her was the only physical reminder I could take away.
It’s possible we’ll return one day, or she’ll sell, and we can buy a new place to call our own. Fill it with the best memories.
When we get home, Ryker doesn’t take the leash off Nyx.
He leads her inside the house and then directly into his room.
Oookay? That’s new…and odd. What the hell does Sam have going on?
She’s not home yet. I want to call her or have my hacker turn her location back on, but Ryker assured me that she’s okay and to give her time to complete her mission. Whatever that may be.
There is a black suit lying neatly on our bed with a bright green card on top. Grinning, I pick up the card and open it.
We all have our own path that we are destined to take. And whether we let wrong turns and closed doors trap us in a place we aren’t meant to be is up to us.
Each of my twists and turns led me into your arms, and I know in my heart and soul that this is my final destination. You are it for me, babe. In this life and the eternity after.
Your love for me has always been so loud, even in the shadows. I hope after tonight you can hear my love for the rest of your life. Get ready, and then Ryker will bring you to me. I’ll be waiting.
I love you to the moon, Kioni.
-your future wife-
My entire body tingles with happiness and love. Like I’m floating on a cloud, drifting and weightless. I trail my fingers over the elegant material, wondering what she is doing at this very moment. It’s killing me not being able to see her or at least know where she’s at.
“Ryk?” I shout. “Do I have time to wash my hair?”
Clearly, he has inside information on this whole thing.
“Yes,” he shouts back his reply from the other side of his bedroom door, then his muffled argument with Nyx continues.
I exhale a sigh of relief. My hair takes forever from start to finish, especially when I’m not able to let it air-dry. But if she wants me to wear this, I need to look the part.
By the time I’m almost done diffusing my hair, my cheeks hurt from smiling.
I have no idea what she’s up to, but I can’t wait to find out.
These past six months of living together has been a dream come true.
I wake up next to her every morning, well more like she wakes up next to me, and I come home to her every night and fall asleep with her in my arms. She’s my everything and has been from the moment she searched for me in the shadows.
Ryker walks into the bathroom while I’m scrunching oil into my hair, breaking the gel cast. My eyebrows shoot up as my eyes roam over his dolled-up appearance.
His hair is slicked back with not a strand out of place, and he’s wearing a long-sleeved black button-up shirt paired with dark gray trousers.
I stand up straight. “Okay…what is going on?” I demand. I’ve seen my best friend dressed up less than a handful of times in our entire lives.
“Are you almost ready?” He dodges the question with one of his own, and now panic has set inside my chest because I’m not privy to our time constraint.
“Yes, now why are you dressed like that?”
The corner of his lips twitch and he spreads his arms out. “I can’t look nice while accompanying you to your surprise?”
Seriously, Sam. What are you up to?
“Shoo, so I can get changed.” I wave my hands in front of me, motioning for him to leave my bedroom.
The material of the pants feels like butter gliding across my skin as I pull them up my legs, leaving them unbuttoned so I can tuck my top into them.
I’m buttoning my shirt as I walk back into the bathroom to use the mirror.
The bright lights reflect off the deep green threads holding the buttons in place that I hadn’t noticed before.
A quiet laugh escapes me as my fingers work quickly to secure the rest of the buttons in place.
I don’t think I’ve ever loved my reflection as much as I do in this very moment.
Even I can see the glow radiating from my heart to my eyes and smile.