Epilogue
Faelan
“Ugh, dogs.” Gloam looked at me and peeled off from where we walked toward the castle for a Highland Games event that Lachlan and Graham were hosting for tourists.
I’d been told that Sophie had bested Lachlan in a swords match before they’d fallen in love, and I’d been promised a replay of that moment if I came.
Maybe I was also coming because Sophie wanted more photos of hot men in kilts for the castle’s marketing campaign, and there was promise of Luch in a kilt tossing a caber about.
It had been over a month since the accident, and Luch had allowed me to watch him change under the full moon.
It had been unnerving, even thrilling to watch, as flesh shifted to fur, and body changed to animal.
Yet the eyes remained the same, that tawny green gold that I loved so much, and luckily, I found I could still communicate when he was in this form.
It was just like talking to Gloam, actually, and I’d gone on a long walk with Luch under the moon, with Gloam keeping his distance while Luch was in wolf form, and it had felt comfortable.
Normal, even. Well, normal for me, at least. But my normal didn’t have to look like anyone else’s normal, did it?
The practice was booming, and I’d been lucky to hire Zara to help me with admin work.
She was great with the clients, a whiz at technology, and used her own special computer systems to help her with filing, reading reports, and making calls.
Even better, her support dog Mitch came to work with her every day, and we got to educate the community about working dogs and how to treat them when people saw them out in public.
At first, Zara hadn’t even wanted to get paid for her work, since she’d been so grateful that I’d helped save Mitch, and I was coming to learn she had her own powers.
She hadn’t shared her magick with me, yet, but I was certain in her own time she’d open up if she felt comfortable.
In the meantime, I’d told her about my healing abilities, and she’d taken it in stride.
That was the other thing—though I would always be cautious with whom I told about my abilities, I now had learned a powerful lesson.
It didn’t matter anymore who really knew that I could heal with magick.
On a larger scale, it probably did. Like if someone told someone who wanted to, I don’t know, maybe make a movie of me or something like that, then yes, it would matter.
But to tell a few trusted friends who lived in Loren Brae?
I no longer had an issue with that. Because I’d come to realize that I was the one in the power.
I owned my own business, I was a full member of the Order of Caledonia, and these women, and their men, had my back.
Unquestionably. Nobody could run me out of town anymore.
And if they tried, they’d have to get through an exceptionally scary, extremely strong, wolf.
There was a reason they referred to security as being a blanket, and I now tugged that around my shoulders, the warmth of acceptance from family and friends adding a spring to my step as I neared the castle.
I even walked by the loch on my own now.
After I’d left the hospital and returned home, I’d discovered my scalpel had a third band glittering on its handles.
It must have been healing Luch that had sealed the deal, and now I suspected the Kelpies would leave me alone.
Or at least, I hoped. Things had been quiet since the attack, and I hoped it would stay that way as we found the other members of the Order.
Sophie was just a touch on edge, as she didn’t have a line on the next person yet, and I’d promised to help her pull some threads on leads she’d had on my day off.
But not today.
Today was for ogling hot men in kilts.
Which, really, should be a national holiday as far as I was concerned.
The hedges rustled and I raised a finger.
“Don’t even think about it, Clyde.”
Clyde shoved his head out, and if a highland coo could pout, he did.
“Listen, if you want to surprise people you can’t rustle the branches. I’m sure you’ll do better next time.”
Clyde threw his head back and bellowed, and I jumped, laughing at myself, before I rounded the final curve to MacAlpine Castle. The expansive garden was filled with people, and several were not wearing shirts.
“Faelan!” Lia waved me over to where the women of the Order all clustered in a group with a whole pack of dogs at their feet, all of them sitting obediently for Hilda who brandished cheese.
“Well, now, the view isn’t too bad, is it?
” I asked Agnes, who I’d caught staring at Graham.
Admittedly, it would be hard to take my eyes off him if I wasn’t besotted with another man.
Tattoos snaked up his muscular arms, and a dragon writhed down his side, the tail curling low at his washboard abs.
“What? What view?” Agnes snapped to attention and turned to me, a pretty pink flush at her cheeks.
“Ladies.” I beamed at Graham as he approached, swinging a sturdy-looking wooden sword in his hands. He stood, all muscles and masculinity, heated eyes on Agnes who looked everywhere but at him. “How’s it going then?”
“Och, just fine, Graham. Lovely to see you out from behind the bar. That’s a nice tattoo, isn’t it then? Is that a dragon from …” I leaned closer to look at it more carefully.
“Falkor,” Agnes said, a catch in her voice. “From The Neverending Story.”
“A symbol of resilience.” Graham looked at me, but I had a feeling his words were for Agnes. “Of hope and understanding one’s own worth.”
“It’s a great tattoo,” I said, filling the silence that fell after his words. “The artist is brilliant too.”
“Who is brilliant?” An arm swung around my shoulders and I turned to smile up at Luch. My mouth dropped open. “Are you making time with my woman, Graham?”
“Obviously.” Graham grinned and winked at me, but I was too busy gawking at Luch to be charmed.
The man wore a kilt and a sturdy pair of boots, and seeing him like that made me want to drag him into the trees and …
Luch brushed a finger down my cheek, his eyes heating at my look.
“No time for that, darling. I’m up next.”
“Are you?” I said, woefully, and Luch laughed. Grabbing me close, he dipped me for a heady kiss, and everyone around us cheered.
“Hold it, hold it, yes, that’s it, perfect.” When I came up for air, I found a delighted Sophie with a camera in hand. “Now Agnes and Graham. Och, go on, don’t give me that look. Just get together and look normal. It’s for my socials.”
“Since when are you an influencer—” Agnes’s words were cut off when Graham stalked closer, wrapped an arm around her waist and dipped her low, before claiming her mouth in a steamy kiss.
Her hand came up to his chest and … lingered … instead of pushing him away.
Everyone cheered, just as they had when Luch had kissed me, and when Graham pulled Agnes back up, he held her close for a moment, whispering something in her ear.
When he pulled back, her face was crimson, and he had a steely look of determination in his eyes.
“All right, mate, let’s do this,” Graham said, and then he stomped off to the field. I gaped as Luch followed, and they both stopped by a set of cabers, each heavier than the last.
Luch squatted and the women drew around me as he lifted the huge trunk, balancing it in his arms.
“I’d let him carry my tree any day,” Hilda sighed, and we all hooted with laughter.
“Back off, woman, this one’s mine.”
It warmed me to say it, and I almost did a wee dance in place, so gleeful was I that I’d finally found a place I belonged. And the incredibly handsome, strong man, who loved me to bits didn’t hurt either.
“That’s fine then. So long as none of you take a shine to mine.” We all turned as Archie strode across the garden, shirtless in a kilt, and despite his years, he was equally as handsome as the rest of the men out there.
“I mean, we’d be hard pressed not to, but none of us want to fight you for him,” Sophie said. “I heard you’re mean as a cat backed into a corner in a fight.”
“And don’t you be forgetting it, lass,” Hilda said, blowing Archie a kiss across the field.
To our complete delight, he caught it and pressed his palms to his lips.
“Let me tell you, ladies, he may be all bark, but sometimes, he’s just the right amount of bite.”
“Gross, Hilda!” We whirled to find Lachlan, shirtless, with an appalled look on his face.
“Och, I’ve had to hear enough out of you two, haven’t I?”
We all laughed again as Sophie dragged Lachlan away, her shoulders shaking with laughter, and I crossed my arms over my chest, truly content.
Who would have thought that buying Loren Brae’s vet practice would have been the best thing that I’d ever done for myself? Eriska was right. The only constant in life was change, so all I could do was linger in the moment and soak up every ounce of joy that I could.
When Luch finally dropped the caber, I shot my arms up and cheered.
“That’s my man! Love you, baby.”
“Love, is it?” Agnes leaned into my ear.
“Oh yeah. It is. A thousand times over.”
“That’s nice to hear, Faelan. You deserve happiness.”
I turned to look at her and then back out at Graham.
“And so do you.”
“You know what, maybe I do, Faelan. Maybe I just do.”