Epilogue
VALERIAN
“What do you think of this spot?” I ask.
She walks among the sparse trees and lifts a hand to absently rub the back of her neck. She has been doing this sometimes since the bonding night, since I bit and marked her. She says she likes feeling the small, raised scar there, marking her as my official mate.
She says she wants to bite me, too. With her small, human teeth, the scar won’t take, but I told her she can bite me every night and every morning, renewing the mark. She can bite me anywhere. I’ll let her mark me all over.
I’d fucking love that.
“Wow. The views of the plain below are breathtaking. It’s such a pretty spot.” She gazes down, hands on her hips. “What did you have in mind?”
“A house,” I tell her. “A rose garden. A few dogs. A few rabbits. I’ll build a stone fence here…” I take her hand and walk the perimeter with her. “A henhouse here. A vegetable patch. A small orchard.”
She ducks her head. “It sounds nice. Could I bring over Della and the guys from back home? And invite my cousins over? I miss them.”
“Whatever your heart desires.”
A smile plays on her lips. “Is this land yours?”
“Yeah. It belonged to my mother. She wanted to build a house here, once she left the temple.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispers, “for—”
I tug her against me and smile down at her. “Somehow, she brought you to me, and for that I’m grateful.”
“I miss my mother, too,” she whispers. “And my father, although it’s been even longer.”
Putting my arms around her, I crush her to my chest and kiss the top of her head. “I’m sorry, Princess. Nobody should have had to go through such pain.”
“But you’re right,” she whispers against my chest. “Everything that happened to us brought us together, and I’m grateful, too.”
I pull back and place my fingers under her chin. “You’d tell me if anything made you unhappy? If I made you unhappy?”
“You are my favorite person in the world,” she whispers, and that vise around my heart returns, cutting off my breath and making the backs of my eyes sting.
“Right back at you, Princess.”
She grins. “So… rabbits and hens, huh?”
“And dogs,” I say. “Cats, if you like. Goats. Baby goats are cute.”
“And maybe some babies of our own later on?” she whispers.
My face splits into a grin. “Fuck, yeah. I wasn’t sure you wanted any. Dark fae, wolfie babies, you know?”
“Valen… Of course I want babies with you,” she says. “I’ve only ever wanted them with you.”
“That’s right,” I growl. “Only with me.”
She laughs softly.
But my heart is thundering, and my eyes feel suspiciously hot. I feel so loved with her. She’s talking as if she’s in for the long haul, and as for me, I’m all in, body and soul.
I kiss her.
I wonder if I’ll ever not want to kiss or touch her. It seems unlikely. Impossible. I’d die without her smile, her gaze, her scent.
“Are you happy here?” I finally ask.
“Happier than I ever thought I could be. Your family is lovely. Your friends are sweet. This place is beautiful. And I am with you. What more could I ever wish for?”
“My love…”
“Who would have ever thought,” she says, “that having a nightmare come true, being assigned a werewolf bodyguard, would not only save my life but also my soul? That I’d find my soulmate in a dark fae, in his home in the mountains?”
I have no answer to that. I’m only thankful. Together, we look over the land and plan for the future.
When the wolves run, I take her with me sometimes.
She rides on my back, wearing a fur coat, mittens, and boots.
Her laughter echoes on the slopes. Her joy has the pack frolicking in the grassy clearings of the forest. She’s a reincarnation of the Goddess, a nymph who wandered among us.
Yet, she’s human and fragile, delicate and determined, and perfect in every single way.
She’s mine, and everything I am belongs to her. Her smile makes me smile. Her laughter makes me laugh. Her tears make me cry.
We have invited her friends to live with us, and here she’s free to do as she pleases. She’s the lady of my house and of my heart. She loves to embroider, to read and write, dance and sing, and I’m honored that most of the time, it pleases her to be with me.
If my mother can see me now, if she can sense me, she’ll know I’m right where I want to be.
This is everything I need: My mate and I, walking under the stars in silence, our hands linked, our bodies touching.
Our spirits are melding. She’s my rose in bloom, my blossom wife, my better half.
My clear morning, my star-studded night.
My wild forest and my soft bed of grass.
She is everything I love condensed in a woman’s body, a woman’s mind.
Love like this can change the world, and it changed mine. I’ve never believed in fate, but if fate brought Rosie to me, then I’m a believer now.