Epilogue

Theo wasn’t surprised to find Phoebe sipping tea in his kitchen when he woke up, but his heart fluttered anyway. His stupid heart was always doing shit like that around her.

“Morning, Fee.” He padded out into the kitchen, running a hand across his bare chest. It had been a while since he’d seen her, but his best friend had a tendency to disappear sometimes.

“Hey. When did you get back?” Phoebe asked, peering at him over her mug. He paused to look at her before tearing his gaze away. He never really could get over how distractingly beautiful she was. Even now, as he made his coffee in his own kitchen, he had a hard time concentrating, knowing that she was watching him with those big brown eyes.

“A while ago.”

“So how’s the seer?” she asked, digging for details. She couldn’t help it. The nymph in her could never get enough gossip.

“Fine. Well … mostly fine.” Theo couldn’t stop the grin on his face when he thought about the look on Lena’s face when he shifted in front of her. A werewolf had to find fun where he could these days.

“What did you do?” Phoebe raised a copper brow, tension coiling her muscles. Jealous. She was jealous of what he might have done with the seer. And Theo was just enough of an asshole to run with it.

“Nothing.” Theo shrugged, pulling down his mug from the cabinet. “Just had a little fun.”

“God, Theo.” Fee thunked her mug down in disgust. “Is there no one you won’t fuck?”

He turned to her, leaning his back against the counter, a slow grin crossing his face. “Just you, I guess. But only because you won’t let me.”

Pink bloomed across Phoebe’s cheeks. “You know why it’s not a good idea.”

“Remind me.”

She huffed out a sigh. “We’re friends, Theo. If we sleep together, it will just get weird.” She held his stare until he had to look away, knowing he revealed too much when he looked at her. “I can’t have you falling in love with me,” she said, gently. “Nymphs aren’t built for that.”

He held up his hands. “Hey, neither am I. I’m offering a fun night, Fee. That’s it.”

She smirked like she could see his lie from a mile away, like she knew he wanted to keep her. Like she knew that he hadn’t actually slept with anyone else in months and currently had the worst case of blue balls just from looking at her in her oversized sweatshirt and leggings.

But he’d blown his shot with Phoebe years ago.

“There was another attack, though.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Rafe took out three wolves on his own, apparently.”

Phoebe’s eyes widened, impressed. “Maybe he should have been the Alpha after all.”

Theo shrugged. He didn’t feel like rehashing the events that led to Knox becoming Alpha and him and Rafe becoming exiles. “That’s what happens when someone attacks your Mate, I guess.”

Phoebe rolled her eyes. “Mates.”

“Yes, I’ve heard your thoughts on the matter many times.”

“It makes you wolves all crazy.” Phoebe sipped her tea. “It’s the only thing I’ve ever agreed with your father about.”

Theo groaned. “It’s way too early in the morning to talk about Devon.” Especially with Phoebe. He shouldn’t even have said the word Mate in front of her. It made him feel all squirrelly like his insides were trying to crawl out. Maybe he should lay off the caffeine.

He turned to pour himself some cereal and avoid Phoebe’s gaze. There was a time he thought maybe Fee could be his—

“So what do you think these attacks are about?”

Theo shook his head like he could scatter his thoughts like water from his fur. “Uh … don’t know.” He spoke between bites of cereal. “I figure they either want the seer dead or want to use her for her visions. Right?”

“Could be.”

“You mean you haven’t heard anything through the extensive nymph grape-vine?”

The little dryad blinked innocently. “Nothing too out of the ordinary. Canadian pack is on the move again.”

“Hm.” Theo had zero interest in the inner workings of werewolf pack politics. It was one of the many reasons he’d never wanted to be the Alpha. Not that anyone believed he would be. People didn’t tend to expect much from Devon’s youngest son.

“All I know is Rafe is real fucking keyed up about the whole thing,” he said with a mouth full of Fruit Loops. Phoebe wrinkled her nose in mock disgust and he grinned through his sugary cereal. He swallowed before adding, “You know how he gets.”

“Well, he always was the sensitive one.”

Theo huffed. “And what am I?”

Fee smirked. “The pretty one.”

He set down his bowl and stalked closer to where she sat at the counter. “That’s all I am to you? A pretty face.”

She giggled and he had the fleeting and ridiculous thought that he could listen to that sound forever.

“Everyone knows Knox is the brains.”

“Ouch, Fee. You wound me.” He rested his hands on the counter, leaning forward until he could smell the steam from her herbal tea rising between them.

“Poor pretty baby,” she teased, but the color had risen in her cheeks again, her gaze flicking down to his bare chest. “Must be so hard to have women throwing themselves at you.”

“That has nothing to do with my pretty face,” he purred. “I do have some skills.”

Phoebe’s lips parted like she might say something or like she might lean forward and do the one thing Theo had been wanting her to do for the past decade…

His phone buzzed aggressively on the counter. Fee straightened on her stool.

“Jesus,” he muttered. Theo glanced at his phone to see Rafe’s name on the screen. “What the hell does he want now?”

“Might be important.”

Theo rolled his eyes. “I’m sure Rafe thinks it is, but I’m done being his errand boy.”

“Well, he did save your—”

“Don’t finish that sentence. I’m perfectly aware of what I owe my brother,” he grumbled as he unlocked his phone.

Lena’s gone. Need your help.

He glanced up at Phoebe. The delicious blush was gone from her cheeks; her eyes looked at him with concern and not possible lust. Fucking Rafe and his drama cockblocked him again.

“I gotta go. Rafe lost the damn seer.”

“Maybe I should come.” Phoebe hopped down from the stool and Theo let his gaze rake up and down all five feet two inches of her. How was it possible that after seeing her nearly every day for the past ten years, his blood still heated at the sight of her? Pathetic was what it was.

“Nah. I should go alone. No need to complicate things.”

“Right.”

No need to complicate things, because things with his best friend were complicated enough.