Epilogue

E PILOGUE

I’m standing inside a cottage, shifter children running around as I make the final adjustments to Illias’s tunic. He looks around nervously and tries to brush my hand away.

I smack his fingers. ‘Stop fussing, you look wonderful.’

‘You say that even when I have paint all over my face.’

I smile up at him. ‘Because it’s the truth.’

Illias looks like he is about to disagree when Iker knocks on the door. ‘Everyone’s waiting—’ He freezes when he sees Illias. ‘Are you going to cry, brother?’

‘And give you that satisfaction? No, thank you.’

Iker and I both laugh, which doesn’t amuse Illias in the slightest.

Shaking my head, I pat down the lapels of his tunic and take a quick breath. ‘Nervous?’

He nods, and my heart swells, thinking about what is about to happen. Last year, when Darius and I were finally able to marry in front of our loved ones, Illias found the courage to propose to Link during our celebration.

It is somehow poetic that, on the third go, we were able to have a proper ceremony, and my brother gets to have his moment.

‘Well,’ I say, biting my cheek when I feel a lump in my throat. ‘You shouldn’t be. You and Link deserve this.’

He offers me a gentle smile. ‘I know.’ Then, something in his expression changes. ‘Do you think Idris is watching?’

Pain flickers inside my chest, remembering the death of our brother.

I glance at Iker, who straightens off the wall and walks towards us. The three of us stand together, missing one person to complete our circle.

I can feel my eyes begin to water, so I blink them away. ‘I do,’ I whisper, grabbing Iker and Illias’s hands. ‘And I also think he will wonder why we are taking so long.’

They chuckle and I exhale a long breath.

‘Ready?’ I ask.

‘Now more than ever,’ Illias says, and I smile, linking arms with him on one side while Iker grabs the other.

We step out of the quaint cottage and venture into the woods where the shifter’s den used to be. As Iker and I guide my brother down the makeshift aisle, a carpet of lush ferns and ancient, intertwining roots, the dappled sunlight filters through the trees, casting a kaleidoscope of light around us.

The people we love rise from their wooden seats and turn to face Illias with a smile. The forest is alive as dragons, pixies and goblins we have come to know circle the clearing. I look to my left, where Lorcan bows his head to me in respect, then at Leira and Aelle in the next row, grinning at us.

Giddiness rushes through my veins as I acknowledge them all.

As we approach the end of the aisle, where Link is standing beside Freya and Rydan, wearing a tunic similar to my brother’s, Tibith is there waving excitedly in his usual furry self, my eyes find Darius. He is the one who will bind my brother’s marriage to Link. It was Illias’s fervent wish, and he obliged, causing my heart to almost burst from my chest when they first told me.

Now, seeing him standing there, everything else fades away. It’s just him and me, two souls lost in a love they share so deeply. Just the way he looks at me with such tenderness fills me with an overwhelming sense of happiness I can’t control. I don’t think I ever will be able to.

He flashes me a teasing smile and I blush, never bored of that cheekiness within him.

As we finally reach the front, I gently hand my brother over to Link. Iker embraces them both before Illias turns to me, and I rest a hand against his cheek.

Tears swim in my vision as I smile. ‘It’s a great day to get married, don’t you think?’

Illias chokes out a sob, grabbing my face and kissing me on the forehead. When he takes his position opposite Link, my heart cries, knowing that I am letting him go, just as I will have to let go of Iker when he marries Freya next year, and just as I know that one day they will be my past.

At least, for now, they are my present and my future.