Epilogue

EPILOGUE

ELEANOR

“ A lexander,” I warned.

I should’ve gotten out of bed at least half an hour ago.

My mate yanked down the thin strap of my nightdress, the edge of his canines finding purchase on the sensitive skin between my shoulder and my neck.

My hips undulated against his before I was even aware of what I was doing.

Once, I’d thought this fiery, debilitating need for each other would be muted after we’d had enough time to satiate our desires.

I was proud to report that one year later, we weren’t any better than when we’d started off. In some ways, it was even worse because now, Alexander had mapped out every inch of me with his lips and his very talented fingers.

He knew just where to touch, to kiss, to bite, to take me from zero to a hundred without any effort.

He traced his fingers indolently up my thigh, knowing I wouldn’t say no to him, and my tiny gasps of protest were words I didn’t really mean.

Flipping the bottom of my nightdress up, he found me, wet and slick and?—

I placed my hands over his to stop his progress, swallowing hard as I tried to remember why I needed to get out of bed.

The meeting. Shit , the meeting.

“Alexander,” I began, but his lips were at my ear, his voice a low, thick rumble that made my thighs press together as he whispered my name.

“Eleanor.”

Fuck. I wasn’t going to make it.

Making a split-second decision, I rolled away from Alexander, tangling up in our sheets.

Only, I underestimated my position and fell flat on the floor.

My ass throbbed despite the cushioning of the sheets that had fallen with me.

“I hate you,” I cursed without passion, sitting up to glare at Alexander, who’d forced this choice upon me.

My mate couldn’t have looked less concerned if he tried.

He lounged on the bed, his abs on display as the sheets hung dangerously low around his middle, doing a terrible job of covering him.

His ocean-blue eyes, almost obscured by the dark hair that fell across his forehead, flickered with amusement as he beckoned to me.

“I love you, too. Now get back in bed.”

I stood up, covering myself with my nightdress and trying my best to ignore the smoldering look Alexander was throwing me. Goddess, for someone without a wolf, his dominance was still off the charts.

“I have a very important meeting today,” I reminded him. “And you have alpha duties, like finally approving West’s request to mate with Seraphina before she chews my head off.”

Picking up the fallen sheets, I tossed them onto our bed and fixed Alexander with a serious look.

“Stop making it hard for both of us to get to work on time.”

Alexander didn’t roll his eyes at my words, but it was a close thing.

He had no intention of letting West mate with Seraphina—yet. He wanted his sister to explore life single before she decided if and who she wanted to settle down with.

I agreed with the sentiment, but unlike Alexander, I was a firsthand witness to what Seraphina and West shared. They had a good thing going, and?—

Taking advantage of my distraction, Alexander’s hand wrapped around my wrist and tugged me back into his arms.

Our gazes locked, and I forgot how to breathe.

Goddess, he was stunning, and I didn’t need a mate bond to see the uninhibited desire for me in his eyes.

“Guess what else is hard right now,” Alexander teased, his eyebrows waggling playfully.

It took me a moment to register his play on words. My cheeks burned with embarrassment and I slapped his chest.

“You’re disgusting,” I said, nearly choking on my laughter.

Alexander grinned at me unrepentantly.

“I believe the word you’re looking for is ‘charming.’”

Ever since that day in the valley, Alexander couldn’t shift and his strength had diminished to that of a regular wolf. But he’d never seemed happier and more playful, and the shadow in his eyes was gone.

I laughed again, and simply because I could, I pressed my lips to his.

Fuck it. I was already going to be late for the meeting anyway.

Might as well make it worth the wait.

Father and Drew, my younger half-brother, were waiting, their anger palpable when I arrived at the meeting almost two hours after the agreed-upon time.

I didn’t apologize or make excuses. I just took the head seat opposite them at the Red Moon Pack’s tiny council table.

Drew broke the silence, a sneer on his lips.

“Just because you’re now the luna of the Nightshade Pack, you dare to keep us waiting?”

“Be quiet,” Father snapped before turning to face me, a poor mimicry of a fatherly smile on his lips. “My dear, what is?—”

I cut straight to the chase.

“The Nightshade Pack will no longer back your conquests or send aid to the Red Moon Pack.”

Father blanched, his face several shades paler. He must have been thinking of his war to forcibly annex the Mystic Frost Pack, which was currently fully funded by my pack’s coffers, as per his agreement with Dylan.

“We have an alliance,” he protested.

Had he always been so small?

He’d seemed so much larger when he’d tossed me around and beat me into submission.

“You had a deal with the late alpha,” I said, rising to my feet as my guards fell in step behind me. “My mate doesn’t intend to renew that alliance.”

Father crossed the distance between us faster than I expected, his hand encircling my wrist, his fatherly facade falling away.

“Is this your idea of payback, after all I’ve done for you?” he snarled.

Malia, my right hand, drew her silver.

“Take your hands off the luna,” she demanded.

Drew shuffled behind Father, his beady eyes flickering around in poorly disguised fear.

Father retracted his hand, but I lingered there for a moment more, taking in the man who’d tried to break my spirit so many times.

The man who, in his bid to secure power, had unwittingly facilitated me meeting Alexander.

“I forgive you,” I told him, before turning on my heel and walking out.

He didn’t deserve my forgiveness. Not by a long shot.

But then again, neither had Anastasia, and I’d let her go.

I still remembered the disbelief in her eyes when I’d released her from the dungeons months ago.

“You’re letting me go?” she asked uncertainly, clearly expecting a trick.

“I would hardly classify banishment and life as a rogue as ‘letting you go,’ but yes, you won’t be executed.”

It was a choice I’d pondered for a long, long time. Alexander had left the decision in my hands, and I knew he’d stand by my choice, even if it was to execute her.

But the truth was that regardless of what she’d done to me, she’d been a good friend to Alexander. She’d helped him in ways I hadn’t been able to. Having lost a friend, even one who’d betrayed me several times, I didn’t want Alexander to go through the same pain I had.

Life as a rogue was brutal, and odds were Anastasia would lose her mind and life the moment she stepped foot outside our borders, but I wouldn’t be the one who took it from her.

Anastasia stared at me, an emotion in her eyes I couldn’t decipher.

“This was why he chose you.”

I wasn’t sure I agreed with that sentiment, but I stayed silent as she was escorted away.

Elena smelled like cookies and sunlight when I hugged her for the umpteenth time.

Seeing her was the only reason I’d delivered the news of the broken alliance to Father in person.

“I’ll come to visit soon,” she said, patting my back gently.

I pulled back from the hug to meet her gaze.

“You promise?”

“I do.” Elena nodded, a soft smile on her face and tears in her eyes. “I’m glad you’re happy, Eleanor. So glad.”

I was glad as well, because when I left the Red Moon Pack this time, I knew I’d never return again.

Father and Drew never apologized or even admitted their wrongdoings to me, but that was fine.

Sometimes, closure was refusing to let people who’d hurt you have any more of your life by harboring hatred for their actions in your heart. Closure was outgrowing a dismal phase of life to enter a much more beautiful, vibrant one.

My hand fell to my stomach as I wondered how Alexander would react when I announced my pregnancy at the party tonight.

Knowing him, he’d probably devise a way to keep me chained to our bed for the entirety of the pregnancy so he could hover around me like an overprotective mother hen.

A smile tipped up the corners of my lips.

I couldn’t wait.