Epilogue

EPILOGUE

Stacey squeezed Dylan's hand. "You doing okay?"

He looked down at her and smiled. The horizon was quickly eclipsing the sun, casting the last rays of golden light upon them as they stood behind the Brigham clanhouse. It warmed his skin and brought amber flecks into those dark eyes that she'd come to love so much. "I'm fine. It's just a little odd not to be in charge right now. This feels like it's supposed to be my job, not that Dad isn't qualified."

"You men are all the same," Barbara teased as she came up on Dylan's other side and elbowed her son gently. "You always think you have to be the one to do it all, to make everything happen. You'd think after so many years of living around me, you'd have figured out that we're more of a team than that. Anyway, I think your father is thrilled to be doing this."

Stacey glanced toward the retired Alpha, who stood watching the horizon. He was silent and stoic, as he'd always been. She couldn't see any excitement there, or any other emotion for that matter, but she trusted Barbara on the subject.

Dylan wrapped one arm around his mother in a quick hug. "I know, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Let's get this show on the road."

Stacey and Dylan took their places, standing just behind Paul. She smiled over her shoulder at her mother, who stood with the children a few feet away. Vivian waved at her, Elijah grinned as he watched everything, and Carol gave her a wink.

Paul took a step forward and lit the pyre of wood that'd been carefully laid. When it had caught, he lifted his arms. "Brighams!"

"Brigham!" came the resounding cry from the circle of shifters that'd formed around the fire.

"We gather here to welcome a new member to the fold, to bestow her with all the benefits of becoming a Brigham. Though it's always a special occasion to welcome a new mate into the clan, it is far more rare that this is the mate of our own Alpha. I'm honored to have the privilege of guiding this night on behalf of my son, Dylan."

Stacey tried to focus on her breath. She and Dylan had talked of this night for some time. Though she was Dylan's mate regardless of any formal ritual, this night would make her officially part of the clan. They'd decided that the children would wait until they were older and could make their own decisions about what they wanted for their lives, although they were close enough to the family that they still had the privilege of coming to watch.

Despite all the preparations, Stacey still found her body jangling with nerves.

Since this was more than a simple initiation ceremony, Paul turned his back to the fire to face them. "Dylan Brigham, are you prepared to receive Stacey, to offer her the protection of the Brigham clan and to request that protection in return, to keep her as your own? Do you vow your loyalty to her?"

It seemed that any of Dylan's unease about letting someone else lead the night had dissipated. His gaze was soft, but he held Stacey's hands firmly in his own. He wrapped her in his love with no more than the touch of his hands, and she could hear the sincerity in his voice. "I do so vow. "

"Stacey Williams."

Her heart zipped up into her throat as Paul intoned her name. She listened to Paul's words as he repeated the questions that had just been asked of Dylan, but the words weren't what truly mattered. It was how she felt, and that was something she was willing to testify to again and again. She loved Dylan with the entirety of her heart. If they were to die and come back to Earth as entirely new people, she would find him again. They were bound together with a depth and firmness that she'd never understood before. Her only regret was that she'd had to wait this long to discover it. "I do so vow."

Paul turned back to the other Brighams. "If anyone has any objections to this union and to the new member of our clan, you must speak them now."

Dylan had told her about this part, too. He'd explained that it was merely a formality, and that the only time anyone ever had actually protested was when Will tried to undermine his brother's new position as Alpha. He'd told her not to worry about it, but she did. Stacey wanted nothing more than to be a part of this.

Before she had more than a few seconds to fret, Paul turned back to her. "Stacey, we welcome you." He stepped aside, and the circle opened up to welcome them.

Barbara stood on the other side of the opening. She smiled lovingly at Stacey, her eyes shining with tears of joy. "We welcome you," she said before she morphed into her bear.

Next came Will, who looked just as happy as his mother. "We welcome you."

One by one, the assembled shifters gave the standard salutation before they changed, speaking as well as showing their acceptance. There was nothing Dylan could've told her that could've quite prepared her for such a sight. The fire flickered excitedly as one by one, the people around them became a gathering of bears. Stacey watched in awe, knowing she was truly a part of something that very few humans ever got the chance to even know about, much less experience.

"And now," Paul said, when he and Stacey remained the only ones still on two feet, "we have a small change to our typical rites. We have given her all the rights and benefits of being a Brigham, and I understand that she has a gift for us in return."

At Paul's nod, Stacey spoke. "You may well know that my children and I will be moving in with Dylan tonight, and that my mother Carol will remain in my home. I know these are trivial things compared to what's happening here, but I hope that what I have to say next will feel more significant to you, that it might show you my dedication to this clan. I would like to bestow my home to the Brigham clan, so that you'll never again need to worry about who's living next door."

A deep rumble of approval moved through the circle, and several of the members stamped their feet as well. Paul closed the ceremony in a similar manner to the opening, throwing his hands in the air once again. "Brigham, welcome!"

As the Brighams shifted back into their human forms, Dylan and Stacey received all sorts of kind words and congratulations from everyone else. Paul shook his son's hand, but he pulled Stacey into a hug. "I know my boy will be good to you. That's how I raised him."

"I think I had a little bit of something to do with that," Barbara added as she stepped in for her own hugs. "The two of you are just wonderful together."

Carol was next. She pulled Stacey in tightly, rocking her slightly in her embrace. "That's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. I love you, and I'm so glad that you've found the love that you deserve."

"Don't make me cry, Mom. Your job is usually to make me laugh." Stacey dabbed a tear from the corner of her eye.

"I'm a talented individual. I can do a lot of things," she replied with a wink. "You make sure you stop by every now and then to see the old hag who lives next door now, okay?"

"I think I can remember."

"Mom!" Vivian tugged at her hand. "Lila said she's making ice cream cones. Can we have one?"

Stacey couldn't help but laugh. It hadn't been an easy task to enlighten her children about shifters, and she hadn't been sure what they would think after attending the ceremony and seeing so many bears in one spot. Lila had been like an ambassador for them, and once they understood that their new stepsister was a part of this community, they seemed to be just fine. "Yes, you can. Just make sure you get some actual food, too." She looked for Lila to thank her, but she was busy hugging her dad.

When the kids had run off, Will stepped up. He looked humbly at both of them, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "I'm here to say congratulations, but I still feel like I should start off with an apology."

"You've already done that," Dylan reminded him.

"I know," his brother replied. "I've given out lots of apologies, and there will be plenty more. Specifically, though, I want to apologize to the two of you for complicating what you had between you. I might not've come here with good intentions, but I never meant to screw around with something like that. I just wanted to make sure you knew that before I headed back out to sea."

"It's all right." Dylan clapped him on the shoulder. "I don't think it hurt us all that much in the long run if we had a few little rough patches to test ourselves with."

Will nodded, but he looked to Stacey for confirmation.

"Absolutely," she agreed. Will wasn't all that much like his twin brother, but now that things were being repaired between the two of them, she knew they could truly be friends whenever he was back in Truro.

"And thanks again for offering to give Barney a new home," Will added. "He's getting older, and I know he's so much happier here on land."

Stacey laughed. "No problem at all. Maybe we'll need to have a ceremony to welcome him to the clan, too."

After they'd had a chance to visit with everyone, accepting congratulations and plenty of unsolicited advice, they found a moment of privacy in the shadows just outside of the bonfire. Dylan took her hand in his. He raised it to his lips and kissed the back of it before holding it to his heart. "Stacey, I know that we've already made promises in front of everyone and made this all official, but I want to know if you're truly happy."

She hadn't taken many chances in life to even ask herself that before, and she wasn't sure if many other people had, either. Stacey looked around them. She saw the big, happy family partying around the bonfire. Carol and Barbara were sitting together, chatting as though they'd always been old friends. Lila was playing with Vivian and Elijah, leaving very little of ‘step' in ‘stepsiblings.' The air was fresh and cool, and Stacey truly didn't have a care in the world. She wasn't concerned about work the next day or whether or not her children understood just how much she loved them. "I came out here because I wanted family and connection more than anything. I found that, and so much more. I am happy, Dylan, and I think we will be for a long time."

"Me, too. I love you." He pulled her closer and pressed his lips to hers.

Stacey fell into that kiss. It was the kind that could drown out the world, but theirs was now a world that didn't need to be forgotten or set aside. The two of them were part of a whole, and she was going to enjoy every single moment of it.

THE END