Bonus Chapter

Lucian

Four months later…

As I sit on the porch of our newly built alpha house, I rock in the chair and look at the old one. So much has changed in the last three months, though some things stay the same.

Corbin is at the door with his bucket of supplies and mop in hand, waiting for Samson to open the door. I can tell by the rigid way he stands, he’s getting really tired of this.

I have a feeling it won’t be long before he causes some issues, but Lillian swears he is being docile and probably won’t. Not after being put in his place and knowing that I won’t tolerate it.

As she steps out on the porch, her hands tighten around the cream colored cup while she looks on toward Corbin. “He’s busy this morning. Though he hates it, he never fails to clean.”

“Oh, he hates it for sure,” I say as my eyes roam over her body.

Four months of loving her fully.

Four months of having her touch any time I want.

This is the life I’ve only dreamed of.

So why do I feel like things might change? Why is there this gnawing feeling that something is about to come knocking at our doors?

When I glance back up and meet her gaze, she gives me a knowing smile. “Why don’t you come back to bed, alpha?”

Her eyes glow red and every hair on the back of my neck stands. “Are you commanding me to come back to bed?”

It’s then I notice that she is in her white nightgown with the red cape over it to hide what she is wearing to everyone else except me.

Oddly, I don’t remember her wearing that a bit ago. It seems like she had a pair of pants on and a lilac colored shirt on.

“Maybe,” she says with a cheeky grin.

“Oh, I love it when you do that.”

I rise from the chair and forget everything around us as I go through the door behind her. It shuts with a loud slam, but I don’t care who hears. I’m sure they have heard enough out of us since we have become mated.

I follow her to the bedroom at the back of the house, shredding my clothes as I go and leaving a trail. She is already untying her cape when I cut the corner and enter the bedroom. As she hangs it on the wall, I finish kicking out of my pants.

She turns with a grin. “You and I were born for each other, you know?”

“Yes, but I had to wait two hundred years for you and be stuck in a twenty year old body,” I say with a laugh.

I head toward her, my hands instinctively reaching for her gown. It falls to the floor a moment later.

She rubs her hands up my arms, causing me to groan from the light touch. “Is it always going to be like this? Will we always be this happy? I keep thinking I’m only dreaming like I used to and that you’ll disappear when I wake.”

When I glance up, I notice the tears lining her eyes and all desire dies within me. “Why won’t it be? Why are you thinking sad thoughts?”

I search her mind and find that she is worried that I might disappear again. Images of the time she was without me while I was in the other realm are at the forefront of her mind, along with the other times before that. Then I get to the root of it.

“Emmeline is still out there,” she says as the tears begin to fall. “Is it possible for her to regain her magic and then come for you? If she does, I don’t know if I will survive it.”

“No one, and I mean no one, is ever taking me from you again. We are entangled together until death comes for us. You and I are made of the same and we will prevail through the ages. Our great grandchildren and beyond will speak of us often and fondly. They will think about our story and the love we share. That is what will drive them to find their own fated mate. Our love is made of magic and destiny, my love.”

“I know this,” she says as she leans forward and cries into my shoulder. “I know that, but I’m scared one day you might leave me.”

I reach up, my hands tangling in her hair. “Don’t worry about that anymore, Lily. I will never leave your side. You have never truly been alone. I think part of me was always there until the time came for us to be together.”

She pulls back, her face wet with tears, as her gaze meets mine. “Always?”

“Always,” I say as I lean down and capture her lips.

There are no more words to be spoken between us for the next few hours as I show her how much I love her and keep my promise of eternity. She is strong, but in these moments, I know that the past still haunts her.

One day, that past will no longer bother her. One day, she will see that I was there all along, waiting in the woods until the day she would come to claim me.

Our fate was written in the stars and until we turn into them, we will remain here, loving each other. I know that the fight isn’t over, not when so many dangers lurk, but right now, I don’t want to think about it.

Right now, it is only about the love we share and creating a new future where we will no longer be hurt or cursed.

******

As she lays in my arms, my fingers twirl with the ends of her hair. Something about her scent is toying with me. It makes me want to have her repeatedly, but I stop myself from acting on it because she’s finally asleep.

“You don’t know how much I love you, but I will prove it to you every single day.”

Her nails dig into my chest as she wakes. “You're wrong,” she mumbles.

“I am not wrong. You are a stubborn little thing that doesn’t realize how much your mate loves you. Now go back to sleep.”

“No,” she says as she turns to look up at me.

Her face is still splotchy from tears, but those beautiful red alpha eyes are capturing my attention.

“If you don’t go back to sleep, then we may never leave the house today. Don’t you need to go and speak with some of the pack members?”

She shakes her head. “No, they can survive without us for a day. I just want to lie here and enjoy you for as long as I can.”

A smile spreads across my face. I always want to hide away with her, just like this, but we can’t always do that and ignore the pack.

“Just for today,” I whisper. “Today, it’s just you and me, in this bed. Not as the alpha pair, but as Lillian and Lucian. Two fated mates who just want to bask in each other and enjoy what we have together.”

“I think I like that idea,” she says as she lays her head back down on my chest and inhales deeply. “You and me, forever.”