Epilogue - Nico

EPILOGUE - NICO

O ur living room buzzed with energy, wolves jostling for position as they settled in for the meeting. The cramped quarters were temporary, only until the renovations on the new pack house were complete.

Too many bad memories, Elise had said. No sense making a family move when we could crash someone else’s home.

I leaned against the wall, arms crossed, content to watch from the sidelines. I swept a look over the assembled pack before landing on Elise.

Fuck, she was magnificent.

Three months as alpha had transformed her. Gone was the uncertainty, replaced with a strong confidence that made my cock twitch. Her shoulders were squared, chin tilted defiantly, as though daring anyone to challenge her authority.

Next to her, Rafe appeared equally comfortable, a small smile tugging at his lips. He’d settled into his role as second-in-command without hesitation, and together they formed an impenetrable wall against the typical fuckery that came out of Orion and Kai.

When Elise finished chatting with Maddy, her gaze landed on me. Her eyes lit up, and a dozen different emotions danced across her face in seconds. Affection. Trust. Desire.

I couldn’t wait to get her alone later.

It still felt surreal sometimes. After years of running alone, driven half-mad by grief and rage, I’d found a home. Found my place. Found her.

“We have an opportunity,” Elise announced. She waited for conversation to peter out before continuing, “A small pack in Idaho is disbanding. Two of their wolves are looking for a new home.”

Murmurs rippled through the pack. Some excited, others wary. I noted the reactions, cataloging potential trouble spots. It was my job as enforcer to keep the peace, after all.

“What do we know about these wolves?” Maddy asked. “Their skills? Are they going to come in here and start waving their dicks around? Or are they going to be... regular dicks?”

I hid a smirk. Maddy had taken her demotion from alpha’s mate to second’s mate with surprising ease. I didn’t think she truly cared about rank so long as she could still speak her mind.

“Regular dicks, I’m sure.” Elise snorted. “The alpha vouched for them. Said they’re hard workers, loyal. One’s got some medical training, which could be useful.”

My ears perked up at that. Elise had filled me in on their troubles after a healer’s death, and Tara not quite finding her place in the pack. With as many punches and brawls as we had weekly, someone to patch up the worst was necessary.

“They’ll get a trial period, don’t worry,” Elise added. “Give them a chance to prove themselves or royally fuck up before fully committing.”

“Not a bad idea,” Rafe conceded. He frowned, reluctance clinging to him. “Babysitter duty.”

“Not babysitting,” Brielle scolded without any heat. “Frame it as keeping a neighborly eye on them. Show them the ropes, make sure they’re adjusting. Keep Orion from them?—”

Orion drew his mate closer and blew a raspberry on her neck, earning him a squeal of delight.

“Pipe down, pipe down,” Elise barked. A smile threatened to break through. “We still have patrol assignments to work out. Now, listen...”

I listened and watched as she led the discussion. Kept things flowing when the guys started bickering. Smacked them upside the head when they argued too loudly.

It hadn’t been ideal, but she’d agreed to shrink our regular patrol routes and focus on the core of Dusk Valley territory. She still sent an occasional wolf through the outskirts, and with more wolves joining, maybe we could expand toward those edges again.

As the meeting broke up, the pack drifted off into small groups. I pushed off the wall, drawn to Elise like a magnet. She gave me a knowing look as I approached, her lips quirking in a half-smile.

“Hey you,” she murmured, stepping closer.

I slid my arms around her waist and drew her against me. She nestled into the embrace, resting her head on my shoulder. My wolf rumbled with contentment at having our mate close, safe in our arms.

“Ready to negotiate, alpha?” I growled playfully, my voice low enough that only she could hear.

A shiver ran through her body. Her scent spiked with arousal, and I had to bite back a groan.

“Hmm,” she pretended to consider. “Does telling you to go strip and wait in a closet for me to ride you count as public or private?”

Fuck, this woman would be the death of me. I palmed her ass, pulling her flush against me as I mouthed at her mate mark.

“Abuse of power, definitely,” I murmured against her skin. “But I’m more than ready when you are.”

She snickered, reluctantly pushing me away. “Later, wolf. I’ve got plans for wine and gossip tonight.”

Conveniently scheduled for my night on patrol.

A round of greetings jerked my attention to the door. A blonde shifter entered hesitantly, offering a small wave to my stunned packmates. They greeted her warmly, if a bit distantly. But Elise’s face lit up like the damn sun.

Jude.

“Hey, troublemaker. Glad you could make it,” Elise said with a laugh. She dragged Jude into a fierce hug.

Jude returned the embrace. “Wouldn’t miss it.”

My chest tightened at the sight. I knew how much Elise had missed her friend and how guilty she felt about everything that had happened. Seeing them reconnect, even in small ways, eased something inside me I hadn’t realized was tense.

Still, old habits die hard. I gave the Crescent Hollow wolf a once-over, searching for signs of aggression. She was tense, sure, but Elise was literally glowing at having her friend visit. And the relief rolling off Jude was palpable.

I watched her walk away, admiring the sway of her hips. Jude linked arms with her, already chattering a mile a minute about something her mate Asher did that day.

A hand clapped down on my shoulder. I turned to find Rafe standing beside me, an amused look on his face. “Ready to run?”

I looked around the room one last time. At the pack—my pack—going about their business. At Elise, her head thrown back in laughter at something Jude said. At Rafe, waiting patiently for my answer.

Pride washed over me. This was my life now. Running beside packmates, standing strong with my alpha. It wasn’t what I’d expected when I stumbled into Dusk Valley territory, half-feral and bent on revenge.

I’d found something better. Something worth fighting for.

“Yeah,” I said, meeting Rafe’s eyes. “Let’s run.”

New Holiday Treat: A holiday-hating marketing employee is ordered to accompany her reclusive minotaur boss on an emergency business trip to save the company's partnership with a Greek island resort.

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