Epilogue - Faye

Almost exactly nine months to the day, I had a baby girl. Sierra . She was just the sweetest bundle who did plenty of sleeping, and lots of burping. She was resting inside her bassinet in the FROG that we converted into a nursery. My brother trailed in after me as I went to check on her, practically dancing on his toes to get to his niece.

He pushed past me. "Hello, Sierra," he said as he scooped her up. "Are you ready for another bottle?"

I propped my hands on my hips. "That's the third time you pushed me, Cliff."

He smiled nervously. "I just love her."

I sighed on my way to the nearest rocking chair. "You're a saint for helping me today."

"Hector asked. I couldn't say no."

"And you love her."

His grin was as bright as the sun. "And I love her."

As he handled his niece with expert gentleness, I rocked myself in the chair, feeling like I was getting ready to snooze. I smiled while listening to Cliff talk to Sierra, "You're going to be so tall. You're going to have the coolest hair. You already have the most beautiful eyes ever."

I looked down at my wedding ring, studying the stone that combined the color of my eyes with my mate's eyes. It looked exactly like Sierra's eyes. It was such a gorgeous hue that I found myself staring into her eyes all the time, getting lost there. She would smile at me and make the sweetest little cooing sounds. And then she'd wrap her tiny, pudgy fingers around my forefinger and squeeze as hard as she could.

She was doing the same thing to Cliff now that he had a bottle perched in her mouth. "Has she shown any signs of, you know…" My brother nodded to his niece. "Witchy stuff?"

"Nothing yet. I'm kind of hoping she might be a little normal."

Cliff smiled. "Oh, come on. It'd be so cool to have a niece with superpowers."

I laughed. "I guess we'll find out when she does her first shift. Whichever comes first—magic or shifting."

"I don't care. This pack could use a few more hybrids."

I raised my eyebrows. "Are you saying I should have another baby already?"

He laughed. "Well, you know, when you've recovered from having this one, it'd probably be cool to have more."

"I'm sure Hector wouldn't mind doing that."

Cliff expertly handled the bottle and balanced Sierra in his arms, walking over to sit on the couch near me. Birds chirped in the window and reminded me that it was another season. Another year practically of being in the Silverfang Creek. I stared at my brother, noticing that something was missing from his smile, a certain happiness that I'd come to know from him. My eyes kept drifting to his chest, imagining a small hole forming there, a pinprick, something that barely allowed the light to get into his heart.

When he was done feeding Sierra, he propped her up on his shoulder and started to burp her. The rhythmic sound of back-patting filled the nursery. I glanced around at the baby elephant wallpaper, at the plush giraffes sitting on the dresser, at the cute little pink and yellow pajamas hanging over the crib. Everything was perfect here. Everything was quiet and wonderful.

I didn't have to deal with rejection anymore. My parents visited often, and so did Hector's parents. I tapped my chin, feeling like something was missing.

"Cliff, I'm worried about you."

Cliff laughed. "Are you having another one of those wonky dreams again?"

Now that he mentioned it, I had been having strange dreams. Every time I closed my eyes, I could see my brother standing on the edge of a cliff, staring into the distance at a foggy cloud that hid a figure on the other side of the crater. She kept raising her arms and waving. She kept yelling, "Come back!" And then he would cry out, "Robyn, I'm sorry…" A smaller figure stood next to Robyn. I couldn't make out any details.

And then I would wake up.

I couldn't shake the feeling that it was highly familiar and relevant somehow. I picked at the chair's armrest. "Cliff, do you know a woman named Robyn?"

The back-patting ceased instantly. "How do you know that name?"

"Wonky dreams."

His gaze slid right down to the ground in such a downcast, dreadful look that I regretted bringing it up at all.

"I'm so sorry," I rushed to apologize. "I shouldn't have said anything. You're holding Sierra. Here, let me take her." I stood up and collected my daughter from his shoulder, continuing to pat her back and bounce her around the room to get her to burp.

She was as stubborn as me sometimes. I sighed while drifting back to my brother. "I'm sorry. Are you okay?"

He nodded stiffly. And then he said, "No, I'm actually not okay. I miss her so much."

"Can you tell me about her?"

For a long time, he stayed silent, staring at the same point on the carpet. His lips were parted as if he was getting ready to speak, but he never said anything. He just kept staring. The longer he did it, the more worried I became until I waved my hand in front of his face. "Clifton."

He jolted awake and looked up at me, blinking fast. "Sorry, I was… Sorry." He wiped his eyes. "Robyn and I had a thing some years ago. It was when you and I weren't talking."

I nodded.

"She lives in Maine. We hooked up a few times when I was running a route."

"What kind of route were you running?"

"It was just something for Adrian. I can't give you the details."

I squinted at him. "Were you running drugs or guns or something? Was he up to something illegal?"

"No, forget about it. I can't say anything more. It's stupid."

"Cliff, I need you to tell me about it. Come on."

Sierra belched into my ear. The sudden burp made us both burst into giggles. I relaxed next to my brother, sitting snugly with him like we had been lately. He reached out to pat her bottom. "That one had resonance. Good one."

"She gets it from you."

He chuckled. "I'm a good uncle."

"Yes, you're a great uncle—but don't think you're going to get out of telling me about Robyn. I can see it in your chest, and I can see it in your eyes. You miss her a lot. It's a piece of you missing. It's what's missing from our family right now."

His sorrowful expression doubled. "I guess she'll be missed forever, then."

"Why do you say that? There's always a chance to go back. I mean, look at me and Hector."

Cliff chuckled and then shook his head. "I promise you this is much different than that."

I arched my left brow at him. "How so?"

"Because she's a princess of the Wildtooth Tails."

My expression soured. "You mean our enemy pack?"

"Yes, our enemy pack. I told you it's different. It's impossible. We'll never be together."

I gently nudged my daughter to my other shoulder. And then, I put my hand on my brother's arm. "Where there's a will, there's a way."

He laughed. "There's no way here, but thanks for the vote of confidence."

Just as I was about to offer more advice, the front door opened, causing me to jump up from the seat. I walked quickly downstairs to greet my husband in the living room and his parents, who trailed in behind him. We were met with such a joyous reception that I'd nearly forgotten about my brother and what he'd told me.

But I hadn't forgotten the feeling. The sense that something was missing from our family. And the foreboding sense that it would soon complete that missing part of our family. My dreams were never wrong, and the cliffs were getting closer together. Cliff . We would come together. I just had to make my brother feel the same way.

As I embraced my husband, I felt that piece come together. I felt Cliff join us, his energy bubbling with excitement over his niece. I knew that there was hope on the horizon, as there always would be. Because the sun always rose the next day as it would forever for the rest of my life with my family. We were home.

And that was good enough for the time being.

*****

THE END

Hi lovely! Thanks so much for reading Hector and Faye's story. I hope you enjoyed it. Would you like to read Cliff and Robyn's story too? Then be sure to…

read book 2 in the "Silverfang Creek Wolves" Series:

The Alpha's Forced Rejected Mate

He broke me and left me shattered…not knowing I carried his secret baby girl.

I healed my bleeding heart without him, and I haven't seen him in years.

But now he wants to claim the Alpha position, and me as his mate.

And whether I want to or not…I'm forced to let him possess me anyway.

I'm still deeply hurt by his rejection, but he doesn't seem to care.

He coldly announces that the mating ritual has declared us mates, and that I must obey.

But I'm a young girl no longer.

This time, I'll make my own decisions.

Yet somehow, my trembling body is deciding for me.

He puts his demonic hand on the one place I'm desperately trying to protect.

He breaks open the one organ I've taken so long to heal.

But when he finds out my little girl is his…will he be the baby daddy I crave?

Or will my cruel Alpha discard me once again?