Epilogue

CAJA

A Little Over Three Years Later

"What did I tell you about climbing on the counter?" I say, hands on my hips as I stare down a feisty little Omega pup.

A pup that yips indignantly in response.

"Listen to your mother, little hellion," Enrique murmurs as he enters the kitchen.

Hel—our little hellion—leaps off the counter in response and runs up to put her paws all over Enrique before shifting back into human form.

"Daddy! Daddy!" she chants, making me blow out a breath.

Of course you act like a little angel now, I think, scowling at her.

But one tilt of those little lips has me resigning my anger inside. Because damn it, she really is adorable.

Enrique picks her up to swing her around, his dark eyes grinning with pride. "Hey, ni?a," he says, his combined use of languages causing our little monster to start babbling Spanish right back at him.

None of it makes sense yet.

Not really.

However, a few key words stand out, most of them involving mama and reglas . Mom and rules. Sounds about right.

Sighing, I go back to cleaning up while Enrique tells Hel that there's someone he wants her to meet. I stiffen when I realize who that someone is.

Joseph .

I can smell him now that I'm not consumed with the bleach in my hands.

My gaze goes to Enrique, and there's a question lingering in his depths. Do you trust me? he seems to be asking.

Trusting him has never been an issue.

But Joseph… Joseph is an unknown.

Enrique has worked hard with him over the better part of the last three years, only allowing me to visit a handful of times on recent occasions.

And none of those occasions were favorable.

Joseph was never mean or cruel, just disinterested. Like he wanted nothing to do with me. He wouldn't even look at me.

But if Enrique thinks this is the next best step, then I trust his judgment. Because I know what this means to him. And I know how important Hel is in his life. He would never endanger her or me.

So I nod.

He gives me a small smile and cocks his head toward the living area.

Swallowing, I follow him and stand by the couches. They're framed by windows that overlook the waterfalls behind our building—one Enrique chose for us when Xavier gave us the option of where to live on Venom Island.

While we've been here for over three years, sometimes it still feels new.

Now is one of those times.

Maybe because I'm constantly afraid this little bubble of utopia Enrique and I have built together is always at risk of being popped.

But as his brother enters our home, I feel my shoulders relax. Because he's… smiling .

I don't think I've ever seen Joseph smile.

"You must be Hel," he says to our little one.

She doesn't respond, instead clinging to her dad like he's her anchor in life.

I understand because I see him as mine, too.

He runs a calming hand down her back. "This is your Uncle Joseph," Enrique murmurs. "Do you recognize his scent? It's kind of like mine."

He also looks like you, I think. They may be fraternal twins, but they have the same dark hair and matching irises. Only Joseph's eyes have a haunted gleam to them that I suspect will never go away.

Hel tilts her head back to sniff the air, her little nose scrunching. "Why?" she asks.

"Why does he smell like me?" Enrique rephrases, ensuring he understands what she's inquiring about.

"Yeah," she says. "Why?"

"Because he's my twin brother," he explains. "You know how Daddy keeps saying he wants Mommy to give you a sister or a brother?"

I narrow my gaze and ensure he can feel my response to that via our bond.

His lips twitch, but he doesn't otherwise acknowledge the absolutely not vibrating within me in response to more children.

Not yet, anyway.

Hel is a handful.

Plus, I don't know that my heart can take having another. I love Hel and Enrique so much that I'm not sure there's room for more.

But Enrique is convinced there is.

Fortunately, he's not pressuring me. He's just making sure I know he's very open to creating more pups.

And lots and lots of knotting .

"Yeah," Hel murmurs, answering Enrique's question. "But Momma says no."

"That she does, little hellion. That she does," he muses, winking at me over his shoulder.

"Momma isn't changing her mind either," I reply.

"We'll see," he murmurs.

"No. No, we won't."

He just looks at me with one of those smoldering looks that make my knees weak.

I try to glare at him. But I'm pretty sure it comes across as something else entirely because his nostrils flare in response.

"Do your mommy and daddy do this a lot?" Joseph asks as he squats down to put himself closer to Hel's level.

She nods jerkily, her little hands still clinging to Enrique.

Joseph nods with her. "It's because they love you very much."

Hel scrunches her little nose. "Yeah?"

"Yep," he tells her. "I can tell by the way your daddy looks at your mommy. It's how I used to look at my mate."

Enrique's shoulders stiffen with Joseph's words, but his brother either doesn't notice or doesn't react to it.

Instead, he cants his head to the side and asks, "So why did they name you Hel?"

Our daughter pinches her lips to the side and looks up at Enrique. "Daddy?"

He joins his brother in the squatting position, but his shoulders remain tight with the movement. "We've told you this story before, little hellion. Do you want to hear it again?"

She bobs her head. "Yeah."

Enrique smiles and stands while picking her up, then moves to sit on the couch.

Hel reaches for me in the process, making it clear she wants me to join.

When I do, she crawls into the space between us and leans her head on my shoulder while Joseph takes a seat on an adjacent chair. His slow movements feel purposeful, like he's thinking through everything before he does it. But as he settles into his seat, he is the epitome of calmness.

If it weren't for the dark torment lingering in his gaze, I would almost believe his facade.

"Mommy and Daddy ended up here because of an Omega named Hel. We believe she played an important role in our being together. So we decided to name our little Omega after her." He cups our daughter's jaw as he speaks and leans down to place a kiss on her head.

"Hel is also a feisty Omega," I add, using the present tense because I know Hel's alive. We haven't spoken. However, Ander discovered through his contact that she was not only found but also very happily mated now. Just like me.

From what he's been able to learn, most of the Omegas survived. Only a few are unaccounted for. Like Guerún. Although, there have been rumors of a power shift in the vampire nests, and I like to think it has something to do with her.

"What's f-feises?" Hel asks.

"Feisty," I repeat gently. "It means she's strong."

"Just like you," Enrique adds, bopping her on the nose. "And just like your mom."

"Still not giving you a second pup," I tell him. Although, we both know I'm lying. I will someday. Just… not yet.

He chuckles. "Always thinking about my knot, tesoro."

Hel looks up at him. "What's a kah… kah… not?"

His amusement dies. "Something you're never going to learn about."

I snort.

His gaze narrows. " Never ," he repeats.

I just shrug.

"It's like this," Joseph says, startling me. I'm about to leap out of my chair to stop whatever he's doing when I see he's holding up his shoe. "I struggle with tying my laces, so I knot them."

A breath leaves me on a shudder, my body seeming to disappear into the couch behind me. Because wow. I… I did not expect him to say that. Or to say anything at all.

"Oh." She twists her lips again. "Why?"

"Why is it hard?" he asks, doing what Enrique does when he's trying to find out what Hel is really asking.

She nods. "Yeah. Why?"

"Because my hands shake a lot these days," he tells her softly, his words breaking my heart.

"Why?" she asks.

"Because they do," he replies, shrugging. "Sometimes things happen that we can't explain."

"Oh." She considers that for a moment, then follows up with her favorite question. "Why?"

He laughs a little, the sound a bit rusty in nature. "Magic."

She nods like she understands. Then she looks at Enrique. "What's magic?"

He sighs, giving his brother an exasperated look, then attempts to define the concept for our child.

The conversation goes as expected with a lot of questions from our little wolf. By the time they're done, it's nearly Hel's bedtime, so I take her to her room to begin her routine.

Enrique joins us a bit later to give her a kiss good night, then returns to Joseph in the other room.

Over an hour later, I leave a sleeping Hel and find Joseph talking to Enrique on the balcony outside our dining area. They're deep in conversation, one I don't want to interrupt. So I go get myself ready for bed instead.

"Joseph said to extend his thanks for letting him meet Hel," Enrique tells me as he enters the bathroom, where I'm dressed in a robe. "I think it helped him."

"You do?"

He nods, then he rolls his neck. "He needs… normalcy. Something to get him out of his head."

"Did he go back to his, um, quarters?" I ask carefully, aware that Joseph doesn't live among the others under the dome. He stays in a cabin just outside of it now, which is much better than the padded room he lived in before.

"Yeah," Enrique murmurs. "He needs to pack."

I frown and turn around to face my mate. "Pack?"

He dips his chin again, his gaze catching mine. "He's heading to Andorra Sector tomorrow. To see Savi."

My lips part. "What?" He's refused to see her for months. "He's finally ready?"

Enrique huffs. "No. Not at all. But he needs to do this. He has to see her. Because if his presence won't wake her from that coma, then nothing else will. And then…"

I swallow. "And then…" The humane thing would be to let her die , I think, finishing the sentence with a shiver.

He pulls me into his arms, his chin resting on top of my head. "It has to work," he whispers. "It has to."

I nod, agreeing with him.

But I can't help wondering, What if it doesn't?

He holds me for a while, no doubt feeling my sadness and concern through our mate bond. Then he pulls me into the bedroom, where he strips me of my robe before removing his own clothes.

"I need to hold you in your nest tonight," he tells me. "Please, tesoro."

"You can always hold me," I murmur. "I'm yours."

"And I'm yours," he echoes, lifting me into his arms to settle us both inside my pillowy haven.

Our pillowy haven. "It's our nest, Enrique," I remind him.

"I know. But I like hearing you correct me," he admits, his face in my hair as he holds me close. "Just like I enjoy hearing you deny me."

"We are not discussing a second pup right now," I mutter.

He chuckles. "No. But maybe next week during your heat?"

I growl, making him laugh more.

"I love you, peque?o tesoro," he whispers. "I love you so fucking much."

"Sweet talk won't get you another pup," I mutter, causing him to push me to my back as he towers over me.

"No, my knot will get me another pup," he says. "The sweet talk is just me worshipping my mate."

I roll my eyes. "You're trying to seduce me."

"Always," he admits. "But I value your consent, Caja. You know that, right?"

I do.

He's never forced me to do anything.

Never taken me against my will.

Always ensures my comfort above everything else.

And completes me in every single way.

Because he's my Alpha. My mate. My perfect wolf.

I cup his cheek and smile. "I love you, too," I tell him. "More than I ever thought possible."

And the same goes for our little hellion.

Our Hel.

"You've given me reason to breathe," I murmur. "And for that, I will always be grateful."

"Just as you provided me with a future I never knew I needed," he whispers back to me. "And for that, I will always be yours."

Thank you for reading Venom Island !

If you enjoyed this story, please consider leaving a review. It will tell me that I should consider writing more books like this one—the kind that you can enjoy in a single night but still has a satisfying plot and ending. :)

If you're looking for some bonus material, click here . It includes Caja's point of view during her heat.

Curious about what happened to some of the other Omegas? Check out their stories below:

Nightmare Island (Hel's story) by Mila Young

Outcast Island (Guerún's story) by Jennifer Thorn

Want to know more about the X-Clan wolves? Start the complete series of standalone stories today!

X-Clan: The Origin (Jonas & Riley)

Andorra Sector (Ander & Kat)

X-Clan: The Experiment (Elias & Daciana)

Winter's Arrow (Kazek & Winter)

Bariloche Sector (Sven & Kari)

Other Books in this Universe:

Blood Sector (Kieran & Quinnlynn)

Night Sector (Lorcan & Kyra)

Eclipse Sector (Cillian & Ivana)