Epilogue

“I know,” Case said into the phone. “I know, Mom. I know, Ma.”

He’d been repeating that over again, but that made sense, Lydia thought, considering this was the call where he’d had to awkwardly explain to his moms that he’d been married for weeks—to a woman they had never met—and hadn’t told them about it yet. She couldn’t blame his poor parents for being flummoxed by it all.

“It’s a weird situation, but I’ll be able to explain everything when Lydia and I come to visit this weekend. I promise it’ll make sense then. –No, I haven’t joined a cult.”

He shifted the phone around his ear, and Lydia heard a woman say, “Is it a ‘fringe religion’ that you’re not ready to admit is a cult?”

Case laughed. “It’s not a fringe religion either. It’s not a religion at all. But it’s impossible to explain over the phone, because I need a ... visual aid.”

Lydia, as if to illustrate the point, playfully shifted into wolf form and settled her head onto his lap. Case stroked her between her ears.

She couldn’t wait for their trip to see his moms and, of course, the Grand Canyon. She had already made a serious dent in her bank account buying everything she could imagine possibly needing for her first real vacation, from new clothes to sunscreen. What had really made her tear up was buying real luggage for the first time. She’d never been away from home for more than a night before, and she’d always settled for shoving some spare clothes in a gym bag or a shopping tote.

Case had seen how much it meant to her, and he had insisted on getting her new suitcases monogrammed to drive home that they were really hers and always would be.

Just like this new life.

So even though she couldn’t help being the tiniest bit nervous about what his parents would think of her, she still felt essentially at ease—and especially comfortable resting on his lap like this, with his fingers gently combing through her fur.

Besides, she trusted Case with her life, which meant she certainly trusted him with her social awkwardness around new people. If he was convinced that his moms would like her and be delighted by her having turned their son into a werewolf, then she was too.

She heard the smile in Case’s voice as he said, “She’s absolutely fantastic. You’re going to love her, trust me.”

They must have finally gotten over their shock enough to ask what their new daughter-in-law was like.

We’re absolutely fantastic , Lydia’s inner wolf preened. They’re going to love us!

She shifted back to human so she could feel her cheek pressed against Case’s thigh. Without missing a beat, he switched from scratching lightly between her ears to twining her long hair between his fingers.

It was so soothing that she almost fell asleep listening to him describe her—well, what she was pretty sure was an idealized version of her, but it was nice that he thought it was her—to his parents.

“Okay. We’ll see you soon, and you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. Love you.”

Case hung up and turned his attention to Lydia.

“They’re already starting to come around,” he said, continuing to stroke her hair as she steadily melted into his lap. “Obviously the situation sounds weird from the outside, but they know me. They can hear how happy I am.”

“And that it’s not a spacey, joined-a-cult kind of happiness?”

“That too. Definite plus.”

If she stayed down here any longer, she really would fall asleep on him, so she reluctantly hauled herself up.

They were leaving tomorrow, because they were going to split the drive to Case’s parents’ house into a sprawling three days.

Whoever wasn’t driving could read Shadows aloud. At this point, they didn’t even care what genre it was. It wasn’t that well-written, but the western-fantasy-midlife crisis unicorn cowboy/geographer romance had them both hooked. They had to know how it turned out. Would Levi’s evil twin resurface to plagiarize his book on the history of maps? Was Milton the human form of Levi’s daughter’s imaginary unicorn? So many questions! So little hope of any solid answers!

Their route to Case’s moms’ place was a little more leisurely than it needed to be, but it would give them plenty of time to finish their book. Besides, Case insisted that Lydia have a chance to really soak up the landscape. The way back would be even better, because they could take all the detours they wanted even before they adjusted their heading towards the Grand Canyon.

It would be a big trip, and Lydia couldn’t lie: even after her big epiphany, she was still a little nervous about leaving Mountainview “unattended” that long. But it helped that everyone in the pack had been enthusiastic about their belated honeymoon.

“There’s a difference between leaning on someone when you need help and never learning to stand up straight on your own,” Wendy had said ruefully, “and we don’t want to be in the latter category.”

“You’re not,” Lydia had rushed to reassure her. “When you all stood up to Reeve—"

“That felt incredible, but we waited too long to do it. We should have pushed to get more involved from the start.” Wendy straightened up. “I ... I don’t want to say anything bad about Ruth, God knows, because she held Mountainview together for a long time. But I think you and Case are going to be better for us. And we’ll be better for you . We never helped Ruth much. She never let us. But you guys—this works.”

It did. Her whole life, Lydia’s loyalty to her pack had been in an uneasy struggle with her need for freedom and the occasional escape, and Ruth had raised her to think that was an either-or fight that only one side could win. Case had opened her eyes to a better way of doing things, and she loved that the pack thought it was better too.

They were also thrilled about Case’s idea of opening the town up a little more, and several people, Wendy included, had already filed the business paperwork for B&Bs. New people—and, to be brutally honest, new money—would help invigorate Mountainview.

The town was already coming to life around them, and it wouldn’t take long before it was thriving. Even the soil seemed to know that things were better here now. The leafy canopies of the trees were greener than ever, and the town flowerbeds were riots of color and sweet perfume.

There were way more flowerbeds, too. Apparently everybody had suddenly gotten it in their heads to plant something. This was their time to bloom.

It wouldn’t hurt that famous mystery writer Jack Casey was going to start a new series set right in town. Case acted like it wasn’t a big deal, and he seemed to mean it when he said he just wanted to dig into the first real home he’d had in years, but Lydia knew how many people read his books. In another few years, “See Jack Casey’s Mountainview” would probably be a popular tour. Diehard fans would flock to see the place that had inspired the long-roving author even more than Yellowstone had.

Lydia hated knowing that Ruth was probably rolling over in her grave at all this, but hopefully her grandmother would understand that she and Case had to lead the pack the best way they knew how, not just follow in her footsteps.

But even if Ruth wouldn’t get it, Lydia had to hold on to the fact that she finally got it. She couldn’t live her life according to someone else’s pattern, especially when she had plenty of evidence that it wasn’t working out. This was better.

“I’m excited to meet your parents,” she said now, settling back against the pillows. “I hope you’re right that they’ll take this in stride.”

“They will,” he assured her. “They’re both pretty laidback in the grand scheme of things. How do you think I got to be the way I am?”

Lydia snorted. It was true that Case was a master of not letting the small things bother him, which actually made him a great fit for dealing with some of the more routine, purely emotional pack disputes.

Not dishwasher-related incidents—people were slowly figuring out—now that they had a choice of when to come to their alphas and when to handle things themselves—that they didn’t usually want to trot out mundane family arguments in front of an audience. But there were plenty of heated issues a level or two up from that, and people enmeshed in those tended to be drawn to Case’s calm, nonchalant mediation. He took those, and Lydia handled anything that was tangled up in years of in-pack feuding or complicated shifter dynamics. It was a pretty good division of labor, and everyone seemed happy with it so far.

She couldn’t believe how easy things were with him. She felt so much lighter since they’d met.

Her home was finally a real home, not a trap she could never leave. It was colorful and alive. She was going to have a honeymoon and regular vacations. She didn’t just have a co-alpha, she had a mate and partner who had her back and could help her bear the responsibilities of running a pack. And she had a pack who cared about her and each other, a pack that was a true family. It warmed her heart how quickly they’d adopted Meg—she was already happily collaborating with Wendy on the B&B plans and likely to end up a full partner in the business.

None of it would have happened without Case.

“I love the way you are,” Lydia said to Case. She touched his cheek, running her fingers along his strong jawline, then brushing them over his surprisingly soft lips. “I love you, period. You have no idea how much better my life is since you came into it.”

“We’re always in a position where one of us winds up having to say, ‘Same,’ have you noticed that?” Case said, leaning forward to kiss her. “Because same. You gave me a home and a purpose and a wolf and a brand-new fetish for red velvet. I’ve never been happier anywhere, doing anything, than I am when I’m with you.”

“I packed the red velvet dress, by the way,” Lydia said. “It’s still a little cool at night, and I thought maybe we could find a hotel or a restaurant that had dancing.”

“You’re brilliant.” He kissed her again. “Even if we don’t, I’m sure that between the two of us, we can think of something to do with it. Some private occasion for you to wear it.”

Her skin seemed to hum at the thought.

“I could put it on right now,” Lydia said, “but I don’t think it’s worth the trouble of digging it out of my suitcase.” She reached for the hem of her T-shirt. “What if I take something off instead?”

She slowly pulled her shirt up, and Case stroked every inch of newly revealed skin like it was just as soft—softer, even—than the velvet they’d been talking about. His gaze was absolutely rapt.

“That’s even better,” he said.

She started unbuttoning his shirt.

“Between the two of us,” Lydia said, echoing him, “we have some pretty good ideas.”