Epilogue
Harley
"What are you thinking about?" Scott's deep baritone caressed my ears.
We were parked in a wide open field, and he was sitting on the ground with me between his legs as we watched a meteor shower. It had been three days since I'd told my story to the council and in those three days, Scott and I had been completely wrapped up in each other, making up for lost time.
"Wondering where I go from here," I responded, my eyes trained on the natural fireworks above us. "You know what I mean?"
"I think so." Behind me, Scott rubbed his nose against the soft skin behind my ear, before sucking lightly. "What do you want to do?"
I laughed. "I have no idea. I don't have any real education or skills." I shrugged, smiling when my Alpha began to nibble on my neck. "Mmm, that feels good."
"Yeah?" Scott switched to the other side. "I can think of some awesome skills you have."
I couldn't help but laugh as I snuggled back into his arms. "Well, as flattering as that is, I don't think I actually want to make a living on my back."
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Before I could answer, he caught my drift and laughed himself. "Oh, um, no, love. Those skills are damn near legendary, but that is absolutelynotwhat I meant."
"What then?"
"Seriously? We had big plans, once upon a time, remember? Now there's nothing to stop us from joining the tiny house slash caravan housing craze." He bit down lightly on my earlobe. "We’re going to be together anyway."
When I didn't answer right away, I felt his body stiffen behind me and not in a good way.
"Harley? Has something changed?" He drew in a ragged breath. "Did you change your mind about us being together?"
"No, of course not, Scott." I tried to pick my words carefully. "It's just that maybe we should give it some time and see if that is really what is best. You know, not rush into anything."
Scott eased away from my back and rocked to his knees before standing. I watched from the corner of my eye as he paced back toward the van. In the stillness of the night, I could easily hear his measured breaths, a sure sign that he was fighting to control his emotions. Knowing how much he hated to be seen as weak, I kept my eyes on the sky and pretended not to notice.
When he finally had himself under control, he walked back my direction and stopped a few feet away. "If that's what you want, Harley. I think I'm going to lie down for a bit."
I glanced back at him in surprise – it wasn't even four in the morning and the meteorites were still going strong. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah." Instead of elaborating, he let himself into the van and left me alone to stare at the sky.
When the sunrise bleached the sky too light for the stars to be seen a few hours later, I decided it was time for me to retire as well. I climbed into the van and found the bed pulled down and neatly made, so, empty.
It only took a second to find Scott folded into the driver's seat, his hands behind his head and eyes closed.
"Hey." I jostled his shoulder ever so gently. "Wake up."
"I'm awake."
"Oh. Why are you up here instead of in bed?"
"Just working some things through, Harley. You go ahead and turn in."
I couldn't stop the frown that creased my forehead, but I did as he told me and climbed into the bed to wait for him. An hour passed. Then another. And another. Finally telling myself that he must have dozed off, I rolled over onto my stomach and surrendered to the exhaustion trying to pull me under.
When I woke a little before seven that evening, there was a cup of coffee and a plate of cold scrambled eggs and bacon sitting on top of the laptop on the shelf, but Scott was long gone. When I lifted the plate, I found a scrap of paper.
Harley,
I need to burn some energy. I might be gone a while.
Scott
