She nods, and her eyes drift closed almost immediately. Exhaustion claims her within seconds.
I watch her sleep for a moment before pushing myself to my feet. My body protests the movement. Every muscle aches. My eyes burn from lack of rest. But when I turn around, Bryan is right where he said he’d be. Waiting for me.
“Ready to go home?” he asks.
Home. The cabin we’ve been sharing. The bed we’ve been avoiding. The life we’ve been circling around without ever fully committing to.
“Yeah,” I tell him. “I’m ready.”
The walk back to the cabin takes longer than usual. We’re both exhausted, both moving slower than we should be. Bryan’s hand finds mine somewhere along the way, and I let him lace our fingers together without comment. The simple contact feels grounding after everything we’ve been through.
The cabin is dark when we arrive. Bryan fumbles with the lock while I lean against the porch railing and look up at the sky.
“Got it.” Bryan pushes the door open and holds it for me.
I step inside and breathe deeply. The familiar scent of the cabin wraps around me. It smells like safety. It smells like belonging.
Bryan inches past me to start a fire in the hearth. I sink onto the couch and let my head fall back against the cushions. My body wants nothing more than to sleep for a week, but my mind is still on high alert.
“Can I ask you something?” I don’t open my eyes as I speak.
“Anything.”
“Are you staying?”
The sounds of him building the fire stop. I feel him move closer, and then the couch dips as he sits beside me. I open my eyes and turn my head to look at him.
He’s watching me with those gray eyes that used to make me melt when I was twenty years old. They still do, if I’m being honest. Ten years and countless miles between us, and he still makes my heart race just by looking at me.
“I’m staying,” he states. “My running days ended the moment the magic paired us. Maybe even before that.” He reaches out and tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. “I spent a decade trying to outrun my past. Trying to convince myself that staying away from you was the right thing to do. But I was wrong, Skylar. About all of it. Now I want to build something. Here, with you, in this pack. I want to wake up beside you every morning. I want to watch you heal the people who need you and know that I get to come home to you at the end of every day. I want a future. Our future. If you’ll have me.”
The tears I’ve been holding back all day finally spill over. I don’t try to stop them. I just let them fall while Bryan pulls me into his arms and holds me against his chest.
“I’ll have you,” I whisper against his throat. “I think I’ve always been yours, Bryan. Even when I was angry. Even when I hated you. Some part of me was just waiting for you to come back.”
“Then I’m home. Finally, after all these years, I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.”
Tomorrow there will be work to do. Wounds to treat. A pack to help rebuild. A new wolf named Dina, who needs guidance and support.
But tonight, there’s just this. Just us. Just the promise of a future we almost lost and somehow managed to find.
I close my eyes and let myself drift, safe in the arms of the man I love.
Epilogue - Bryan
It’s been three months, and I still can’t believe this life is mine.
I’m leaning against one of the wooden posts near the edge of the pack gathering with a bottle of beer warming in my hand while I watch the celebration unfold. Lanterns are strung between the trees, music drifts from somewhere near the bonfire, and wolves mingle in clusters throughout the space. Laughter rises and falls like a tide.
But my attention is fixed on one person.
Skylar is standing near the refreshment table with Fern and Ruby. She’s wearing a simple blue dress that hugs her curves, and her copper hair settles in little ringlets around her shoulders. Fern says something that makes her throw her head back and laugh, and the sound carries across the yard to where I’m standing. My wolf stirs beneath my skin, satisfied and content in a way I never thought possible.
That woman is mine. My mate. My future. My everything.
James appears beside me with his own beer in hand. “I say this as your friend. The staring is getting creepy.”
“I’m admiring my mate. That’s not creepy.”
