Dad’s face paled, and he began to tremble, sweat slicking his forehead.
“Is he okay?” I asked.
“He’s fine. His body is purging the werewolf juice for good, I think.”
Dad rolled over suddenly and puked on the floor. Black puke.
“Yeah,” Amelia said, studying the vomit closely. “I definitely think he’s going to be okay.”
Dad puked for the rest of the day, but he claimed to be feeling better, so we let him relax in bed, but still kept an eye on him.
“I should get on,” Joey said. “As interesting as this has been, I have plans. Oh, happy birthday, cousin. Sorry it sucked.”
Nathan’s hand tightened around mine.
“It’s not over yet,” I said.
“Well, if you two are going to keep making eyes, I’m going to see Connor,” Amelia announced. “Don’t forget to check on Stephen. If he gets sicker or seems… weird, give me a call.”
When she left, I cosied up to Nathan. “I think this might be the first time we’ve been alone in forever.”
He kissed my forehead. “And you’re so badly injured that I’m afraid to touch you.”
“Cuts and bruises never killed a soul,” I whispered, and he leaned down to meet my lips.
A bang from upstairs had us jumping apart.
“Ah, but fathers have,” Nathan said with a grin. “I’ll go see if he’s okay.”
I rolled my eyes. At this rate, we would never be alone for longer than five minutes.
***
By the time Amelia’s sixteenth birthday rolled around, Dad was much better. His recovery seemed almost miraculous, according to the hospital. He still had time off, but he would eventually go back to work, and he was working on things with Erin.
Byron, his date Monica—the lovely brunette who had organised Lia’s memorial service—Nathan, Amelia, Joey, Dad, Erin, and I all got together for Amelia’s birthday dinner. We raised a toast to those who weren’t there: Jakob and Lia, Nathan’s parents and Byron’s deceased wife, Jeremy, who had moved on with the new pack, and Ryan, who was still spending time with his daughters in Scotland. We even raised a silent glass to Willow, who had died because she helped us.
It was our way of putting it all in the past. The horrific things that had happened. The fighting, the danger. It was all over.
Nathan squeezed my leg under the table. Not everything was over. Some things were just beginning.
Epilogue
Perdita
Four years later
I closed the hall door behind me as gently as possible, but a giggle let me know it wasn’t necessary. I ditched my stuff and ran into the living room to untangle my ten-month-old brother from a grey, wirehaired, half-grown wolfhound pup.
I waved at my stepmother as I pretended to scold the dog. “Setanta, no eating the baby.”
Erin laughed. “I think it’s the other way around. Poor Setanta’s full of baby slobber.”
“Oh, no, Robbie.” I held my brother up over my head, enjoying the way his stomach tightened as he held up his legs with another gleeful giggle. I loved making him laugh. “No chewing on the puppy.”
Chubby hands grabbed my hair, pulling me closer for an extremely wet, open-mouthed kiss.
“Lovely,” Erin said with a snort of laughter as I wiped baby drool from my face.
Robert let go and reached down for Setanta. I was not as much fun as the dog.
“You’ll be the death of me,” I said as he made a good effort to somersault out of my arms. I let Robert down and moved out of Setanta’s way. “You can’t chew my shoes while I’m wearing them,” I scolded, but I scratched behind his ears.
The lanky pup had been a gift from Byron Evans. To grow up as Robert’s protector, he had said.
“You look wiped,” I told Erin. “No nap again?”
She nodded. “No nap and the dog decided to climb into the high chair for scraps while Robbie’s dinner was still cooling. It’s been a long day.” But she was the happiest I had ever seen her.
“Want us to take Robbie to Gran’s tonight while you rest? You could follow on tomorrow; give you and Dad the night off.”
“And get in the way of the big lover’s reunion?”
I grinned. “It’s only been five days.”
She made a face. “I’ve seen the way you say hello to him. No way am I getting in the middle of that.”
The door slammed, and Dad ran in, still sweating from his run. “Hello, my beautiful family,” he sang, and Robbie immediately crawled in his direction. Whatever Dad’s concerns had been, Robbie was his shadow.
“Perdy, do you want dinner before you leave?” Erin asked, getting to her feet to kiss Dad on the cheek.
“Nothing for me. Worked through lunch, yet somehow managed to consume enough food to feed a large family. We haven’t exactly gotten the whole ordering for a group thing on point yet.”
“Worked through again?” Dad asked. “Still busy at college?”
“Yeah, we’re working flat-out for the exhibition. Getting nervous now. It’s been insane all month, really. I haven’t had an evening to myself.”
“I’m glad you’re taking a break for this,” Erin said, taking Robbie from Dad.
“Couldn’t miss Amelia’s birthday. It’s been so long since I’ve seen her. I can’t wait. She’s going to freak when she sees how big Rob’s getting.” I rubbed at the paint on my hands, wondering if I had time for a shower.
“Did Meredith say if she was going to be around?” Erin asked.
“She can’t make it this time.” My relationship with my mother hadn’t set the world on fire, but she had gotten closer to Gran over the last couple of years, and if it made my grandmother happy, I was fine with that.
“Can’t wait to see Ryan’s face when his girls arrive,” Dad said.
He and Ryan had become close after everything happened. Byron, too. It made it a lot easier for my two worlds to join together. Rachel and Ryan had gone through a couple of tough years as she found it hard to adjust, but a year ago, she had turned wolf for the first time. Her dad was the person she had turned to, and she had been given a natural way to burn off the anger that had been festering inside her.
“I can’t wait to see them either,” I said. “Even Joey’s taking the night off.”
“I don’t know how you managed that one,” Dad said. “Just make sure you remember to spend at least a little time with Ruth this weekend.”
“I don’t need to be reminded. Besides, with everyone home, there’s going to be a lot of werewolf business going on.”
Erin’s eyes lit up. “Imagine Robbie’s face if he caught sight of the entire pack together.”
Dad and I exchanged bemused glances. Erin had taken to the werewolf situation like a duck to water. No fear and not all that many questions either. Then again, Dad had handled it well, too. He had thrown himself into my new life as if he were making up for lost time. He had become the unofficial doctor for the pack, the one person who wouldn’t ask awkward questions, and he was working toward eventually opening his own practice at home.
“I should get ready. Himself will be here soon. I told him not to come in. We’ll never get going if Robbie and Setanta find him.”
I ruffled Robbie’s dirty-blond hair and ran upstairs to get ready.
Dad had been so supportive of my attendance at the College of Art and Design that he had upped sticks to temporarily move closer to the place. Erin had joined him, and while Gran had been upset, I went back home to be with her, and the other people in my life, every weekend.
I loved the city. I loved college. I even loved my part-time job in a café. But by Friday, I was always dying to go home again.
A car horn beeped outside, and I didn’t hesitate for a second. I ran downstairs in my bare feet and flung open the front door. Nathan had me in his arms before I could take two steps outside.
“I could have waited another twenty seconds for you to put some socks or something on,” he teased
.
I coiled around him, stealing a kiss until we were both breathless.
He sighed. “I’ve missed you this week.”
“I know. Me, too. Sorry I missed your class on Wednesday.”
He pretended to frown. “No worries. You just missed out on how to escape from a headlock, that’s all. Your loss.”
“Oh, shut up and kiss me.”
He did, then I pulled away. “I’m not ready yet.”
“I only came here to hang out with the kid anyway.” But as he let me go, he cupped my cheeks with his hands. “I hate missing you.”
I hated it, too. But after school finished, we had both agreed to do whatever made us happy. For me, that meant moving away during the week so I wouldn’t spend half my time stuck in traffic on the way to college. For Nathan, that meant staying home to help the pack adjust.
He and Byron had set up a dog training business, and Nathan volunteered at self-defence classes while he waited to be paged for his job as a retained fire fighter. He was always on call, but he was doing things that made him feel like a better person, made him use what he once thought of as a curse to everyone’s benefit. All of these things had helped him fit in with the community. The past was long forgotten, and for the most part, his family had grown to be considered a valued part of the community.
“I should get ready. Like now,” I said, and he grunted, letting me go. He swatted my backside as I ran.
By the time I was ready to leave, Robbie was screaming with hysterical laughter, and Setanta was on his best behaviour. The single greatest thing about having a werewolf for a boyfriend was how obedient mischievous puppies were around him.
“We should head on,” Nathan said, knowing I had entered the room without looking in my direction. “Are we taking the little fella with us?”
“Not unless you mean Setanta,” Dad said. “He’s still freaking out at the sight of the car.”
“I’ll get him used to it this weekend. I have a class on Sunday morning. Can I make an example out of him?”
Dad grinned. “Please, do.”
“Okay, we should run if we’re going to make it to the bakery in time to pick up the cake,” I warned Nathan. “I’m staying at his tonight, Dad. See you all later.”
Dad ignored my words, somehow thinking only his open reaction would make the fact real, but when I hugged him, he returned the embrace even tighter.
We took Setanta with us, and as we pulled away from Dad and Erin’s home, my boyfriend relaxed. “Your dad gave me another lecture.”
“What was it this time?”
“No engagement rings for at least a decade. Oh, and Robbie needs to be a teenager before he’s an uncle.”
I stared at him for all of three seconds before bursting into laughter. “Oh, poor Dad.”
“It’s not that funny,” Nathan said, scowling. “I’m the one who has to sit there nodding and looking serious while Erin makes faces at me.”
“Maybe it was lucky we moved out here, then. Limits the amount of lectures you get.”
“Ah, I don’t mind. I’ll put up with him if it means I get time with you. I’ve learned the more serious I look, the shorter the lectures are.”
Laughing, I thumped his shoulder. “Such a lack of respect for my father. Is Jeremy coming back with Amelia? Last time we spoke, he still wasn’t sure.”
“Yeah, he’s up for it.”
“Try not to knock him out this time.”
“One time. Two years ago. Get over it.” He grinned, but when he next glanced at me, he had sobered. “Byron reached out to that werewolf, you know. Tried to make peace. We’re still working on it.”
I nodded. “That’s great.” The fight with Jeremy had been about their time on the mountains in Europe, when Jeremy had tried to attack a werewolf’s human mate. Nathan still felt guilt over that, and I knew he needed forgiveness.
He took my hand and squeezed it briefly. “I can’t wait until you see Ryan’s house. We’ve almost finished it. He’s so excited that his girls have their own place to stay here.”
“Oh, and is Micah allowed to stay, too?”
“Only when the girls are in Scotland,” he said, laughing. “Our old meeting place is still available. I thought maybe I should start working on it.”
I made a face. “You want us to live next door to Byron and Ryan? Awkward.”
“I’m just saying it’s still an option for us. It’s the cheapest, and therefore, quickest option.”
“I would never get to college on time.”
“Obviously. But it wouldn’t be ready for ages, and I could live there in the meantime. You could stay with me for the whole weekend instead of at Ruth’s. We could try it out.”
His cheeks flushed red, and I could see how serious he was about it. His family had bought up the houses next to them for cheap over the years, hoping to give some of the werewolves a chance to live a normal life in our neighbourhood. It had taken a while for things to settle down, and there were still problems, but life ran smoothly with them more often than not.
There were a lot more werewolves in the area than before, although most people hadn’t noticed. There was some surprise, and a fair amount of pride, at the fact lots of “foreigners” suddenly found our hometown irresistible. It had brought a bit of life to the place again.
“Stay with you the entire weekend? And have to get up early on a Sunday?” I asked, making Nathan laugh.
“I would totally bring you breakfast in bed,” he said.
“Well, I suppose it couldn’t look worse than any of the other times we’ve been there.”
“What? You always told me it looked great.”
“I’m a terrific liar. Didn’t you know that, Evans?”
“Apparently not, Rivers. But that’s okay. I kind of like you anyway.”
I smiled. “I kind of like you, too.”
***
That evening, the long extended garden behind Nathan’s home and all of the adjoining houses had filled with people. I had practically suffocated Amelia with a hug when I saw her looking tanned and gorgeous as usual. She had been travelling around Europe with Jeremy all summer, checking on werewolves, keeping the peace, and trying to learn more about her heritage.
“Well,” I said. “how did you get on this time?”
“Great.” She flashed a grin. “Met a lot of people, including my spirit guide again.”
“The old woman?” I had only heard about her, and I was glad I hadn’t met her if she was some kind of ghost.
“Yep. I sort of slipped off the path again, and she veered me back on track. Gotta hand it to her, she knows the right emotional blackmail for the job.”
“You’ll be great,” I whispered, earning myself a hug.
The power that Amelia had inside her took a lot to control, and she sometimes struggled with the sacrifices she had to make.
“Connor not here yet?” she asked, looking around.
“I thought you were done this time.”
“I’m back for a week or two. Thought it would be nice to reconnect.” She winked at me. “Don’t have to be soul mates for that.”
“I don’t need to know the details,” I said. “Stay with any werewolves this time?”
She proceeded to tell me all about her summer adventures, and I listened, enjoying her enthusiasm.
After the Evans family had gotten rid of Vin, many of the families he had tormented refused to fight back. Lots of them were human, forced into travelling around on the whims of crazy werewolves. Some wanted normal lives, but a surprising amount of them wanted to be near Byron, their new alpha.
Jeremy still kept an eye on wandering werewolves, particularly the loners, but Byron had allowed almost everyone to choose what they wanted to do next. Every now and then, a family would turn up, looking to pledge their loyalty to Byron, sometimes seeking a place to stay. Byron never sent anyone away, and he had gotten into a serious amount of debt to find them all places to live.
But then the wer
ewolves and their families had surprised him by doing their best to pay him back. They sent their children to the local schools, worked, helped him with his new business and with restoring the houses on his street. They wanted to please him so badly, it felt a little awkward to be around them at times. There had been some challenges over the years, but Byron had won them all.
Jeremy wasn’t happy trying to fit in at home, and he had found a mate amongst the reluctant werewolves who kept trying to hide away from Byron. It was difficult for Byron to see his son distance himself, but maybe one day they would work things out.
Jakob had never returned, and a couple of months after he had left, two urns full of ashes had been sent to the house. Jakob and Lia. There was no explanation, nothing that would help his family understand. The only request was that they remain together.
Byron had buried some of the ashes under the flower patch, making sure he planted violets, and he had sent the rest to the wind, free to disperse. There had been no tears, only relief that Jakob’s pain was over and that they finally had a real resting place for Lia.
Joey, Ryan and his girls, and my dad and Erin all arrived before dinner to a lot of hugs and kisses and catching up.
“You look great,” I told Joey. “I haven’t seen you in forever.”
“Not quite that long,” he said, grinning. But he had been busy. He had finally allowed himself to listen to the full truth about Nathan’s family and how they affected my own family. It had influenced his decisions about his future. He was working toward being in a position to properly test what exactly made up the genetics of a werewolf, amongst other things. He had taken more of an interest than even Dad. Between Amelia seeking the answers through magic, and Joey through science, I knew that some day we would unlock the remaining secrets. “Tammie said to say hello and all that. Dawn and Abbi are visiting her right now, so she’s probably suffering through a two-week hangover.”
Tammie had gone to Australia on a holiday that had so far lasted almost two years. She and Dawn had slowly become friends again after school. I missed her sometimes, but we all had to spread our wings.
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