He wondered if she was ever going to ask whatever question bothered her when she lifted those blue eyes up to his and drew in a long breath. He saw determination and love and hope in that serious gaze.
“Daxon, will you marry me?”
Epilogue
Six months later...
The heavy thud of paws rumbled through the overgrown woodland. The long lithe form of a panther bounded along playfully, the carved ebony head occasionally snapping around to check the pathway behind her.
Barely slowing pace, she leaped, digging claws into the bark of a tree in full summer bloom, climbing with expert precision before secreting herself in the cover of the leafy canopy. Safe, she waited with the patience of a deadly killer, and within minutes was rewarded.
Three of her stalkers skulked along the deer path, one with its nose to the ground. The considerably-larger panther in the lead paused, surveyed the surroundings as the wolf and the lion sniffed the air.
From the tree, the hidden cat grinned and prepared to leap, setting her sights on the wolf. Without a sound, she pounced, paws outstretched so she landed on the wolf’s back, sent the overgrown dog tumbling, then used her momentum to hit the lion square in the side.
He snarled, turning and batting at the panther with a paw almost as big as her head, claws sheathed.
Energized, the panther stuck her pink tongue out at the male of her species, then whipped around and headed back down the path she’d just come down. She didn’t get far before a heavy weight hit her, sent them both rolling.
They shifted then, Baylee laughing while Dax shook his head in exasperation. “We were supposed to be going for a run, not playing tag.”
Looking stunningly alive, the scars on her toned body fading gradually from livid pink to an almost silver color, Baylee stretched out her arms and laughed again as the wolf and the lion moseyed back toward them. When they changed, she smiled wickedly at Caleb and Reena—who had become treasured friends over the past few months—and sighed happily.
“Sheba wanted to play,” she said innocently. “So did I.”
Caleb lifted a brow at her. “We may have solved the hunter problem, Baylee, but that doesn’t mean we won’t get poachers. Pulling strings to have the forest protected under Nature Reserve status just means there’s going to be some pissed-off guys with guns wanting to shoot themselves a trophy or two.”
Chastised, she pouted. “Sorry. I forget myself sometimes.”
Reena tsked and rolled her eyes. “Caleb needs to remember what it feels like getting used to the freedom of what we are. We were lucky enough to have the equivalent of a fort to grow up in, to run wild in. The Haunt is bigger and not as easy to keep secure, even if we’re taking steps to make that happen. He needs to remember,” she said pointedly, “that while you’re not a cub, you’re experiencing the wonder that comes with being one. Everything’s a learning curve, it’s fun, and you need to take the time to explore yourself.”
Caleb looked sheepish. “Just looking out for the leading lady, Ree.”
Smirking, Daxon wrapped his arms around Baylee from behind; automatically, she relaxed into him, her hands holding onto his arms. “My leading lady,” he corrected with pride in his voice. “Soon to be my wife in just another month.”
Warmth filtered through her at the possessiveness in his tone. The past few months had been hard, she couldn’t deny it. The night Daxon and Vex had worked together to make her submit to them had been the turning point of her depression, but there’d been moments since then when the darkness beckoned to her, tried to pull her back down.
Her friends...well, they’d stood by her, as always. Brenna seemed to have her eyes on Dax’s right-hand man, although Caleb didn’t show signs of noticing the redhead’s interest. How that would end, Baylee didn’t know, but she hoped Brenna could convince the adorably geekish young lion to expand his horizons.
Allix had managed to insinuate herself seamlessly into his domain; the small offshoot still living in the forest worshipped the ground she walked on—not surprisingly considering what she’d done to the hapless Gregor. Baylee had heard the story—well, legend, she supposed—from several people, and it never failed to make her unbearably proud of her friend. Daxon had mentioned—quite nonchalantly—about bringing her onto the war committee if she was interested.
Baylee had no doubts Allix would leap at the chance if he made the offer. Allix had an intelligent mind, a need to do, and in Hangman’s Haunt, there hadn’t been much along the lines of mental stimulation for the blonde. Impending war altered that situation drastically.
Cassie. Baylee frowned a little when she thought of the youngest of them. There’d been shock and betrayal in those dark eyes when the whole story came out about Baylee’s adventures with Daxon.
The night Baylee and Daxon sat down with the three women, explained everything from start to finish, had been a rollercoaster of emotion from all sides. That had been four months ago, and Cassie had closed herself off from everyone, including the newcomers to town.
That needed to be rectified, and Baylee intended to do so before the wedding. There would be no rifts, no doubts, nothing to spoil her wedding day. Nothing, she vowed, narrowing her eyes.
“Uh-oh, she has that look on her face,” Cal warned.
She softened, purred when Dax’s lips caressed her shoulder, nipped at her nape. A quick, explicit shudder spiked down her spine and flushed her entire body with electric chills.
“Lethal bride or fuck me look?” Dax asked with a chuckle.
“First one followed closely by the second. I think we’ll take our leave and give you two some privacy,” Caleb cleared his throat and glanced away. “Come on, Reena, leave the pussycats to their own devices.”
“Yes, Reena, run along,” Dax growled, nuzzling against Baylee’s hair.
Lips twitching, Baylee waved as the siblings-in-law changed, racing each other through the trees like a pair of eager cubs. She smiled fully as she thought about her life before Daxon. She’d been content, she supposed as she looked back, content and maybe a little lonely.
“Strange to think that one of my great-great-great grandmothers ran into one of your ancestors back in the good old days,” she murmured, sighing as Dax’s clever fingers roused her nipples into sharp, needy points. “Without her, we wouldn’t be standing here.”
“We would.” There was no hesitation in his voice, just certainty. “One way or another, we’d have found each other, baby. Fate’s a pernickety bitch at times, but she knows what’s best. There wasn’t any other option for us but each other.”
“How many generations did the shifter gene skip, or went unrealized? I know I’ve said it before, but I can’t be the only one between then and now who became something more than what I was.”
“Genes are funny things. If there were others, Brenna will find them. She’s turned into a genius with family trees.” He turned her to face him, green eyes dark with arousal. His cock pressed between them insistently. “Now, do you want to continue discussing dead people from years ago or can I make love to my fiancée?”
Her hand closed around him, stroking firmly from root to tip. A sultry laugh escaped her when his eyes fluttered with the pleasure of her touch.
Family trees and fate could wait, she supposed. War and blood and death could go on hold indefinitely, though she’d prefer to simply eliminate the threat altogether. But first things first, she decided as she dropped to her knees and Dax’s fingers slipped through her hair, held her tight.
She lost herself in his eyes, in the moment, and relinquished herself to the overwhelming knowledge that she was loved, she was cherished, and only death could ever part them.
Note from the Author:
Just a quick note to say thank you to everyone who has supported me in the last two years and bought my work. I don’t write for money or for fame—although, that would be nice—I write because characters like Daxon and Baylee run riot through my head until I cave in and write their story.
Not an easy thing to do when you have a specific plan in mind for them and they annihilate every good intention until you write the story as they want it written. Over the course of Wild, the plotline was changed without my permission four times—the ending became something completely different to what I first imagined.
Next in line is Allix the kick-ass wonder blonde, and she’s well on her way through her story with Archer...shush, top secret
Wild: Hangman's Haunt Book 1 Page 34