The Wolves Are Everywhere

by Janie Marie

  Ryder responded to David. “It’s a long ass dramatic and confusing story. I’ll tell you about it later—including all the sex I have with our girl.” He smirked, adding, “I’ll even take you to the prison where the fuckers who tormented them are praying daily for their assholes.”

  David jerked his gaze to Janie, his expression falling.

  “Don’t get emotional,” Ryder told him. “I beat them to within an inch of their lives, then I decided death was too kind a punishment.”

  “He goes to the prison and stares at them until they break down in tears, asking him to just kill them. Then he leaves,” Lance finished with a light laugh. “It honestly is hell for them.”

  “Good.” David probably wouldn’t warm up to Kylie quickly, but he still made more room so Kylie could reach Janie.

  “You did it.” Kylie smoothed Janie’s hair back before touching Natalie’s cheek. “You can finally hold her, tell her the story of when you were a Kid, when you were Young—just a Little girl—Innocent, and you’ll tell her how Everything is possible, even when we think it’s ended.”

  “No.” Janie said, her voice cracking. “You’ll tell her.”

  Kylie shook her head as her pretty green eyes glistened with tears. “We’ll tell her together.”

  Logan sat on the other side of the bed, near Ryder. “I think this is better than any fairy tale I’ve read before.”

  “I made it sexy,” Ryder said, chuckling. “You and Papi tie for second. Well, Papi is pretty dreamy. You’re third, Logan.”

  Kylie laughed, wiping Janie’s tears for her. “Well I’ll just say life would be dull without Ryder Godson.” Then she winked at Janie. “You were right—the boys do make sexy daddies.”

  Finally, Janie laughed, leaning her head on Ryder’s shoulder.

  “There’s an awful lot of dong around you two girls,” Gareth muttered, walking up behind David and clapping him on the back. “About time you showed up, brother.”

  “Definitely too much dong in our Sissy’s face,” Gawain chimed, coming to stand behind him. “What will we do with her?”

  Gareth hitched a thumb at Kylie. “Who knew she’d end up being the more ladylike of the two of them.”

  Logan smirked. “You clearly have no clue what she’s like in bed.”

  Kylie’s face flamed. “Logan.”

  Everyone laughed, and Logan soaked it in. He had his beautiful wife who was the best sister and daughter he’d ever seen. He had the two babies he always imagined Janie having, and his Baby Doll had him, and her three men . . . maybe even more that he wasn’t sure about, but it was okay. They were a family. Forever.

  “Does this mean we get superpowers now?” Gareth asked, and Arthur smacked him on the back of the head. “What?” Gareth rubbed his head. “You know Sissy’s dying to zap something. Come on, that shit was amazing.”

  Janie grinned, winking at Gareth when no one was looking. Then those hazel eyes met Logan’s, and they stayed on him as the room filled with more Knights, Godsons, Wolves, and Princes. Even the Godsons’ high school girlfriends. They had continued their relationships after Ryder told them to do what they wanted, as long as they kept to their duties. None of them seemed too serious, especially Tercero and Elise. They were more of an off and on thing. He was sure it was due to Tercero getting closer to Janie. Since Ryder didn’t seem upset about it, no one ever talked about it, but he had a feeling something was going on there.

  The stories had been right; Jane made sure she had plenty of bad boys who’d do anything for her to see his and the broken soul she wanted to see redeemed.

  He’d gone from failed husband, to failed friend and lover, to failed hunter. Unlike the other hunters who were born into their duty, he had to earn his title. His first wife just gave him the best, well, meanest guide to keep him in line. It wasn’t in their plans for him to end up with Kylie, but he knew now, she had been there all along for him. The forgotten one who hadn’t been forgotten at all.

  All girls made the journey Kylie and Janie did. They were the girls under the red hood. Every girl had one before her, whether a mother, sister, family member, friend—or a goddess . . . They all had the chance to make different choices instead of walking blindly into the dark. They all had big bad wolves around them. They all had hunters. Sometimes he came on time, sometimes he arrived too late, and sometimes he abandoned his duty.

  Hunters came in many forms too. They were lovers like Ryder, brothers like the Knights and Godsons. Sometimes they were fathers who didn’t drop everything to hold their little girl. Worst of all, some changed from hunter to the Big Bad Wolf. And in Kylie’s case, she’d gone from being the Big Bad Wolf to the greatest of the Little Hoods, even reminding a goddess to believe in her own lessons.

  Logan smiled, so thankful for everything they had given him and what awaited them now. The Guardians were awake. They remembered and embraced their pasts, their lives before this one, and they knew there would be more adventures. Especially if the gold and emerald glow in Janie’s eyes was a sign of what magic she had hidden away in her dreams. He’d back her up, with Kylie at his side.

  “Happily ever after?” he said, so ready for the rest of his life to unfold with every soul in the room.

  Ryder laughed, but he kissed Janie’s head. “That’s the most cliché ending, Grimm, but I dig it.” He smirked at his fiancée. “Do it, Sweet Jane.”

  Janie beamed at all of them before grabbing Kylie’s hand, and his favorite girls spoke as one—at last—“And we all lived happily ever after.”

  Epilogue

  (Though some details from Janie Marie’s Gods & Monsters trilogy have been revealed already, even more is contained below to give all more answers, and G&M readers another bonus. So use caution if you are interested in the G&M trilogy. You can always come back.)

  Kylie grinned as she watched Logan load the twins into their stroller. It had been six weeks since their birth, and he was treating her as if she’d been the one who’d gone through pregnancy and labor. “Need help?” she asked, peeking at the two adorable faces peering up at them.

  “I’ve got them.” He pushed down Nathan’s blanket and tucked in the dinosaur plush David Leodegrance had given him. He did the same with Natalie, fixing her blanket and the dolly she’d gotten from the same man.

  It confused her why Logan was always insistent they have them wherever they went, but she didn’t argue. It must have something to do with their story.

  Kylie accepted their fairy tales now. The only thing that bothered her was everyone excluded her from all explanations surrounding David Leodegrance.

  She knew he was the man she’d seen in her vision after Kevin shot her. She also knew that man had no compassion in his heart for her soul. He’d wanted her destroyed, and he didn’t like that she was the mother of the twins.

  He frightened her more than Ryder and Luc, but all had welcomed him as if he were a long-lost brother. It was part of the reason she’d stayed hidden with the twins. Everyone was different.

  Kylie eyed Logan. He’d started training Janie this week, and he’d been quiet whenever she asked about his best friend. When he said he wanted to take the twins today, she agreed he should, but only if she could come.

  She was fine with Janie seeing them, but she feared David would be around too.

  Logan retrieved the diaper bag and his duffel bag, then gave her a quick kiss before pushing the stroller toward the gym. “You sure you don’t want to go see your mom?”

  “I’m sure.” She bit her tongue because it felt like he was trying to get rid of her.

  “Well, let me know if you change your mind.” Logan tilted the stroller so it would go over the curb.

  “Is David going to be here?” she asked.

  He sent a worried glance her way. “He’ll be here.”

  “Why won’t you tell me anything? Everything changed when he came into that hospital room. Everyone’s different.”

  “It’s not important.” Logan smiled at one of
his students who was walking past. “Hey, man.”

  The guy stopped, peeking down at the twins. “Damn, bro. You changing diapers and shit, too?”

  Kylie frowned at him for cussing. Not like the babies knew what was being said, but then again, some of these fighters were less than bright. She quickly chided herself for being judgmental and watched Logan proudly show off their children.

  “As many as I can. I love every minute.” He gave the guy a light punch to the shoulder. “You coming back after my session is over?”

  “With Janie?” The guy nodded. “Yeah. She’s already inside. She told me I could probably come sooner because she brought the Knight Prince with her.” The guy laughed again—the Knight Prince was David’s fighting name. “Can’t believe you two are passing on your fight. He’s a monster. It would be your biggest fight.”

  “Ah, it’s personal, man.” Logan started pushing the stroller down the sidewalk. “See you in an hour then. I still want to spend some time with her.”

  “You got it, bro.” The man gave Kylie a little salute. “Mrs. Grimm.”

  She gave him a tight smile and followed Logan. “Have you and David really talked about cancelling your fight? Or did Janie ask you both not to?”

  “We won’t fight, Hood.” He didn’t look at her. “It’s just not right anymore. I wouldn’t win, anyway.”

  “You don’t know that.” To her, Logan was the best, even though he always claimed to be under Ryder in strength and skill. He’d put on a lot of muscle over the years, and he was a beast of a man to her.

  He chuckled, shaking his head. “Yeah, I do. He’s out of my league, especially now that he’s returned to Jane.” He cut her a wary look. “Janie, I mean. He calls her Jane. I call her Janie.”

  “Yeah, I know.” She gave him a quick smile. “I get he’s very involved with the tales, and all of you have memories.”

  He bobbed his head. “Well, he’s practically untouchable. Ryder is too. They’re hovering on the edge of what they really are now.”

  He cringed, still hiding something from her, but he continued anyway, “I mean, their memories are just overwhelming them.”

  “Nothing changed for me.”

  “Because sin and memories were stripped from your soul, and all but the guardians’ souls,” he said. “All guardians had their memories returned. Than and Damon, even Nick, knew shit all this time, but they had a duty, and they stayed true to it by not interfering too much.”

  “I knew they were odd,” she said while he chuckled. “Was anyone else awake?” She had heard that term used often over the years. Apparently something about Luc seeing her and Janie had awakened him.

  He nodded. “Nick and a few of the Wolves. Really, they could’ve told us exactly what to do, but that wouldn’t help achieve the goal they sought. Think of it like they are Watchers, almost. Kinda like people expect God to step in for everything, but that’s not how things are meant to be.”

  She smiled despite her reluctance to fully embrace Logan’s beliefs. He always sounded older when he talked about the tales. Peaceful. She even heard him telling Natalie The Little Moon story, and a secret Grimm story called Her Reaper.

  Kylie shook her head to stop herself from getting emotional. She wanted to figure out more about David before seeing him again. “So David was always the key to waking Janie, which would wake the rest of you?”

  “Yes. That’s why he had to be away. He probably grew up just like us, drawn to the tales but unsure why. He became a legend, just like he was before. He focused on that and nothing else, like he knew there was something out there for him. And when he saw her, he woke up. And when I say I stand no chance, I mean it. Like Ryder’s on a different level from everyone, but even he yields to David.”

  “Ryder yields to him?” She laughed.

  He bobbed his head. “Trust me, Ryder’s stronger and better than all of us, but there’s a secret about David that pretty much makes everyone bow to him. I think they would draw in a fight unless Ryder truly wanted to kill him.”

  “I hate being left out.” It always felt like everyone knew a big secret and hushed whenever she entered the room.

  Logan chuckled. “If the time is ever right, you’ll understand.”

  Kylie glanced down at the twins, her impatience getting to her as she blurted, “Will he hurt the babies? Or hate them? Or try to keep Janie from them? I didn’t like how it seemed he wanted me to disappear.”

  He came to a stop, sighing. “David won’t hurt them, Hood.” His eyes stayed on the babies. “You know I don’t want you believing you are the same as you were in the other world, right?”

  All she could do was nod, her panic rising as he stared at their children with sadness she’d never seen before.

  “Well, for the rest of us—the guardians, Janie, the Godsons, Knights, Princes—and David, we are the same. That’s what a soul waking means.” He finally glanced at her, as if waiting for her to run away like he’d done when he first told her about the Grimm Legacy. “I’m probably less because I’m able to separate myself from my past life. I don’t know why, maybe it’s because of you, but I’m not exactly like them.”

  “So you’re saying they’re the same people?”

  “Yes and no.” He took a deep breath. “They didn’t want to leave everything they’d become together, but to do all this, to see me again, to see that her dreams for us to achieve redemption and a second chance, they agreed to sleep. They cleansed nothing of themselves. They just put themselves to sleep. I was changed, though. Like you saw when you had that vision—something was done to me, and I wasn’t even a man anymore. I didn’t even come here as a man, and I was only relieved and wiped of all memories when they were ready to come. I remember nothing of that time, but I remember being Jason and what became of me in that world.”

  He reached out for her hand, interlacing their fingers. “What I’m saying is my life ended there much differently than theirs, but I was there. I saw the end like they did. Then this was created, and I went for her.”

  “Jane?”

  He nodded. “So, maybe that’s why I’m not exactly the same. But what you don’t realize is the twins were really my children with her. It wasn’t that she’d only been meant to give me children here. These were our children there. I died, and the man in her life was the man I asked to raise them. He did. That man was David.”

  She gaped at him, not at all expecting to hear this. She’d suspected Janie was his first wife and mother to his children, but she never asked about it out of respect, but she never expected to hear another man was their father.

  He chuckled, leaning down to kiss her head. “Hey, these are our babies, okay?”

  “I just don’t understand, though. Does that mean he wants them back?” She darted her panicked gaze to the twins. “He’s not touching my babies.”

  Logan wrapped an arm around her, hugging her and kissing her head. “Baby, relax. This is why we wanted to keep you in the dark.”

  “So he can steal them right out from under my nose?”

  He chuckled, squeezing her tighter. “So you wouldn’t feel guilty to know that they all woke up to the birth of two babies they all cherished, only to find they’d never again be what they were to them. Parents, aunts, and uncles.”

  Her panic crashed upon the truth, and a wave of sorrow washed through her. “David became their father because something happened to you.”

  Logan held her back a bit. “And both he and Janie woke the very moment they were no longer their parents.”

  Her heart ached, and she covered her chest, her teary sight of the twins blurring so much she could barely make out their cute faces. “Shit, I ruin everything.”

  “No.” He kissed the top of her head as he took hold of the stroller again. “So, do you get it a little bit now? They’re just sad. They’re grieving. And David doesn’t know you at all, other than what he remembers about your soul there.”

  She remembered the blue-eyed warrior with the gold
flame. He’d been fierce, ready to destroy the soul she accepted was hers. “He thinks I’ll hurt them.”

  “Probably.” Logan rubbed his hand down her back, relaxing her. “Janie and Ryder are trying to help him see there’s no need to worry.”

  “I always thought Ryder was the man she’d ended up with. I don’t get that part.”

  “Yeah.” He laughed, not seeming concerned the woman and mother of his children was in a weird relationship. “I’ll just leave it at they’re complicated, but they’re happy.”

  “As long as Janie’s not being forced to leave Ryder or something. I mean, the other world isn’t here, and Ryder is a daddy.”

  “I know, Hood.” He grinned at her. “You’re cute when you get protective of her. You’re fucking hot when you glare at Tercero when he’s with her. Fucking scorching when Archer grabs her ass and threatens to steal her from Ryder.”

  She felt her cheeks flush. “Shut up.”

  “Never imaged my Little Hood would be so protective over Ryder Godson’s claim on Janie Mortaime.” His attention flew to Nathan when he let out a cry. “It’s okay, bubby.” He touched Nathan’s hand when it escaped the blanket before speaking to her again. “You know, Nathan—there—had autism.”

  Kylie covered her mouth. “You think he has it now?”

  Logan just smiled at their little boy. “None of them know what to expect here. He’ll be okay. And we’ll learn together how to help him if that’s the case.”

  “You don’t know how to take care of him?” She stared at him as that sadness returned to his eyes.

  “I—Jason—wasn’t a good father. I didn’t know what to do, didn’t have patience to understand what he was going through. I just knew she’d do whatever it took to meet his needs, and I abandoned her to figuring it out on her own.” He gave Nathan’s hand a little squeeze. “Like I said, Hood, I had a lot to redeem myself for. Not just with Jane. That’s why I’m so thankful to her and to Ryder, Luc, and to David. They risked it all for me to get every second chance I desired.”