Page 285 of Heart of Frost and Scars

“Hey, hey.” He wrestles her swinging arms. “I changed my mind halfway down. I swear!”

“Why, Wolf?” She smacks his chest, losing steam. “Why?”

“I didn’t want to die a virgin.”

Her anger shatters, crumbling into sobbing wails that tear through the cabin. She breaks apart in front of us, and all I can do is watch as she releases everything she’s kept bottled up for so long.

Wolf shushes her softly, wrapping his arms around her and holding her tight with his cheek pressed to her head.

My chest tightens. My soul aches. As Frankie sobs into his bloodstained coat, he hugs her, comforts her, and it’s agony to witness. But it’s also something else, something I haven’t felt since Denver took Frankie.

Relief.

It’s over.

After tonight, after we hunt our prey and bring down our ruthless, bloody vengeance, we’ll go home.

No more searching.

No more stalkers.

No more death.

No more division.

We’ll be safe. Together. Our family. Whole for the first time.

Frankie lifts her head, her hands gripping Wolf’s face, her touch tender despite the tears streaming down her cheeks.

“Oh, Wolf.” Her whisper trembles.

Then she kisses his jaw, nose, eyelids, and corners of his mouth, each press of her lips a plea, a question. “Are you real? Are you really here?”

“I’m really here, my little red wary berry.” His blue eyes shine as he kisses her brow. “I’m right here.”

He holds her close, his fingers running through her hair, comforting her.

I feel each touch like a physical ache in my chest, my heart threatening to burst. It’s surreal to take in, seeing my son alive, seeing the way he loves Frankie, seeing the way she clings to him.

I’ve lost so much. I lost Frankie twice. I thought I lost Wolf.

But I haven’t lost it all. Love lives and breathes. I feel it radiate from Kody and Leo at my side. I feel it wrap around us, fusing us together.

Frankie and Wolf pull apart, their breath coming in ragged gasps as they slowly turn to face me.

The air is thick and heavy as my muscles gradually come back online, allowing me to lift my head, to finally meet my son’s gaze.

He stares, really stares at me, for the first time. I stare back, unable to tear my eyes away from the boy.

No, not a boy.

A tall, handsome man stands before me. It’s like looking into a mirror and seeing my twenty-year-old self gaze back.

The connection between us kindles, an invisible thread of fire pulling us together, binding us in ways I never thought possible.

“I’m Wolf.” His voice is steady, strong, but there’s a hint of uncertainty he tries to cover with a cough. “I’ve heard so much about you.”

“I’ve heard a lot about you, too.” My throat tightens, and I fight to keep it together, to maintain my composure.

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