Page 55 of Forced By the Alpha

“Thank you,” I told her.

“For what?” she asked.

“You never gave up hope and never stopped fighting for me. This whole time, I thought I was the strong one, but it’s been you all along,” I said.

“If the situation were reversed, you would have done it for me.”

“I would do anything for you,” I assured her. “I love you. More than the moon and stars.”

“I love you, too, Franco.”

Epilogue - Sienna

It had been months since the curse had been broken and peace had been restored to the Forsaken Shadows pack. Although the loss of my father still cut me deeply, I had begun to heal from my grief. I would always miss what could have been, but I was comforted by the fact that he had given his life for his love of me and in the service of doing what was right.

With the help of Franco and the pack, I had taken the time I needed to be with my family and remember all the good Tom had done in the world. My brother Sebastian and my sisters had taken the news of dad’s death in stride. Although shocked, they were glad that he had made amends for his past wrongs.

Julian, on the other hand, hadn’t felt the same. Out of the five of us, he had been closest with our father. Not having the chance to say goodbye was proving to be a difficult pill for him to swallow. As much as I wished he would grieve with the rest of us, he had wanted to be alone. I did my best to respect that, but still held on to my vow to reunite all of us some day.

With the bloodlust gone, the pack had reverted to their original demeanor. The last time they had been free from magical influence, they had been young and hurt. Their trauma had caused them to seek power and violence, but without those outside negative influences, things were looking up for everyone.

The people weren’t just surviving anymore. Many of them had become gainfully employed in the town of Preston, and a few couples were even looking forward to the arrival of pups. Hope for the future had been restored.

My greatest triumph, however, remained the change I had seen in Franco. After making peace with his brother and my father, he had continued down the path of forgiveness witheveryone he had wronged. Even the alpha of our rival pack, Colson, had accepted his apologies for the fights between them. The two alphas of Preston had traveled to Pinedale to speak with the three alphas there to figure out how they could manage to live in peace and harmony together. We were expecting groups from each of our neighboring packs later today for a party that Franco was putting on, although I hadn’t been told what the celebration was in honor of yet.

“Everyone is going to be here soon,” Franco said. “You should go get changed.”

I was in the kitchen again, stirring up my latest batch of healing salve. While Franco had come into himself as the alpha, I was taking things more slowly with my own role. My magical abilities had amplified since breaking the curse, but using them fully still caused pain and tiredness. As a result, I had gone back to practicing magic the way I was used to—with potions and amulets.

Franco was supportive of me experimenting with spells, although I knew it hurt him to see the pain it caused. I knew that with time and study, I could find a solution to the issue, but for now I stuck with simple spells that wouldn’t use too much energy.

“You mean, I can’t just wear this?” I joked, indicating my stained apron and ripped jeans.

“Everything looks gorgeous when you wear it,” he replied. “But I actually got you a little something.”

He held out a white gift bag with a flourish. My eyes lit up, as they always did when my mate brought home a surprise for me. I reached inside the bag and pulled out a beautiful emerald-green dress. The off-the-shoulder neckline and mid-length hem were the perfect mix of eye-catching and casual.

“That is stunning,” I said.

“It will be once you’re wearing it.”

I blushed at the compliment and hurried to get changed.

“Damn, princess,” Franco said with a low whistle when I came back into the room.

I rolled my eyes at him. He could have seen me in ratty clothes with unwashed hair and still given me the same reaction—and he had—but I appreciated his enthusiasm. He held his arm out for me to take, and we went to the mess hall where the pack had been setting up for the party.

The other packs were already there, including Colson, Killian, and Leah. My best friend rushed over when she caught sight of me.

“Hey, gorgeous! Look at you in that dress,” she said, grabbing my hands.

“Are you kidding?” I replied. “Look at you!”

She gave a twirl, and her lavender dress fanned out like a flower. We giggled like little girls at our silliness as our husbands looked on in approval. Having Leah as my sister-in-law was the cherry on top of the wild ride we had been on.

“You ready for your announcement?” Killian asked Franco. “I think everyone is here.”

“What announcement?” I asked.

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