Page 120 of The Oath We Take

“For your information, we’re on a new series.”

“Yeah? What’s this one about?”

“Wolf shifters.”

“What?”

“You know. Like, packs with an alpha wolf. Kind of like a motorcycle club, where they all have roles and rules and things.”

I sit down next to her, and the branch groans so ominously that we both look up to see if it’s at risk of cracking.

“If you break my swing, I’ll be mad,” she says.

I chuckle. “I’m still stuck on you comparing the club to werewolves.”

“They’re wolf shifters, not werewolves. They—you know what, never mind. How come you’re home?” She puts her book down, and as I glance at her fingers, I see the colorful rings and stones sparkle.

“Marry me, Em,” I say.

Her jaw drops, and then she grins. “For real?”

“Yeah. For real.” I pull the box out of my pocket and offer it to her. “Don’t know if it will fit, but it was my great-grandmother’s. And I’d be real fucking honored if you would wear it and let everyone know that we love each other so much, we can’t wait to get on with the rest of our lives together. I want to spend forever with you, starting right now.”

I take the ring from the box and hold it up for her.

“Yes. Oh my God, yes. And it’s so beautiful.”

I slide it onto her finger, and it’s a little loose, but it looks perfect sitting there.

Then, I kiss her until the branch starts to make that same creaking sound.

“Jesus,” I say, standing and tugging Ember to her feet. “Let’s go inside and do this properly.”

Ember grins as I cup her cheeks. “Does that include working on those babies?”

And she’s up over my shoulder and on her way into the house before she can say another word.

EPILOGUE TWO

SMOKE

The fall is simple.

Signal.

Jump.

Open parachute.

Land.

It’s the ground that’s hostile.

I see the fire burning in the distance.

It should be a breeze to bring it under control. We’ve got time to fell trees, dig trenches, and clear debris and dried-out foliage that light faster than candles at a baby’s first birthday party.

My fellow smoke jumpers litter the sky. It’s crucial we don’t allow our parachutes to cross. But we’ve done this a million times before, carefully navigating our trajectory as close to the fire line as is safe but allowing tolerances so we don’t end up off course or trapped.

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