Page 75 of The Wolf's Bullied Pregnant Mate
“Well, you know,” he said. “Iwillbecome a local.”
I snorted. “You wish.”
“I love you, Adalyn. I’ve been crazy about you since I met you—in multiple ways. Crazy with anger, but now it’s crazy with love. I love you more than anything and I will spend every day of my life making sure you know how much worth you have. My mate.” He kissed me deeply. “My beautiful, powerful mate, who absolutely terrifies me at times.”
I laughed through my tears, holding him close. “I love you, Zephyr. I’m sorry it took me so long to catch up to everything. But this… Our future… It’s right here.” I placed hishand on my stomach as we both looked back at the screen. “I love you—I’m falling in love with you.”
My hands slid through his hair, caressing those tattoos on his head, toying with the length of his hair. His tongue swept against mine, and I pressed close, groaning when my body protested. I gingerly sat back against the hospital bed pillows.
“Can I ask you something?” A smile played on his lips.
“Anything,” I answered.
“That day in the pool… Were you going to kill me?”
I blanched but then only smirked. “Only as much as you were going to kill me the night you hunted me in the woods.”
His cheeks colored. We both had more trauma to work through and mistakes acted upon against one another, but we could make it work. We would get through it together. Even if it was a slow process, all that mattered was that he would be here.
“I want to leave the military,” Zephyr confessed, breaking the silence. “Or maybe find an alternative. But I don’t want to be a part of anything that will take me away from you and our baby. I want to build a home, a life, here. I don’t want to keep running anymore. I’ve done it for too long. I’m exhausted, and my anger doesn’t feel like the driving force anymore.” He shook his head. “If I kept running for revenge, then I want love to be the one thing that grounds me.”
I kissed him, wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling him down to me. He braced his arms on either side of me, holding himself up.
“You willalwayshave a home with me,” I told him, my eyes never leaving his. That bright green gaze fixed on me, sincerity in them. Once, they had been so full of fury and hatred,a need for revenge burning through Zephyr. But now, only love resided in them. Love forme, for this life we could build.
The heartbeat continued around us, reminding us both of what we would soon be welcoming into our lives.
“I’ll never leave you,” he swore. “I will make sure I always return to you.”
Fresh tears prickled my eyes. “I love you.”
“I love you, Adalyn.”
From outside, I heard a sniffle. I looked around, surprised, and found Harper and Frazer peeking around, both of their eyes red.
“Fray, are youcrying?” Zephyr asked, laughing. “C’mon, man.”
“What?” he asked defensively. “I’ve watched you self-destruct for years. Don’t ruin this moment for me.”
Zephyr only laughed and waved everybody in. Harper came over to hold my other hand. Only my grandmother remained outside, but I would have time to talk to her. For now, I was surrounded by shifters and my best friend, and I was happy.
Everything was going to be perfect.
Epilogue - Adalyn
The weeks passed by. I was quickly discharged from the hospital after a day, returning not to my own studio but to the villa that the shifters stayed in so Zephyr could keep an eye on me. My grandmother refused to go to the house, and I ended up visiting Harper’s cottage when I found out Greta was there.
I had received a verbal lashing from her about my choices—about falling in love with a shifter after all her warnings and how I had defied my bloodline and my coven. And once, I would have listened, taken on that weight, and endured the guilt that came with it.
But I had felt my coven’s blessing. It was my grandmother who had told me that my coven was always watching, but they had held me when I went unconscious, connected to them through magic. They had forgiven me, as I had forgiven them for causing my mate pain.
I beseeched my grandmother now; the two of sat opposite one another in Harper’s cottage. She and Alex had taken the children out for the day, and I knew Zephyr wasn’t too far away.
“It has always been you and I, Gramma,” I said. “I don’t want that to change. I know I was meant to unite the bloodlines again. Why can’t you see it as a good thing?”
“I have seen the damage, Adalyn.” Her voice was sharp and commanding. “The shifters attracted the demons. I thought they came to save us, but I see I was wrong.”
“But theydid,” I insisted. “They did save us. Yes, perhaps their presence attracted the demons, but they belong here. At least Zephyr does. He is part of the original bloodline, as you know. If it hadn’t been for that shifter, then witches wouldn’t have found this place, either. This unity is good for Azure Cove.”
