Page 55 of Trick Me
My own power curls around it, cool and warm twined together.
For the first time in my life, I feel whole. Not because someone filled the missing pieces, but because I chose to share all of mine with someone just as broken and incomplete as I was.
It’s a perfect beginning to an imperfect story.
But then again, the best stories always are.
Epilogue
ASH
The first snow of winter falls as I pace at the castle gates, and my wolf is practically vibrating with anticipation.
Six months of back and forth between the pack home and the city. Six months of my wolf whining every time we had to leave Erynn, of sleeping alone in a bed without her, of my pack giving me endless shit about being a lovesick puppy.
But today, finally, she’s coming home.
“You’re going to wear a groove in the stone,” Rickon observes from where he’s leaning against the gatepost, smirking.
“Shut up.”
“The great Alpha, reduced to a nervous teenager. She’s not due for another ten minutes.”
“Traffic in the city could have been light.”
Zac, head of my warriors, joins us with a steaming mug of something that smells medicinal. “He’s been up since dawn, preparing her room.”
“Our suite,” I correct. “And I was checking that everything was perfect.”
“You’re pathetic,” Rickon says fondly. “It’s actually endearing.”
I’m about to respond when I hear the hum of a magically powered vehicle navigating our private road in the woods. My wolf surges forward, and I have to physically stop him from spilling out and running to meet her. Ever since he shared her body, he’s been ridiculously enthralled with her.
The car rounds the final bend, and there she is, visible through the window, staring at me with wide eyes. The vehicle stops, and she’s out before I can reach for the door, launching herself into my arms with enough force to knock me back a step.
“Hi,” she says against my chest, and that single word contains everything: I missed you, I’m here, we made it.
“Hi,” I reply, breathing her in. “Welcome home.”
She pulls back to stare at me, and her smile could power the entire castle. “I can’t believe I’m finally here. No more long drives. No more portals eating my paycheck. Just… here.”
“Just here,” I agree, kissing her because I can’t not. “Come on, let’s head into our home.”
Pack members are already unloading her bags, so many bags—where did they all come from?—while I take her hand and lead her through the gates.
She stops dead two steps inside.
“Every time I see the castle, it still leaves me breathless,” she says. “I can’t believe this is going to be where I live now.”
I try to see it through her eyes. The central keep rises five stories, gray stone that’s weathered eight hundred years of winters. We’ve modernized it, of course, with magical heating, running water, and electricity powered by a combination of solar panels and spelled generators, but we kept the bones intact. Towers at each corner, crenellations that once held archers now decorated with the pack’s banners. The great hall’s stained-glass windows catch the morning light, throwing rainbow patterns across the courtyard.
“We rebuilt it about fifty years ago,” I explain as she gawks. “It was mostly in ruins when my grandfather found it. Took the entire pack working together to restore it.”
“It’s incredible.” She spins in a slow circle, taking in the secondary buildings, the barracks for unmated wolves, the family cottages nestled among the trees, the stables visible in the distance. “How many people live here?”
“About two hundred full-time. More during gatherings.” I slide an arm around her waist as a few morelocals notice us. Pack members start drifting closer. “Everyone’s excited to have you move in finally.”
She snorts. “Oh god, how many ghost questions am I going to get?”
