Page 68 of The Awakened Wolf

“Why?” I whispered. “The pack needs you.”

Her jaw tightened. “I need you more.”

I threw my arms around her. She stiffened at first, but as I cinched my arms more tightly, she melted, burying her face in my neck. I did the same, drinking in the scent of my twin, my other half, and mourning the lost scent of her wolf.

We clung to each other, our hearts beating as one, entwined as we’d once been within our mother’s womb. And for the first time I knew that we’d never be separable. We’d never been separable. We’d always been this. One heart.

I pulled away and brushed her hair from her forehead. “I don’t know how to be Alpha.”

She smiled and pressed her forehead to mine. “I’ll teach you everything you need to know.”

Epilogue

Record Scratch! Freeze Frame!

You’re probably wondering what happened next.

A lot, actually. More than any one denouement could contain, though we were trying, with help of Aunt Moira and her cameras, to weave all the stands together in a story that would make us make a little sense to the world who now knew we’d been with them all along. Oh, she’d put up a fight, a million reasons why it wouldn’t work, but she’d met her match in Kiana, and the documentary was greenlit, as they say.

First scene?

A wedding, presided over by an Elder Wolf in the middle of an Eternal Circle in the Bronx Ceremony Hall, because contrary to what the movies led me to believe, this was the beginning, not the end. The beginning of a new era where a couple’s commitment vows didn’t mention wombs or seeds or obedience, only promises to love and support each other as true partners in this world, come what may. A new era where no one could tell you who you would spend forever with—or who you couldn’t.

In my packs anyway.

I couldn’t change the world overnight, but as much as we hoped humans would watch what we were making and see that we were people too, I prayed maybe even more that other shifters would open their eyes to the same truth. That we’d become something we were never supposed to, but it wasn’t too late to change the ending. We could make ourselves over as anything we decided to be.

“I now pronounce you husband and wife,” the Elder Wolf’s translator intoned, since the cameras couldn’t pick up her voice. “You may kiss your mate.”

Sebastian swept me up so hard he pulled me off my feet, bent me backward and kissed me, long and deep. Surprised by his passion, particularly in public, I gave in, my lips parting and hungry. Around us the room erupted into thunderous applause as Sebastian broke our kiss, leaving me breathless.He straightened, setting me back on my feet, and I ran my hands down his strong arms, relishing the open proximity we’d now be free to enjoy for many, many moons to come.

“Hey,” a nasal twang broke through my reverie. “Could the happy couple smooch again for me please? I didn’t get it all the first time with this big damn circle in the way.” The skinny camera guy waved dismissively at our most time-honored tradition. “Try and do it exactly the same though, so we can cut it together.”

“As you wish.” Sebastian repeated the kiss, motion for motion, and I swooned dramatically in his arms while the camera guy walked around us in a slow circle, capturing every detail. We pulled apart for a second time, and Sebastian whispered, “I think you may have overacted that one.”

“Mmm, just wait til you hear what I overact tonight,” I teased.

It took him a second, but then his brow furrowed. “Hey!” He looked at the camera guy. “You didn’t get that, did you? That’s not—that’s not going in.”

The camera guy shrugged. “Talk to the sound guy.”

Sebastian’s head jerked around like a wolf tracking a prey until I caught him by the chin and made him look at me. “I’ll make sure Aunt Moira takes it out.”

Sebastian groaned. “Now I know it’s going in.”

I kissed him to make him forget that he was probably right. Her position on fated mates hadn’t magically changed, and she’d warned us before we began filming that she wouldn’t go easy on the concept in Season Three of Alma Mater Animalis just because ours seemed to be working out for now. The show had been renewed, of course. We were big money now, and no one was going to leave it on the table, but last I heard she was still searching for a Shifter Sensitivity Coordinator who could stand to work with her.

But at least none of us had to worry about imminent annihilation any longer. Sebastian’s Beta powers combined with unified support from the other packs had closed the case on lingering questions. As far as the world was concerned, an unoccupied tram had fallen into the river and sunk, but no one had been harmed. The tram had been shut down while engineers investigated, but there was not a single whisper about shifters. Or Godwin Moone exploding into dust.

Were there conspiracy theories about why he disappeared that same night and was never seen again? Of course. And though half the country still seemed to want shifters dead, without Damien’s Beta powers and random attacks to fire people up, most people in the city seemed to have returned to their busy lives, as New Yorkers were known to do.

It helped that so many humans who’d witnessed the Battle of Belvedere Castle—as it was to be named in no less than four upcoming podcasts—came forward to declare support for shifters. They recounted instances of shifters sacrificing themselves to protect humans. “… Like big, furry superheroes,” according to one young woman sporting an hombre purple bob and dangly Mickey Mouse earrings.

Sebastian took me by the hand, rolling around behind me in a few fluid steps and pulling me onto the dance floor in perfect timing. I sighed as I whirled with him, his hand sure on my hip, his golden brown eyes locked on mine. I might be wearing the Alpha pants these days, but I could still let my man lead me on the dance floor. Especially given his talent for it.

As we wove between the other couples, I gave a little wave to Jayla, who beamed. I was surprised to see that she’d actually opened her eyes while pressed to my cousin Cody’s famously broad chest. It had been her silly daydream for so long that she joked with me that if she opened her eyes, she was afraid he’d poof away. Of course, I knew that was impossible. They were fated. Being separated was unthinkable. It wouldn’t be long before I’d be dancing at their wedding, I knew. But it would wait until she finished med school. Not like there were rules about waiting for mating anymore.

Another thing of the past? Indentured servitude. The caterers were being paid this evening, and all of our employees were dancing the night away. Ruby’s look was perfection, of course. Her flaming hair stood out even more against the pink satin dress that would have made Audrey Hepburn die of jealousy. I didn’t know the shifter who was her companion for the evening, but he’d donned a pink pocket square and vest in deference to her look. I gave him points for that. We’d have to see if he had what it took to stick around. Ruby was special. I wasn’t going to let some domineering male think he could push her around.

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