PAIGE- THREE YEARS LATER

The Spring Equinox is rapidly approaching, and Winter is dying off quickly. The snow has receded  to the shadows, clumped in mucky gray patches that remain tucked under evergreens and alongside cabins. From the kitchen window of our cabin, I can see the way Spring is trying to take hold. The trees are brighter green, the grass is growing as it pokes through the brush, and the flowers I planted in the Summer are teeny sprouts in the garden.

I'm happy here, I can feel it all the way to the marrow of me. The road to heal was long, winding, dark. The trauma and grief manifested in my dreams, my relationships, and my self image. It took years to repair myself, but I did. I still am. Nonetheless, now I reap the rewards. 

Since the fight, we haven't had any other altercations with outsiders, other than Arlo's pack. There have been no signs of hunters either, which settled a lot of fur around the Pack after spending months on edge, preparing for retaliation of some sort. It never came. 

Arlo visits just about once a week, especially since I got pregnant. He has been helping Damon build the nursery. I think he's just about as excited as Damon. I told Arlo I wanted him to be his grandpa and he couldn't have been happier. After so long being alone and left behind, it feels like I am finally building a family of my own. A real one. And my heart has never felt so full. 

"Goddess don't you look sexy standing there like that," my Wolf is leaned in the door way, his gold eyes hungry and dark.

"The Equinox is a a week away, don't even give me that look. You're going to pop me," I try to be stern but I can't help but laugh as his eyebrows hike up. Bracing one hand on my lower back, I rub my swollen belly with the other. Damon approaches, ducking his head to kiss my lips in a way that leaves heat stirring in the deeper parts of me. He then kneels down to raise my sweater over the swell of my abdomen and press a kiss to my belly.

"I'm so excited to meet her, but damn I can't deny I love seeing you like this." He presses another kiss to my belly.

I roll my eyes playfully. "I love you," I remind him, always feeling as if I can never say it enough, always trying to make up for lost time. Even though Damon constantly reminds me I've long been forgiven.

Damon raises back to his feet, "I love you more, baby." He wraps me into his embrace, kissing my temple softly. I sigh and sink into his hold, leaning my head on his chest and curling my fingers around his forearm. At this point in the pregnancy, I'm huge, and constantly tired. My low back aches all the time and the cravings have gotten a little ridiculous. "Do you need a foot rub?" 

I practically moan with that thought and Damon uses my noise as an affirmative. He sweeps me off my feet and carries me to the couch where he sets me down softly and plops down next to me. Lifting my legs onto his lap, he pulls off my socks and begins working his thumbs into my  swollen feet. 

"And to think I almost passed you up," I teased with a grin, laying my forearm over my eyes. 

He pinches my big toe, "You could have never rejected me after having my big-" 

The way he cut off immediately puts me on edge. I move my forearm from my eyes and prop myself up to look at his face that is twisted in concern. His eyes are glazed, the signature of a mindlink. 

"What is it?" I whisper, fear seeping into my chest. Instinctively, I curl an arm around my belly. It's hard to imagine something disturbing the peace that has mostly ensued since the attack. My life has since softened. For once, I have been able to learn how to relax. I'm terrified of losing that so soon. Though I know the quiet never lasts forever.

Damon snaps out of it and looks over to me, "Border patrol found a girl on the outskirts. Said she's about on the brink of death but they're taking her to the infirmary now." 

I feel my brows furrow together in thought. "You don't think it's Alpha Beck's mate, do you?" I ask, recalling the phone call I answered from him a few days ago. 

"Can't say it hasn't crossed my mind, but we can't be sure quite yet. It's not like..." He drifts off and I know he can barely stand to relive it. But he doesn't have to say anything anyway, I know exactly what he is referring to: me, bloody and torn to part in the snow, being eaten alive by a giant grizzly. A shiver racks through both of us. "We should get to the packhouse, sort all of this out and get an ID on her." 

"Okay. Help me with my socks?" I sit up with the help of his hands and assist him in pulling on my socks. "You don't think whatever got to her is still around, do you?"  The fear is in my voice and we can both hear it. The way my fear immediately puts him on edge is visible. 

"The patrol thinks she drug herself to the border, so they doubt the threat is nearby. Regardless, we're not taking any chances, which is why you're sticking by my side." Damon slides my boots on and helps me to my feet. I waddle to the door and pull on my coat as he does the same. 

We step out into the chilly fresh air and I take a deep breath in. The sky is bright blue, the sun shining down through the trees. It's a beautiful day, making me sad that this girl is going through what must be her worst day. 

Damon interlocks our arms and helps me down the stairs. Our pace is slow, methodically stepping over lingering patches of ice and around giant mud puddles. 

He leans down from his towering height and whispers into my ear, "I could carry you?" 

I smile softly and nudge him, "Don't insult the things I can still easily do for myself." 

"I am not insulting. In fact I'm very proud of you. But I can still offer to ease your burden..." His eyes catch my glower and he chuckles softly. "My bad, my bad." 

Our arms interlock once again and we quiet to focus on getting to the infirmary. Once we arrive, we enter and meet Faith and Cody in the waiting room. The room is a quiet and very beige looking seating area with a few arm chairs and a love seat. Faith and Cody are standing with Paul, muttering over something. 

I assume Alkaline is back with the girl. He had been working on expanding his practice, incorporating a younger female who he had been training for almost a year now. 

"What's the word?" Damon and I added ourselves to the group. Faith presses her cheek to mine and rests a hand on my belly. She had her own pup last year in the Fall. The baby boy was the spitting image of his father, but with Faith's mouth and eyes. She is a tireless, compassionate mother and it is a rare day that I see her without him. Today, is one of those days. 

"The girl is in rough shape," Cody frowns. The Alpha and I had gotten off on a pretty bad foot, but since Faith and I had grown closer I had seen the better sides of him and vice versa. The four of us had actually grown a lot closer in the last few years. His baby had really softened him up too, I had never seen him be such a sap before. "Alkaline is cleaning her up and hopefully then we can figure out who she is. With all of the blood it was just about impossible to even tell what color her hair was." 

"Has anyone called Alpha Beck?" Damon asked. 

"Don't want to get his hopes up yet, in case it isn't her." Faith responds with a sad look on her face.

"I hope it is, for his sake. She's been gone for, how long?" Cody ponders.

"A few days, at least." Damon responds, rubbing his mouth. 

"Was she conscious?" I ask, sitting back into one of the arm chairs. Damon comes to my side and idly rubs my shoulder. 

"Barely," Faith says. "But she didn't say anything coherent. It was shocking that she was alive in the first place." 

Two hours later, Alkaline had her cleaned up and stable for now, he had said. He was very concerned about her blood tests and she smelled of a new wolf. 

Cody and Faith entered her room with the picture Alpha Kale had sent him when she had first gone missing. Damon and I waited in the stuffy waiting room, his hand still softly rubbing my shoulders. It only took a few minutes. When they came back out, their faces were grim. 

"Get Beck on the phone, immediately." Cody said to Damon. "She's definitely Millie Sarcos." 

and that's it, folks! i hope you enjoyed this book! i had so much fun writing it. i truly love writing and learning these characters. it has been one hell of a journey. i am so grateful for all of the love i have received on this book. you readers are truly amazing. 

you all know that this book was a rewrite (oh how i love to do that). the book i am working on next is BARE. it is being completely rewritten. it will be taken down here in the next few weeks so i can completely repair it. BARE will be changed down to the title! What to look for: ALPHA BECK. the end of this outro is actually a teaser to that book! It is about Kale Beck and Millie Sarcos' story. Even her name has changed from what it was. 

anyway, thank you all so so much for reading, commenting, and sharing. i hope to see you all on another book. 

stay safe, happy, and healthy.

as always- love,

LS