Returning to a life of normalcy was likely the hardest part after the battle.

Some of us chose to diverge because we could not bear to glimpse at where lives were lost, and others tried their hardest to move on. Like me. Like Liam and I and the rest of our pack.

Going back to high school proved to be one of the most difficult tasks -- they we were, outsiders once again assimilating ourselves into a societal norm. Needless to say, we maintained few human friends and stuck close to one another; as Stella, Adam,  and Jeremy had chosen to go back, while Liam had chosen not to return to school, and instead procured his GED. He ended up taking some wood working classes at a technical school while I entered senior year quite belatedly, and I spread myself quite thin between leading a pack and school work.

It paid off when I graduated with a 3.7, and succeeded into getting into an art program at a local university. My dreams of New York and glamorous art galleries seemed out of reach, and my desire to stay near my pack overpowered feeling as though I needed to go to prove something to myself.

Regardless, in my sophomore year of college, I ended up doing just that.

I'd decided to go for one semester, to merely see how it was and I'd been there by myself for two weeks before Liam came. Due to the mating bond, it was difficult to remain far from one another, and I'd left Stella in charge in the mean time.

Liam and  I bunked in a studio apartment that was ridiculously over priced, but it was likely one of the strangest and enlightening experiences of my life. We pinched pennies and ate from a subpar Chinese restaurant, and the comparison of my art to the other prestigious individuals from my school was interesting. And I found I loathed it.

The school promoted creativity, indeed, but projects followed certain guidelines that professors were looking for, and I found I liked it when I freely expressed myself, and depicted what I wanted instead of what the task called for. I also found myself craving the open woods instead of the glass skyscrapers; I missed the chirps of birds in the morning and began to loathe the loud city traffic. Liam had little recreational freedom here as well, and we silently agreed that this may have been my dream before, but it no longer was. By the end of the semester, we packed up what little belongings we had taken and returned for the sake of our happiness.

I finished up at the local university and graduated at the top of the art program, with my whole pack in the audience as I walked across the stage. Liam was dressed nicely that day, pressed black slacks and a form fitting button up shirt. We drank champagne that night and twirled around our living room and pretended we were teenagers once again, and suppressed the haunting memories we often fought.

Jeremy and Rosalyn married that summer, and Rosalyn had likely been the most beautiful bride I'd ever seen. She ended up pregnant about two months after the wedding, and thus began the next the generation.

Most of the pack chose to settle down and soon the laughter of children greeted me as I passed by the cozy, brick homes. "Hi Alpha!" They'd chirp, and I'd smiled at them a long the way. Elijah, Jeremy's oldest son, was the easiest to spot with the copper curls and crystal clear eyes. Him and Rosalyn wasted no time in having more children, while most silently waited for Liam and I to have ours.

Stella felt similar pressure, seeing as Adam desired children like nobody else. Adam and  Liam had bonded over the years and maintained a close relationship, and I often caught them avidly discussing having a family of their own.

Stella felt no need for labels or marriage, but Adam felt otherwise. They struggled at times in their relationship, and it strained Stella and I's friendship in result. There was always the underlying worry in the back of her mind that Adam still wanted me in that sense, but I believed otherwise. Adam was head over heels in love with her, and she felt the same, though she never exactly expressed it.

They eloped at the age of twenty-five, and Liam and I had been the only ones to witness it. Stella wished for no public wedding like Jeremy and Rosalyn's, and soon it was just Liam and I that had yet to tie the knot.

Liam's wish for a family came to fruition at the age of twenty-six, when I'd missed my period and soon realized that I was expecting. Liam was over the moon at the prospect, while I silently worried about becoming a mother.

It felt odd, running my hands over the expansion of my stomach and feeling tiny feet kick back in response. Liam spent every moment he could palming the surface, and he adamantly pressed his ear to listen. I acquired an adequate amount of money from selling art work at the local gallery, and I'd developed a name for myself that locals recognized, and I suddenly realized that my goal in life had shifted when I'd held my son in my arms for the first time, exhausted and sweaty as I stared down at his small face.

"He looks like you," I'd breathed to Liam shortly after. The golden brown hair on the top of his head gave that away, and the similar face shape and nose. But his eyes were all mine when he'd opened them for the first time, and I cried thereafter. Thus Riam Mars Finley came to fruition, and I found that his eyes shifted to resemble more of my fathers as he grew, fading into a murky grey.

"Thank you," Liam had told me sincerely after he held Riam  in his arms. I don't think I'd ever loved anyone more in that moment, and my heart felt near combustion as Riam grew and took his first steps. I devoted most of my time to art, Liam, and our son while our pack continued to change in dynamics.

Though Riam's first year of life was likely one of the most fulfilling, it was also difficult when Stella suffered her first miscarriage.

I'd been there when it occurred, as I was in the kitchen watching Riam clank toy trucks together and giggle as though it was possibly the most comical thing to occur. Stella had been silently watching, slumped over the counter she informed me that she hadn't been feeling good earlier that morning.

"That time of the month?" I inquired, as Stella informed me that she'd been dealing with cramps all morning to no avail.

"I didn't have it for two months, and now suddenly I do," Stella murmured. I eyed her warily, pausing mid task to look at her questioningly.

"Two months?" Questions bubbled to the forefront of my mind. Like birth control, irregular cycles, and more that could have possibly been the answer. Yet it felt as if someone had just suddenly knocked the air from me as I realized the odd scent Stella had been radiating off for the past two months. Liam had noticed it first, and I had jokingly said that perhaps she'd switched her perfume. Now it was no longer comical. "Did you and Adam use protection?"

"We haven't been," Stella answered bluntly. "I just-" Suddenly, she grew silent. The hand that was previously on the counter came to settle on her abdomen as I stared at her in realization. Stella cried. I cried. Adam sobbed when he found out, in the privacy of our back porch after Stella had confined herself to our guest room in refusal to see anyone else.  

It was a difficult time.

Eventually, Stella put on the nonchalance of being okay, and then it occurred again six months later, after I'd recently found out that I was once again expecting. It made the experience of bearing again tense, but only because I didn't want to upset Stella, who inevitably felt as though she was a failure of a woman just because she could not hold on to a child. I'd argued that she'd been starved, malnourished at the age of fourteen that could have effected it, or perhaps even something more.

I wondered why the world was so cruel as to deal her this fate, with all that she had suffered. Stella said that perhaps being a mother wasn't in the cards for her, but I refused to believe it.

I gave birth to a girl, though when I'd peered down at her with dark brown hair and green eyes, she hadn't felt like the Flora we'd been waiting for. Not that it was a bad thing -- the name just didn't fit her. So we named her Orion, after the huntress and constellation because it seemed fitting the moment I stared down at her. Jeremy remarked that our kids names were weird, but I loved them nonetheless.

Orion lived up to her namesake, and she'd often be found wrestling in the yard with the older boys. Liam grew wary about allowing her to run off with the older boys by the time she was four, but I assured him she could handle herself. Rosalyn dubbed that she would be a heartbreaker, because even at the age of four she was such a pretty thing. A head full of dark brown, wavy locks and deep green eyes paired with long lashes -- though Riam bared similar long lashes, it seemed a common trend -- and deeply tanned skin with a varying amount of freckles on her face. She'd taken after Liam, after all.

Riam was a momma's boy, and he often liked to sit with me while I painted and he very much resembled the attitude of my father; soft spoken, thoughtful, and like me as well; creative, intuitive, and more. He often loved to speak with Rosalyn so she could detail plants to him, and he often stayed up late at night to flip through his books. He was a sweet and intelligent boy, and I never compelled him to play with the boys if he didn't feel like it. Riam was in his own world most of the time, anyway.

Jeremy and Rosalyn bore four more children, and their house was brimming with ginger-haired babies. I'd never seen them so happy in their life. Even Belle had wrote that she'd had a little girl, and Meredith, my aunt, sent my cousin, Ambrose, to visit. We grew tightly together as a family unit, and I anxiously hoped and prayed that Stella and Adam would have the chance to start their family too.

My wish was received.

Stella and Adam had decided to foster rogue children in order to fill their home, and along came Estelle.

She'd been a quiet girl, dark skinned with beautiful almond eyes and incredibly timid. And although Stella had been apprehensive to grow close to her, it was inevitable. They'd officially adopted her in the winter, and I'd never seen Adam so gleeful. He was truly a wonderful father.

Furthermore, under the pack doctors help, Stella conceived naturally again, after two years of being a mother to Estelle. She was hesitant to inform me, but after the three month mark she had breathed easier and she'd delivered the baby successfully. Her name was Adara, and I'd never found any name more suitable for the daughter of Stella.

And then, that fall, I found I was expecting, and I felt this one was the last.

A baby girl with blonde hair and gleaming blue eyes was placed in my arms, and I knew it was Flora.

Finally, we felt complete.

And my children and the rest of our pack, was bound and destined to greatness.

-------------------

So that's it. That's the end.

Liam and Ronnie had kiddos, struggles prevailed (and were defeated!) and I just can't believe it's done.

Thank you for the readers that stuck with this story. Thank you for the endless encouragement and I am sorry that I went MIA and left this story behind. If you are like me and are currently struggling with your mental health -- take your time. I know what you are going through, and like Liam and Ronnie, we will prevail. I am so blessed and lucky to have some of you as my readers, and I cherish you greatly.

I am sad to say goodbye to Liam and Ronnie, and Jeremy and Stella, and so many others -- but I felt that this was a fitting end. They deserved happiness after all, and it seemed a good note to end on. I suppose they'll forever exist within these pages, and in our minds, and that is enough.

Thank you for the love,

- CeCe.