Page 87 of Fated to the Alpha

Dominic gave them one of his charming smiles. “You sound like you miss us, Kimberly.”

She smiled back, a little sadder. “I do, but you know I’m happy here too.”

At that, Shane kissed the crown of her head again, unafraid to show affection for his mate. Not a soul in Tolstone or within Shane’s pack gave them grief over their mating. Even Kimberly’s family seemed relieved that she finally made it official with her high school sweetheart. She hated how her long-time fears and excuses were for absolutely nothing. She could have saved herself so many years of heartache. Then again, perhaps everything was supposed to work out exactly the way that it had.

“It’ll get easier,” Dominic said. “Your old pack is doing just fine. No new replacement for the flower shop. Kaelyn asked about you. Do you want me to give her your number?”

Kimberly frowned when she remembered her goodbye to Kaelyn. Her former neighbor and enemy had tried so hard to forge that friendship, and Kimberly had only recently warmed to the idea of such a thing.

“Better yet, text me her number, and I’ll message her later this week.”

Erica appeared on the screen again as the background changed from what she now recognized as Tolstone Square to the inside of the antique shop. “All of the ladies are going to miss you. I vote we all find a halfway point and meet for cheese dip and margaritas somewhere every once in a while.”

Kimberly glowed at the idea. “I’d really like that. I didn’t take advantage of those ladies’ nights enough when I had the chance.”

“We all get it. You were going through a lot. I am just so happy to see you happy now. You really deserve it.”

Deserved happiness. There was a concept that had been so foreign to her up until recently. But it was true, and she knew that now.

She deserved happiness and the freedom to be authentically herself with someone she loved. And that someone had been, and always would be, Shane. Their relationship could have really ended ten years ago when they were forced apart by men who didn’t know how to be real alphas. Now, as Shane relearned what it meant to be a reliable leader, and she understood the true inner power of a shifter, their paths crossed at just the right time. They helped and leaned into one another in ways that couldn’t have worked at any other point in their lives.

They had to fall apart to fall back together in a beautiful and messy way that seemed destined to happen from the very beginning.

The End