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EPILOGUE
AUDREY—SIX MONTHS LATER
“Pearl,you better come down from there before you knock something over.”
The cat slowly blinks at Audrey, yellow eyes unbothered as her owner scolds her.
The stone fireplace mantle has become Pearl’s new favorite resting spot, despite the numerous breakable items that decorate the top of it.
Audrey should really know better by now. But Mindy insists on sending her or Julian little trinkets, which is her way of sayingI miss you.
Their rented house is filling up quickly with candles and other gifts.
Pearl raises a black paw as if daring Audrey to take a step closer.
“Pearl,don’t.”
But it’s too late. The photo frame clatters to the floor, but thankfully, it doesn’t break.
“Damn it,” Audrey sighs, picking up the frame and folding it closed. “When did you start not listening?”
Pearl yawns, unamused, as if to sayyou already know the answer.
A pair of muscular arms wrap around Audrey’s waist, and a single kiss is pressed to her neck.
After six months, Julian still catches her off guard, even in their own house.
“You shouldn’t yell at her,” he chastises playfully, his teeth nipping at her neck. “She just has an independent spirit.”
“Sure. Or maybe you just let her do what she wants and let her get away with murder.” There’s no real malice behind her tone; it’s hard for her to stay frustrated with either him or Pearl for long.
Not when she loves them both so much.
She hasn’t said those three words to him just yet, but she knows she will soon. They always stay on the tip of her tongue, and when he whispers them in her ear, it’s followed by a familiar disclaimer.
“You never have to say it back,” he always insists. “I never expect you to.”
Even though they’ve started a new life, she often senses his guilt through their mating bond, still. Guilt for stealing her away and for causing her to present as an Omega.
She senses his guilt for the way he barreled into her life like a tornado of chaos, refusing to ever let her go.
It’s not like she wants to leave him—being physically apart from him would pain her just as much as it would hurt him.
But, with his intense emotions swirling with hers, she’s able to sense how terrified he is of losing her, no matter how much he tries to hide it.
She sighs in his hold, and Pearl stares at both of them.
“What’s going on in your pretty head, babe?” he asks her, nuzzling against her mating gland. “What’s my smart girl thinking about?”
He inhales deeply, and his breathing slows. Her scent calms him, and she’s more than happy to be his sense of peace after the years of torture he’s suffered through.
“You,” she replies honestly.
His grip on her waist tightens. “Oh?”
“Yes.” She turns to face him and wraps her arms around his neck. In the past six months at their new home provided by the Canadian government (with Abel’s help), the shadows have faded from underneath Julian’s eyes. He smiles more often with his dimples on display.
But that’s not what has surprised her the most since living with her mate.
