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“Aren’t you supposed to… not like animals or something?” Vex asked, peering down at the playpen I was putting together.
I snorted.What a primitive take.
Even if it was accurate.
Frankly, every dog on the planet could catch fire and burn to little puppy cinders and I wouldn’t give a fuck. ButPrincess Jasminewas pack now, so her weaknesses were,unfortunately, mine to protect.
I could appreciate Aisha, she’d proven herself and protected Vex, but how did we know we could trust this one?
She was a glossy black with rich mahogany patches, far too active, andpainfullyincompetent when it came to survival instincts. Still, she seemed to respond well to the stash of treats I kept in my pockets, so shecouldbe bribed… That made her more reliable than most humans, I supposed.
I didn’t know it was possible to find a being worse than Vex when it came to self preservation—Love had let slip thehitchhikingattempt—but Princess Jasmine was staking a claim for champion.
How the fuck was I supposed to take care of a creature I wasn’t in a bond with?
EPILOGUE THREE
VEX
I woke, surrounded by my pack.
Princess Jasmine was stumbling across every alpha on the bed, growling every time any of them moved until she reached me. I caught her earthy scent, reminding me of Aisha. I cuddled her close, huffing it, a purr rising in my chest.
Love reached out to me, hand brushing my cheek, and Princess Jasmine opened an eye, tensing. With a smile he drew us both into his arms.
“I love you,” he breathed, and my purr deepened. “You are more than anything I could have ever dreamed of.” He held me tighter, and yet I could feel a tremor run through him.
I turned, peering up, still clutching Princess Jasmine in my arms.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
He smiled, but his jaw was clenched. “I need you to hear me when I say this, Vex,” he said. “You chose those golden eyes and because you did, the world has made you pay. But if you hadn’t…” He trailed off, his breath catching. “If you hadn’t, Vex…” He couldn’t seem to finish, but he didn’t have to.
And his words were a salve on that age old burn.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “For every moment you were alone. That we weren’t there.”
And I couldn’t speak as I hunched in his arms, drowning in his scent of vanilla winter.
“You are incredible,” he breathed. “And I will never tell you those golden eyes are anything less than the most beautiful thing in the world. Without them, our pack wouldn’t have survived.”
It was like my throat closed up as I shook in his arms, his words washing over me. And they were a shocking relief.
A weight lifted I hadn’t even known I was carrying.
I felt one tear trickle down my face.
Princess Jasmine stiffened, then licked me right across the cheek. For a moment, she wasn’t Princess Jasmine at all. Her tongue was huge and slobbering and demanding, backed by the weight of a dog large enough to ground me. There was a smile on my face as I curled up, safe, with Love’s arms around me.
My nest was complete.
I had my pack, my puppy, and, in the centre of my dream board, I’d mounted the embroidered sweatshirt that Ebony had extracted from the Lightning pack mansion. Beside it, hung the pink glittery collar that had started all of this.
I remembered that day at the signing, standing in line with her collar. It had felt like an ending; I hadn’t known what was going to come next, or what I would do without her.
But she had led me to them. To a fight for a happily ever after that was worth every moment.
Now four signatures were scrawled upon it: My pack, with a thousand dreams of untapped magic waiting to steal us away.
The End.
