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“Whole?!” Eziah questions, a mix of confusion and wonder in his voice.
“She changed, right? For like a second?” Jonah asks, trying to make sense of what he's witnessed. “I didn't imagine it?!” He looks to Kyan for confirmation.
“Nothing escapes you, son,” Andrei chuckles.
“It's Liora, Temperance's sister,” Eziah explains, clarifying the mystery surrounding Temperance's transformation.
Jonah nods but then looks puzzled. “Isn't she dead?”
Kyan rolls his eyes. “We lived in a haunted manor, and you're concerned about the dead?”
“Yeah, but they looked dead. She looks very much undead, and our ghosts didn't possess anyone!” Jonah points out logically.
“Aunty T is a zombie?!” Corina asks innocently, her question drawing laughter from Temperance.
Mateo approaches Eziah and Temperance. “You'll come back and take over the pack, take your place as Alpha?” he asks, hope evident in his voice. Eziah looks at Temperance, seeking her agreement.
She nods, and Mateo's relief is palpable. He approaches them, embracing them both. “Finally!” Mateo breathes, Eziah hugs his father back and Temperance kisses Mateo’s cheek.
Suddenly, the burns covering his skin begin to glow, the rough scars smoothing out as he looks at his hands in disbelief as he pulls back.
“Whole!” Temperance murmurs, a touch of embarrassment in her voice. “I'm sorry, Liora should have asked, but she knows I can't stand Eziah's guilt.”
Kat observes them, her eyes thoughtful. “It doesn't weaken you!” she murmurs, her words meant for Temperance, who looks at her, puzzled.
“You healed him?!” Eziah realizes, awe coloring his tone.
“We figured we should return the favor,” Temperance whispers, stepping closer to Eziah.
He leans down, kissing her tenderly. “You never needed healing. You've never been broken in my eyes,” he whispers, his words echoing my own feelings for Rose.
As the morning rises, everyone eventually retires to different hotel rooms for some much needed sleep. The weariness of the past events catching up to us all. Casey settles into bed easily, and Rose wanders into the master room closing the blinds to block out the light. Fresh out of the shower, I approach her, noticing the sadness in her eyes.
“Casey down?” I ask softly, wrapping a towel around my waist.
She nods, and I can sense her mixed emotions – relief at having her daughter back but sorrow over the loss of Vince. She buries her face in my chest, her body trembling with suppressed sobs.
“I know, I know you loved him,” I reassure her, stroking her hair.
Her guilt hits me like a wave, and I pull back slightly to look at her. “What's wrong?” I ask, concerned by her sudden guilt.
“I can finally breathe!” she whispers, her tears staining my skin. “My biggest fear wasn't that he'd kill me, but that if he did, I would have left Casey with him.”
I wipe her tears. “I love him, Casen, but I also hate him. How is it possible to love and hate in a single breath?” I nod, feeling the same way.
“It's okay to hate him. It's okay to love him still. I feel the same. He was my brother, but the man he became was a stranger,” I tell her, and she nods.
“Hating him doesn't mean we can't still love him, Rose,” I tell her.
She lets out a breath, her arms tightening around me. “I just wished it was one or the other. It wouldn't hurt like this,” she whispers.
“It would be easier, but you never loved that man Rose, neither did I. That wasn’t Vince. We loved the man we knew he could be but chose not to be. We loved who we wished he was, not who we got,” I tell her.
She peers up at me, and I lean down, kissing her. This time, there's no hesitation, no fear – just us as she kisses me back.
Epilogue
Temperance
