Oh Hell No

Epilogue

A/N: The dress Jamie wears is above. I'm not good at describing clothes so I figured a reference image would be better. You guys can imagine a different one if you hate the one above

"You seem nervous."

"Nervous? Clearly you don't know what a person looks like when they're overflowing with confidence."

Ryder brushed aside Jamie's hair to press a light kiss to her mark, "A confident person's heart doesn't beat that fast, sweetheart."

"And a person that plans on sleeping in an actual bed tonight should know not to call me out when I'm lying," She remarks sourly, frowning at her reflection for the millionth time since she put on the dress that was practically strangling her. She understood that it's more of a formal event, but it would be so much better if she could show up in jeans and a t-shirt instead of this over-the-top garment.

He chuckled lightly, confident that she couldn't make him sleep anywhere. It was her going somewhere else that he'd have to worry about, "They're going to love you."

"Good for them," She muttered, staring awkwardly at the white and teal dress she had on. She had been all but forced into choosing one and this happened to be it, not trusting Danielle to pick something as conservative. It still managed to feel too short and girly for her tastes, but she did like it more than she wanted to admit.

"You're going to be their luna, they basically have to respect you. If they don't, let me know and I'll have a friendly 'chat' with them," He assures her, eyes darkening slightly at the violent images that crossed his mind when he thought of someone insulting her.

Peaceful was never a word Jamie thought would describe her life after she was kicked out of her pack. Pack members didn't exactly speak kindly of rogues or their lifestyles, so she had figured that she'd have to deal with aggression and distrust at every turn. She wasn't exactly wrong, facing a number of rogues that matched the bloodthirsty description that had been assigned to them all.

Of course, all her visions of her future didn't include meeting her mate less than a month into her rogue life. So to describe her life as peaceful right now shouldn't be surprising, but it still felt strange to be here. Not here, exactly, just in this situation. She never saw herself getting named the alpha female of the Everglades Pack.

She laughs tensely, "You can't beat up your whole pack, and don't disagree because I won't let you beat up your pack members."

"Fine, but if they don't like you then I'll make it very clear that they can leave," He decides, "You make me happy, and some cocky werewolves can't make me give you up."

"Let's just get this stupid ceremony over with," She grumbled, trying to ignore the way Artemis purred at his words.

"That's the spirit," He encourages sarcastically, not bothering to ask if she was ready before dragging her out. She already looked beautiful, and if he didn't do it then one of the girls would have forced her out.

Chelsie, Sadie, Astral, and Danielle had been pretty helpful when it came to Jamie's hair, makeup, and dress selection. They took their roles very seriously, and it was surprising that they even let Ryder in to talk to her. He would've figured they'd treat it like a wedding, making sure he didn't see her until the actual ceremony. They wouldn't hesitate to drag both of them out if there was even a risk of them being late, so he figured there was no harm in him doing it.

Years ago, a long-dead relative of Ryder's had constructed a building specifically used for the purpose of hosting events such as this. Over time, it had been used for weddings, power exchanges, and pack meetings. They had even hosted other packs here, letting wolves from however many packs in attendance go with the hope that some would meet their mates.

The building resembled a ballroom, with a tall ceiling and polished marble floors. There were a couple skylights, but no other windows. The alpha at the time didn't want unwanted eyes watching or listening in on their social events. Specifically, he was worried someone might try to stage an assassination of all the most powerful members of a pack at once, and the transfer of the alpha title made them very vulnerable for a select few minutes. All it would take is a few well-aimed shots, and the pack would be thrown into chaos.

Mason would be officiating, as the only one capable of handing over his role, with Danielle by his side to pass on her title to Jamie. They figured given the circumstances that it would be easiest to do both at the same time. Jamie didn't exactly know how it worked, only that it did and that it's weird. That's how she felt about most werewolf traditions established long before she existed.

"As you all know, I am quite ready to retire from my position as alpha. Of course, I had to wait for my son, Ryder, to be ready to have the position before I passed it on. I would feel more than guilty if I left you all in his care before he was ready. And now that he is no longer a teenager, I believe he is capable of leading you all, with the help of his mate," He wraps an arm around his own mate, "Please welcome, Ryder Daniels and Jamie Reynolds."

People clapped as they walked up onto the stage, having more than enough time to get to know them. Jamie had been formally introduced to the pack after the Rialts situation was handled, almost two years ago. Since then, plenty of them had taken a liking to her, or at the very least, liked the impact she had on Ryder. Even Braxton had warmed up enough to say that, while he didn't particularly like her, she wouldn't be "the worst luna ever," which was equivalent to him kissing the ground at her feet.

Ryder took Jamie's hand, the comforting sparks bringing a stop to the slight shake of it, 'Are you okay?' He asks through the mind-link, knowing she wouldn't want anyone to hear him

'Does my answer even matter at this point?' She responds, keeping up the calm facade.

'It's never too late to back out. I could always fake a heart attack,' He offered.

'As entertaining as that would be, I don't think they'd appreciate your acting,' A smile fought to make its way onto her face, 'Mason's talking to you.'

Ryder quickly snapped back to reality, only really catching the latter half of Mason's spiel, "-accept the role of alpha, and all the responsibilities that come with it?"

"I do," He had gotten more than familiar with the dialogue that accompanied the ceremony, and had enough context to gather how far in Mason had gotten and what the proper responses were.

"Jamie, do you accept the role of luna, and all the responsibilities that come with it?" Mason continues, clearly knowing that they had been talking over the mind-link, but chose not to call them out on it right now.

"I do," She answers calmly.

"You will both become responsible for every single person in this pack; their lives will rest on your shoulders. It will be your jobs to make sure that they are safe and taken care of. Do you two think you can handle that?" Mason asks seriously.

Ryder and Jamie look at each other. Neither were smiling; this wasn't something to smile about, not yet. They didn't talk, not even through the mind-link. They didn't look at Mason, Danielle, or anyone in the crowd when they answered in unison.

"We can."

A/N: AAAAAHHHHHHHHH! It's done!!! While I'm not particularly proud of the ending of chapter 39, I do like the way I finished this, as well as the book. I wish I could have more carefully planned this and made the story generally tighter and more realistic, but I could also be biased against myself because I don't remember exactly how smooth things did or didn't progress. To everyone that made it this far, thank you so much for giving Oh Hell No a chance, and I hope that some of you stick around for my future (and hopefully better) works