Marked

Epilogue: Another Storm

Fourteen months later...

I'd been training with Nessa a lot but I was still completely caught off guard when she managed to hook my leg and pin me down in a strong enough hold I couldn't break out. I raised my eyebrows and the surprised smile on her face was so fucking adorable.

"Damn," I panted. "Well done."

"Thank you," she beamed, quickly getting off me and offering her hand. I took it and she pulled me up, looking so ridiculously giddy I couldn't stop the breathy laugh.

"Maybe Nessa should be our Luna," Hunter said, raising an eyebrow.

That made Nessa's smile fall and her eyes widen.

"He's kidding," I said, setting my hand on her shoulder.

"Am I?" Hunter asked, cocking his head to the side. Punk ass.

"You wanna come challenge me yourself?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't know, Luna, you're looking a little tired," he smirked. "I think Nessa might've wore you down."

"You're asking for a mega ass-whooping, Gamma," I sighed. "Don't make me replace you with Nessa instead of just adding her to our group."

"Ha," Hunter scoffed. "Good luck with that."

"I could take you," Nessa said, crossing her arms.

That's my girl. Finally.

Hunter seemed very surprised by her bold statement. For once he didn't have an immediate response. I was so fucking proud of the progress Nessa had made over the last few months. Making her a Gamma was definitely the right decision, we would have to set up a ceremony for her. She was ready.

Things almost felt normal. Almost. We were in our phase of staying quiet while I searched for answers, searched for our missing wolves and anything I could find on those hounds. I still had no luck getting into the database. It wasn't something I was allowed to use until I was at least tier four, and so it was a waiting game. A waiting game I hated but also hated that I almost liked because for once, the last few months had been quiet. Calm, almost. That could only mean another storm was coming, I just hoped we would be ready for it.

I glanced to the setting sun and wiped the sweat off my forehead. "Training's done for now. Let's rest up and get some dinner."

Rest we needed, sure. Dinner, we definitely needed. That wasn't my only motivation though. There were undoubtedly baby pictures of little Tess in my phone waiting to be fawned over. She was the cutest baby in the world, I was convinced none other could possibly be cuter. She had Addie's brown hair but with the curls Xander had as a baby. She also had his green eyes and I melted every single time I saw those precious eyes light up and the way she'd smile at me. A smile just like her dad's, but with the added bonus of mischief she got from her mom.

Just thinking about looking at those pictures and facetiming with them had me even more convinced training was done. I grabbed my water bottle and was about to head that way when Kane was suddenly right next to me. He was at my side so quickly I actually stumbled back.

"What's wrong?" I frowned, feeling the intense amount of concern coming off him.

"It's Kaden," Kane said, holding out my phone. "Xander's on the phone."

I felt almost paralyzed. Goddess, please don't let anything bad have happened to my sweet Kaden. I snatched the phone and brought it to my ear. Kane wrapped his arms around me immediately and it helped a little, to have his comfort, but it couldn't stop my heart from racing.

"Xander, what's wrong?" I asked, trying to keep my voice even. "What happened? Is he okay?"

"He's physically fine," Xander said. Goddess, he sounded so upset.

"Then what's wrong?" I asked.

"It's his mate," he sighed. "He found his mate but, she... Fuck. It isn't good. He needs us, Tess. He really needs both of us right now. I hate to ask because I know you have a lot on your plate but... How fast can you get to California?"

A/N:

Heyy loves, I hope you enjoyed the end! This book is officially completed 😭 But don't worry, I will be posting the first chapter of "Shattered" in a few short hours!

Shattered is complete on Patreon and we are on the next book, "Claimed"

Eyy look at Nessa getting better at training!

Well, this first intro to Kaden's mate is concerning, what do you think is up?

I'll be posting a warning along with the first chapter but prepare yourselves because Shattered is by far the darkest book I've written so far. It is DARK dark, so be ready ❤️

Take care loves, see you in a few hours over at the new book!