One Bite

Istas Territory - Epilogue 1

"Hey, Zara..." Solomon reached over, covering the back of my hand with his palm. "We're going to be okay now. You know that, right?"

"I do." I sighed, rolled my palm up, curled my fingers around his. Squeezed his hand drew my shoulders down from where I clamped them up to my ears. "I still can't believe you were out there, all that time. I missed you. I wished so many times that -"

"Same." He squeezed my hand back. "I was trapped too. But all that matters is we found each other, that monster will never harm our family again. And I'm taking you home."

"Home?" A small shudder quaked through my shoulders. It was not because of the cold wind that whipped into my face, numbing my lips, and drying out my eyes, but at what that one word meant.

Over three and a half months, I visited four distinct territories. I observed four different packs, each with their own sense of family dynamics. I watched all my friends find their mates, even one with as gruff an exterior as Raina. Like Elena and Cole, Rose and Idris started their beautiful family. While their happiness brought a wide smile to my face, nothing masked the sadness averting my eyes. The same sadness, mixed with envy, weighed my heart like it was pumped full of cement.

In the three months that followed the death of the man who pretended he was my father, life slowed down and settled into place. Solomon and I didn't plan to stay that long but the fallout from the collapsed and dissolved White Moon pack demanded our attention. Forging our new agreements with the remaining four packs also took longer than we'd first expected.

Caleb didn't disappear after Cassius died as I initially thought. Even limping from broken ribs, I caught up with his own limped pace as he left the Central compound.

Closing my eyes against the tears that rose in them, I still saw every scratch, every thread of pain etched in his eyes when they met mine.

My hand found his, sticky with coagulated blood and etched with scratches, and tugged him still. "Where are you going?"

"Home," he muttered, shrugging off my grip.

"We will," I assured him, cupping my elbows with my palms and frowning at his distance. "Together."

"Zara..." Stepping closer, he cupped his hand around my cheek, spreading warmth over my skin. Closing my eyes, I nestled closer, my shoulders curling toward his chest at the contact. "Open your eyes."

Not realizing I closed them, I looked up to the weighted guilt that hung in his. With a swipe of his thumb over his eyes, each of his irises turned from brown to a bright, crystal cerulean-blue.

They looked like the sky on the clearest day imaginable... and kinda freaky, after seeing him with brown eyes for so long.

Stroking his thumb over my lip, he mumbled, "I wanted you to see something real before I left."

"Don't be silly," I pressed my hand over his, my heart cracking at the idea of him leaving. "We'll go together -"

"No," he interrupted. "The next time I see you, I want you to see me for who I really am. And until I figure out who the fuck that is, it's best you stay with Solomon."

"Are you..." My throat choked up on itself, tears spilling hot trails over my cheeks. "Leaving me? Rejecting me?"

"No, Sweetheart." He leaned over, pressing his lips into my forehead and drawing a deep breath. "I'm making myself worthy of you."

Well... Shit.

Caleb said goodbye to the only family he had ever known in the Southern Territory, traveling to the Istas pack a week later. At Solomon's insistence, he and I traveled all over the country for more than two months after Cassius' empire destabilized.