An Unexpected Mate

Epilogue

There were other chapters and trajectories I planned on adding when I first started this story, but life happens and I wanted to get the main threads down before I was pulled away again. Maybe someday I will come back and add in the additional stories and side adventures.

I hope that you enjoyed this story. It was my first attempt at actually writing one of my ideas down.

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They had made it through. Although Elias seemed to have the upper hand in the fight, Braxton had the experience and strength to actually defeat the younger warrior. Even though the tradition was to kill any opponents, their allies, and their families, Braxton had shown mercy. Some argue that was worse than death, but most of the families involved thought otherwise. Many of the men that had sided with Elias were young, some barely out of high school, and struggling with finding their place. Elias and Sam had manipulated them into believing that the world was a better place in the past and that they should go back to a time with more rules and less freedom. Braxton had shipped some off to other packs, while others were doing various forms of community service. Elias had left to his sister's pack, while Sam had gone rogue. He was set in his ways and viewed the world as if it was against just him.

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It had been a year since the wedding and luna ceremony. Lily and her kids were now living with Braxton on pack lands, still working on incorporating smoothly into the daily life of the pack. The kids had even begun attending the pack school up in the mountain, which Rose was excited for the most. Some days and events went better than others. It was awkward having three human kids running around that didn't have quite the same stamina and healing abilities as their friends, but the pack saw the alpha's step children as part of their own and would protect them with their life. The energy that radiated from the mated pair, alpha and luna, helped to strengthen the whole community, which was also still growing in size. 

Just recently, a branch community had been established on the other side of the mountain pass to help redistribute some of the increases in pack numbers. It was harder to "hide" the growing pack in a single location. In addition, Braxton, Lucas, and the other committee members had been working on expanding the businesses and connections off the western slope. The overall pack social and economic outlook was more robust than ever. A number of other packs had also joined them as allies in modernizing how pack life was run. The alpha challenge, and Braxton's resounding victory, had actually ended up being beneficial to the overall push towards modernization. It had shown the strength of the Crest Mountain Pack's alpha, who was also the face of the werewolf pack modernization movement. Looking back on the events from a distance, Lily could see their importance, but she also never wanted to experience anything like it again.

Since they were a more non-traditional pack, Lily had fought hard to keep her job at the college while also doing luna obligations. It helped that Lucas's wife was willing to take on some of the tasks. Even though Kristy had four kids of her own, they were all in school and needed her less than they used to. She had been stumbling on being just a stay-at-home mom and was ready for more, right when Lily needed the help. It was fate again playing her part in Lily's life.

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"Hey Luna. Should you be doing that right now?" Lily heard Lucas shouting across the busy room. She was currently juggling two boxes that probably looked heavy and awkward, but were just filled with clothes and small baby toys.

"Don't worry Lucas. These are pretty light. Brax has the heavy stuff." Laughing a bit, Lily went on "As if he would let me do anything strenuous in my geriatric condition."

Putting the boxes down, Lily looked at herself. She never would have pictured herself pregnant again at 38, especially considering it was very uncommon for werewolves and humans to procreate. Hell, the alpha challenge was partially tied to her inability to fulfill traditional luna duties.

Now, she found herself carrying twins...again. The doctors called her a double high risk pregnancy - multiples and "geriatric" due to her age. The pack had been as shocked as she was when they found out the Alpha was having an heir. Lily knew the pregnancy was partially her fault...even at her age she sucked at taking pills regularly. Having all the biases and data point to her being past average childbearing age, especially considering the natural fertility issues with human-were relationships, she had not been as diligent as she should have been with her birth control. Her kids had been happier than she was with the original news, but having 5 kids began to grow on her during the last few months. Feeling the kicks and movement helped a lot.  

Of course, some questions arose on what having a human mother would imply and if the child (well...children) could become alpha or even if they would have a wolf. These were pretty subtle though. Any major worries had been smoothed over with Elias's defeat. Lily still worried about how she was going to handle the new additions, along with work and life, but Braxton and her kid's excitement helped to dispel some of that. Plus, the pack was a community and looking forward to the new additions.

Thinking back to a long ago day in a coffee shop, Lily could have never anticipated what her life had in store for her, but she was looking forward to the future and what awaited.