Dare {Book 2}

Epilogue

Isabella. 12 years later
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I grab the stack of photos from the top drawer of Tate's desk, shutting it with a swing of my hip. I take off the rubber band that holds them together with a smile, thinking back to when Jon had flung one at my head. I settle on the worn out couch and flip through them slowly.

The top photo was a photo Noah had used to help me remember my memory. I can almost remember the scene clearly. Shoving Jon to make him drop his controller, him catching it halfway. The bandanas tied around our heads and the hard look of concentration on his face. It makes me smile.

I pick up the next one. I'm on Tate's back for a piggyback ride. My head is sitting on his shoulder. He's smiling at the camera, but I'm staring at him.

The pictures bring back the best memories. I watch as Violet grows from the four year old girl, to eight, then twelve, then sixteen. She's with Victor in almost all of them. In the ones the Victor isn't in, I am.

Up to last year, I have pictures of everything. Doing art with the Pack pups. A sleeping Tate. A group of warriors in wolf form. Silly pictures with Darcey, Nikki and Teresa. Ian and I using our abilities, and Violet learning her first spell.

"Isabella?" Tate says gently from the doorway. "What are you doing?"

I take in his handsome features. Over twelve years he's aged, but he doesn't look a day over twenty-five. His jaw is still sharp, his muscles as defined as they were when we met, his emerald eyes as green as grass. The shirt he wears hardly contains his biceps. My eyes begin to glow across his chest, as they always do when I look at him now.

"Just..reliving memories" I murmur, holding up a photo of me and Violet. He smiles, shutting the door and sitting next to me. I place the photos in my lap so that he can see them too.

Sorting through the pile, I find the ones of my belly growing. On the back of the photos it says how many months, but just by looking I can tell. Smaller at first and then almost as large as a beach ball. Finally, the one with a baby in my arms, sweat on my forehead. Tate's in the photo, kissing my cheek.

"Ryker was a fat baby" Tate says bluntly.

"He was not fat!" I hiss playfully. "Just chubby. And chubby is cute"

"He was fat" Tate mutters under his breath, setting his chin on my head.

I smile and bite my lip, flipping through more photos. Kyle's, Cam's, Jon's, Jake's, Dean's, Noah's and Ian's kids all playing with ours at the park Tate had made when Addy was born. All of our kids are closer than any other pup in the Pack. They're inseparable.

"Luna!" I hear a pup yell in the hallway. Right after, I hear the thumping sound of more than one pair of feet.

I sigh happily, placing the elastic back around the photos and setting them back in the top drawer of his desk.

"I swear, those kids never leave me alone" I whisper, straightening the wedding ring on my finger.

"Oh please," Tate says, standing up. He wraps his arms around my waist, bending down to kiss me. When he pulls back, I groan. "You love it when you're with them. You're with them so often that I never get any alone time with you"

"Goddess Tate your thirty-three" I murmur. "And your still complaining about it"

"I thought it would stop when Violet got older" he states. "Then all of a sudden everyone's having kids. Cam, Kyle, Dean, Noah, Daniel, Jake, Jon..." He trails off with a scowl. "My point is, you're mine. It would do those pups well to remember that"

I shiver as he lets out a growl and place my lips back on his, savoring the strawberry taste of his lips.

"Ew! Mom that's so gross!" Ryker yells as he slams the door open. I pull back reluctantly while Tate shoots a playful glare at his son. Behind him is Rachel, then the rest of the kids.