Finding the Wolf Within

Epilogue

Wow – well over half a million reads in the time it took to get to this, the last chapter. Thank you all SO much for your support throughout this adventure. I am beyond grateful that you have continued to read, and like, FTWW. Seriously, many, many, many thanks for all of your comments and love. <3<3

The epilogue definitely has a different flow than the last chapter did. It won’t make you cry – I promise!

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I smiled as I listened to the chatter in the hallway. Everyone was a bit more rambunctious than usual, I guess because there was always excitement in the air during a holiday, even if it was one we don’t get off of school for. Right now, many of the students were talking about the party at James Parker’s place tomorrow night. It was going to be a costume party, since it was, after all, Halloween today.

Which meant that it was my birthday. I’ve never made a big deal about it before, but I had a feeling that today was going to be special. I had a secret. It had been gnawing at me for the past three days, but I was going to reveal it tonight. I couldn’t help but feel giddy at the thought. It was probably the best birthday present I could ever hope for.

Eddie, of course, had already proved that he was going to be his usual over-the-top self today. He couldn’t seem to help it, even though I had warned him that he better not go overboard. We had long ago done away with the $200 a month spending limit, which meant that I couldn’t even begin to predict what would be waiting for me after school. I kind of didn’t want to know. He had already given me two-dozen lilies this morning. He had also made two-dozen mini-pancakes for breakfast, which we had to share because even though they were small and I had a big appetite, I couldn’t finish them all. I actually ended up yelling at him when I walked outside to find two-dozen balloons tied to my car – a dozen on each side-view mirror. It took me five minutes to get the darn things untied, which left me beyond flustered because I had known that I would have to speed to get to school on time.

Eddie just laughed and smiled and kissed me. And then that really made me late since one thing led to another and I ended up literally having to pry his hands off of me. Boys and their hormones.

Why two-dozen? Because I turned twenty-four today.

Today marked eight years since I found out that Eddie was my mate. We celebrated the day every year as both my birthday and as a sort of anniversary. I smiled again as I thought about my earliest interactions with him. The shock, the hesitancy on my part. The fumbling and the misgivings. It seemed like such a long time ago, and I guess it kind of was. Eight years. So much had changed, and so much had stayed the same.

Eddie and I officially took over as the Alpha pair this past summer. We were now leaders of the largest werewolf pack in the country, with over 400 members. It meant that we were well respected, but we still had to watch our territory closely since our pack skewed more heavily towards women and children with the addition of the Caladium survivors. We hadn’t run into any major problems since Martin, but we still kept an eye on our borders.

Rumors of my ability had also spread throughout the packs, meaning Eddie was very protective of me when we weren’t in our comfort zones. I knew he also had a guard watching me whenever I was out by myself. I didn’t say anything because I knew he would insist, and in a way, I felt safer knowing someone was watching out for me. If I learned anything from the battle, it was that enemies could be closer than we thought. 

Eddie’s parents had wanted us to succeed them earlier, basically right after we got married when I graduated from college, but we decided to wait until I was done with my Master’s degree so that we would both be finished with school. Eddie had gotten his MBA last year and was working at Hamilton, the family company. I guess I was technically still in a school since I was now an English teacher at our old high school.