Rescued Hearts - Book 4 of Werewolves Downunder

Epilogue

Epilogue

It was late when Jaz finally crawled into bed; she lay for what seemed hours unable to find sleep. She concentrated on her breathing, trying to calm herself enough hoping she’d slip into a deep restful sleep. A gasp of surprise escaped her as she heard Nate’s words. Jaz had been blocking him for so long now she hadn’t given it any thought. The emotional strain she’d been dealing with, had most likely cancelled out her need to keep him at a distance.

Jaz repeated Nate’s words holding them close to her heart. She was happy he’d found his mate, but there things he didn’t know. Things only she and one other Pack member knew. A sob escaped her; she wrapped her arms around her pillow, hiding her face against it hoping to stifle the sound.

She sighed, then for the first time in over ten years Jaz let her thoughts drift back to a time she’d kept hidden deep within her heart. A time she’d never dared think about in case she lost herself to the pain it would revive.

Jaz got out of bed and opened her closet, searching at the back of the top shelf for a box she’d hidden there. She pulled it out, holding it for a moment, before sitting on the carpeted floor in front of the closet, placing the box beside her. Opening it with the greatest care, Jaz took out the little urn that was cushioned within layers of bubble-wrap.

Her eyes never once left the urn as she brought it to rest against her heart. The fingers of one hand caressed it as her tears flowed. This was her pain, hers alone to bear. There was a time long ago when she could have told spoken of it, but now… now it would only cause pain and not just for herself.

Jaz had no idea how long she sat there, holding the little urn. When she finally put it back in its box and hid it in the closet, exhaustion had begun to set in. Even so, as she laid in bed once more immersed in memories, sleep eluded her.

Jaz lay uncaring what the future might bring. Her future had been taken from her some ten years ago and although she had been blessed to now have Cade and Cord in her life, it wasn’t quite the same.

Sleep eventually came and while drifting in that place between sleep and wakefulness Jaz found a semblance of peace. Even so Jaz’s subconscious knew that tomorrow would come. It would be another day where she’d have to hold back her memories, her pain; another day of putting others before herself, just as she’d always done.

Jaz had long ago resigned herself to being what she had been forced to become, the Pack healer; the person that saw to the physical care and wellbeing of the entire Pack. It had been a life she was forced to take on and it saddened her that neither of her brothers could see what it was doing to her, what they had taken from her.

It had been a long time since Jaz had even considered her own needs. Having Cade and Cord had helped and she’d kept telling herself they would have to be enough. Deep down in her soul, Jaz knew that there would be nothing else for her.

As she drifted into a deeper sleep a fleeting thought came to her… Change is on the wind. Jaz had no idea how that change might affect her. Thankfully she was beyond having to consider its meaning. Then a soft smile crept into the corner of her mouth as she heard a low growl far off in the distance of her imagination. It soothed her, lulling her further into a blissfully restful sleep.