Not My Alpha (Completed)

Epilogue

The beach wasn't as peaceful to walk down, anymore. But, Samuel and I did it, hand in hand. I used him as a crutch and he lifted me over rocks and rushing water. Our pace was slow and we had no specific destination in mind; only the fresh air and sounds of folding waves.

Samuel's phone rang. He dropped my hand to hold it up to his good ear, and we both stopped walking. After a moment he paused the call, took my hand, and carried me away from the water to sit on a set of rocks overlooking the sea. As soon as we sat down, I undid my prosthetic and rubbed the tender skin. I was aching almost everywhere. The doctors told me exercise was good, but with the amount of physical therapy they were putting me through, I was ready to topple over at any given minute.

Samuel sat next to me and spoke into the phone in a low voice. "Goldie, what's wrong?"

Her voice hummed on the other end of the line in a rapid succession of words. Samuel pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head. "No, I really don't care that Marshall won't stop calling you Alpha."

I laughed silently as Samuel sighed, with no other option than to listen to Goldie's rants.

"He's your father. He can do whatever he likes." He paused. "No, that's not my job."

Samuel took my hand as he waited for Goldie to finish speaking. She tended to be quite long winded, lately. In all honesty, she still hated the Alpha position. But, the chiefs had given it to her. It was either that or let the pack be run by someone on the outside. They told us they believed and trusted Samuel, but in the fragile state the pack was in, they wanted a full-blooded wolf to take the Alpha position. I was furious. It went against everything I knew to be right and everything Samuel had ever told me. Samuel was more capable than anyone to watch over his pack. He deserved it. But what surprised me most out of anything was that Samuel wasn't upset about it. He never wanted any of it, anyway. Not in the way it was being given to him.

I fully understood this when we were sitting in his apartment as he packed his things and tried to replace his door. Goldie wanted him back in the pack house, and with Will taking on other positions in the pack and my shift coming soon, we decided it wasn't a bad idea.

Samuel was kneeling next to the door, picking up pieces of splintered wood. I'd just delivered a long-winded rant about the tyranny of wolves and the problems of hierarchy. He listened to everything I told him, then wiped his hands and turned to face me.

"The world isn't fair, Samantha. The sooner we accept that, the sooner we can influence it."

I had thought a lot about his words, especially as of late. I wasn't too keen on the idea of becoming a wolf. It would happen during the next full moon and I felt ill prepared. Not only because I could potentially die, but also because I still hated certain things about the wolves. Those would take time and effort to work through. It helped that I talked with Samuel more, but these weren't things that were going to change simply because I was forced to become the thing I hated.

But, in the end, I realized it wasn't specifically the wolves. There was corruption and selfishness and manipulation everywhere. If I looked enough, every aspect of life would be filled with it. So, I tried to do as Samuel suggested, and understand the world so I could at least try and influence it. If there was anything I knew, it was that I didn't want anyone else going through what my family went through. Things could be better. So instead of dwelling on the hellishness of reality, I poured my efforts into the cracks of light that tried to fill the darkness.

Samuel was helping. He showed me a lot about his world. In turn, I showed him more of the human side of things. We talked with Goldie and though a lot of the pack still regarded me as scum, some were changing their hearts. The pack was changing, mostly because much of Goldie's Alpha responsibilities were now dispersed throughout the pack. She ran things a lot differently than Riley had, and only a few people complained. In the end, Samuel got most of the work, but he didn't mind. It was only moments like these, when Goldie forced him to stay on the phone with her, that he wished he could run away.

"No, I didn't know that." Samuel paused again and shot me a glance. "How rude of Will."

I covered my mouth and tried not to laugh out loud. Samuel was supposed to be working now, and if Goldie knew he was with me then neither of us would hear the end of it.

"I'll have Samantha try to reel him in." He listened for a few more moments, then smiled. "Yes, she can. Is there anything else?" Then, finally, he sighed and said, "I'll see you tonight."

Samuel hung up the phone and leaned back, shutting his eyes and groaning. "I can't handle her, Samantha."

I released my long-suppressed laugh. "You're doing just fine."

"No, really, I think I might quit."

"You can't quit."

"I can pretend I can."

"Come on, you big baby." I laughed again and pushed off Samuel to stand. I placed my weight on both my feet and as soon as that happened, I went plummeting to the ground.

Samuel caught me before I was buried in a mound of sand. I laughed and tucked my hair behind my ears as he stood me upright, then picked my prosthetic off the ground.

"Missing something?" He smirked.

"A leg, I guess."

Samuel groaned. "You and Marshall are going to kill me."

I sat back down and allowed Samuel to refasten my missing limb. "You'd have to hear us coming, first."

"Ha, ha," he said. "I can hear just fine."

"Your phone's ringing again."

Samuel jumped and picked his phone up, only to see a blank screen. He looked at me with tired eyes, and I almost apologized. Then, one corner of his mouth turned up and he threw my prosthetic into the sand. Without warning, he lifted me on his shoulders and carried me straight into the ocean.

I was laughing and kicking his back, screaming when the cold water reached my toes. When we were deep enough, Samuel dropped me in the water without a second thought. As I surfaced, cursing him loudly, he was bent over laughing.

My teeth were chattering as I searched my body for warmth. "You better hope I don't get sick, wolf boy."

Samuel splashed more water on me, before picking me up and holding me close. He held me up so that our faces were only inches apart. Then, as he had done a hundred times before, Samuel kissed me like there was nothing else in this world that could make him happy.

"Wouldn't dream of it, Sammy girl."

***

What. A. Ride. 

It's officially the end! I can say I didn't expect any of the ending, mostly because I had no idea how to end any of this. Hopefully y'all enjoyed and it was a nice conclusion. 

Thank you all for the amazing journey. You're my greatest supporters and you guys truly made this world come to life! 

As of right now,  I am not planning a sequel for this book. I could do one, but some questions are better left unanswered and left for the imagination. If something changes in the future, y'all will be the first to know. 

Again, thank you guys for reading. I love you all. Happy holidays and happy new year!

Mquistey