Kidnapped, Unfortunately

Epilogue

It was the weekend after everything had happened, and unsurprisingly, Aileen and Jacob were late.

Carson informed me that they went on a date a couple nights before.

This was kind of hard for me to wrap my head around, since I had witnessed the early stages of their relationships, but I had secretly rooted for them the whole time.

Not just anyone could handle Jacob, and Aileen was definitely not just anyone.

That girl has handled some tough things. Yet, sometimes I thought that Jacob was the biggest challenge thus far.

She seemed to be enjoying the ride though, so I had a feeling everything would work out.

Carson and I had met several times during the week, and I was readjusting well.

I went with the story from the note Carson had sent a while back, claiming I was helping a friend in Africa, and no one seemed to question it so far.

Classes were starting up next week, so I was a little nervous for that, but after dealing with several assassination attempts, I was pretty confident I could handle it.

"Honestly," Carson complained, looking at the time, "If I managed to get here on time, they should be able to not be at least ten minutes late!"

I chuckled at his impatience.

Suddenly, Aileen's car finally pulled into the parking lot.

Carson muttered, "About damn time," while I waved to them with a smile.

I had missed those two! They were always entertaining.

I watched as Aileen opened the car door and got out, arguing with Jacob about something.

"I said two!" she exclaimed, slamming the door shut. "Not three!"

"The numbers look similar! I got confused!" Jacob said defensively, getting out from the other side.

Aileen slapped her forehead, and I bit back a smile.

"Do I need to spell everything out for you?" she yelled, spinning back around to face him.

"Maybe!" he yelled back.

She let out a loud groan. "You are so lucky you're so damn hot, or I'd expect you to be smarter!"

"I am smart!" he shot back. "Just at selective timing!"

Aileen looked at him for a second. Then she burst out laughing.

"You can do so ridiculous some times," she grinned, and then she grabbed him by shirt, yanked him forward, and kissed him. Hard.

"Ew," I said, crinkling my nose. "We are in a parking lot."

Carson shrugged. "Aileen doesn't seem like the type who cares."

After a couple seconds, Aileen pulled away.

Her anger seemed to have dissipated, and she grabbed him by the hand and started pulling him after her with a smile. "Come on, Idiot, we're already late."

She started walking in our direction, then stopped at the sight of us.

A smile broke out on her face. "Hayley! Carson!"

"Hi, Aileen," I greeted.

They ran up to us and we all took a moment to embrace.

After catching up a bit, the gang began walking to our restaurant choice, talking about random things.

Suddenly, a cop car drove past us.

With Jeff free and several of the thug's friends still at large, we were a bit on edge, and subsequently, every cop car that passed made us jump.

"Get back," Carson said quickly as he stepped in front of me, shielding me from whatever dangers lay ahead.

"I'll protect you," Aileen said to Jacob, who was hiding behind her and letting out a weak, "Save me!"

The car passed without a second look, and we all have out a sigh of relief.

One of these days, we could have to face them again.

And I was looking forward to it.

After the scare, we continued walking to our favorite restaurant, getting a seat outside.

We all settled in, ordered, and got our food fairly quickly.

Watching everyone at the table interact, I couldn't help but let my mind wander.

With Carson and Jacob's older brothers in charge in their pack, we were free to do whatever we wanted, which was nice.

But it wouldn't be that way forever.

For that reason, I made a mental note to myself, trying to absorb all the details of the moment.

Aileen playfully taking one of Jacob's French fries when he wasn't looking.

Jacob realizing one of his fries was missing and getting depressed.

Aileen laughing and giving him five more, making his face light up like a Christmas tree.

Carson, with his arm still draped around my shoulders, laughing loudly.

Right now life was going absolutely wonderfully, and I couldn't imagine anything better.

But, Carson and Jacob's brothers weren't going to be young forever. The Alpha and Beta could not reach past a certain age, and that age was quickly approaching them.

Soon, they would have to pass the responsibilities onto their younger brothers.

And then the real adventure would begin.