She Came From the Forest (James and Tera: book 1)

Epilogue

The ride back home was fun. Charles was going to stay behind and let Tera drive the truck back towards Natánik. Flower, being the most generous lady, allowed me to ride with her. And when I say that being in a vehicle with Tera is fun, it's only an understatement.

She told me stories of her life in her old town, funny stories about how the people were and how the pack complained about the simplest of things since they were so old. She told me about the embarrassing stuff that happened to her during her puberty, about how she "almost bit her gym coach in half" back in her old school. The stories were priceless. I'd spend 14 hours in a car with her any day.

We got home at around sunset, Mom coming out to greet us, her kissing me on the cheek. After wiping it off, I introduced her to Tera, since this was basically their first time meeting.

"Mom, this is Tera." I told her. "She and I have been dating for a little while."

Mom smiled at the girl. "So you're the one my son is insane over. It's nice to meet you." She said. "You have lovely eyes and beautiful hair. I wish my hair was that long."

Tera laughs politely. "It's nice to meet you too, and believe me, it gets into such a mess when it's this long." Wow, seeing Tera have a girl talk was pretty weird.

Dad came out as eventually. His eyes landed on Tera. "Wow. James, I wouldn't make her mad if I were you. She looks like she'll kill you."

I laughed nervously. "Yeah, you have no idea." I told him.

Tera looked at him and held out a hand. "I'm Tera, sir."

Dad nodded. "I know who you are. I've met your dad before." He took her hand. "It's nice to meet you, Tera. I'm Sam."

After the greetings, a certain car pulled up. A certain Corvette. Sage hopped out of the passenger seat and came towards us. "You're back! You've been gone for so long." He cried.

Kai got out of the driver's seat. "It's been two days. The only reason you think it's been so long is because you haven't been getting the attention you so desperately need every minute of the day."

Kai pulled his seat up, and Terry crawled out. "Yeah, but admit it Kai, you missed them too. You're just too inconsiderate of your personal feelings."

"Shut it, Terry, or else I'll pull out the stereotypes of Salem residents and curse you."

I couldn't help but smile. These guys were a whole different story. They were always arguing and insulting each other, but they were loyal and reliable. I'm glad I had them.

I looked down the road because I thought I had seen someone. My eyes didn't lie to me, because down came Brooke. She was walking down the sidewalk with her earbuds in and her phone in her hand. When she looked up she smiled and came towards us. "Hey, you guys are back." She said.

Sage put both arms around my neck from behind. "Yep. They're both back." He lowered his chin onto my shoulder.

I smiled and patted his arm. "You're too extra sometimes."

Dad leaned over towards Tera. "Better watch out. Sage might steal your man." He whispered very loudly, making us laugh.

After the laugh, I finally decided to ask them why they were here.

"Well, to see our friend, of course." Sage implied behind me.

"Or maybe because we can't go to Terry's house because he got kicked out." Kai said bluntly, eyeing Terry.

Terry held up his hands. "Hey, it's not my fault. My dad is a homophobic."

Sage shrugged. "Meh. Homos live among you everywhere you go, no matter where. They make your food just like everyone else does." Sage wasn't one to complain about people like that. He had his time of doubt on being who he was when we were younger, so it's all normal for him.