Lily King Would Rather Howl Alone! Epilogue - Part II
Lily King Would Rather Howl Alone! Epilogue - Part II
*Four Years Later*
***Poppy***
Peeking over the edge of the stairs, I spot him.
Peter.
Fifteen and full of all the fury that age comes with. He’s perched up in the old treehouse, knees drawn up, arms crossed, his brows knit in that oh-so-familiar way—Li’s way. His whole face is stormy, like he’s fighting the entire world and also himself.
My heart pinches.
He doesn’t look up when I softly call, “Hey, kid.”
“Don’t tell Ma I’m out here,” he mutters indignantly, his voice low and thorny.
I start up the wooden steps. “You do realize I’m one of your moms, right?”
Peter grunts. “Yeah. But you’re the good one.”
That earns a smile from me. A tired one, but warm. “Thanks. I’ll be gloating about that for years, just so you know.”
He huffs a quiet laugh, barely audible. Still, I count it as a win.
I sit beside him, close but not touching. Not yet. He’s all sharp corners right now. Better to let him settle.
“Anything you want to talk about?” I ask gently.
He shrugs, head still tilted toward the trees. “No. I’m just in a bad mood, Mom.”
I nod, hands resting in my lap. “That’s fair.”
Peter has had a lot of bad moods lately. It’s understandable. He’s Lily’s son, and Lily’s storms run deep. It’s no fault of hers—or his. It’s just... inherited intensity.
And I worry. Spirits, I worry so much.
Li might be an enigma to me still with her subtle darkness hidden deep inside. But I’m convinced that if I hold her tight enough and love her hard enough, I can scare all that darkness away. As she and Azzy did to mine.
Li pulled me out of the woods, and they both showed me what it meant to be safe.
I can see the resentment in Peter’s eyes. Resentment toward someone who handed him an unfair deal. I know that look all too well.
The moment Li realized she didn’t like her life in the pack, she ran from it, which is my biggest fear with Peter. I worry he’ll think he could do it on his own or that we could never understand the things he’s going through.
How do I hold him close while giving him room to grow at the same time? It’s so hard.
I want to smother him with love, but I know if I do, it’ll make him fight even more to leave. I can feel it.
All Li, Azzy, and I can really do is love him and give him a family that supports his choices no matter what.
But the fear never really goes away.
I glance sideways at him. His jaw is tight. His fingers drum on his knee. He looks so much like Li, not just in his moods, all his appearance.
“I get it,” I say softly. “I get in bad moods, too. When I was your age, I hated my home so much I ran away and never looked back.”
His head whips toward me. His eyes, the same color as Li’s, narrow. “Let me guess.” Peter huffs with annoyance. “Now comes the dramatic lecture about how awful it was, so I’ll never try it.”
“Nope,” I say, laughing. “Running away made me stronger. And it led me to your mom and dad.”
He squints at me like I’ve grown a second head. “What’s wrong with you, Mom?”
I giggle. “Oh, Spirits! A lot. But that’s not the point. The point is, you have something I didn’t have.”
“Two annoying moms and one annoying dad?” he deadpans.
I bump his shoulder with mine. “Three annoying parents who adore you exactly as you are—even when you’re a little gremlin.”
Peter snorts. Then he rolls his sharp eyes. “Whatever.”
I keep my gaze forward, pretending I don’t notice the corner of his mouth twitching. “And also parents with a good network of pack warriors who would absolutely track your furry butt down before you make it past Summerville.”
“Ugh. I’m not going to run away, okay?” He sounds offended, but underneath that teenage indignation, I can hear the fear. I can feel it. He’s not angry at me. Not really. I assume he’ll grow out of it someday. Or maybe he won’t. He can always be grumpy together with Li.
“Good,” I say lightly. “Because my point is you don’t need to.”
He doesn’t say anything.
“You can have bad moods, Pete,” I murmur. “You can get mad. Sulk. Rage at the world. But don’t ever think you’re alone in it. That’s where I went wrong. I thought no one would care if I vanished. But I promise you—we’d care so much, it would split us open. Please, stop thinking you are alone, because you aren’t.”
His arms uncross, but he still doesn’t look at me. “Sometimes I just... I don’t know. I feel like I wasn’t supposed to be born here.”
That breaks something small and delicate in me.
“Pete,” I whisper, putting a hand gently on his shoulder. “You were born exactly where you needed to be. Right between your dad’s strength, your mom’s fire, and—well—my ridiculous baking skills.”
That earns a little laugh.
“And you know what?” I nudge closer, slipping my arm over his shoulders. “I think the world’s better because you’re in it.”
He lets out a shaky breath. “I love you, Mom.”
My chest swells. “I love you too, Pete. Always.”
He rests his head against mine for just a second. Then, just as quickly, he’s back to grumbling and pretending he didn’t.
I let him have that.
“Anyway,” I say, standing and brushing off my skirt, “there are allegedly some slightly burned, possibly edible cookies being presented in the garden.”
Peter’s brow lifts. “Daisy, Dahlia, and Nico again?”
I nod solemnly. Daisy is almost eight now, and Nico and Dahlia are four. “If you’re interested, we’re going to prove their cookies that they spend all afternoon baking with your Nana,” I say, starting down the stairs. “You probably don’t want to, though. That’s fine.”
I smile to myself all the way back to the packhouse.
By the time I make it to the garden, Li is sitting on a bench under the old tree, a toddler cuddled to her chest. She’s helping Nico tuck in a clean shirt as she looks over at me. “Is he coming?” She asks, eyebrows raised.
“I give it two minutes.”
Li smiles at me. Once Nico’s shirt is tucked, he disappears into the kitchen.
Azzy emerges from the kitchen, flour on his shirt, toddler in his arms. He presses a kiss to Li’s temple, then to the toddler’s head.
I take my seat, scooting close to Azzy, cuddling my head into the crook of his arm.
And, like clockwork, Peter appears, hands in his pockets, scowling but here.
He drops beside me with a dramatic sigh.
Li smiles.
I don’t know why they fought, but I know it has something to do with their morning training sessions.
We watch as Daisy, Dahlia, and Nico arrange their masterpiece cookies with exaggerated care. Luna Allie hovers nearby, pretending not to supervise with a proud smile on her face. And Alpha Ethan by her side, as if he couldn’t get her out of his sight, also sporting a proud smile at his grandpuppies.
And in that instant, I think of Mama.
She once told me that even if I was born from shadows, I could find light. That I’d be surrounded by good people.
Mama was right.
I just wish she had found the same in her life.
Peter leans against me. I almost sigh.
I want to steal this moment from time.
But I can’t.
So I, quietly, tuck this moment into my soul, right where it belongs.
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