Epilogue

EPILOGUE

“Oh, fuck me!” She couldn’t help but groan as she glanced down at the wet patch on the bottom of her dress, frowning slightly as she knew that it was too big for her to hide.

“I think I just did.” Marcellus grinned at her through the mirror as he reached down and wound his arms around her waist to pull her back into him. Or tried to as she swatted his hands away and was quick to move out of his grasp before he tempted her again.

Shooting him the stink eye from over her shoulder, she left the bathroom and headed back into her bedroom, already working on untying the ruined dress and slipping out of it.

“You don’t have to change, you know. You look beautiful regardless of what you wear.” He hummed from behind her as he joined her in the wardrobe, needing to get dressed too.

“I know I looked great in it,” Anastasia snorted as she gestured to the dress now pooled on the ground by her feet, already sifting through the racks for something else to wear. “But you came on the bottom of it and now I can’t wear it anymore.”

“Well, you still could.” He joked teasingly but yelped when she threw his shirt at him, not the least bit amused as they were already running behind schedule even before the spontaneous rendezvous in the bathroom. When she threatened to throw more than just his shirt at him, Marcellus couldn’t help but throw his head back and laugh at her antics.

There was never a dull moment with his mate around.

“I’m sorry, my little spitfire.” He hummed in a quiet chuckle as he approached her from behind and pressed his chest to her back, slipping his arms around her waist to pull her flush against him. As he dipped his head, he ran the tip of his nose down the smooth slope of his neck until he reached his mark, unable to hold back the smile on his face as she shivered in his arms at the open-mouthed kiss that he placed on it. “But you do look beautiful in everything that you wear.”

Turning around in his arms, Anastasia hummed quietly as she reached up to cup his face, her face softened as he bowed his head to capture her lips with his. Before his tongue could slip into her mouth and they could get carried away for the second time, she was sure to press down on his chest and pull away slightly even though she wanted nothing more than to melt into his arms.

“Now leave, so I can get ready.” She grinned against his mouth as he stole one last quick before having to force him out so she would be able to get ready in peace and without his distractions.

If someone told her a few months ago that she would be happily mated to the Alpha of the Lupum Griseo pack and would be holding their official Mating Ceremony today, she wouldn’t have believed them. In fact, she probably would have laughed at how ridiculous that sounded.

Don’t forget me.

As if I could forget you. Anastasia chuckled as she stared at herself in the mirror, her fingers working to pop in a dainty pair of crystal earrings that Marcellus had gifted her especially for this event.

She also wouldn’t have believed that after mating with Marcellus, she had unlocked her wolf and after going through her whole life feeling like something was missing and not quite right, everything was now complete.

Your life was miserable before me. Her wolf hummed quietly; her voice groggy with sleep despite it being nearly midday now.

That’s debatable. Anastasia snorted as she slipped out of the room even though they both knew her wolf was speaking nothing but the truth.

After she had gotten dressed in a nude, strappy bodycon dress and slipped on a pair of low heels to match, she was all ready to go.

“Stassie!” The excited child greeted her by all but throwing himself into her arms the moment she stepped into the room.

Anastasia laughed as she lifted Malik into her arms and rested him on her hip, grinning at Thea as she moved in for a hug.

“I’m so glad you’re here!”

“Today’s your big day. I wouldn’t miss this day for the world.” Thea pressed a kiss to her cheek before they pulled away from each other, a bright grin on her face; so different to how she had looked only a few months ago.

Anastasia stared back at her newest – now one of her closest – friend with a soft, warm look in her eyes.

While the last time that they had seen each other was a few days after they had been rescued from kidnapping slash child trafficking mess – one which they hadn’t heard much back from apart from the council stating that they were deep in investigation and couldn’t say much right now – Anastasia and Thea had made it a point to stay in contact and since then, they either spoke on the phone or face timed every other day.

To have Thea here for their Mating Ceremony really touched her and the fact that she would be sticking around for the rest of the week with her lovely son just made things all the much sweeter.

When Malik asked to be put down so he could play with the rest of the kids, Anastasia pressed a big kiss to the tip of his nose before complying.

Both she and Thea laughed as they watched him run out of the kitchen but before he could get very far, he all but ran into a pair of awaiting arms, scooping him up before lifting him into the air.

While Anastasia thought this to be strange as she didn’t recognise the man – no doubt a guest of their Mating Ceremony, also no doubt of high-ranking as those were the kind of wolves that had been sent an invitation – she didn’t think much of it as werewolf culture speculated everyone to be a big family.

“Hello.” The tall tree trunk of a man greeted the little boy in his arms, his mouth shut as he simply blinked up at him with wide, unsuspecting eyes.

Before Anastasia could step forward and introduce herself as the Luna-to-be, a harsh gasp sounded from behind her quickly followed by the sound of a sharp bang as a stool clattered to the ground.

“Thea?” Anastasia called out to her in question as she glanced over her shoulder, her eyebrows furrowed in a mixture of surprise and wariness. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s him.” Was all Thea managed to force out of her mouth as she took a scared step back, but then countered it by taking one forward as she realised whose arms her son was in.

“Who?” Anastasia asked in a quiet whisper, very aware of what this meant for Thea and her son.

“The man that raped me.” Thea felt like throwing up as she stared up at the man that she hadn’t seen in over five years, hating how a pleasurable tingle ran down her spine despite the nightmare that his dark, ashy eyes forced her to relive.