Epilogue

**Lucien**

I hated graveyards. There was something always so heavy and solemn about them. They were covered by a constant ‘grey’ which consumed the entire place in a suffocating lull of silence and unshed tears. But no graveyard ever made me feel quite as uncomfortable as the one in the Blood Moon pack. It had been five years since the incident at the pack, and ever since, I seemed to find myself here more often than not.

“What are you thinking so hard about Lucien?” A soft voice said, as the owner of it neared me and the familiar tombstone I stood in front of.

*Here lies Rose Michaels*

I was stuck on that line, wondering what she would say and do if she were here now after so much had changed. I wished she could have been here to see how far we’d come, how we’d all survived the pain we’d suffered and made it to the other side with smiles on our faces and scars which had faded with time.

“Lucien?” The voice said again, this time loud enough to snap me out of my contemplative daze. I removed my gaze from the tombstone and smiled deeply as my eyes met the beautiful, emerald-green ones of my wife.

“I was just thinking about Rose. I was wondering what she’d say if she knew that I’d gotten married to the woman I’m oh so madly in love with,” I then paused, gazed towards Jasmine and Damon who were still placing flowers atop the two gravestones further down the cemetery and then asked, “you done visiting your parents?”

Tristan nodded before taking my hand gently in hers and then offered me a toothy smile. I leaned down towards her and kissed at her lips gently before tugging her along, out of the cemetery. She and Jasmine had managed to place two gravestones for both of their parents back here in the Blood Moon cemetery and visited them quite often, dragging both Damon and I with them. But I couldn’t complain. I savoured every single second I had with Tristan, especially after the day she had saved Jasmine. We all thought that she was as good as dead, but it turned out that her body had just shut down into a deep, death-like slumber before it restarted itself. It took her months to wake up and throughout I’d been glued to her side, waiting patiently for her eyes to finally flutter open again, for her to look at me once again. And when she did, I cried harder than I’d ever cried before in my life. But the good news didn’t end there. The day Tristan had woken up, was also the day Jasmine had given birth to a beautiful baby girl. They named her Camellia. I could still remember it all as though it had happened just yesterday- the joy of Tristan being awake combined with the excitement of meeting our niece. It was one of the happiest moments of my life.

A while later, Jasmine and Damon had also tied the knot in a beautiful wedding ceremony attended by most of the Michaels family and all of the people Jasmine considered family too. I’ll admit, I shed a few tears that day too. Witnessing the joy and love between Jasmine and Damon on that day only compelled me to want to make things more permanent between Tristan and me. Admittedly, it took some time for me to act because I let my nervousness delay me drastically before finally gaining the confidence to ask her to marry me. Tristan was not a fan of extravagant gestures and so I proposed on one of our walks down at the beach, opting to suddenly kneel down in the sand and pop the question. Her saying yes to marrying me was one of my favourite memories, but one that topped even that golden memory, was the day we’d gotten married. I never knew that I could be so happy and so in love. I could still remember the nervous look on her face and the cute red blush that appeared on her cheeks the moment her eyes caught mine as she walked down the aisle. I was literally in awe of her the entire time, almost to the point where I completely forgot my own wedding vows. Jared and Landon got married soon after us as well, and Loren and Oliver were also on the verge of tying the knot with their engagement being announced months ago.

Jasmine and Damon had also been blessed with another baby girl not long after Landon and Jared’s wedding. They named her Magnolia. But the baby news did not end there. London and Amber had also decided to have a baby and London had given birth to a beautiful and healthy baby boy a few months ago as well. They named him Cade and ever since the births of our nieces and nephew, Tristan and I had spent a large amount of our time spoiling and looking after them. Surprisingly, Tristan and I were incredibly good with children. But the more time we spent taking care of everyone else’s children, the more we desperately wanted children of our own. This is what gave rise to our recent decision to try for a baby. Whether or not our tireless efforts would be proven successful, only time would tell.

By the time we’d reached Damon and Jasmine’s home, Loren and Oliver were in the kitchen, arguing loudly. The scent of burnt food hung thickly in the air and a small smile appeared on my face.

“Lucien, wipe that smirk off of your face. And don’t say I told you so!” Tristan said, yanking at my hand.

I chuckled and then said, “But I *did* tell them so.”

“So did I, but clearly, they weren’t up to the task of cooking for our family lunch. Don’t make them feel worse about it than they already are!” She said in a whispered mumble as we made our way further into the house.

“Correction, Loren wasn’t up to the task. But I won’t say I told them so, because you said so.”

Tristan thanked me, clearly not aware of the game I was playing. After spending years with me, she was still so bad at my games and I found it absolutely adorable.

The moment we entered the kitchen, I smiled brightly before clearing my throat and saying, “Tristan told you so!”

Loren turned to the both of us, furious out of her mind while Tristan stared up at me, possibly picturing her hands wrapped tightly around my throat as she suffocated the life out of me.

“Nobody asked you Lucien!”

“Calm down Loren. I’ll fix everything. You did such a good job, why don’t you just take a seat, okay?” Oliver said gently before placing his hands on her shoulders and squeezing at them softly. Loren gave out a sigh before nodding. She passed us by and then elbowed me in the side. I yelped, but chuckled, nonetheless. I was happy to have gotten under her skin. Loren and I had never gotten along, and I doubted we ever would. But that was fine by the both of us. We cared about each other in some sort of hateful way.

Oliver sighed the moment she left and then looked up at Tristan before asking, “How do I fix this? The rice is burnt and sticking to the bottom of the pan, the chicken is practically char-grilled to hell and back and let’s not even get started on the vegetables. I left her to go and change Magnolia’s diaper… how did everything go so wrong so quickly?”

Tristan tried her best not to laugh at Oliver who looked just about ready to drown his sorrows in the corner of a dark cupboard with a bottle of whiskey tucked under his arm. I, however, did not try to conceal my laughter at all and was practically on the verge of tears. My laughter only grew the moment Damon and Jasmine entered the kitchen with shocked expressions on their faces.

It was then that London entered the kitchen too with Cade in her arms. Tristan immediately bolted towards them, took Cade gently from London and then proceeded to disappear from the kitchen. But if you listened carefully enough you could hear her laughing in the next room.

Just then, Camellia made her way into the room as well. She ran towards her father and wrapped her hands around his legs before lifting her arms up and asking him to pick her up. He took her in his arms and lifted her up before placing a kiss against her cheek.

“Daddy I’m hungry!” She said before pouting.

Damon chuckled before shaking his head. “Like mother like daughter. Always hungry.”

Jasmine snickered playfully before folding her arms against her chest and asking, “You got a problem with that?”

Camellia watched her mother carefully before folding her arms too, frowning and then saying, “Yeah dad! You got a problem with that?”

Damon shook his head and laughed; we all did. “No of course not my little princess! What do you want to eat?”

She fell silent for a moment before tapping on her chin and then looking towards her mom for help. Jasmine smiled before leaning in and whispering something in her ear. Camellia smiled and nodded enthusiastically before yelling out, “Pizza!”

“Then it’s settled, we’re having pizza! Everyone on board?” He asked. Then he mumbled softly, “Not that you all have a choice.”

Oliver sighed before nodding and saying, “I’ll take a beer with mine.”

***  

We decided to all enjoy our pizza outside on the front lawn with a few blankets scattered here and there for us all to sit on. Camellia was more interested in running around and making herself dizzy than she was in eating and her sister crawled enthusiastically behind her. Magnolia had soft, blue eyes like her mom and dark hair like both her parents. She always wore this bright, mischievous look on her face, one that reminded me of her father when he was much younger. Then there was Camellia, gifted with the signature Michaels hazel eyes. She was always so bright and cheerful and had the most energy I’d ever seen a child have. She had a big heart, just like her mom and the same temper and appetite too. Both of them were spoiled immensely by their father and mother and the rest of us too. Could you blame us? They were absolute angels. Cade, as young as he was, was no exception either and admittedly received his fair share of immense spoiling too.

Tristan and I had opted to sit further away from the rest of everyone else, wanting to enjoy a bit of silence. I grabbed a bottle of wine which I’d dug up from the old wine cellar earlier, and then grabbed a box of pizza before taking my place next to Tristan. She was gazing out intensely at the people who were walking around the packgrounds. The Blood Moon pack had increased drastically in size after the entire rogue debacle, with many of those who sided with Tristan joining Damon’s pack. The others had opted to return to their original packs or resorted to a packless life.

“You look very lost in thought,” I said before placing the pizza box on the blanket beneath us and setting the wine and glasses next to it.

Tristan turned towards me and smiled. My heart still skipped a beat, the way it first had when I’d seen her smile.

“I’m just glad that everyone has found happiness and peace. Jasmine and Damon have settled into their roles as Co-Alphas and working parents. Loren and Oliver have managed to fall madly in love after all that happened in their rocky past. Landon and Jared are off travelling and enjoying their married bliss and London and Amber are perhaps the most patient and hands-on parents I’ve ever seen. Then there’s you and I. We’re married, we have our own place and most days we just do whatever the hell we feel like doing. I think we’re all finally having a taste of what life is like after we’ve learned to cope with all of the pain it has inflicted on all of us. We’ve grown and I think that’s something worth being happy about.” She said softly.

I kissed her gently on her lips, then softly against her forehead before turning towards the food and wine.

I opened the bottle of wine and threw some into the first glass before handing it to Tristan. But surprisingly, she shook her head. Tristan was not a big drinker, but over the years, she’d grown to like drinking wine and so it was odd for her to reject my offer.

“Is everything okay?” I asked.

She bit her lip before shaking her head. “It’s nothing serious. I just can’t drink because it’ll be bad for the baby.”

I nodded in agreement, not once registering what she’d said. Then I said, “That’s true. Alcohol is very bad for the baby.”

I then lifted the glass to my lips, but before I tipped the glass, I paused for a moment, letting what she’d said sink in. I then lowered the glass and tilted my head before gaping at her.

“B-baby?” I questioned, once words had found my lips again.

Tristan nodded, a wide smile overtaking her lips as she did. “I’m pregnant!”

I couldn’t contain my excitement and immediately pulled her towards me into a warm and tight embrace. Then I yelled at the top of my lungs, “She’s pregnant! My wife’s pregnant! We’re fucking pregnant! I’m going to be a dad!”

I was sure the whole pack could hear me by now, but I couldn’t care less. Immediately, the rest of the family came running towards the both of us, congratulating us as they did. Once again, I was blessed with another of the happiest memories of my life. And as Tristan and I were completely smothered in congratulatory affection by our family, I knew for a fact that this wouldn’t be the last of our happy memories together. In fact, I was almost certain that this was just the beginning.

**The End.**