It Started With a Scent

Epilogue

Rachael's smile grew and she exhaled as the familiar feeling of fondness filled her heart.

She loved her new pack.

Because of their generosity, she had been able to start up her business and buy the bakery, plus the apartment above, with minimal debt. 

It was a dream come true.

Her and Jason still owned his old house, both of them unwilling to sell such a beautiful place. They were currently staying over at that house on the weekends and at the bakery on weekdays, finding that it was so much more convenient than making a half hour trip into town every day.

"My parents are visiting today." She told her friend, carrying a couple boxes to the till area and opening a different glass display. "Dad wanted us to bake him some fruit cake."

She started packing the boxes inside, checking that the chiller was switched on. 

"Oh nice!" Tina exclaimed from the kitchen. "I'll get on it."

Tina had met her parents when Rachael and Jason had done their official mating ceremony, the day finally arriving that both parties could put names to faces.

Rachael heard the sound of the oven dial being adjusted and the clattering of equipment as it was taken out of the cupboard.  

She took another look at her ring and her thoughts trailed to her mate. 

Her big, strong mate.

Her alpha.

It felt so good to be able to finally call him that.

Her parents loved him, much to her surprise. 

It wasn't so much that she expected them to hate Jason, but it was crazy just how much they had immediately taken to him. Her mum had gushed over him so much that it was almost sickening and her father actually teared up.

"Did you order some new sweets that I'm not aware of?"

Rachael jumped as Tina's voice sounded out directly behind her, knocking her out of her reminiscences. 

She span around and rose an eyebrow, "did I order what?"

Tina sniffed again, then rubbed at her nose, "I thought I was here when all the sweets were delivered yesterday. I distinctly remember taste testing all of them." She said, walking around and peering through the displays. "Flipping heck, what is that?"

She looked into the case next to Rachael and broke out in an ear-to-ear smile, scent filling with so much joy and excitement that Rachael reared back and shot her a suspicious stare.

"Baked Licorice, ey?" Tina wiggled her eyebrows suggestively, picking up the box in Rachael's hands. "I love Licorice."

"Baked Licorice?" Rachael deadpanned, "on red velvet cake?"

Tina frowned when she looked inside, "well, where's that smell coming from then?" 

She gave the cake back to Rachael and looked at her with narrowed eyes.

Five seconds ticked away.

The penny dropped. 

"Rachael? Are you-"

Rachael stopped her line of questioning with a joking finger on her lips as the bakery bell jingled, door swinging open.

They smiled at each other.

Tina moved to the till, discreetly rubbing her friend's stomach with a enthusiastic squeal as she passed. 

"I call dibs on being godmother," she whispered. 

"Duh. You're totally my first choice."

"Really?"

"Of course."

"Oh Rach, I cannot wait until Jason finds out."

Rachael laughed and turned to greet her very first customer, happier than she had ever been in her life.

She couldn't wait either.

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We've finally reached the end of It Started With a Scent! 

Thank you to everyone who took the time to read, vote and comment, it's super appreciated. 

I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. 

There are probably mistakes that I ought to fix, grammatical errors and whatnot, but I hope they didn't take away from the story (and I will eventually fix them when I can be bothered).

Onward to the next book, I guess.

Jade X