FIVE MONTHS LATER.
Luna
The paint fumes were strong even with all the windows and the door to the bedroom open. The pink color of the walls is slowly replaced with a light, cobalt blue. The process of turning my old bedroom into Theo's room has been slow. With the holidays and everything with the Hunters just coming to an end, it was about time they started to settle down. I have a lot of work to do in my new room, my parent's bedroom, to make it my own but cleaning the dust and switching the mattress and bed frame is enough for now. My focus is making Theo feel at home.
"Are you sure this is the color you want?" I ask Theo again.
Theo sighs and says, "For the hundredth time, Luna. I picked the color, it's what I want. Besides, it's a little too late since we have half a wall left."
"I knew it. You hate it. Let's go back to the store." I drop the paintbrush into the pan, splashing paint onto the plastic covering the wooden floors. Theo grabs at me by wrapping his arm around my waist before I can leave the room.
"You are driving me insane." Theo turns me around in his arms. "You need to chill out."
I place my hands on his upper arms and say, "I just want you to have everything you want. This is your home, too. I want it to feel like it."
His hand cups my cheek so he can stare right into my eyes.
"My home is wherever you are."
We stare at each other for a few moments, but then I'm laughing so loudly my head is tilted back and I pull away from him. Theo rolls his eyes.
"That's so cheesy, you weirdo."
Theo shakes his head and eyes the paintbrush he dropped when grabbing me. As I start to protest, Theo quickly grabs the paintbrush and swipes a blue stripe across my neck and chest. The paint is so cold it pauses me in my tracks to deal with the shock. Our eyes meet, and I see he's smirking at me and holding his paintbrush proudly. I push the tip of my tongue into my cheek and start nodding as I bend down to grab my own paintbrush. He steps away from me quickly, not expecting me to sling the paint at him from where I stand. Droplets of paint hit the entire side of his body, including his face and his hair. Theo stops the same way I did from the cold shock and that gives me time to load up another shot of paint to hit him again. I don't get to sling it at him though because he clicks into motion to grab my wrists.
"Oh, no, you don't," Theo says, holding my hands up and away from our bodies.
I shake my head and ask, "Oh, so it's okay if you do it?"
I use my Beast strength to over power him and push the hand gripping the paintbrush to swipe across his cheek and mouth. He tries to tilt his head away but it's no use. I giggle the whole time as he accepts defeat. Or so I thought. Once I stop using my werewolf strength, Theo immediately wraps me into a hug and smears the paint on his face across mine and into my hair.
"Theo! Not the hair!"
I fight my way out of his arms, prying his fingers off of me. All the while Theo's taunting and laughing at me. I slip on the paint coated plastic but get away from him. I get to the bedroom door, but Theo's not chasing after me because he's cracking up on the floor. I grab my cane sitting just outside the room and point at him with it.
"Glad you think it's funny because now you get to do the second coat all by yourself," I say, completely serious. Theo sits back on his calves to look at me, but the sight of me makes him coil over again. I can feel my hair sticking to the side of my head, probably stuck up as well because of the paint. I roll my eyes and walk down the hall to my room. Over my shoulder, I say, "You're such an ass."
A couple hours later after I take a shower and avoid Theo, I help Jonah carry hamburgers, hotdogs, and bratwursts out to the backyard where Charlie is starting the grill. Asher still has an hour left in his shift at the grocery store, so he'll get home just in time for dinner.
"Alright, ladies and gentlemen, will Charlie manage to not burn dinner today?" Jonah asks in a game show host voice, speaking into his fist before handing the mic to me. I grab his wrist.
"Uh, no?" I answer.
He rips his hand out of my grasp.
"That's correct! Lucky contestant number three, you win a crispy hamburger! Better put some mayo on it."
Charlie is staring at us with an unamused expression on his face. There's defeat in his eyes as he's possibly questioning how he was unfortunate enough to be related to us. He points at the grill he's been scraping at to prepare for the meat.
"Do you want to do this? Because I'd be happy to give you–Oh, wait!" Charlie starts laughing. "You still don't know how to work the grill, my bad."
I bite my tongue to keep from laughing, but my face gives me away as Jonah side-eyes me. He mocks Charlie but it's pointed at me.
He says, "People under 5'8" should never laugh."
Charlie starts laughing as I shove Jonah over as he laughs with our older brother.
"People who sing Britney Spears horribly in the shower should never laugh. Oops I Did It Again? Please don't."
Charlie laughs harder and slaps Jonah on the chest as the latter stares at me in shock. I smile and tilt my head at him, waiting for his next comeback. When he doesn't come up with one quick enough, I press the tips of my fingers against my fake earpiece.
"Oh baby, baby," I sing in my best Britney impression. Jonah shakes his head.
"That was terrible!"
"Better than you!"
Theo speaks up from behind me, "I don't know. You're both equally terrible."
Jonah is more offended than I am as Theo approaches us. He wraps his arms around me from behind and kisses the side of my head.
"There's no way that I sound as bad as her. Have you heard her? What does it remind you of?" Jonah looks around but no one provides an answer. "Ever heard two cats fighting?"
"Hey! I'm not that bad!"
No one says a word. Jonah stands there smirking at me. I roll my eyes.
"These hamburgers aren't going to cook themselves," I say, defeatedly.
Everyone laughs which makes me mock their laughs. I flip Jonah off, but he's not bothered and just returns the gesture. Theo pulls me away back into the house. I let him because I'm not that upset. My singing voice does sound like fighting cats. We head for the kitchen. Someone still needs to make the macaroni salad, and I'm half tempted to force Theo to do it. I get the ingredients out. The macaroni noodles were already cooked. All I have to do is mix everything. Theo sits at the island as I do everything.
"Did you get the wall done?" I ask with a cheeky smile. Theo playfully rolls his eyes.
"No thanks to you."
"It's really gonna suck when you have to do the second coat all by yourself."
I make a face at him as I start mixing the sauce that coats the macaroni. I have to be careful because I only have one shot to make sure the salad isn't dry. Theo scrolls through his phone.
Suddenly, he looks up like he's remembered something and says, "You really need to get rid of that barrel that's in the garage. I know you cleaned it but that smell hasn't gone away. Seriously, it smells like something died in it."
Monroe's face flashes in my mind, but all I do is laugh. I nod and lick the sauce off of my thumb.
"Yeah, I've been meaning to take it to the landfill or something, but I haven't had the time."
"I can do it for you," Theo offers for the millionth time. I shake my head.
"I'll do it."
Somebody knocking on my door interrupts his inevitable insistence that he can do it for me.
I smile and holler, "Come in!"
My favorite person in the world comes strolling through the door with his bright smile holding a huge tupperware of whatever he made for the cookout. My smile gets even bigger and my feet tap back and forth as I stand in one place dumping the sauce into the macaroni.
"Corey!" I yell in excitement as I see Mason and Liam come in behind him. I motion to Theo to keep stirring the macaroni salad before I hurry over to hug Corey first. All of them have been busy working to finish their Senior year on time in May.
Liam speaks up from behind Corey, "You're not even hiding it now."
"Did she ever hide it before?" Mason asks as I move on to hug him.
"Oh, you guys know I love you, too," I say as I hug Liam a little tighter.
Theo says, "I don't think they doubt that. You just play favorites."
"Whatever." I point at what Corey's holding as they follow me into the kitchen. "What's that?"
"Cowboy Caviar!"
Corey places the tupperware on the island and opens the lid to reveal a mixture of corn, beans, black eyed peas, and other shit that didn't look good. It must show on my face because Mason's quick to defend it.
"I was hesitant, too, but it's actually really good."
Corey hurries to open the bag of tortilla chips Mason carried in and hands me one. I look at Liam because he won't bullshit me, but he's just smirking at me with his arms across his chest. I roll my eyes and scoop a good chunk of the caviar so they don't accuse me of not taking a good enough bite. I don't even hesitate to take a bite, knowing it'll be worse if I wait. The boys intently watch me eat, and I nod as I swallow.
"It's actually really good."
Corey and Mason cheer as Liam rolls his eyes. Theo interrupts their celebration.
"How long do I have to stir this?" He asks.
I hurry around the island and say, "Oh shit."
"Okay, you were ready to bash the caviar, but you have big pieces of yolk and egg in your mac salad?" Liam asks with an eyebrow lifted.
I squint my eyes at him in confusion.
"It's a family recipe."
It's silent for a moment as Liam just stares at me.
"Yeah, that's not helping your case," Mason interjects.
I shrug and say, "My family may neglect their children but they don't fuck around with their food."
Corey laughs at my joke while everyone else either shakes their heads or avoids the subject all together. I point at Corey and give him a high five.
"That's why Corey's my favorite."
As Liam protests, Jonah pokes his head inside the front door.
"Charlie's almost done with the food. Might want to start bringing everything out."
Everyone gets serious as I take a quick bite of the salad. Good enough. I put the lid on the container it's in and slide it over to Theo.
"You take that. Liam, grab the cooler in the laundry room. And Mason, can you get the bag of ice out of the deep freeze in there? Also, Corey, can you take that basket of condiments? Thank you."
As everyone moves to grab what they need, I step over to the fridge to grab the case of Pepsi to carry out. Theo goes to grab it but I pull it away from him and shoot him a look. The others head out the front door.
"Is there another case in there?" Theo asks, catching the refrigerator door as it closes behind me.
"No, Asher's bringing more after he gets off. You can grab the paper plates, though."
He follows me outside and back out to where the grill is. Jonah has set up the fold-up table big enough to seat ten people with metal chairs on the patio. Liam sets the cooler up next to the house as Mason starts breaking up the ice. I sit the case next to the cooler and pat Liam on the back. Corey and Theo place their things in the center of the table.
"Where's the buns?" Charlie asks as he puts down an aluminum pan of hotdogs and brats down.
A new voice says, "Right here!"
I whip my head around to see Argent holding up a grocery bag full of the said buns with Melissa McCall standing next to him.
"You guys made it!" I say as I move to hug both of them.
A couple months ago, Argent started coming around after I explained to my brothers the family ties between the Louve's and the Argent's. The shock was expected, and they were apprehensive about letting him into our lives. Melissa coming with him the first few times loosened them up quite a bit, and now they were truly a part of the family. I think Argent originally reached out because he lost his father and sister in one night. Although the relationships weren't strong and who knows if Kate really died that night, I don't think he really expected to find a genuine family in us.
"We're not late, are we?" Melissa asks as she moves to hug the rest, excluding Theo. They were cordial with one another, but she was never going to forgive him for killing Scott and I didn't expect her to.
Jonah smiles and says, "You're just in time."
"Asher is, though," I say as I hug Argent.
A voice behind Argent answers, "No, I'm not."
After I let Argent go, I see Asher set down a case of Orange Crush next to the cooler as Liam just finished putting the Pepsi in. Asher smirks and pats Liam on the shoulder. Liam shakes his head but loads the soda anyway. My brother holds up a six-pack of wine coolers towards me and sets it down on the table before making a beeline to the other cooler near the grill that holds the rest of the beer. Werewolves can't get drunk, but it didn't mean we didn't like the taste. Plus Charlie can still get drunk just fine.
"Finally get your cane?" Argent asks, nodding to my new, custom cane. My eyes widen as I remember I haven't shown them yet.
"And she won't shut up about it," Asher says as he opens a set of hamburger buns.
I roll my eyes and hand Argent my cane for him and Melissa to examine. The handle is a nice, sturdy wood while the rest of the cane is made from the only thing that can kill me: the metal bullets that used to be the cane that killed my great-grandfather. I wanted to make sure I always knew where my weakness was. There were enough bullets to make the main part of the cane tall enough for me. A thin layer of resin coats the metal so I don't burn myself by accident.
"What's this detail here?" Melissa asks, pointing at the detail in the handle where it curves down into the rest of the cane. Argent studies it closely before staring at me.
He questions, "Is that the Beast?"
"I knew I wanted to add something that was connected to me, so I asked Jonah to sketch something out for me to give to the guy I had making my cane," I answer. The detail is leftover metal molded and carved into an image of myself as the Beast.
"Ask her what she said when he asked her why she wanted the Beast," Liam says, standing up and stretching. I sigh.
"It's not my fault. I didn't know he knew about the Beast." Argent and Melissa stare at me expectantly. "I told him that's how I hurt my knee, which isn't a lie!"
"No but it doesn't help people not be scared of the supernatural," Mason says. I point at him and raise my eyebrows.
"They're always going to be afraid of the Beast, though, so it doesn't matter."
Corey nods and says, "She has a point."
"And it's not like there aren't other people injured by the Beast," a man says from behind me as Argent hands me my cane back. I turn to see Derek standing there with a smile and a bag of store-bought dessert. "Surprise?"
"Derek? What are you doing here?" I say with a bright smile and go in for the hug.
Jonah says, "I invited him. I didn't know if he was going to be in town, so I didn't mention it."
"Well, it's good to have you," I tell him as I make my way over to make my plate.
As I grab a plate, I notice that most of the boys have already grabbed a plate and are eating, including Theo at the head of the table. I prepare a hamburger, a hotdog, and a good scoop of the macaroni salad and cowboy caviar. Making my way over to Theo, I place my plate next to his. An extra seat is needed to fit Derek in so there is only one place left for me to sit.
"Spread 'em," I tell Theo as he takes a bite of his hamburger.
He talks with his mouth full and sits back as he asks, "What?"
I use my cane to spread his legs wide enough for me to sit on his lap. His eyes stay on me as I step in between his legs and sit down. I watch him swallow his bite before kissing him and turning to my food. Liam's sitting to my left and pays no mind to Theo and I's affection. I could tell he still didn't like it, but he doesn't say anything anymore. Corey's to my right with Mason next to him. Their opinions on my relationship with Theo have changed, and the four of us have been on a couple of double dates that Theo doesn't completely hate. Next to Mason is Asher with Jonah beside him. Asher and Jonah have also started warming up to Theo. It's hard not to when they live in the same house and see each other everyday; however, Charlie, who's sitting at the other end of the table by Jonah, has made it pretty clear he'll never forgive Theo but he respects my decision. Across from Jonah is Derek, who Jonah has been talking to and hanging out with whenever he's in town over the last few months. He's actually been pretty secretive about what they've been up to, but I'm sure he'll tell me if he wants to.
"How's Scott liking UC Davis?" I ask Melissa after she sits down next to Derek. "I haven't heard from him this week, so I'm guessing the classes are really picking up?"
"Oh, he loves it there," Melissa replies, a swell of pride radiating from her as she talks about her son. "He said his classes are a little difficult but nothing he isn't used to."
Scott moved to campus in the middle of January. The university is a four hour drive from Beacon Hills, so he doesn't come home that often. Only once in the last month he's been there. Stiles is back in Washington D.C. with Lydia not too far away at M.I.T. Malia finally made it to Paris, but she hasn't made her way back quite yet. After Monroe disappeared, the army she made trickled out without her or Gerard. Nothing else was holding them back in Beacon Hills, so they were free to jump into the unknown of the next chapter in their lives and were finding there wasn't anything to be scared of.
"Speaking of classes," Melissa says, "how are your classes going, you guys? You're getting close to graduation!"
As the three Seniors answer, I work on finishing my plate. I feel Theo's chest against my back as he leans forward to eat his food. His left hand stays on my hip as he brushes his thumb against the skin exposed from my shirt riding up. I listen in on the other's conversations: Argent's talking to Asher about how to put the Argent's Fleur-de-lis on bullets, arrows, and other weapons; and Jonah is talking to Derek in a hushed tone as Charlie pretends to not be listening and focusing on his food.
"Was she telling the truth?" Jonah whispers. My eyes look up to see Derek nod his head before shifting around the table to pretend I'm not listening to their conversation. "Did you meet him?"
"Luna, what's our pack symbol?" Asher asks, interrupting everyone's conversations. Everyone turns to look at me.
I swallow the bite I took and say, "We don't have one."
"Didn't the Louve's have a symbol before?" Argent asks.
I make direct eye contact with Charlie and remember the brand on his chest that I found by accident. Jonah's chest has the same brand on him, but Asher lucked out from the punishment. Every time I see it, it takes every fiber of my being to not head to Texas and kill my father anyway. The brand he used on my brothers, the letter D with a crescent moon in the curve, was the family pack symbol since every Alpha's name was Dean until me.
I shake my head.
"We're not using that. We'll think of something else."
"I think we should use something referencing the Beast of Gévaudan," Jonah speaks up from the end of the table. When no one says anything, he continues, "Think about it. We're the only ones who can say we're direct descendents of one of the largest myths in the world. We should use that to our advantage."
Mason, whose had previous experience as the Beast, asks, "What's the advantage to being connected to something that's responsible for hundreds of people's deaths?"
"Yeah, why would you want to be tied to that kind of legacy?" Argent asks.
"To keep people away from Beacon Hills," Theo says. Everyone's attention moves to the man behind me. "If other packs think of coming here to cause trouble, they'll think twice because of the stories they've heard."
"What if that draws people to Beacon Hills? What if people come to take Luna's power?" Liam inquires, shifting in his seat.
I answer for Theo, "They can't. My power is only passed down through the DNA of the person with the blue hair."
"So, only you can pass down the Beast's powers?" Corey asks now.
The table looks at me expectantly, and I look at Theo.
"I guess so."
Suddenly, a weight is on my shoulders. I never thought about having kids. Mainly because until a year and a half ago the plan was to live locked away until I died. Now, Theo's sitting there trying to read my mind and his cheeks are dusted with pink when he realizes why I'm staring at him. We wouldn't decide to have kids now, because I don't want a kid at nineteen, but some time in the future we would have to talk about it. I don't even know if Theo ever wants kids. Hell, I don't know if I ever want kids.
"Anyway," I say, standing up and grabbing my cane to keep me steady as I go to stand next to Corey. I place a hand on his shoulder while looking around at everyone else. "There's a little more to this get together than just food."
Everyone but my brothers and Theo glance around the table to see who knows what I'm talking about. Corey glances at Mason before staring up at me. I smile down at him as a confused expression takes over his features.
I glance around at everyone else while I speak, "The boys and I have been talking. Over the past five months, we've felt like we have an extra brother. We take turns helping him with his homework, we go for rides to get ice cream–which is always my idea–and we always have room when he shows up in the middle of the night for a place to stay. It just feels right having him in our life." My eyes land on Corey, and he keeps his gaze on me with tears in his eyes. "So, Corey, we would like to make it official and extend an invitation for you to join our pack."
"What?" Corey asks in a tone no higher than a whisper.
I hear Melissa gasp as I get the words out of my mouth. I see out of the corner of my eye Mason reach for Corey's other shoulder as he covers his mouth. Corey blinks and looks to Theo before turning to my brothers at the other end of the table. Each of them has a genuine smile on their face because I wasn't lying when I said we felt like we have another brother or that we've been talking about it. Jonah was the first one to suggest we ask Corey to join the pack. Of course, I immediately agreed, but we still deliberated for months to make sure everyone was okay with it. At the end of the day, it was an easy decision.
Corey continues, "But why? Why me? Why would you want me?"
His eyes return to me, and the expression on his face makes me tear up: his mouth is slightly open, his eyebrows are raised, and his brown eyes keep searching my face for the lie. There's a pain in my chest as I realize he doesn't believe me. I squat down the best I can to Corey's eye level, just like I did when we first met.
"Because believe it or not, Corey, we love you," I say, the hand that was on his shoulder moves to rub his forearm comfortingly. A tear trails down his cheek as more tears gather in my eyes. "And the reason we do is because of who you are and that's all we need. It's all we will ever need. You'll always have a family in us."
Corey abruptly stands up, nearly making me tip over if he hadn't grabbed my arm and pulled me up with him. Our arms wrap around each other in a tight hug as Corey buries his head into my shoulder to hide his tears. I rub his back as his shoulders shake and everyone at the table claps and cheers. Jonah appears at our side within a moment's time, ready to welcome Corey to the family, but Corey turns to hug Theo first as he notices him first. Theo and Asher are alike in not liking physical contact, but Theo is more open to it with people he knows. So, when Corey hugs him, he accepts it with comforting pats on his back.
As the boy moves on to hug Jonah and everyone comes up to congratulate him, I move to stand next to Theo. I tuck into his side as he puts his arm over my shoulder and I wrap my arm around his back. Asher pats Corey on the arm as the latter attacks him with a hug while he's still sitting down. My eyes glance around at my mismatch family: Liam and Mason, who are shaking Corey with overwhelming joy and excitement; my brothers, who I never expected to be in my life again; Melissa, who has become such a presence in my life to look up to; Argent, who is a surprise part of the family that I can always go to for advice that I can't get anywhere else; and Derek, who I had a feeling would be sticking around and becoming an integral part of the family.
Then, there's Theo, the love of my life. My eyes land on him, and he's already staring down at me. Spending the rest of my life with him isn't going to be easy, but it'll be worth it. Just like the last two years have been already. He'll always be a pain in the ass, and he'll always have to be right to prove a point, and I'll always want to rip his throat out, but we balance each other out. We aren't who we were a year and a half ago. We've changed for the better, and we did that on our own terms and in our own way. Being together means we can keep each other in check and make sure neither of us go so off the deep end that we can't escape from it.
Theo bends over to whisper in my ear, "I love you."
I know that he's telling the truth. I know he will never betray my trust again. I know this for certain.
Which is why I tell him, "I love you."
Hi, guys! This is it! This is the end. I really wanted to show you where everyone ended up. I didn't follow the end of season 6 completely. After Luna killed Monroe, the whole flash forward thing doesn't happen, which actually matches the Teen Wolf movie better tbh.
I could've probably added so much more to the epilogue but then it would just be another book. I have been thinking about doing a short story of Luna's life during the Teen Wolf movie, but that would just be a thing if I really felt like it. So don't count on it, but don't be surprised if I post it one day out of the blue lol.
How do y'all feel about this ending? How do you feel about them asking Corey to join the pack? Idk if you remember that Corey and his family don't get along but Luna definitely does. Also what were Jonah and Derek talking about? 👀👀 Argent is a part of the family now! Did you think anything was really gonna come from the Louve's and the Argent's being related?
Sorry if anything disappointed you. I tried to be as true to Luna and her ending with Theo as possible.
For the last time, I hope you enjoyed the epilogue! Please vote and comment what you think!
-chelsie
word count: 4909