Wow – well over half a million reads in the time it took to get to this, the last chapter. Thank you all SO much for your support throughout this adventure. I am beyond grateful that you have continued to read, and like, FTWW. Seriously, many, many, many thanks for all of your comments and love. <3<3
The epilogue definitely has a different flow than the last chapter did. It won’t make you cry – I promise!
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I smiled as I listened to the chatter in the hallway. Everyone was a bit more rambunctious than usual, I guess because there was always excitement in the air during a holiday, even if it was one we don’t get off of school for. Right now, many of the students were talking about the party at James Parker’s place tomorrow night. It was going to be a costume party, since it was, after all, Halloween today.
Which meant that it was my birthday. I’ve never made a big deal about it before, but I had a feeling that today was going to be special. I had a secret. It had been gnawing at me for the past three days, but I was going to reveal it tonight. I couldn’t help but feel giddy at the thought. It was probably the best birthday present I could ever hope for.
Eddie, of course, had already proved that he was going to be his usual over-the-top self today. He couldn’t seem to help it, even though I had warned him that he better not go overboard. We had long ago done away with the $200 a month spending limit, which meant that I couldn’t even begin to predict what would be waiting for me after school. I kind of didn’t want to know. He had already given me two-dozen lilies this morning. He had also made two-dozen mini-pancakes for breakfast, which we had to share because even though they were small and I had a big appetite, I couldn’t finish them all. I actually ended up yelling at him when I walked outside to find two-dozen balloons tied to my car – a dozen on each side-view mirror. It took me five minutes to get the darn things untied, which left me beyond flustered because I had known that I would have to speed to get to school on time.
Eddie just laughed and smiled and kissed me. And then that really made me late since one thing led to another and I ended up literally having to pry his hands off of me. Boys and their hormones.
Why two-dozen? Because I turned twenty-four today.
Today marked eight years since I found out that Eddie was my mate. We celebrated the day every year as both my birthday and as a sort of anniversary. I smiled again as I thought about my earliest interactions with him. The shock, the hesitancy on my part. The fumbling and the misgivings. It seemed like such a long time ago, and I guess it kind of was. Eight years. So much had changed, and so much had stayed the same.
Eddie and I officially took over as the Alpha pair this past summer. We were now leaders of the largest werewolf pack in the country, with over 400 members. It meant that we were well respected, but we still had to watch our territory closely since our pack skewed more heavily towards women and children with the addition of the Caladium survivors. We hadn’t run into any major problems since Martin, but we still kept an eye on our borders.
Rumors of my ability had also spread throughout the packs, meaning Eddie was very protective of me when we weren’t in our comfort zones. I knew he also had a guard watching me whenever I was out by myself. I didn’t say anything because I knew he would insist, and in a way, I felt safer knowing someone was watching out for me. If I learned anything from the battle, it was that enemies could be closer than we thought.
Eddie’s parents had wanted us to succeed them earlier, basically right after we got married when I graduated from college, but we decided to wait until I was done with my Master’s degree so that we would both be finished with school. Eddie had gotten his MBA last year and was working at Hamilton, the family company. I guess I was technically still in a school since I was now an English teacher at our old high school.
Eddie had laughed when I told him that I had gotten the job. He had joked that he felt sorry for the wereboys since they now probably felt like they had to look over their shoulder all the time instead of being able to just flirt with the girls like he had. I had rolled my eyes, but I knew what he was saying was true. I was, after all, the new Alpha female.
Which is why I was hanging out in my classroom while the students were in the halls. I knew it was awkward for most of them – some of them still couldn’t look me in the eyes even after almost two months of seeing me in class. So I decided after the first week that I would no longer greet the were students in the halls or stand outside my room while they walked to classes. I wanted them to be able to drop their guard while they were in school, to not have to worry that I was eavesdropping on their conversations.
My plan wasn’t working quite the way I had thought it would, but I hoped that things would get better once the students got used to having me around. I realized sometime during my senior year of high school that having a teacher who was a pack member made a lot of sense. There were emergencies that could come up that would require an immediate adult werewolf presence. Having one teach at the school meant that the younger weres had someone to turn to if such a situation arose. It also meant there would be someone to cover for them if something happened. But since almost all of the students felt so awkward around me, it didn’t look like my idea was really working.
The pack has known about my ability since my junior year of high school, but the kids all seemed to have heard exaggerated rumors about what I could do because I could swear that at least one or two of them paled at the sight of me. Apparently, the story of the battle against Martin, and my role in it, had been passed down to each year’s sophomore class as a kind of initiation ritual for the newly-changed weres. But, like the telephone game, I wouldn’t be surprised if the story no longer even resembled what had actually occurred that day. I couldn’t decide if it was worth it to set the record straight since it would no doubt get garbled again within a few years.
I had felt put out and saddened the first couple of days of school at the students’ reactions, but now I was used to it. I could even understand why they felt the way they did. I knew that my abilities made me somewhat scary. And add that to the fact that I was their Alpha female, no wonder most of them immediately lowered their gaze and tried to run away. It was a response I had to get used to in the weeks that followed the battle. Pack members began treating me differently – it was a mixture of fear and respect. I hadn’t been used to the attention, and in many ways, I still wasn’t.
I often felt like the mom whom the kids were afraid of in case they got punished. Meanwhile, Eddie was the cool dad whom everyone fought for attention from. Even many of the weres who were older than us treated us that way. It was unsettling at times, but according to Eddie’s parents, it was better this way than if they had no respect for me at all. That was true, but it didn’t mean I didn’t feel left out at times.
It was hard, because I was obviously the oddball in our pack, no matter what my rank was. It wasn’t precisely that I was left out, it was more that some pack members felt like they couldn’t approach me. I was a daunting presence to them, made more so by whatever exaggerations they had heard about my abilities. It didn’t help that I wasn’t very good at striking up conversations to begin with. Eddie tried his best to draw me in whenever pack members stopped by the house, but I often ended up clamming up just because I saw how the other weres reacted around me. I recognized it as a personality flaw of mine, something I had known about for years but hadn’t really taken the time to fix. It was something I definitely needed to work on, especially if I was going to be a good Alpha female.
I sighed as my students came trickling in. I had two weres in my class this period. One never looked directly at me while the other one, Ethan, always made it a point to meet my eyes with a challenging glare. He was currently what Eddie had been in high school – the head of the Mini-Pack. It seemed that he had decided that the only way to cement his reputation as the top dog at school was to give me attitude. Not in any direct way of course, because I knew he respected me as Alpha female, but in a way that showed the other weres that he wasn’t afraid of me. It was so high school that I almost had to laugh.
I honestly wouldn’t have minded except that he was also the kind of guy who picked on others. I had heard rumblings of things he had said and done to some of the other weres, especially the ones who had been Caladiums, that made me upset. Everyone knew who the Caladium kids had been, why they had joined our pack. The adults all accepted them, but I guess high school politics being what they were, some of the more popular weres weren’t very nice. No one had complained or said anything to me directly, so I hadn’t stepped in yet. But I knew I would have to, and soon.
The students who had been Caladiums were special to me. I felt like I had basically helped raise them, so of course I would feel particularly attached to them. They were the only ones, besides AJ, who weren’t afraid to approach me. I was waiting for one of them to confide in me, especially since I had spent so much time with them over the past eight years, but so far none of them had. It was frustrating to say the least.
I pushed the thought away when the second bell rang. I needed to concentrate on teaching right now, and I would worry about teenage werewolf bullying later. It was definitely a good thing that I decided to come back, since I had a feeling this animosity towards the former Caladiums would only get worse over time. I remembered what high school had been like, so I couldn’t really say I was surprised, but the two packs had been so easily combined that I couldn’t believe the kids were still getting bullied. It made me wonder what their lives had been like for the past eight years. Had Eddie and I overlooked the fact that they weren’t getting along with their peers? We would have noticed if it had been that, right?
It was interesting how the dynamic shifted slightly once Eddie graduated. Since he had been the future Alpha, he had unquestionably been the most popular, even amongst the humans who somehow knew that he was the It guy. The were students now were basically on an equal playing field with every other high school kid. Even the Mini-Pack had to contend for popularity with the human clique.
And I had a feeling that that was part of the reason the members of the MP were picking on the former Caladiums. It was almost like since they couldn’t control the entire school, they would control the population they thought they could.
I shook my head. High school politics. Thinking about it sometimes made my head ache and I questioned my sanity in coming back to teach.
The morning passed by quickly. I had five more weres in my classes, three of them former Caladiums. I really wished one of them would say something to me. I would have to speak to Eddie about it later to see if he had any ideas about what I could do. I really didn’t want to make it a big deal if it wasn’t, but I was worried.
As I made my way to the teachers’ lounge during my lunch break, I heard some students talking in one of the empty classrooms in the far end of the hall. It didn’t sound good. As I debated on whether or not to interfere since they were only talking, I heard sounds that made my choice for me. There was the screech of desks being shoved against each other, the rustle of clothes being manhandled, and the thud of punches being thrown.
I couldn’t run down the hallway like I wanted to, or even teleport myself there just in case someone were to see. I knew weres were the ones causing the trouble and I didn’t want to risk drawing too much attention. So I did the next best thing. Without breaking my stride, I summoned C1 and teleported her to the classroom in question.
The fighting stopped as soon as she showed up. The two groups immediately scrambled off of one another. None of the students spoke or moved as they stared at my cloned figure. I knew that they thought it was me there, and I was glad that my presence was enough to stop them from beating each other up, even if it was because they were frightened of me. Everything was silent until I arrived less than thirty seconds later. Now the students gaped at me, their eyes darting back and forth between my clone and me. I had to bite down an urge to laugh.
“What is going on here?,” I asked in my best authoritative voice.
I could see AJ and two of the former Caladium kids standing together while Ethan and three of his friends were several feet away. AJ had a cut lip that was already beginning to heal while the other boys sported various light bruises and torn clothing.
“Someone better explain things to me before I get the principal involved.” Nothing, not that I expected a reaction. “Or the Alpha.”
Seven pairs of eyes darted up to look at me, panic evident in them. I knew that none of them wanted to have to face Eddie. They all looked up to him, even Ethan and his friends, which meant that they didn’t want to get on his bad side. He wasn’t a scary Alpha, far from it. From what I could tell in the two short months since school began, all of the guy weres wanted to emulate him. Eddie was really involved with the younger pack members, and as a result, none of the boys standing in front of me right now wanted to disappoint him. It showed just how good of an Alpha he was, even though we had taken over the positions over a couple of months ago. I could use that to my advantage in figuring out why they were fighting.
“Well?”
Several of the students stammered. They wanted to speak, but they were scared to. I felt disappointment coursing through me as I realized that AJ and the former Caladiums weren’t going to say anything. I thought that they were comfortable enough around me to at least defend their actions or explain what had happened, but I guess not. I couldn’t tell if it was because they didn’t want to say anything in front of the other guys or if it was because they didn’t want to talk to me about it.
“You should know why Ms. Caden. You were in the battle,” Ethan finally said.
I arched my eyebrow at him. “I don’t understand what the battle has to do with why you guys are fighting right now.”
“Because it’s their fault. Gabe’s uncle died because of them. My dad told me what happened that day – he was there.”
Oh right. I had forgotten that Ethan was Liam’s son. I mentally sighed. Of course monkey-wolf man would have concocted his own version of what happened that day, probably in a way that made himself look good. I really shouldn’t think that way about my pack members, but it was hard not to with Liam. He really just rubbed me the wrong way.
“I’m sorry about your uncle, Gabe. We lost a lot of good pack members that day. But I don’t see how any of the students here had anything to go with the battle. You were all in elementary school at the time, so there’s no way it could be anyone’s fault.” Ethan was staring at me belligerently so I sighed. “I’m sure you’ve all heard different versions of the event, but how about I tell you what really happened?,” I said.
“Are you saying that my dad is a liar?,” Ethan all but huffed at me.
“No, not at all. I’m saying that in the heat of the battle, it’s easy to remember things a certain way. As you all know, I have an ability that makes it impossible for me to forget what happened. Plus, I was privy to a lot of information before and after the battle occurred, stuff only the highest members of the pack were aware of.” I paused when I saw the reluctant interest in their eyes. “Why don’t we all sit down and I’ll tell you about the battle.”
And so I did. I explained everything, from the very beginning. I told them about Amber, about Eddie getting kidnapped, about Martin, about the battle, about Matt.
AJ started to tear up when I talked about his sister, but he quickly controlled his emotions. I hoped it was good for him to hear what I said about her. It had been a long time since she died, but I still thought about her. I hadn’t realized that he had been getting bullied too, probably because of the false stories that were told about Amber.
The Caladium students also got emotional when I brought up what had happened to them. I knew it was hard for them, and perhaps I shouldn’t have mentioned it, but I really believed that Ethan, Gabe, and their friends Danny and Aiden needed to know the whole story. They had all been so young when the battle had occurred. I knew the former Caladiums remembered their old lives because we still talked about it together. If this scuffle was any indication, maybe all of the younger weres needed to know the truth, and not just the stories.
When I was done, the students continued to just stare at me for a few seconds. I hadn’t spared many details, so they now knew everything. Most importantly, they knew that the former Caladiums had been as much a victim as our pack had. I hoped it was enough for them to stop disliking each other.
The bell rang before anyone spoke. I didn’t know what type of reaction I was hoping to get, but dumbfounded wasn’t one of them. I couldn’t tell what they were thinking based on their facial expressions, and I had run out of time to further explain things.
“If you guys have any questions, feel free to stop by my classroom or my house. Okay?”
Seven heads slowly nodded but still no one said anything.
“If you’re still interested in finding out more, we can talk again about anything you want to know. However, I hope this means that the problems you guys have with each other have now been resolved. Yes?”
Again, more nodding. I sighed. I couldn’t change everyone’s opinion right away, but now I was determined to let everyone know the truth about the battle and its aftermath. It really wasn’t fair to the former Caladiums that there were still misunderstandings about why they joined our pack. It had been eight years already – that should have been plenty of time for everyone to adjust, but I guess not.
The students got up so that they could get to their next class. I had just about lost hope that my talk did any good when I saw Ethan clap AJ on the back. He paused, then looked AJ and the former Caladiums in the eye and softly said, “I’m sorry.”
My insides just about burst with happiness. It was a major start towards filling the divide between the students. I hadn’t realized how rumors and misunderstandings about the former Caladiums and the battle were still floating around, but now I could take the steps to rectify them. The healing process was a slow one, the entire pack knew that, but perhaps setting the record straight, even if it was eight years later, was one way to finally move on and let our lost pack members go.
The students had given me a lot to think about. Time may have passed quickly, but memories didn’t. I knew that firsthand. What Eddie and I had both overlooked was that people’s memories of the battle were all different. We had never addressed what had happened outright, so it made sense that misconceptions would arise. In the end, it was probably our fault that Ethan and his buddies had the wrong idea about Amber and the former Caladiums.
I slowly formed a plan as the rest of the afternoon went on. It was time to gather the pack together and to remember those who had died. It was time to get everyone’s opinions out there and to correct their assumptions. It really was the only way that this pack would get stronger and survive. If weres like Liam were still grumbling, incorrectly, about the battle, there was no saying what could happen in the future.
When the last bell rang, I drove home eager to put my idea into motion. Several minutes later, I pulled up into the driveway and smiled. I would never get over this house. It already held so many memories for me – both happy and sad. As I stepped out of my car, I glanced over at the backyard. A huge heated two-story barn now took up a third of it, something Eddie had built over the summer so that the entire pack could gather if need be. Off to one side was a stone marker engraved with the names of the four weres who had died protecting me. Matt’s name was the second one listed.
If I closed my eyes, I could call up my memory of the fight that took place not even fifty feet from where I was standing. But I didn’t. I would think about it later. Instead, I looked at the beautiful Victorian house in front of me.
Eddie and I had lived in our Cambridge apartment up until we became the Alpha pair. His parents then gave us this house, which has traditionally been the Alpha’s, while they moved into a smaller one just down the street. I stood in the driveway for a few seconds, just taking it all in. A cool autumn breeze rustled the branches on the trees and passed across my face. This was home.
“Are you going to come in or what?,” I heard the most wonderful voice call out from the front porch, breaking me from my thoughts.
“Just trying to shore myself up for whatever you have waiting for me inside,” I replied, grinning as I made my way up the path.
Eddie snorted. “Whatever. You know, you’re lucky you have a mate who spoils you so much. Not everyone can say the same.”
I rolled my eyes. “Uh huh.”
Eddie grabbed my hand as soon as I was close enough and pulled me into a warm embrace. “Happy Birthday, Buttercup,” he murmured as he kissed the top of my head.
We stood there for a few moments, wrapped in each other’s arms. It had been eight years and I still haven’t gotten over the feel of him. I knew I never would. He was my mate, just as I was his, and we were meant to be together. I knew though, that it wasn’t just fate that dictated my feelings for him. Everything we had gone through, everything we had shared even before we found out that we were mates, had brought us closer together. I sighed with content and wriggled closer into Eddie’s body.
“You ready for your presents? Or do you need some time to gather up the courage to walk into the den?”
“The second one,” I replied. “Plus, I want to talk to you about something first.”
We made our way to the kitchen. It was still my favorite room in the house even though I was nowhere near as good of a cook as Eddie’s mom was. Eddie sat me down before pulling out a bottle of wine and two glasses. He brought a plate of his mom’s cookies from the counter and set them in front of me.
“She stopped by the office today and told me that I had to give these to you. I was instructed, on pain of death, not to eat any before you had a chance to.”
We both chuckled before diving in.
“So, what did you want to talk about?,” Eddie asked between mouthfuls of chocolate chip goodness. He looked unusually eager, as if he expected me to tell him something in particular. I briefly wondered if he knew my secret, but quickly dismissed that possibility. There was no way he could know.
I told him what had happened in school and my plan to get the pack together to talk about the battle and the reason why the Caladiums joined us. He agreed, as I knew he would. He was upset that we hadn’t known about the divide between the pack members. It really was something we should have been aware of, and I knew he, and his parents, would take it badly. But we would begin to remedy that immediately. This was our pack, our family. We would both do everything we could to take care of it.
After talking for another half hour about our day, Eddie grinned at me mischievously. “So, are you finally ready to open your presents?”
“I guess I can’t stall any longer. Bring it on.”
We walked down the hall and into the den. I groaned out loud when I saw the sight in front of me. Several brightly wrapped packages of different sizes and colors were sitting on the coffee table. Eddie had become an expert gift wrapper over the years, which wasn’t surprising considering how many things he bought for me on birthdays, anniversaries, and Christmases. This time he had outdone himself. Each package was wrapped with a different patterned paper and topped with elaborate bows.
“Oh, come on. It’s not that bad. It could have been worse actually, but I restrained myself,” Eddie said nonchalantly as he guided me to one of the sofas.
“This is what you call restraining yourself?”
“Yep. A couple of these didn’t cost more than a few dollars.” He said it so casually, as if it were normal for someone to receive so many gifts. Even though we had been together for eight years, I still wasn’t used to the fact that he spoiled me so much.
We settled ourselves down on the sofa and Eddie handed me the first gift. Inside the box was a framed photograph of me holding our three-month old niece Abby, who was the spitting image of her mom. She also seemed to be as hyper as Lindy was, which meant that my brother was in for a lot of sleepless nights, not that he minded at all. I smiled and got up to place it on the mantle next to the other photographs we had acquired over the years. I paused for a moment to look at my favorite photo, the first one Eddie had ever given me.
I turned back to face him and found that he was smiling up at me. “See. That one wasn’t too bad, right?,” he teased.
“Nope. I love it. It’s the rest of these that I’m scared about.”
He chuckled and handed me the next present. It, and the next two, were clothes. Eddie had a good eye for clothing, which wasn’t too surprising considering how he and his dad both dressed. He loved shopping for me too, which would have been weird if he wasn’t so good at it. Most of the things in my closet were actually items that he had picked out.
I gasped when I opened the fifth present, a jewelry box, to find an antique silver locket inside. It had a blue flower design enameled on both sides and the inside was empty.
“I got it from the same store as your ring. The owner actually said he had been saving it for me, hoping that I would come in. Do you like it?”
“Yes, definitely. It’s perfect. How come you didn’t put our picture inside?”
“Uhh…I figured you would want to choose one yourself,” Eddie stammered, causing me to look at him curiously.
He didn’t say anything more, just took the locket from my hands so that he could put it on me. I didn’t ask why he was acting so strangely, but it did make me wonder if he was hiding something.
The largest box was next and it was heavy. Eddie smirked when I shook it slightly, trying to figure out what it could be. After tearing off the green wrapping paper and opening the cardboard box, I frowned. Nestled amongst layers of tissue paper were two telephone books.
“Uh…Thanks?”
Eddie laughed. “Look underneath them, silly.”
I lifted the telephone books to find an envelope on the bottom of the box. Setting the directories aside, I opened the envelope slowly. I knew from experience that small gifts, especially those that were just pieces of paper, were usually the most expensive. They meant vacations and bank accounts and car registrations.
Inside was a folded piece of paper with a list of dates and cities. I had a feeling I knew what it meant, but I glanced at Eddie to confirm.
“We won’t be able to get away for the summers anymore like we had been, so I thought we could take small weekend trips throughout the year instead. They won’t be to Asia or Africa or anywhere else we’ve been, but I hope you don’t mind.”
I rolled my eyes before leaning into him for a hug. I kissed him soundly once before telling him that I loved the idea. We had spent every summer except the first and last one traveling the world, literally. For eight weeks every year, we devoted ourselves to backpacking all over one of the continents, except Antarctica. Eddie insisted on giving me my wish to travel before we had to take over the duties of the Alpha pair, so that was what we had done. We had both experienced so much, and I could honestly say that I was now content with the idea of living in our town for the rest of our lives.
I grinned as I looked at the list again. It seemed we would be spending next weekend in New York before heading to Toronto next month. We might have to change some of the later destinations since I wasn’t sure I would be able to travel then, but I was excited about getting away with Eddie.
“This one is more like a present for me, or I guess a present for us.”
He handed me the last gift. It was a small rectangular box wrapped in blue and pink paper. I frowned when I felt how light it was. It wasn’t more jewelry, I could tell that much from the shape of the box. It couldn’t be a book because it wasn’t heavy enough.
“Stop trying to guess what it is and just open it,” Eddie said.
I looked up at him and saw that his eyes were shining in excitement. He was obviously particularly eager about this gift, whatever it was. I stuck out my tongue at him and proceeded to open the wrapping paper with deliberate care. Eddie let out a low groan in frustration as he watched me slowly torture him. His response only piped up my curiosity even more. What was inside?
My fingers immediately stopped moving as soon as they uncovered what was written on the front of the box. I could feel my heartbeat stutter once before resuming its normal pattern, albeit much faster. Slowly, my eyes made their way up to Eddie’s face. He was grinning at me, but he also appeared slightly wary about my reaction.
“How did you know?,” I finally managed to croak out.
His smile widened. “I’m your husband, Buttercup, and your mate. I’ve slept in the same bed as you every night since you graduated from high school. I know all of your habits, all of your schedules. You are my life.” He paused. “Does your question mean that it’s true?”
Eddie’s face glowed with hope, happiness, anticipation. I felt my own shock at his perception fade as I got caught up in his enthusiasm.
“I’m not positive. But I think so,” I replied, somewhat shyly.
I didn’t even have a chance to finish speaking before Eddie had picked me up and swung me around. We both laughed. I gazed into the eyes of my mate and saw them clearly sparkling with delight. He kissed me once, then again. We both got lost in the second kiss and I temporarily forgot that I was still holding onto the box.
It dropped to the floor – the sound enough to bring us both back to our senses. Eddie put me down so that he could pick the box up. He handed it back to me before gently pushing me towards the hallway.
“I love you, Ceci. Now please go use your present. I’ve been waiting for this moment all day and I can’t wait any longer.”
I nodded, still smiling brightly. I suddenly felt nervous for some reason. What if we were both wrong? What if the feeling I had been having for the past two weeks wasn’t what I thought it was? Would Eddie be disappointed? I knew I would be. The butterflies began acting up in my stomach and I wanted to shoo them away. I shouldn’t be feeling anxious about this.
I quickly made my way down the hall and into the small room. Closing the door behind me, I took in a deep breath before tearing the package open. This was it.
I almost bumped into Eddie when I opened the door two minutes later. It seemed he had been pacing right outside. I hadn’t even heard him since I had been concentrating so hard on willing time to go faster, for the chemicals to develop quicker. He didn’t even wait for me to speak – he was almost jumping with nervous tension.
“So?”
I held up the stick so that he could see that it clearly showed two lines. He stared at it for a second, two seconds, three. His lips slowly formed into a smile, and I knew that he felt the same way I did. We really had gotten the best anniversary gift ever.
“I’m guessing that means we can tell everyone to expect Matthew DeForest in nine months?,” he whispered, almost reverently, before pulling me into his embrace.
Matthew DeForest. I closed my eyes and I could see the little boy of my dreams. The one who had my hair and eyes, the one who would then be followed by another boy and a girl. My whole body thrummed with awareness now that I knew for sure that he was inside, growing. My little boy.
“Yes,” I whispered back to Eddie.
“I love you,” we both said at the same time.
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Again – my sincere thanks to everyone who stuck with this story and helped it peak at #12 on the What’s Hot list. I never, ever imagined that would happen.
The spin-off of Finding the Wolf Within is now up! It's called Love, Bitterly Sweet and it's about Eddie and Ceci's daughter, Lily. Please check it out if you have the chance.
Thanks again for reading!