Epilogue

Nyla

White. It blanketed the earth, stretching as far as the eye could see. Kian had said the snow here could get quite deep, but this was more than just snow. This was a world of white. Of nothing. Of newness.

Kian jumped in front of me, grinning as he tightened the scarf around my neck.

“Bundle up. I don’t want you to be cold,” he signed. I wanted to reply, but he’d put three layers of gloves on my hands and topped it off with a large mitten meant to keep everything waterproof. He could walk around out here in the cold with little more than a sweater on. I had to be dressed as if I was visiting the arctic tundra.

Which I guess I almost was.

He made sure I was covered in blankets within the sled, then placed his bag of clothes on my lap.

“Ready?” he signed, eyes wide as he watched mine. Kept his focus on me. Spoke and signed the way I’d been teaching him. “I need to change.”

I nodded, knowing his kind of changing and mine were two completely different things. Within a blink, he’d changed into a giant white bear, the process still magical and amazing for me to watch. He approached slowly, as he always did the first time after a shift. I waited, patient, knowing what was coming. Understanding what he wanted. He walked right up to the sled and leaned in, bumping his nose with mine. Nuzzling me. That greeting was such a bear thing, but I loved it. Loved that he did it in his human form as well.

When Kian’s bear was satisfied, he turned and lumbered to the front of the sled where a rope lay in the snow. He grabbed the rope in his teeth and pulled, dragging the sled—and therefore me—across the snow and into the woods.

Tonight, we were celebrating.

Six. It’d been six months since the night of our mating. We’d gotten to know each other extremely well in that time. We’d fought, of course, but we’d also loved. We’d learned how to show our care and our anger, how to deal with the frustration of a limited way to communicate, and we’d taught each other how to compromise. He couldn’t handle learning American Sign Language because of how different the sentence structure was than what he knew, so we were both learning SEE, or Signed Exact English, instead. I couldn’t handle being trapped in that cabin every day, so he was taking me into town when he left to head out to the ice packs to hunt so I could spend my days with Audrey. Compromise.

The sun was setting by the time we reached the bluff overlooking the bay. It was beautiful up here, but tonight, he promised me a true show. Already, the sky had a glow to it, colors dancing in front of the stars. But I knew it would get brighter as the night went on. So did Kian, which was why he’d bundled me up so well. We were going to be out here for a while.

Once he wrangled the sled into the spot he wanted, he grabbed the bag from my lap and walked around the back of the sled. I assumed he was shifting back to his human form and getting dressed, though it didn’t matter. I knew he’d come to me when he was ready.

And he did. He slipped down behind me, sliding under the blankets and wrapping his arms and legs around me before covering us up. I pointed at the sky and looked over my shoulder, hoping he knew what I was asking. He pulled one hand back and signed the letters for “soon.” I nodded, lying back against him and enjoying the view. Enjoying my time with him.

This was what I’d wanted. A true match. A man to love and spend the rest of my life with. And I did love him. Desperately and completely, just as I knew he loved me. We said it with more than words and hand motions, though. We showed it in our actions, in the way we treated each other, how we worked as a couple.

In the simplest terms, he tried hard to learn my language and culture so we could communicate, and I kept an open mind and accepting attitude about the fact that he turned into a bear and hunted adorable seals.

And yet, at the end of the day, when we cuddled into our big bed and burrowed under the down comforter, when we met in the middle, skin on skin, there was nothing that mattered but him and me. The love I felt in his hands and kiss, the way he showed me every single day how much he loved me back with his touch. And how I responded, caring for him, making sure he was just as happy and satisfied as I was. Those were our true moments of grace, of togetherness. Of us.

So it was no surprise to me when, an hour after the sky had lit up with the light show, he rolled me underneath him. He didn’t remove all my clothes, just slid a few strategic pieces out of the way so he could touch and tease. And when it got to be too much, when I begged for him with my sighs and the way I clutched his shoulders, he slid inside of me. Staring into my eyes. Letting me know how much he wanted me. How much I meant to him.

“Love you,” I mouthed, smiling, clinging to him.

He smiled that smile, the same one he’d given me the night we exchanged names. The one that showed the joy in his soul and proved how happy I made him. My smile.

“Love you, too, Nyla. Forever.”

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Want to read more from Ellis Leigh? Check out her for book listings, including her international bestselling wolf shifter series, The Feral Breed.