Epilogue

One Year Later

Gaius swept his brush in one final coat over the windowsill and stood back to admire his work. A pleasant nutmeg scent wafted from behind, and he unconsciously reached back, pulled Nessa under his arm, and bent to press a kiss to her forehead.

“It’s done,” she said. “You’ve outdone yourself again.”

He grunted, knowing full well that the nursery was only the beginning of the renovations he’d have to make to the house over the next two decades. He set the brush back in the empty bucket at his feet and pressed his palm over Nessa’s round, pregnant belly.

“Don’t get too attached. They’ll have it torn to pieces the second they can crawl.”

Nessa groaned. “Of course it had to be twin boys. Me, stuck in these mountains with the testosterone brothers. After dealing with Ig and Bry and you and Levi, I deserve a daughter, dammit! It’s all I asked.”

“Soon as they’re out of you, I’m happy to work on putting a girl in you, baby,” he said with a cocky grin.

“We’ll work on that when the time comes, I promise. This summer, my mission is to find Ig and Bry a mate.”

“One mate? Singular?” Gaius asked, lifting an eyebrow and looking down at Nessa. She grew pensive, her brows scrunching together and he knew she was thinking about Bryer, who was still in the League hospital recovering from a near-fatal arena injury.

She swallowed and nodded. “I had a long talk with Dr. Taji. She believes finding him a mate is the only way to get him fully healed. But I don’t see those two lasting if one of them gets mated and the other doesn’t, and their godforsaken bet isn’t doing them any favors, so . . .”

Gaius heard the equivocation in her voice and chuckled. “What’d you do, Ness?”

“Oh, I just called Gerri Wilder and told her to be on the lookout. Bonus points if she can find a substitute chef for them while I’m on maternity leave. After the babies are born, I’ll need the help anyway, especially with the feeding regimen Dr. Taji recommends for Bryer after he’s released. It’s going to be a long, hard road for him. I want . . .” She paused and bit her lip, her eyes searching his.

Gaius knew what she was thinking. Ever since their mating, he’d been a new man. It hadn’t even required a special diet, though Nessa’s cooking didn’t hurt. His knees never once twinged, and some of the gray had even left his hair. It was almost as if his bear had been reborn twenty years younger.

He’d even entertained the idea of competing again, but dismissed it the very second he learned of Nessa’s pregnancy. He had more than he needed right here with her and his construction business, so he was more than certain Bryer’s doctor was right. The boy needed a mate.

“You want them to be happy.”

“Yeah. If you and I could find each other, there has to be someone out there for them. Hell, Gerri even managed to find my mom someone. Mom’s on Cloud Nine, now that the elder Jake Hansgen’s professed his love to her. She finally got the clan leader she wanted.” She shook her head, smiling inwardly, no doubt remembering the ordeal Nina Baxter had put them through the prior summer.

“Well, if anyone can find those boys a mate, Gerri Wilder can. But I suggest you not discount the power of bribery. Last time she visited, I caught her snooping through your cookbooks. She seems to be attached to that cake of yours.”

Nessa’s brown eyes twinkled when she looked up at him. “My recipes were the way to your heart, after all. They’re bound to work on a matchmaker’s heart too.”