epilogue
“I swear, Jessica. If you tug at my damn dress again, I’m calling the whole thing off,” Cat growled, shifting her body away from Jessica’s relentless fingers pulling at the lower back of the dress.
“I have to make sure it looks amazing before you even think you’re looking in that mirror, Miss Bride-zilla,” Jessica said in an irritating singsong voice, tugging once more at the gown before clapping her hands. “All right, it’s perfect! You can look now.”
Her best friend walked in front of her, dressed in a beautiful dusty-blue lace gown, toward a full-length mirror. The cap sleeves, fitted bodice, and empire skirt that fell over nude heels only accentuated her magnificent figure, and Cat couldn’t help but think she might have broken the age-old rule of not having a bridesmaid prettier than the bride.
Bride. Even the word itself seemed to stick to the tip of Cat’s tongue. It seemed so intimidating and sent a wave of nausea through her stomach. Yet there she was, dressed in a white gown and getting primped for a wedding. Mating. Whatever you wanted to call it.
The image looking back from the mirror sent a gasp of awareness out of her mouth. A year before, Cat had looked in a mirror just like the one in front of her, but had seen a sickly, thin, useless creature with no pack or home. Now she saw an entirely different person. A woman with confidence and strength behind her eyes. A woman with a pack willing to sacrifice for their own. A woman with love staining her very soul.
The moment she had seen the dress gracing her body, she had known it was the one she wanted. She had argued with Jessica about being perfectly okay with wearing a dress from Walmart, but the woman had been adamant on a proper ceremony for the Alpha and his mate.
“It’s been too long since we’ve been able to do something like this,” she had argued.
The dress seemed to be entirely made out of a cream-colored lace but didn’t hold the stiffness she expected from the material. Instead it was soft, almost nonexistent on her thin body as it fell in a sheath to her toes. Portions of the lace were see-through—an upward angle at her stomach, a line at her thighs, and another at her knees, all scalloped and intricately detailed, revealing just hints of the body beneath. Killian was going to love it. The neckline plunged to well below her level of comfort and exposed the subtle roundness of her breasts, but she knew the look on his face would be worth the minor discomfort.
Instead of an up-do, Cat had insisted her hair be down. Jessica curled it into loose waves and braided a portion at the crown of her head, just like Cat’s mom used to do. Tiny white flowers encircled the braid, and one dusky-rose flower rested just above her ear, held by a couple of bobby pins. All the makeup was natural except for the exorbitant amount of mascara Jessica had used to create dark, luscious lashes that fanned out and accentuated the bright blue of Cat’s eyes.
She was so much more than the person who had cried in the bathroom down the hall. She was a phoenix coming out of the ashes of her past to something that promised only beauty and love.
“You are so beautiful, Cat. Killian is going to die when he sees you walk outside.” Jessica clasped her hands together and bit her red-painted lips, tears welling up in her eyes.
“Don’t you even start, Jessica,” Cat warned, pulling her into a hug.
Jessica sighed over Cat’s shoulder and sniffed back her tears. “I told you he wouldn’t let you go,” she whispered, her warm arms wrapping around Cat’s waist.
“And I’m so glad he didn’t,” Cat whispered back and let herself be enveloped in the moment. Then she let out a low chuckle. “All right, are we doing this or what?”
Jessica looked around the room to make sure they hadn’t forgotten anything before nodding. Then she looked down at Cat’s feet and pursed her lips. “Are you sure I can’t convince you to wear heels?”
Cat laughed at the whine, looping her arm around Jessica’s and walking out the door. Her feet padded across the floor, completely bare except for a swirling lace design the same color as Jessica’s dress that looped around her ankle and her second toe. It was her wedding, and if she didn’t want to wear shoes, then dammit, she wasn’t going to!
When they reached the back door Cat paused, thankful for the carefully placed curtains to hide her from the guests outside. On the other side of the fabric and glass, across the lawn and standing in front of an altar, was the beginning of a new chapter to her life. She inhaled deeply, taking in the scent of Kelly’s cooking even though it had already all been placed on the tables outside. Taking in the friend who stood with expectations on her face Cat wasn’t even sure she could fulfill. Taking in the feeling of freedom to make her life her own, with the man she loved more than anything in the world.
“Cat?” Jessica asked nervously, handing over a bouquet of dusty blue, dusky rose, and cream.
Cat gave her a reassuring smile and nodded as she took the bouquet with trembling fingers. It was time. Jessica opened a curtain, waved her hand to someone on the other side, and the music was cued.
The door opened to blinding sunshine, and Cat let her eyes adjust before moving her foot across the threshold. Tables were set up right at the door, all holding tremendous amounts of food that Cat knew would probably all be eaten. Past them was the beginning of the aisle. Beautiful wooden benches lined up alongside a pathway of light-pink roses. Jessica walked ahead, her feet pacing to the beat of the song. She was Cat’s only bridesmaid since Kelly had been insistent on being the caterer, but she graced the aisle like a beauty queen.
Cat’s senses were so overwhelmed with the scents of new people, friends, food, and flowers; the feel of the grass beneath her bare toes that carried rose petals with each step; the early-summer sunshine that beat down on the overly large backyard. Yet all she could focus on was the delicious man in front of the handmade altar, framed by wooden poles and hanging white fabric. The contrast of his coloring with the cream vest and white shirt, his cream pants, and pale blue tie made him look all the more delectable.
Cat could just call the whole thing off, run down the aisle, and jump into his arms. He probably wouldn’t care, but Jessica might stab her with shearing scissors. So she focused on calming her breathing. His heated stare followed her every movement with restrained passion. He wanted her too, and she was instantly grateful she had picked the plunging neckline.
There was no pastor waiting next to him. Shifters use the Alpha of their pack to officiate their binding, and since Killian was the Alpha, he stood alone. Appreciation and lust burned behind his golden irises, and Cat smiled warmly at him as she stopped in front of him.
“Hey there, Your Highness.” Love thickened her voice, and she was oblivious to the others watching them from the benches behind her.
* * * *
A Shifter mating might not be legal in the eyes of the human population, but as Cat watched him from across the yard, it didn’t matter. She knew, and more importantly so did everyone else, that he was all hers. They would eventually go to the courts and become legal in human terms. Killian stood among Jamie and the other guys of the pack, laughter gracing his face in a bright smile. As they each made their rounds through the guests, Cat followed his every movement with her eyes despite the constant poking from Jessica’s finger to pay attention. The ceremony had been small, and they only invited those who were important, but there were a few guests she had yet to meet. Like Killian’s sister.
“Catrina,” Fallon said from next to her, and Cat turned to look at a very familiar set of eyes.
She was much shorter than her brother but still towered over Cat’s ridiculously short form. Fallon’s glorious thick black hair was cut to her shoulders and had teal peek-a-boos dyed sporadically through it. Next to her stood a much older woman with gray hair and an awkward smile plastered to her face, but Cat could recognize Killian’s strong nose anywhere.
Standing in front of his family should have been overwhelming—a piece of his past he had fought his hardest to not share with her. But when they planned the mating, she had been insistent that he invite the people who raised him. Their presence was more than welcome to a woman who understood the importance of family.
“I’m Layla Stone, and this is Fallon. We’re Killian’s mother and sister,” Layla explained, though it wasn’t necessary.
“It’s so nice to meet you,” Cat said and pulled his mother into a hug. She’d never been one for physical contact, but Jessica was starting to rub off on her with the constant hugging and affection. And Layla looked like she needed it.
The older woman chuckled and patted her back, and Cat moved to embrace Fallon, who smiled graciously. When they separated, Fallon and Layla shared a glance of turmoil before Fallon spoke.
“We didn’t want things to be awkward when we came over, but I just have to tell you. Thank you, Catrina, for inviting us. You don’t understand what it means for my mom and me to be here.” Fallon’s caramel eyes glittered with tears, and Layla looked down at the ground with quivering lips. “We’ve missed him a lot.”
“I think I understand more than you think,” Cat said and looked across the grass to Killian. An older man the spitting image of him, but with shorter and grayer hair, hesitated in front of Killian, who paused in his sentence to Jamie. His face went serious, and lines of worry bit into his skin when he held out a hand toward his father.
“Oh, Rick,” Layla murmured just as Killian’s father bypassed the hand to pull a stiff and resistant Killian into his arms.
Cat’s heart clenched in pain at the conflicting emotions that warred across his face. His desperate want to have his family, but memories building a strict wall between the two. When he clenched his eyes shut and patted his father on the back with one large hand, she knew it would be okay. It might take time for bridges to be rebuilt, but as he said, they could build them together.
The smiling Jamie beside him reminded Cat of his previous depression, so uncommon for the handsome face. When she had questioned Jessica about it, she’d blown it off. Cat wasn’t sure what was going on with their Second, but something needed to be done about the loneliness hiding behind those emerald eyes.
An arm slung over Cat’s shoulders as she contemplated how to go about healing her friend.
“Hey there, kitten,” Sullivan said, his voice slightly slurred.
Cat laughed, leaning into him. “Really, Sully? You’re going to be the drunk wedding guest?”
“Aww come on, I’m not that drunk,” he insisted, but his body swayed to the side and told her otherwise.
“Come on, let’s go get you some water.”
Cat helped support Sullivan toward the table of drinks, where huge pitchers of water sat beside glasses. After pouring him a cup, she handed it to him, but he immediately set it down.
“Sullivan, you need to drink—”
“I have something to tell you, Cat,” he slurred, leaning toward her. He smiled, his dimpled cheeks concaving in the cutest way.
“And what would that be?”
“That I love you,” he whispered, his face all seriousness.
Cat’s breath stopped, her heart paused its erratic heartbeat. “What?” she gasped.
He leaned farther toward her and licked his lips. He was going to kiss her.
Cat went to take a step backward, push him off, apologize, anything to get her friend to stop his drunken ridiculousness. But his laughter made her pause. It rang out, long and loud, across the lawn of her wedding.
“I’m just kidding, kitten. Come on!” He continued to laugh, doubled over, and grasped the table for support.
Cat let out her held breath and glanced toward Killian’s angry face. She could use the Faol Geal right then, calm him and the fight that brewed on his face. But her promise to only use it when necessary, and rarely, stopped her. They had a lifetime to heal those who needed it, a lifetime to build each other up, and a lifetime of arguments they didn’t need magic to resolve.
But for today, she watched as Killian crossed the lawn to her. For today, she would withhold the worry and embrace the pure love that coursed through her at Killian’s mere presence. Today, she would focus on her forever.
The End
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
to hide the cover behind her hands. She technically finished writing her first book in junior high, where it mysteriously disappeared in a reformatting incident. Due to the encouragement of her family and English teachers at her small town school in La Verne, California, she never lost her love for the art. Now a woman who swears by the power of coffee, Chinese food, and wine (not necessarily in that order), she decided it was time to create stories from the characters in her head.
When she isn’t writing, outlining, or pinning pictures of hot ‘character inspirations’ on Pinterest™, H.R. is spending time with her two beautiful children, handsome husband, and dramatically energetic Australian shepherd at their home in San Bernardino, CA.
Visit for more about the author and her books.