Epilogue

Zoey and Kalinda took a seat in a corner table at the trendy new coffee shop that was simply named “District 17.”  There was a line down the block and a two-hour waiting list for lunch, but Zoey knew the owners, and she was also the mate of the Lombardi Pack Capo, so one table was roped off and sat empty when she wasn’t there, always available for her.

The ghoul attack of the spring had made international news.  The neighborhood’s proximity to the portal had given it a weird kind of cachet.  Of course, there was a veritable army patrolling the portal these days, and Benedict was dead so no more illegal portals would be opened.  The odds of another attack were unlikely, but there was still that roller-coaster thrill of being near something so potentially perilous.  Trendy boutiques were springing up, and homeowners gave paid tours of the ghoul-damaged neighborhoods, where all the damage had been carefully preserved.

Guiliana had opened up a consignment store, selling off all of her designer clothes.  She no longer had Arturo’s limitless credit card at her disposal, but she turned out to have a great eye for vintage and gently used items, so when she wasn’t working as a med-mage, she was scouring thrift shops for new items to snap up, upcycle, and sell.

Kalinda had entered into a lucrative partnership with the District 17 coffee shop, and they carried a line of her home-baked goods and provided the gourmet coffee for her catering events. They were looking to go national.

Kalinda had also, of course, catered the enormous wedding bash thrown by Dominic and the Lombardi pack.  Zoey’s entire family had attended, glowing with happiness, and now Dominic had permanently rented out an entire luxury suite for them in a South side hotel, so they could visit whenever they wanted.

“You guys!” Danielle called out, hurrying over to them with a tray. She set down two coffee cups and a carafe, and handed them menus. “You look great, Zoey.  Hey, Kalinda, love the new ‘do.” Kalinda’s hair was braided and piled up on top of her head in an elaborate bun.

“I do look pretty hot,” Kalinda agreed.  “The usual for me, Danielle.  But sit down and hang out for a minute!” 

Danielle sank into a chair and stole Zoey’s coffee.

“Decaf!” Zoey called out to a waiter who hurried to get her a cup.

“The service in here is fantastic, if I do say so myself,” Danielle mused, and drank half of Zoey’s coffee in one gulp. “And this is orgasm in a cup.”

“I’m worried about you,” Zoey said to Danielle.  “You haven’t complained in weeks. Are you dying?”

The waiter set down the decaf in front of Zoey, and she poured in creamer and took a sip.

“Well, opening my own coffee shop didn’t exactly suck too much.  And having it be the hottest hotspot in the city hasn’t been too awful, either.” Danielle had quit working at the weather department three months earlier when she and Tony opened District 17, and she was indeed much happier these days. She looked fondly at Tony, who was a blur of motion, working behind the counter.  Dominic, as a favor to Zoey, had insisted that Arturo let his chef come over to the Lombardi pack.  Arturo had done it, grudgingly, as an apology for kicking Dominic out of the Blood Oath pack.

Tony was a broad-shouldered, handsome man in his forties, with long black hair pulled back in a pony-tail.  His goatee, streaked with one white stripe, gave him a devilish look. He winked at Danielle and blew her a kiss.  “And Tony isn’t the worst boyfriend in the world.  You see those cream-filled cannolis?” She pointed at the glass dessert display.   She made a circle with her thumb and index figure. “Well, let me tell you…”

“Argh! TMI!” Zoey cried out, at the exact same moment that Kalinda leaned forward, eyes gleaming, and said “Go on.”

Fortunately, they were briefly distracted when Cin and Lorenzo strolled hand in hand through the door, chatting happily. Lorenzo had completed his first semester at Encantado Technical Institute, with excellent grades. Dominic’s whispered threats probably had something to do with that.  Lorenzo had set up a website for Cin to sell her jewelry, and Dominic had bought a house for their former street kid friends to live in.  A couple of them had accepted his offer to put them through school, and the others were working for the pack.

Zoey had wheedled and cajoled and finally managed to convince both of the packs to make apartments available to all of the castaway kids in pack territory. The kids were required to do cleanup in their neighborhoods to contribute towards their rent and food.  Not all of the kids accepted the offer, but a fair amount of them did.  Arturo had done it grudgingly, because he didn’t like giving away anything for free, but in the end it generated public good will for the packs, because it lowered the rate of burglaries and vandalism.

A lot of the kids worked at the Lombardi Community Garden, helping to grow vegetables from compost. That was where Zoey could usually be found during the day, ensuring that the greenery stayed green.

Andrea and Stewart were away on their honeymoon, so Cin and Lorenzo were staying at Zoey and Dominic’s until they got back.  Lorenzo wanted to propose to Cin, but Dominic had strongly suggested that he wait until he graduated, and Dominic’s word was law as far as Lorenzo was concerned.

Lorenzo and Cin stopped by their table to say hi, and then went to the bakery counter to place a to go order.

“By the way, since when do you drink decaf?” Danielle asked.

“You guys make amazing decaf.  Too much caffeine later in the day keeps people up at night.” Zoey avoided Danielle’s gaze. “Oh look, there’s my mate! God, he’s sexy.  Isn’t he sexy?” She smiled at Dominic, who was heading their way, with Romano. 

“Not half as sexy as my Tony, but I mean, I don’t puke when I look at him or anything,” Danielle said.  “And I know when you’re dodging a question.”

The crowd parted like the red sea for Dominic and Romano, looking at them with mingled fear and admiration.  Zoey still felt a little badly that people were terrified of her mate, but she also knew that if they weren’t, he wouldn’t be able to maintain control of the pack.

The two men grabbed chairs and pulled them up to the table, and Dominic kissed Zoey on the lips.

“Hey, the hot chick used to be your boss, right?” Romano said to Zoey.

Kalinda tried to look annoyed rather than pleased, and mostly succeeded.  She snapped her fingers in front of Romano’s face.

“The hot chick is sitting right here,” she said. “She can hear you.”

“Did you ever tell her how I almost ate her?” Romano asked.  Dominic punched him in the arm, hard.  “What did I say?” Romano asked, looking confused.

“What did you say?” Kalinda demanded, looking appalled and also kind of interested.

Romano gave Kalinda a long, lingering look as she picked up her coffee and took a sip.  “Hmm.  Still not too late for that to happen.”

Kalinda choked on her coffee.  “I am going to smack the living shiznit out of your friend,” she informed Zoey.

“It’ll just hurt your hand.  Believe me, I know,” Zoey said. “Although I completely understand the urge.”

Kalinda tried anyway, slapping Romano in the face, hard. Romano smiled politely.  “That tickled, a little,” he said. 

“Damn it,” she scowled, shaking her hand.

Danielle made a time out motion with her hands, forming the letter T. “Hey! Excuse me! Dominic and Zoey! Do you guys have something you want to tell me?” she demanded. 

The chatter at the other tables died down a little and people pretended not to listen.

“Do we?” Dominic looked at his mate, puzzled.

“Well, it’s a little early,” Zoey muttered, cheeks reddening.  “But since Nancy Drew figured it out here, the reason I’m switching to decaf is…”

“No!” Danielle gasped dramatically.

“Shut the front door!” Kalinda echoed Danielle’s gasp, pretending to clutch at her chest.  Everyone at the tables around them stopped pretending not to listen, and stared at them breathlessly, waiting.

“Yes.” Zoey nodded, and tenderly patted her stomach.  “I’m late.  And I’m never late.”

“You mean we…” Dominic’s face lit up.

“Yes.  We’re going to have a little baby Capo.”

 

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