Page 42

EPILOGUE

A few months later

L edger frowns anxiously out the windshield. “If I had known we were expecting so much snow, I would have picked a closer restaurant.”

But I don’t mind. It’s rare I get one-on-one time with my mates, so when Ledger insisted out of the blue he was taking me out, I wasn’t about to let a little bad weather get in my way.

“So we get home late, no big deal. Though I might need to get new tires if this is normal for winter around here.” I pat my dashboard. “But she can handle anything. This baby has taken a beating and then som-”

I really shouldn’t have tempted fate.

My SUV lurches to a sudden halt, Ledger’s hand flying out against my collar bone as I’m thrown against the seatbelt, but thankfully, whatever I hit wasn’t bad enough to set off the airbags.

Oh fuck. Not again.

I swear to all that is holy, if it was another mate, he’s getting kicked off the side of the mountain. I can’t handle any more testosterone in the house.

Ledger is already halfway out of the door. “Stay here.”

“Don’t need to tell me twice.”

From what I can see, there’s a sizable dent in the front of the car right next to the Arson-shaped one, but no one is lying in the road.

Ledger looks around and scents the air, brow furrowed, and follows some tracks in the snow for a few feet before they just…

disappear. At a loss, he returns empty handed.

“Whatever it was, it’s gone now. With how fast it took off despite being hit? I’m sure it’ll be fine. Now, scoot over, sunshine. I love you, but I’m driving the rest of the way home.”

I mean… fair. Not sure my bumper can take another hit without falling off. It’s kind of a miracle I haven’t been arrested yet. Or sued.

I slide over to the passenger seat. “You really couldn’t tell what kind of animal it was?”

He shakes his and slowly gets us back on the road. “Never smelled anything like it.”

“Can’t say I’m surprised. If there’s one thing I’ve learned since moving to Mercy Ridge? Magical things are hiding around every corner. And while half of them are amazing?” I slowly push the lock down on my door. “The other half wants to kill you.”

“I’m all for kinky sex, but maybe we could have gotten inside first before you blindfolded me? It’s cold as fuck out here.”

Ledger chuckles, setting me on my feet as he opens the front door. “I’ll remember that for next time.” As soon as the heat from the house hits me, I sigh in relief. Winters in the mountains are no joke.

“Ready?” he asks, untying the blindfold.

“Kind of need to pee first, but then I’m game if you’d rather leave it on.”

A snort sounds from somewhere in front of me. “Ever, babe, inside horny thoughts,” Bellamy says.

“Since when?” I start to ask when the blindfold is ripped off and a deafening, “Surprise!” rings out around me.

“You could have warned me we had company,” I grumble, cheeks heating.

There are so many people crammed into my living room, it takes a minute to really take stock of them all. Kiara, Oscar, Myles’s parents. Several people from the compound.

After the reaction when news broke about me being a mimic led to being firebombed, I was pleasantly surprised at how shockingly easy it was for Seraphina to spin things into how fortunate they are that so many rare mystics chose Mercy Ridge as their home.

But the biggest factor was how many of them were single women.

Nothing will get an angry mob of desperate men to behave faster than the idea of mates they want to impress.

Fighting back laughter at my expense, Myles breaks away from his parents to take my coat. “We wanted to make your first Christmas here one to remember.”

Fighting back tears, the doorbell ringing helps keep me from losing the battle, and I turn to find Ledger opening the door, his mom rushing in. “I’m so sorry we’re late! Dom refused to drive faster than a crawl the whole way here.”

The man himself follows her in, looking like he stepped off the pages of Motorcycle Daddy Monthly.

“Roads are shit, I wasn’t about to risk a wreck with you in the car,” he says in a gruff, no-nonsense voice, a huge fabric bag slung over his shoulder.

Meeting Ledger’s gaze, he dips his head in greeting.

“Hawk and Rev are bringing in the rest. Hope you hate your floor, because you won’t be seeing it for a while. ”

Luciana smoothes out her sweater dress nervously. “I just… want this Christmas to be perfect.”

My heart squeezes. Once Ledger mustered up the courage to call the number Bellamy found, it became blatantly obvious she had no idea he was alive and burst into hysterical tears thinking her ex was playing a fucked up mind game to torture her.

It took a trip out there so they could see each other in person for the truth to come out.

Turns out, Ledger’s dad was even more of a piece of shit than any of us realized.

The night he’d caught the two of them trying to escape and Ledger thought he heard his mother beaten to death and was gone when he woke up, he did beat the hell out of her.

But he convinced her that he killed their son to punish her for trying to leave.

Even went so far as showing her a picture of another kid who looked similar lying in a shallow grave that he’d pulled off the internet, and tossing her Ledger’s favorite stuffed animal that was spattered in blood.

He then turned around and said she was too much trouble and sold her off.

The Blackfang pack had been passing through and intervened during the tail end of the hand-off after his dad left with the money, killing the men that bought her and offering Luciana refuge in their club.

One thing led to another, and they’ve been inseparable ever since.

Seeing a sweet, elven slip of a woman with three badass bikers never ceases to amuse me.

As sad as I am for the life Ledger and his mother were robbed of, I don’t blame her.

After Bellamy managed to find that photo and seeing it myself, combined with the rest of that chaotic night?

I would have believed he was dead too. And she’s been drowning in so much guilt ever since, she and her mates promptly packed up and moved to Mercy Ridge to be closer to her son.

Ledger’s throat bobs and he clears his throat. “It already is.”

“Well, not quite yet,” Bellamy says, holding out a present to me. “Here, this one’s from all of us.”

Ripping off the ribbon, I open the box and find…

A piece of paper?

No. A marriage certificate.

Dated for six months ago .

“What am I looking at here?”

Arson beams. “You think it'd be hard to leave us now, imagine if you'd have to carry half of all our stuff! It'd take months to move, too much of a hassle really. Better off just staying here forever.”

“You forged my signature?”

“Yep,” Bellamy shamelessly confesses. “Humans technically only let you marry one person, so we voted and decided it should be Arson. Because he was the only one that didn’t have any legal family, and Fates know the rest of us didn’t want to be financially responsible for his inevitable legal fees.

But that’s just a formality. As far as we’re concerned, as soon as you put that ring on, you’re married to all of us. ”

Moving aside the piece of paper, I find a suspiciously large box for a ring. With a trembling hand, I open it… And immediately burst out laughing.

Nestled inside are five rings, the smallest one surrounded by the others. A simple band, red on top, silvery white on the bottom, and a small circular diamond between them to mirror a popular franchise. Inside, the band is engraved, We Choose You.

The guys’ rings are all themed in different elements that suit their personalities with Property of Ever etched inside, along with If lost, call, and my phone number.

It’s ridiculous.

And absolutely, utterly, perfect.

I glance up to find all of our friends and family watching with bated breath as I slide it on without a single moment of hesitation, cheering and clapping, pulling not just the guys into congratulatory hugs, but me too.

Ledger’s mom bursts into tears and Myles’s mom immediately tries to suck me into wedding planning.

And I know without a shadow of a doubt… I finally made it.

This is what I’ve been searching for my whole life.

A family that loves me. That chooses me.

It’s messy. It’s chaotic. But it’s mine . And I wouldn’t trade it for all the magic in the world.