Page 47

Epilogue

Emily

Two weeks later.

“Can I see yet?” Jackson calls through our bedroom door, his voice muffled, impatient, but playful.

Sofia lets out a soft, nervous laugh beside me.

Her usually wild hair is tamed into big bouncy curls and swept into a high ponytail.

Sleek and fierce like the warrior she is, but the tremor in her fingers betrays how tightly she’s wound.

Her breaths are slow and deliberate. She hasn’t said it outright, but I know what tonight means to her. And what it could change.

“Five minutes!” I shout back at Jackson, giggling to myself at his impatience. He’s so excited about seeing me dressed up. He’s been asking about my outfit since I bought it a week ago. Teasing him with vague descriptions has been far more fun than I could have ever expected.

“Almost time to go,” I say, placing my hands on Sofia’s shoulders and giving them a slight squeeze. Her gaze meets mine in the mirror as her mask slides into place.

Her gaze meets mine in the mirror, and I see the exact moment her mask slides back into place. Shoulders squared. Chin up. The practiced smile that hides so much underneath.

“Let’s do this,” she says with a firm nod.

When we step out of the room, Jackson turns. His jaw drops so fast I nearly laugh.

“Fuck, babe,” he groans like he’s in physical pain, eyes darkening as they rake over every inch of me.

Sofia rolls her eyes, but I catch her smile, too.

My tight purple dress clings to my curves.

It's off-the-shoulder and just the right balance of sexy and elegant. The kind of thing I would’ve felt self-conscious wearing before.

But not now. Now, I feel powerful. Beautiful .

Jackson’s hands are on me in seconds, one curling around my waist, the other sliding low to squeeze my ass. He dips his head to nuzzle along the slope of my shoulder, where he marked me two weeks ago. A burst of tingles follows in his wake.

This will never get old. The way he wants me. How my body craves him. How we are drawn to each other like magnets.

“Ugh, get a room,” Sofia teases and I laugh as Jackson pulls me even closer. His hard length presses against my hip.

“Don’t give him ideas!” I laugh as Jackson growls in frustration.

“And no one needs to give me ideas when it comes to my perfect mate,” Jackson teases through the mindlink.

“Just now I was thinking about ripping this sexy dress off and…” I cut him off with a glare.

I love how he drives me wild, but there is nothing that would stop me from being there for Sofia tonight.

“Don’t forget you have a job tonight, mate,” I say through the mindlink, just to Jackson.

I raise an eyebrow at Jackson, hoping he remembers what I asked of him for tonight.

He needs to run interference with Luca. Because she hasn’t said it, but I know a big part of her fear revolves around Luca and what he will say if she meets her mate.

Sofia hasn’t mentioned his name once today, but it’s written all over her stiff shoulders, her restless movements.

And even though Luca has been a lot nicer to me since Jackson and I found out we were second chance mates, I still don’t like him. I don’t like how he acts towards Sofia.

How he makes her feel.

“You know there are no guarantees of even meeting your mate tonight, right?” Jackson asks.

“Just because you can identify them now doesn’t mean you will.

You might meet them at twenty-five or thirty—or never.

” And I know that’s true. Plenty of wolves don’t meet their mates until closer to thirty.

But Sofia has been so jittery today, exactly how Jackson described feeling the day we met.

I can’t imagine today not being a big day for her.

We walk over to Sofia and Ryan’s place together, Sofia holding one of my hands while Jackson’s arm is over my shoulder.

We look like a picture of calm, but I can feel the tension humming through her.

Sofia inhales every few moments and gives me a subtle headshake to let me know she hasn’t scented them yet.

Her shoulders sag once we enter the house and she realizes they aren’t here.

I’m not sure if it’s of relief or disappointment .

Maybe both.

Watching her, I’m reminded of myself just a couple of weeks ago.

That mixture of dread and hope. The fear of what turning twenty-one meant.

The ability to identify my mate and what that might mean.

And now here I am, bonded and marked, wearing a dress Jackson hasn’t stopped staring at all night.

Life can change fast. But only when you’re ready to claim it.

The party is in full swing. Laughter echoes through the pack house, and the mingling of scents makes the air feel thick with anticipation. The room is full of unmated wolves, ranked visitors from neighboring packs, and a few familiar faces. Even Caleb took a night off from his search to join us.

Jackson stays close to me as we make our way to the center of the party, his hand a steady presence at my lower back. Before I can speak, he pulls me into a rough, claiming kiss.

His mouth is hot and possessive, tongue demanding, and when he finally pulls back, I’m breathless and flushed. Eliciting wanton moans from me as the rest of the space fades away from us until Jackson pulls back. He winks at me and disappears into the crowd.

He’s off to intercept Luca.

My core clenches as I realize what he just did. That kiss wasn’t just about teasing me—it was a declaration. A clear claim. As if his mark on my neck isn’t enough of a deterrent. If this was anyone else’s birthday, I would be dragging him home already.

“Ugh, someone shoot me with a silver bullet if I ever look at my mate like that,” Sofia deadpans beside me, mock-gagging. I stick out my tongue at her, too happy with how my mate makes me feel to take her joke to heart. I wouldn’t change how Jackson and I look at each other for the world.

“You’re just jealous,” I say lightly, linking our arms again. She rolls her eyes but doesn’t argue.

We spend the next couple of hours chatting with friends as Sofia expertly deflects offers of chosen mates from visiting Alphas and Betas. She smiles, she flirts, she refuses, and she does it with such light-hearted humor and diplomacy that no one has a chance to be offended.

But all the while, her eyes keep flicking to the door. Like she’s waiting for the other shoe to drop .

“I think you might be off the hook for tonight,” I joke with Sofia while glancing at the clock. Surely everyone who is coming is here by now. She shoots me a conspiratorial grin. “Maybe your mate isn’t…”

Her sharp inhale cuts me off. Her spine goes ramrod straight. Her grip on my arm tightens painfully before she lets go.

“No, no, no,” she mutters under her breath while shaking her head like she can somehow undo it. A look of pure anguish mars her beautiful face.

I reach for her, but she steps away. Her hands curl into fists at her sides as she squares her shoulders and marches toward Luca like a warrior heading into battle.

“This is not happening,” she grinds out, walking towards him.

“I, Sofia Rivera of the Lunar Eclipse pack rej…”