Page 75

EPILOGUE

Pember

Ice cubes clinked and condensation dripped down the side of Pember’s glass, leaving a wet ring on the patio tiles. He sighed and looked up at the bright sky from beneath his broad-brimmed hat. An airplane flew overhead, leaving a white streak across the endless blue sky.

Summer had well and truly hit, with the humidity ramping up to seventy-eight percent.

He stretched his bare legs across the reclined wooden deckchair, the tops of his thighs pink with sunburn that would no doubt leave a really shit tan line where his denim shorts ended.

Sweat began to dampen his cotton T-shirt, so, pulling the fabric away from his chest, he took another sip of elderflower wine and pressed the cold glass to his neck. Bloody delicious . He wriggled with excitement, silently congratulating himself for getting the fermentation process right.

Blake was in the kitchen talking on the phone. He’d been pacing all day as they both anxiously awaited the sentencing verdict, the inexperienced judge having well and truly shit the bed at the prospect of sentencing all four omegas.

However, there was another reason Blake was so restless. His rut was imminent, and would no doubt hit later that afternoon. They’d only just made it through another of Pember’s heats, and on the next one their cycles would probably align. Hormones were clever like that.

“Thirty-seven years,” Blake said, appearing on the patio with the phone still in his hand. The deckchair creaked as he sat on the end between Pember’s legs. “Twenty-one each for Sal and Leo.”

Pember sighed, pressing his lips together. “Damn, the judge really wasn’t pulling any punches.”

Blake nodded. “It’s probably the biggest decision of his career. The last thing he wants is a public uproar for being too lenient.”

Out of the four of them, only Maya had appeared in the news. She carried herself with the grace of a saint as she bowed her head and smiled when the camera crews followed her between the prison and the courts.

However, when Pember had been called to give evidence, she’d stared straight at him, right into his soul, until the prosecution barrister decided to pull the curtain between them.

She wasn’t remorseful or ashamed in the slightest. If anything, she’d looked pleased with herself, and made it a point to look at every single omega in the jury.

And they’d looked back, some of them with reverence.

What she’d done, what they’d all done, was still being talked about in the news nearly three months later.

Mating bond removal was on the rise, as was domestic violence in alpha-centric relationships.

Oliver was run ragged, and they’d had to combine Domestic Abuse with the Child Protection Unit.

Luckily, Blake was first on the list to return, and with the old gang back together he seemed much happier at work.

Pember cleared his throat and pressed the ball of his foot into Blake’s hip. “But what about Ru? Did he make it to court today?”

Blake shook his head, taking off his glasses and clipping them over the collar of his shirt.

“The judge wanted to give him the same sentence as Leo and Sal, but his defence team managed to vacate the hearing pending a psychological assessment. As much as I dislike defence lawyers, I’ve got to admit that they’ve done right by him. ”

Pember let out a long sigh. He’d met Ru’s defence team in the lead-up to the trial.

In fact, he’d been horrified when he found out his barrister was an alpha.

But both Blake and Oliver had assured him that it was probably an attempt to steer away from the ‘omega psycho killer’ narrative that the jury would undoubtedly be drawn to.

If an alpha was representing him, then perhaps he was beyond reproach.

Forgivable. The others, of course, had requested omega defence teams.

“Can I see him?” Pember said, giving Blake a pleading look. “When the trial’s over, can I visit him in prison?”

Blake’s mouth opened and closed several times. “Pem… I don’t think an omega prison is somewhere you want to go.”

Sitting up, Pember placed his drink on the ground and gripped Blake’s elbow. “I don’t care what it’s like, I just want him to know that there’s someone thinking of him on the outside.”

Blake gave him a soft smile. “Maybe start with letters. See how you feel. Build up to a visit, yeah?”

Pember let out a breath, resting his cheek on Blake’s shoulder, his gaze trailing down to his clasped hands. They were still caked in soil, and his nails were all dirty.

“How’s the herb garden coming on?” Pember smirked, knowing full well Blake had been wrangling with a strangle weed bush not ten minutes prior.

Val had a whole host of invasive plants behind her shed, not to mention the colony of slow worms underneath the decking.

It still gave Pember chills every time he thought about it.

“If by herbs you mean an invasion of ragwort and knotweed, then it’s absolutely fucking thriving.”

Pember chuckled. “So you’re saying we won’t be having a strawberry harvest this year?”

“I can bury some strawberries if it’d make you feel better?”

Pember snorted and shook his head. “Speaking of knotweed.” He pressed his hand between Blake’s palms, sliding his forefinger along the crease of his thumb. “How’re you feeling?”

Blake’s hips shifted, his tight black tennis shorts doing absolutely nothing to hide the hard line between his legs.

His hair had grown lighter in the summer, both him and his wolf taking on a dusted cinnamon colour.

It was thicker, too, and his eyes were dark and wild.

His wolf was front and centre, had been for several days.

Blake’s toned thighs twitched, and he ran a hand up Pember’s arm. “Not bad. But I’ll probably have to go inside soon.”

His omega wolf shivered, and Pember had to stop himself from clambering into Blake’s lap. Up until then, Blake had dealt with his ruts on his own as he didn’t trust his wolf not to accidentally knot Pember.

In the two months they’d been living together, his lupine side had become more persistent, making his ruts last longer and his body run hotter.

He was moodier when they went out in public, and just the other day Pember had thought he was going to take the poor cashier’s hand off when it brushed against Pember’s at the greengrocers.

It’d been difficult for them both, but they’d made it work.

Blake leant forwards, giving Pember a slow, open-mouthed kiss. His fingers brushed over Pember’s Adam’s apple before closing around the nape of his neck.

Something had changed in the last week. Blake seemed wholly unable to stop touching Pember’s throat.

When they cooked, met up for coffee at work, walked the dogs, sat in the car or on the sofa.

Blake’s fingers were there, all over Pember’s scent gland.

It was maddening, and it made Pember want to wrench the alpha’s jaws open with a car jack so he could lay his throat beneath his fangs.

Pember gave a playful smile, leaning back in the deckchair. Wetting his lips, he spread his knees a little, letting his shorts strain over his own burgeoning erection.

Blake’s eyes darkened in a way that was all wolf. “Pem,” he said, voice so low it made every hair on his body stand on end. He brushed his fingertips over Pember’s ankles, immediately twitching as electricity prickled between them.

Pember couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment he knew he wanted to be knotted.

Perhaps it was in the way his wolf calmed every time Blake was near.

Perhaps it was because they made love in the middle of the night with nothing but the moon and the stars looking down on them.

They woke up together every morning. Cleaned their teeth shoulder to shoulder.

Walked the dogs and ran together in the woods.

Every little brush of their skin solidified what he already knew.

Blake was his, and he wanted it to be in more than deeds on a house.

Pember raised an eyebrow, spreading his legs wider until they dangled over the arms of the chair. He ghosted a hand over his own thigh, tugging at the hem of his shorts. He wasn’t wearing underwear, so he was pretty sure Blake was getting an eye full of his crease.

Blake’s throat rumbled, and he leaned forwards to bury his face between Pember’s legs. Inhaling, he opened his mouth and sucked the skin, leaving a deep red love bite on the inside of his thigh. “You’re fucking lucky we don’t have neighbours yet,” he said, nudging Pember’s shorts with his nose.

Pember huffed out a laugh. “About that,” he whispered, running his hands through Blake’s hair. “Today might be the last time we have the woods to ourselves. The new tenants move in tomorrow morning, right?”

Blake sighed. “Unfortunately.” His voice was muffled by Pember’s crotch.

“Well, what if I had an idea?”

“Mhm?” Blake mumbled, kissing his midriff.

Pember tilted his hips so his cock rubbed against the seam of the denim. “Why don’t we go for a walk? Pick some apples for a strudel?”

Blake hummed against his belly. “I’m not really in the mood for strudel, Pem,” he said, pushing up Pember’s T-shirt to take one of his nipples into his mouth.

Pember shivered. “Oh? That’s too bad.” He rubbed the top of his foot between Blake’s legs, feeling how his cock leapt at the touch. Fuck he was hard. “I really wanted to try and find that little grove again.”

The alpha groaned, then let out a long breath. “Fine. But don’t complain if I have to crack one off in the bushes.”

Pember laughed and bit his lip. “Perhaps I’ll just report you to the wildlife officer. Pervert spotted in the woods.”

Blake smirked, biting Pember’s hip. “I’ll get the dogs.”

Pember gently tugged his hair. “I think we’ll leave the dogs at home today.”