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“Fucking, footy…” Jack said with a low whine.
“You can still have that,” I said, stroking a hand through his hair.
“But he’s so hot when he’s being all He-Man, protective guy.”
“You know you can’t fuck him out front of the hospital.”
“No, but I can wait around until he’s ready to.”
“I’ll bring you some food at least. You’ll have one of the F’s.”
“Yeah? You’d do that for me?” His smile was bright as he looked me over lazily. “And the others?”
“As soon as we can get home and have a shower.”
“That’s my girl.” He leaned forward and placed the sweetest kiss on my lips, then scrambled to his feet and followed the women to the hospital shed.
“You’re still here?” I said, turning to see Brandon was the only one of my pack left.
“Of course I am, Jules. I’ll always be there when you need me.”
I felt a low throb as I considered just what that meant. I loved the guys for stepping up, but I was much more on board with Jack’s idea than anyone else’s right now, and I could get the party started with Brandon when we gave that massive communal shower a go.
“I’ll help you to get some food for the refugees and Jack and Hawk, and then we’ll debrief the alpha.”
I groaned, smacking my head against my knees.
“That’s not what I want at all.”
“No, but it's what you need.”
“Max, Rhydian, and Grey are now under Doc Hobbes’s care. I’ve sent through several contingents of soldiers to retrieve those of our men still stranded on the other side of the portal,” Ophelia said as we took a seat. “Aaron seemed quite concerned about that.”
“I think we all need something different to walk away from this, call it over,” I said, linking my hand with Brandon’s. “Aaron needs to know the guys are safe. Finn needs to know no more are going through the portal, that he’s not at risk of being pushed through just for being who he is. He needs his dads and his family. Hawk needs the women and kids to be safe. I think that’s what they want too, but you’ll need to talk to them about it. Keep the contact to a minimum. They’ve been through so much.” My words trailed away as I considered what it must have been like, being chained to my child and prepared for sacrifice by my own father, then watching my brothers and sons get eaten whole. “Jack needs Hawk…” That sentence felt unfinished, not entirely true. “…and me, and the pack. Slade needs us back in our place, for nothing to happen for a good long while, for us to be able to relax. And Brandon…” I got something down our bond, but I didn’t want to speak for him.
“I need what you need, Jules. To tell our story.”
I nodded, holding his gaze for a moment, then patting my jacket pocket to find the heavy weight of Brandon’s book still there, despite everything we’d gone through. I needed to tell it, read it, and then get to the happy ever after.
Epilogue
Despite everything that was going on, somehow, we all ended up back home around the same time. Buddy was at my heels, having licked and nuzzled and squirmed his way onto my lap for much of the meeting with Ophelia. Now he just trotted in front of us, tail curled tight, ready to go where we were—home.
Ophelia had made some calls, let people know we were back, and as it was now well into the night, that we would catch up with everyone once we’d had a chance to sleep. Brandon and I walked into our house, then started opening windows and letting the place air out just before the pack started to arrive, Buddy’s feet clicking on the floorboards until he found his bed and curled up in it.
“Mum came by the Mess,” Slade said after giving me a kiss on the cheek as he came inside. “She wants us over for dinner tomorrow, lunch as a fallback. I think she’s intending to bring us breakfast.”
“Mine too,” Aaron said, scratching his neck ruefully. “With the mating marks and being through the portal, they feel like they’ve missed too much, and Mum’s not one to let things go.”
“We won’t see mine for a bit at least. Doc’s got my dads resting in her surgery away from the women, and Mum’s with them,” Finn said.
“Mine are trying really hard to be cool,” Brandon said, getting off the phone. “I think Mum laid down the law. She knows some of what happened from my visions, but I won’t be able to hold them off for long.”
“I saw my brothers down at the Mess,” Hawk said. “Sorry, love, each one of them wants us to come around for dinner, and then there’s Mum and Dads.”
“Not mine,” Jack said with a lift of his chin. “Mum’s been in meetings with Nan.”
I felt a flutter in my chest. Of anxiety? Of pressure? Of feeling like people wanted pieces of me I didn’t have to give? I didn’t say a word, but my pack moved closer in our bright white kitchen, arms interlacing as they surrounded me.
