Of Wings and Wolves

epilogue


When Uncle Scott went to the hospital for the last time, Summer had only been twelve, and she hadn’t understood that he was finally dying of the cancer that had eaten at him for months. Her primary worry was that he would be lonely in the hospital.

Family breakfast was a daily ritual for the Greshams. They had never gone a day without eating together. So she grabbed her grandma and brother, half a refrigerator’s worth of food, and went to spend a few hours with her uncle. The whole family had spent hours together that morning, the adults laughing as Summer and Abram hurled mini muffins at each other, and Summer went home grinning.

Scott had died of heart failure the next day, but it didn’t take away from Summer’s memory of that last amazing family breakfast. She thought it might have been the happiest time of her life.

Sharing dinner around a bonfire with the werewolf pack was different—and it made her miss Uncle Scott an awful lot—but it took her back to the days of family breakfasts, and all the laughter they had shared over the years.

Everyone wanted to know what life had been like in the Haven. What it was like being a “werewolf” without a moon, which was apparently a big deal on this side. They asked about school, technology, and politics. Summer was lost among the multitude of voices, and Abram was even more overwhelmed. But he was smiling, too.

“Wait,” Summer said after the umpteenth question. She set down the bag of beef jerky and swallowed the bite in her mouth. “That’s enough about us. What about you guys? What’s everything like over here?”

And that just started off a whole new tirade.

Summer stroked Sir Lumpy as everyone’s voices washed over her. Her cat had calmed down after an hour in the car, and now he was asleep on her shoulders, claws locked into her shirt and head nuzzled under her chin. He was drooling, as usual.

She couldn’t help but stare at the new family as they all spoke.

There was another set of twins on the other side of the fire, named Bekah and Levi. They had cried together when they found out that Uncle Scott had died, but they were at peace now, sitting together on a log with their heads bowed together.

And then there was Seth. He was the only one who didn’t smell like a wolf, but he was still clearly part of the pack. Everyone got quiet and listened to him when he spoke. Even Rylie.

Rylie and Abel were the hardest not to stare at. Summer found herself searching for all the common features, picking out what parts of them made Abram and which parts had made her. Rylie’s smile was so beautiful. A lot like Gran’s.

Summer missed a lot of the conversation in her reverie, but that was okay. She was going to have an entire lifetime to get to know everyone.

But one person wasn’t joining in the conversation.

Summer watched Nash through the licking flames. He stood aloof from the others, wearing a borrowed shirt with his arms folded. Everything about his body language was unfriendly, and nobody was exactly going out of their way to talk to him. He had been like that ever since they walked through the doorway.

Maybe ending his exile was harder than simply escaping the prison.

“Hey,” Rylie said, drawing Summer’s attention back to her. She spoke in a low voice. “Can I talk to you?”

“Sure,” Summer said. They headed out to a quieter spot near the car, and she set Sir Lumpy on the backseat of the Chevelle before following Rylie to a fallen log. “What’s up?”

“The guy with the wings.” Rylie nodded toward the trees. “Nash. Is he…I mean, are you two…?”

“You mean, are we…”

Summer couldn’t seem to finish the sentence any more than Rylie could. They shared a laugh, and it made her feel like the gravity was so much lighter than it had been a few seconds earlier. Like she could just take a running jump and fly into the night.

“He’s hot,” Rylie said.

“I know, right? It’s kind of insane.”

“Smells good, too. Like buttered popcorn.”

Buttered popcorn? Summer didn’t know Rylie well enough yet to ask why she would associate that smell with angels. It was way too psychological.

Summer focused on her feet to hide her burning cheeks. “To answer your question, yes. We’re together. I think. He’s…complicated.”

“I’m familiar with that,” Rylie said. She swung her feet over the side of the log, clasped her hands in her lap, and stared up at the sky. A lock of blond hair slid over her shoulder. “Is this the part where I’m supposed to warn you about boys? Or go threaten him or something?”

“I don’t think he’d like that.”

“Guess not. I just have no idea what to do. I wasn’t prepared to be the mother of two babies, but I’m even less prepared to be the mother of adults. I mean…” Her laugh was mirthless. “There’s just no way to prepare for this.”

Summer reached out and pushed Rylie’s hair behind her ear. It was a habitual gesture, the kind of fidgeting she always did with Gran and Nash, but it came to her as naturally here as it did at any other time. Rylie’s smell was so much like her brother’s. “I don’t really need a mom anyway,” Summer said. Hurt flashed over Rylie’s face, so she quickly added, “But I need friends. And…we’ll always be family.”

“Friends.” Rylie bit her bottom lip and smiled. “We can be friends.”

A hot tear slid down Summer’s cheek and shivered on her chin. They joined hands, and both of them stared at the place that their fingers were laced together. Their wrists had the same curve, the same jutting bone.

“I have to ask something else,” Rylie said. “Were you happy? I mean…has life been good to you?”

Summer’s lips spread in a grin. “I grew up in an endless forest with my brother—my best friend. Gran and Uncle Scott loved us, took care of us, and taught us everything we know. I’ve gone to college. I drank a lot of coffee.” She laughed. “So, yeah. It’s been good. Really, really good.” She looked up to realize that Nash had disappeared. He wasn’t lurking anymore. “I should probably go talk to my…uh, my friend. He’s been quiet since we got back.”

Rylie released her hand. “Yeah, go ahead. I’m not going anywhere.”

Warmth flushed through Summer’s heart, but it quickly faded as she walked away from her mom and headed into the darkness of the forest, following Nash’s smell. She found him standing near a dirt road, and he stared at it hard, as though trying to decide something.

“Hey,” she said softly, and he turned.

His eyes still burned straight through her. Somehow, he had become more intense in the short time she had known him, instead of less. Familiarity didn’t take away the edge. “Summer,” he said, sending chills down her spine.

“Are you okay?” She stepped closer to him to enjoy his body heat. It was a cool night, rainy and wet, and Nash was like a miniature sun.

“Of course I am. I have everything that I’ve wanted for thousands of years. I’ve finally escaped exile, Leliel has no power over me, and I’m free.”

“You don’t sound happy to have everything you ever wanted,” Summer said. He didn’t respond, and she pressed her side against his in a silent gesture of solidarity. “What happened after we fell through the fissure?”

“Leliel and I sat down together, and we talked.”

“You…talked? That’s it?”

“We talked.” Nash managed to make that sound like a bad thing. “I don’t think we’ll ever agree with each other on anything, but…we came to an understanding. I also restructured Adamson Industries so that it will continue to function without me. So much of the Haven’s current economy depends on my company—it would have been a tragedy to let the world fall for the sake of my freedom.”

“But you only took fifteen minutes to follow me,” Summer said.

Nash finally gave her a faint smile. “A virtual lifetime.”

This was the man that she thought had cared about nobody but himself, yet he had taken the time to make sure his employees would continue having jobs, the cities would thrive, and nobody would be hurt. Summer snuggled against his arm. “I knew you weren’t a creepy jackass.”

“Is that a compliment?”

“Yes, and you’re going to take it.” Her smile quickly faded at the thought of Nash spending days with Leliel. “What did you talk about with her?”

“She told me some of what I’ve missed. The circumstances are worse than I thought. Though the war has ended, many of the people involved are still in motion, and tensions are rising. This entire world is in danger.”

Summer knew that should have worried her, but it was hard to get upset when she could still see the bonfire through the trees. The world seemed so small in comparison to that.

“But she let you go,” she said.

Nash nodded. “She let me go, and it only took minimal coercion.”

“So…what now?”

His lips drew into a thin line. “You’ve found your parents. I must likewise find my family.”

Summer blinked back a sudden surge of tears. “I understand. I mean, you’ve been away for a long time, and Leliel still loves you, so—”

“What are you talking about?” he interrupted. “There’s no love between Leliel and I. My exile was entirely her fault. She may have forgiven me, but that road doesn’t go both ways.” Nash caught her arm before she could walk away. “What are you doing?”

“Going back to the camp,” she said. “You’re leaving, aren’t you?”

His eyes searched her face, and his fingers tightened. “Do you want me to leave?”

Summer bowed her head against his chest. “I want you to be happy, Nash. If you need to go find that happiness…I’ll be happy for you. But the thing is…” She bit her bottom lip as she searched for words.

How could she begin to tell him that her happiness at finding her parents was only a single pine needle in an entire forest of trees in comparison to what he made her feel? Nash was the best thing that had happened to her in over twenty years. But whether or not she liked it, he was still a soldier in an ancient war.

“Human lifetimes are so short,” he said gently.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing.” Nash chuckled softly. “Everything. Can I show you something?” The last time he had asked her that, they had gone on the most amazing date of Summer’s life. She didn’t even have to think before nodding.

Wings unfolded from behind him. He must have been holding his power back, because this time they were just wings—no brilliant light or surges of energy. Just feathers.

Summer wrapped her arms around his neck, and they climbed into the air with a single flap of his wings. The trees quickly turned to formless black shapes. The air grew colder, and Summer snuggled against his chest for warmth.

They couldn’t seem to reach the stars here, but as the world sprawled out under their feet, she could see the pinprick lights of distant civilization. Houses, towns, places Summer had never seen before. “Now look at this,” Nash said, flapping his wings to turn them.

Summer gasped.

A huge sphere hung in the sky, blue-gold and cratered. It glowed like a cold sun and spoke to her like nothing else had before. The hair on her arms stood straight up. Chills washed down her spine.

She reached a hand into the sky. It was too far away for her to touch, even though she so desperately wanted to. There was also no sign of the archer constellation here, but she thought that she liked this sky much better—even if it didn’t sing to her.

“That’s the moon,” Nash said. His breath was so much warmer than the breeze, yet having it brush over her shoulder made her shiver again. “Legends say that the gods of the forest live there. They’re the ones that gifted humans with the ability to have the twin natures of beast and man.”

“It’s incredible.” She traced the line of his profile with her eyes—the strong nose and dimpled chin, the lips that made her blush just to look at them. As amazing as the moon was, it had nothing on Nash. “So what are you going to do?”

“I promised that we would discover the world together, and I never lie.” Nash hesitated. “But you’re with your family now. Surely you won’t want to leave them.”

“I barely know them yet. There’s a lot of catching up to do.”

“And I have so much to see and learn. There is much I have missed. I should rejoin my ethereal counterparts if another war is to begin.”

Summer’s fingers tightened on his chest. She turned her face into his arm, sheltering herself from the wind. “Maybe Leliel’s wrong about the war. It’s been a long time since you were exiled. The world must have changed a lot, and I bet people have, too. Nobody is going to want to fight.” Summer gave him a sideways look. “You don’t want to fight anymore, do you?”

“Given the choice, I would never fight again.”

“Well, peace has to start somewhere. If Adam’s mightiest soldier lays down his fiery sword, then maybe others will follow you.”

“You’re very optimistic,” Nash said.

Summer smiled up at him. The moon lit his skin with traces of silver. In the forest below, the bonfire was still burning, and if she focused, she thought that she could hear Gran and Rylie laughing.

She kissed Nash softly. Their lips lingered.

“It’s a good day for optimism,” she whispered.


This isn’t the end of the story!

War is coming. Which side will Nash choose? Can Abram step up to face his destiny as hunter? And will Sir Lumpy ever find the love of a lady cat that deserves him? Help me plan the next part of the story! We’re plotting it right now on my Facebook: smarturl.it/tshseries

And make sure to sign up for my mailing list so you know the instant the next book is out: smarturl.it/armyofevil


author’s note


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Sara (SM Reine)

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