Epilogue
Danny looked around with curious eyes. Ryder could tell that his mate was interested in getting to know his new home but, as his gentle disposition directed, he didn’t dare touch anything. He wrapped his hands around Danny’s shoulders and pushed him forward.
“This is where you will live from now on. We don’t live like they do in the city, and we don’t have television, but I hope you will not miss much of your life from before.”
Danny snickered. “Do you think I’ll miss hearing terrible news all the time? I’ve always felt a bit anxious, but here, it’s like all that has been lifted off my chest.”
Ryder was more than pleased with Danny’s answer. “Then, please, treat this place like it’s your home. It belongs to you.”
Danny turned and hugged Ryder tightly. “I love you so much,” he declared. “You will have to be patient with me, though. I haven’t lived in a house as big as this in my life.”
Ryder chuckled and hiked his mate up in his arms. “I will show you everything. Not only here, inside the house, but outside of it as well.”
“Will you carry me around in your arms like this?”
“Yes.”
“Then I might not be able to see much,” Danny said with a small smile.
“Why?”
“Because I’ll be too busy doing this.” Danny moved closer and pressed his lips against Ryder’s.
It was good. His mate seemed to be just as willing to continue their lovemaking as he was. That meant that, for the time being, he would only manage to show Danny their bedroom.
***
Danny lay on the bed with Ryder on top of him. He caught Ryder’s face in his palms and kissed him everywhere. “I want to ask you something,” he whispered.
“Ask away, my mate.”
“Is it my imagination or, when we’re doing it raw, we don’t actually need lube?”
Ryder chuckled. “The moment we bonded, your body adjusted to welcome me. Not only are we mates, we are outstandingly compatible.”
“Do you mean that it’s not the same for everyone?”
“It becomes so, with time. But we didn’t need to wait for it to happen for us.”
“Wow. For a long time, I thought I was unlucky in love. But most likely I was only waiting for you.”
“I’m glad you were unlucky in love,” Ryder said, his face stern and serious.
Danny couldn’t help himself. He broke into laughter. “So, you’re happy about me being miserable until you found me?”
Ryder kissed him hard, derailing his train of thought. “It may be selfish of me, but if you’d have found love in your human world, I would have suffered greatly without you.”
“Are you trying to tell me that you wouldn’t have fought for me?”
“Not at the price of your happiness. Although,” Ryder continued, and his lips curled into a sly smile, “since we’re fated to each other, you would have forgotten about your human lover in a heartbeat the moment you laid your eyes on me.”
“Ah, but that would have meant hurting someone, and I don’t think I would’ve been capable of doing that.”
“I’m sure that’s true. Your heart is too big,” Ryder said and kissed Danny gently again.
“You’re right, then,” Danny admitted. “And I don’t regret having been unlucky in love before meeting you, because we were meant to be together from the moment we were born.”
“I wish we could spend all day in bed, but the ceremony to celebrate our bonding is today,” Ryder announced.
“So soon?” Danny asked, his eyes growing wide.
“Don’t tell me you’d rather wait.”
“I won’t tell you that. Only that… your parents… I mean, your dad especially…”
Ryder cradled Danny’s head on his arm and caressed his face with the other hand. “Actually, it was him who suggested that we start our official bonded life together as soon as possible. And even impossible,” he added with a chuckle.
“Really?” Danny couldn’t believe his ears. “What did he say exactly? And when did all this happen?”
“Just before we left for the city so you could hand in your resignation from your place of employment. I wanted to surprise you with the news after you concluded all your business with that foul place.”
“Okay.” Danny blinked a couple of times. “Now, remember every word he said. Don’t leave anything out.”
Ryder laughed and rubbed his nose against Danny’s cheek. It looked like his wolfshifter mate couldn’t miss one chance to sniff him and get as close as he could. “He said that my mate deserved a proper welcome to the pack, and that I should make sure that you didn’t start to feel longing for your place in the human world. He even sounded worried as he said those words.”
“That is quite the change of heart,” Danny said. “I thought he hated my guts.”
“No, he didn’t,” Ryder said back. “Like any proud wolf, he dislikes the idea of showing weakness of any sort. Even if he loves my mother very much, he doesn’t allow himself to rely on her unless there is no other way. And you, a stranger to our pack, a human even, came and pulled him from the arms of death. Only that you’re not a stranger, and you’re not a mere human, either.”
“I promise I won’t embarrassed him. I know,” Danny said, feeling good about thinking of a solution on how to deal with a proud wolf. “I will just ask your mom how he’s feeling. That way, I won’t remind him that he had to rely on a human to heal.”
“You’re too kind, my mate,” Ryder said, placing another gentle kiss on Danny’s lips.
“You say that a lot. Is it a bad thing?”
“Not for a healer.”
He was a healer. Yes, he was a healer and he would marry into Ryder’s family, which sounded awesome.
***
The moonlit clearing spread out before them, solemn with the self-imposed silence of all the wolves present. Only the wind in the trees could be heard at that hour, as Danny and Ryder walked toward the bonfire burning in the middle of the circle made by the pack members, old and young alike.
Ryder had received Danny from his friend Vince, as part of a ritual similar to what happened at human unions. He could read in his mate’s eyes the wonder of discovering everything anew, and his wolf’s heart fluttered with emotion. Within less than a month, he had despaired, he had fought, he had thought he had lost all, only for now to feel so much happiness.
His father walked close to them, dressed in the richly-adorned robe designed for just such a great ceremony.
“Tonight,” Anthony’s sonorous voice echoed through the trees, reaching each member of the pack, “beneath the watchful eye of out mistress, the Moon, we stand witness to a bond forged by fate and strengthened by choice. My son has found his mate.”
Ryder felt Danny squeezing his hand hard. At least he wasn’t the only one feeling overwhelmed by emotion.
His father continued, lifting his arms. “To you, Danny, I offer these words: You do not walk alone. You are now part of our family, our pack. Our blood will guard you, our strength will stand with you. May you always find safety in our den, warmth in our fires, and love in my son’s arms.”
Danny mumbled something, expressing his gratitude. To Ryder’s relief, his father didn’t look displeased with the interruption, only smiling benevolently.
“To my child, I say this: Love fiercely. Protect without hesitation. Let your bond be unbreakable, as eternal as the stars above. And when the path is dark, may you always find each other’s light.”
Ryder bowed solemnly.
“From this night forward, you are no longer two—you are one. May your love be fierce, your loyalty unshaken, and your souls forever bound like roots in the earth. With the blessing of our ancestors, the strength of our pack and the light of our mistress the Moon, we welcome this union. May you run together, always.”
The pack erupted in a long howl that sounded through the trees of Pinemoor for a long time. Ryder no longer heard it, as he took Danny in his arms and kissed him deeply.
***
Danny truly felt as if he was waking up to a new life. He had expected the light of day to bring with it a certain awkwardness, something that would tell him that he would need a long time to become part of Ryder’s family. But pack members everywhere welcomed him with greetings and good wishes, as well as open faces and eyes that told him he now belonged here.
Ryder joined him when he was half-way to the house where Vince, Jack, and Theodore lived. Danny wanted to offer them his help again, and he was grateful for Ryder’s presence, because they had to start talking about how to actually assist their friends in their quest of finding Theodore’s pack’s lands.
“Theodore is very proud, but I believe Vince and Jack will convince him to accept our help,” Danny said.
“He is an alpha. He will be hard to convince,” Ryder reminded him. “But I, too, have great trust in your friend and the city clairvoyant.”
“Is Jack still a city clairvoyant, though? Like me, he came from there, but his place is now somewhere else.”
“You are right, my mate,” Ryder said and took his hand.
Danny felt his heart soaring only walking like this with his beloved mate. He wished Vince, Jack, and Theodore would soon know the same happiness.
He knocked on the door, since there were no signs of life anywhere outside. Could it be they were still sleeping at this hour? Or were they outside, hunting, or simply enjoying the beautiful landscape?
Ryder tried the door, sensing his hesitation. It was unlocked. They walked in, calling for the three guys who should have been there.
Danny was the first to notice the note on the kitchen counter. It was held in place on the smooth surface by a piece of pink bubblegum and had been written on the back of a fortunetelling card in small, tortured letters that filled every inch of available space.
“Ryder,” he called out.
His mate joined him right away.
“I think they left,” Danny said, handing him the note.
Ryder read it out loud.
“I’m not supposed to leave a note or anything because Theo is a few tin-foil hats short of a conspiracy theorist, but I find it rude for us to leave without doing so. So, here’s the thing: yo, guys, we’re going beyond the veil. We’ll meet again soon. I hope. By the way, Danny and Ryder, that wedding (bonding) cake was wild.”
The End
Author's note: Yes, this is the end to this story :) But fret not, I will start posting the sequel, featuring Jack, Vince, and Theodore, starting next week.
I'm so happy that you stuck with me until the end.
And to say goodbye to the faithful readers now...
@Derek - one of your wishes came through... we did have the ceremony in the epilogue!
@Mark Mortland - thank you for enjoying my lil' story so much! It really means a lot! And they will live happily ever after :)
@DavidB - thank you for being here for every chapter drop! Next time, new adventures begin!
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