A Wolf's Pride (60 page)

God, I love
this woman
.

The same
thought ran through Chloe’s mind before thought fled leaving
emotion and sensation to rein supreme. But how could it be any
different? They were mates after all and the instinct was never
wrong.

Epilogue

Two years
later

Chloe walked
down the halls of the estate, making her way to the exit, a smile
on her face and heat in her veins. Tonight was a full moon and she
was very much looking forward to all that it entailed.

“
Chloe?”

The sound of
her voice being called made her stop and turn around. She frowned
when she saw her brother, Daniel, walking towards her.
What on earth is he doing here? He’s got other,
more important, places to be tonight.

“
Dan, what’s
going on?”

“
Nothing, I
just wanted to talk to you. About what?”

He scowled at
his sister. “About the claiming.”

“
Oh, okay.” She
started walking again, Daniel quickly falling into step with her.
“Are you nervous?” she began. “Is that why you’re here instead of
where you’re meant to be?”

“
Of course I’m
nervous Chloe.”

“
Why? Amanda
loves you and you love her. You’ve already married her, I don’t
really see what the problem is.”

He twisted
the golden band on his ring finger, smiling faintly as thoughts of
his wife floated into his mind. He couldn’t imagine life without
her and every time he looked into her bright blue eyes he was
eternally grateful to his sister. “I know I’ve married her Chloe,
but marriage is so temporary compared to mating. Once we do this
there’s no going back.”

“
I still don’t
see what the problem is.” Her responses were becoming increasingly
terse; her mind was on Ryan, her body thrumming with need for him
already. She shouldn’t have had to worry about her brother on the
night of the full moon. There was only one male who should be
preoccupying her thoughts and he was waiting for her, waiting to
take her body to heights of pleasure she could barely even process.
“When you love someone, permanency is a good thing.”

“
I know that
Chloe but I’m not good enough for her. All my relationships before
her ended horribly and quickly, what if I do the same thing to her?
She deserves better than to be tied to me forever especially after
the horrors of her first mate.”

“
Elijah?”

He snarled
angrily. “If the bastard were still alive, I’d skin him, then pull
out his organs one by one until he died.”

She rolled
her eyes at his colourful description. “It’s no wonder you and Ryan
get along so well now that you’re not trying to kill each
other.”

“
That’s another
point against me Chloe. I was trying to hunt her people. Who
knows…if you hadn’t met Ryan when you did and made us see sense, I
might have hunted her. I could have killed her Chloe. How can she
still want to bind us together knowing that?”

She sighed,
sympathising with his plight. “Love, as I like to say, is blind,
deaf, dumb and stupid. It doesn’t work on reason or logic. It just
is. Just as I know the sun will rise tomorrow, I know I’ll love
Ryan despite all the mistakes he’ll inevitably make. And the same
applies to you and Amanda. Would you ever deliberately hurt
her?”

“
Never!” His
tone was adamant, his expression showing just how shocked he was at
the very suggestion.

“
Then I
guarantee your marriage won’t end the way your relationships did
before you met her. Maybe it was fate that those relationships
ended badly. If they hadn’t you might already be taken and then
where would Amanda be? She really loves you and I’ve seen how you
are with her. You treat her like she’s made of glass. If I didn’t
know better, I’d suspect that you were a werewolf with the way you
act around her; especially towards others you even just suspect
might harm her. That’s what it means to be in love.”

“
And what about
the other thing Chloe? No matter how much time passes, nothing will
change the fact that I used to hunt her people. I could have killed
her.”

“
But you
didn’t. If Amanda can look past that fact then so can you. Dan, the
simple fact is that if you don’t go through with this you’ll lose
her. You’ll die and then she’ll be all alone, is that what you
want?”

“
I don’t want
to live without her and I never want her to be alone.”

“
Then I think
you know what to do
Lord
Daniel,” she teased.

He groaned in
response. “I love Amanda, but I’m not sure I want the title that
comes with her. It’s a lot of responsibility.”

“
But she’s
worth it,” Chloe responded simply.

“
But she’s
worth it,” he agreed.

The doors
were now in sight and Chloe’s heart sped up, her pace quickening as
eagerness washed over her. She wanted to be outside with Ryan, she
wanted to try again. Ryan was desperate to be a parent, he loved
children and there was nothing more he wanted than for her to have
his children but over the two years they’d been together they
hadn’t achieved his dream. Erica's pregnancy had only made him more
determined to have children with her. His eagerness was infectious.
Tonight was another, fresh opportunity. She was a hand’s breadth
away from the door when Daniel stopped her. A low growl slipped
past her lips, she had clearly been spending far too much time
around her much more aggressive mate.

“
Chloe, I want
to say thank you again. I know I say it practically every time I
see you but I want to say it again. If it weren’t for you I
wouldn’t even be here, I’d still be wrapped up in a life of
unjustifiable hatred and I wouldn’t have Amanda.”

She smiled
faintly though she was almost desperate to open the doors. “I’m not
entirely selfless Dan, once Amanda and you have gone through the
claiming then I’ll have at least one family member to grow with
into eternity.”

“
Now all we’ve
got to do is find someone for Christian and Jonathan,” he
laughed.

“
I’m not a
miracle worker,” she gasped, clutching her chest dramatically. “You
were the best of a bad bunch. Now enough about this, your mate is
waiting for you.”
And mine is waiting for
me.
“Good luck Daniel.”

She turned
from him and slipped out into the night. Over the years she had
become used to the dark, her fears of the creatures that lurked
within it dimming until it was barely there. She was confident
enough now to simply take off running without the assistance of a
car and she did so with gusto, speeding off into the night. Her
feet pounded hard against the earth as she ran with no direction in
mind. It didn’t matter where she went, Ryan was out there and he
would find her. Minutes passed before she heard a dark growl beside
her ear, a warm body behind her, scorching hands reaching for
her.

“
Found you
angel.”

“
That you did,”
she purred, twisting her body round to face him and pressing the
curves of her body against him. He growled at the increased contact
and a small feminine smile crept onto her lips.

He lifted her
easily into his arms and ran quickly towards their small hideaway.
The cabin was vastly different from the one room shack it had been
when he’d first claimed her, rooms having been added over time
until it was more like a home than a temporary getaway. His body
was thrumming with need, the wolf’s voice becoming louder with each
step closer to their shelter for the night. Once they were within
the safety of its walls, he pounced like any true predator,
ravaging her body until she could barely speak. He played her body
like an instrument designed solely for pleasure, taking her again
and again until the moon faded from sight and the sun began its
ascent into the sky. Her limbs were tangled within his, her
breathing beginning to stabilise as he finally let her rest. Though
his body was sated, he wasn’t satisfied. He had waited and waited
for his wolf to speak up, to recognise they had achieved their
secondary objective, the first being their mate’s pleasure, but it
had said nothing. With a heavy heart, he pulled his sleeping mate
close, pressing gentle kisses to her scalp.

“
I love you
angel. We’ve got forever to try for kids. I’ll let you rest for a
while, maybe I’ve been pushing you too hard.” She was his equal in
so many ways, never backing down from her position if she believed
him to be wrong that it was so easy to forget her body was still
human with much too human needs.
She’s
been so tired lately. I need to let her get some rest. I’ve got to
take care of my precious angel.
He sighed,
brushing a hand lightly over her bare arm when he felt his wolf
begin to stir.

Pups,
it said proudly.

Are you
serious? I didn’t think we’d managed it.

Pups,
the wolf repeated, it’s voice just as certain as
it had always been.

Ryan laughed,
the joyous sound infectious before his hand lowered, creeping over
Chloe’s soft skin and coming to rest on the gentle curve of her
stomach. He was going to be a father.
Girls or boys? Or maybe one of each?
he asked the wolf.

The wolf
paused, inhaling deeply.
No idea, it’s too
early to tell.

I hope we
have girls, angels just like their mother.

They’ll be
beautiful.
The wolf reminded
him.

All the more
reason to help Tobias with his tower idea. I might need one for
myself.

“
Ryan.”

The drowsy
sound of his name on Chloe’s lips brought an even wider smile to
his face. He’d sacrificed, bled, changed even thrown away some of
his god forsaken pride to be with this woman, this angel in his bed
and he didn’t regret a thing.

----------The
End----------

About the
Author

Jennifer T.
Alli lives in London and spends her days praying for sun. She
adores hearing from her readers and can always be reached at
[email protected]
. For
information on upcoming releases and contests visit her at:
www.jennifertalli.wordpress.com
. To take a look into her daily writing process then she can
be found on twitter @jennyt82_