Saving the White Cougar by Terry Spear

Epilogue

Stella had always felt the issue with her being a white cougar set her at a disadvantage. Both because she would be a remarkable cougar to kill and for some hunter to brag about, but also because she was afraid no cougar would ever want her for a mate. Sure, that was because of her father always putting her down, but it made her believe all men would. And since she'd mostly dated humans, she really hadn't known how a cougar would feel about it. But with Ted, he'd been nothing but accepting and she couldn't have been more grateful to have found him and fallen head over heels for him. Like her, he'd had issues with a hateful father, and she loved how sweet he was with the Haverton kids, and others he worked with when they came out to the ranch to get riding lessons or just play. He would make a great father, she felt. And she was proud to have him for her mate.

Even today with everyone getting ready to have a big barbecue between Halloween and Thanksgiving, he was out there chasing the kids around, pretending to lasso them. When he wasn't doing that, he was teaching the other ones how to lasso a post, just to get the hang of it. She loved watching him having fun with the kids.

She loved riding with him too, and Hal and Tracey were giving her Celestina, the beautiful chestnut appaloosa she’d fallen in love with since the first day Ted had taken her for a ride on her.

The trial for Jeffrey Sims and his hunting buddies was scheduled for three months from now and Ted, Larry, Tracey, Kolby, and Bill, who would be flying in to take part, would be eyewitnesses for the prosecution. Three months after that, their home would be finished, and she and Ted couldn't wait to furnish it and move in.

The wedding was scheduled for two weeks after Christmas, and everyone wanted to come! She had learned that being a white cougar here, meant she was no longer a pariah. And she was glad for that. Thankfully, the new ranch hands and Kolby loved her cooking when she made meals for all the cowboys, and she loved Ted and Kolby's cooking too. They told her often enough, they would miss her when she moved with Ted to their home overlooking the river, but she knew Kolby was looking forward to taking over the master bedroom. She noted that the two new ranch hands hadn't said the same about Ted, though they all liked him, because he was also their boss and she figured they would feel freer to do what they wanted without him keeping an eye on them at the bunkhouse. But Ted had already told Kolby he had the job of keeping them in line if he needed to—since he was now the old hand. And Kolby was glad for the leadership role and helping Ted train the new guys.

She and Ted went out daily to check on the house too.

She loved working for Larry Pierce. He was like a father to her, treating her like family, not just an employee, which she hadn't expected. She would have made the worst mistake in her life if she hadn't come here and joined him. He was always full of praise for her.

Ted joined her after he let Kolby take over for him and pulled her into his arms and kissed her. "You're okay with going home to see my family for Thanksgiving, aren't you?"

"Yeah, you know it. I can't wait to see your sister and the rest of the family. I hope your sister is fine with me coming there."

"Are you kidding?" Ted wrapped his arms around her waist, her back to him and rested his hands on her belly. "Sooner or later, we'll be telling her we're having children of our own and she will want to spoil them rotten too. My sister will adore you. I have to say she was thrilled when my nephew, Scott, mated a fellow army officer, Nicole, and now she has a newfound friend to visit with when they come from Fort Hood for family gatherings. They will bring you into the fold and you'll have a great time."

Stella smiled, placing her hands on his. "That will be so nice. I haven't had a female cougar friend in forever, and I'm on the outs with my biological mother for siding with my father against me for being an oddity. And of course I don’t have anything to do with my adoptive parents either. It's so nice to feel like part of a family again."

He leaned over her shoulder and kissed her cheek. "You will have a lot of family, including all of the townsfolk of Yuma Town. I was afraid when I first met you, before you even shifted, that you might be a lone cougar. I've met a couple in my lifetime, and they felt safer living on their own, surrounded by humans, and running as cougars when they had time to—but alone. They believed it was sounder to do that, like cougars do, except for mothers with their offspring."

"Except one time there was a news report where a daddy cougar was staying in the den with the mother and her little ones. It had given me a lift to read the heartwarming article. There are exceptions to every rule. And maybe more males do that, but it's just not recorded."

"True. All I know is I'll be there for you when it happens."

She loved Ted for being who he was: genuine, kind, caring, and totally fun to be with.

* * *

Ted waseager to take Stella home with him, and his sister, Josephine, and niece, Janice, and her boys, Roy and Shawn, were excited to meet her. He knew they had all been exchanging texts and Instagram posts, the boys showing the drawings they had made, his sister showing Stella pictures of the stores she wanted to take her to, her mother making sure she knew just what Stella loved to eat and do before she came for Thanksgiving. And his sister had already bought tickets to see “Texas” at the Palo Duro outdoor theater in Canyon, Texas.

They were going for two weeks, and he had never spent that much time away from the Haverton's ranch, but he needed to do this for his family and for his new mate, and the Havertons were thrilled for him.

Kolby was most of all because he said he would be the foreman while Ted was gone, which had amused Ted.

Ted hugged Stella tighter.

"Hey, we'll still be here for Christmas and last year Kolby and I won the best Christmas tree contest—western themed. So we'll have to be working on that after Thanksgiving when we return home. Though we've got the wedding coming up after that."

"You probably wouldn't win the contest for another western-themed tree though. Maybe we'll have to come up with something different with the other guys. Or, we can just do it since we love western themed anyway."

"We can come up with ideas and put it to a vote," Ted said, glad she was game.

He loved taking Stella on daily rides to see their home built on the river. It would be built by spring, if the holidays and weather didn’t cause too much trouble. As much as he loved the newly renovated bunkhouse, it was time to have a home of his own with his mate, and someday, his children. He would still be the foreman for the ranch, though Kolby was eager to move into the master bedroom at the bunkhouse, elevating his living quarter's status, with the additional role of watching out for the new ranch hands.

"Hey, while everyone's busy playing, do you want to sneak away to the bunkhouse?" Ted asked.

"For some more loving? You bet, Cowboy. Whisk me away."

And he did just that, grabbed her up and hauled her off to the bunkhouse to make love to his beautiful and extraordinary mate. He loved her with all his heart.