Stone-Hearted Alpha by Eve Bale

Epilogue

“Inever thought I’d ever get so much pleasure seeing something being destroyed,” I murmur against Jeremy’s chest as he holds me against him.

“You and me both,” Talis says, from a few feet away, rubbing her pregnant belly.

At five months, what was a gentle curve is now a full-on bump, and the level of Dayne’s possessiveness as he stands guard over her makes me feel a touch sorry for her.

Then I remember what Jeremy is like and I know with utter certainty he’ll be a million times worse when it’s our turn.

“I know what you’re thinking, you know,” the object of my thoughts mutters darkly, “and I don’t think I appreciate it.”

I stand on my tiptoes to press a kiss on his lips. “But I notice you didn’t deny it,” I say once I’ve pulled back.

Before he can respond, there’s a sound of a truck pulling up, and I turn to see it’s Jackson wearing a red and black checked shirt in a battered blue truck.

“I’ll be right back,” Jeremy says, giving me one last kiss before he goes to help Jackson with the beers and other barbeque food he picked up from the store for our late afternoon get-together.

Although we could’ve eaten back at the rental the Blackshaw pack has once again claimed as home for the weekend, we all wanted to be here to see Talis’ old hellhole of a home go down.

Now that it lies in ruins with the destruction team gone not too long ago, it’s time to rebuild and turn what was once a place filled with pain and darkness into something new.

Jackson is ready to get to work rebuilding a pack in Dawley, and that means starting with a home.

“So, Paris, huh?” Talis asks, turning her back on her old home to face me.

“Yeah, Paris,” I say, watching the Stone brothers unload Jackson’s truck.

“He’s… uh. Kind of—” Talis stops, and I turn to see what stopped her.

Dayne glowering down at her proves to be it.

“Yeah.” I sigh, torn between staring at the muscles straining beneath Jackson’s shirt and checking out Jeremy’s ass. “I know, right?”

“Savannah, don’t encourage her,” Dayne snaps before shaking his head. “So, how long will you guys be gone?”

I shrug. “I don’t know. I’d like to show Jeremy everywhere and go to all the places I never had a chance to.”

“But being an airhead model got in the way, huh?” Regan says, slipping in beside me.

“I was never an airhead,” I tell her. “But I get what you’re trying to say. I don’t know what I’ll do next, but I’ve got savings, and Jeremy’s promised to make sure I never run out of ramen, so I think I’ll be okay.”

“Well, it looks like between him and Jackson, everything is well in hand here,” Dayne says, in a way that has me narrowing my eyes at him in suspicion.

“You knew,” I guess.

“He told me a little about what they wanted to do, and I can’t say I wasn’t relieved to hear it. The Merrick situation needed dealing with, but there was no way I was going to leave Talis to clean it up.”

I gape at him. “But you were only in your office for five, ten minutes, max.”

“There wasn’t a lot that needed to be said. Namely that he would take care of you, and deal with the situation here. Once I knew that my mind was at rest.”

“Well, you might have said something to me about it,” I grumble.

“But you’re okay?” Dayne asks, his voice casual, but his eyes intense, probing.

I reach out and grab his arm because he’s family and I need to touch him. “Yeah, I think I will be,” I tell him. And for the first time since he asked me years ago, after he killed Owen and came to find me, I mean it.

“Good.” He wraps his arm around my shoulder in a hard hug before pulling away and ruffling my hair until I glare at him. He grins down at me, unrepentant.

Family.

It’s going to be hard, being away from them all. Being so far away. But a late-night talk with Jeremy led to an argument about where we could get the best pastries. I insisted Paris, and he said New York, and he told me to prove it.

So, I said why not.

Since we don’t have any plans for the future, we figure why not do some traveling first, and with us gone, Jackson can take over our apartment if he wants instead of staying in the big rental by the national forest.

“Anyhoo, who’s muscles?” Regan asks, her eyes fixed on Jackson’s ass as he finishes unloading the last of the cases of beer for our BBQ.

“Jackson,” I say. “Jeremy’s brother.”

“Oh, he’s…”

I never find out what Regan was going to say because she suddenly stops speaking.

I glance at Jackson to see what’s caught her attention and find his eyes fixed in our direction.

Without a word to Jeremy, Jackson shoves the last crate of beer at him, forcing him to take it or drop it.

“Jackson, what the fuck?” Jeremy snarls.

But Jackson isn’t paying the least bit of attention to his brother. He leaps from the top of his truck and then he’s moving toward us. Fast.

I frown at the intensity in his eyes. “I wonder what—”

Only, like Regan, I never get to finish my sentence because I turn to discover she is no longer standing beside me.

No, Regan’s sprinting off into the forest.

“Hey!” Jackson roars. “Come back here!”

We all stand around, mouths hanging half opened as Jackson tears off after Regan into the forest, wondering what the hell just happened.

To find out what has Regan running

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