Page 31 of Make Me
“Consider it done.”
And just like that, it hits me.
The peace.
The kind of quiet happiness I’ve never really trusted, let alone claimed for myself. And maybe that’s what makes this moment so life-altering. Not just the fact that I have a mate and that I have my wolf back, but I’m finally free.
There’s no more hiding or just surviving this life.
The contentment that fills me is unlike anything I’ve experienced, and as I hold onto this moment, I realize something that cements my peace.
I never needed a coin to decide my fate. I just needed me.Allof me.
Now I have her and so much more.
A future worth holding onto with everything I am and everything I’ll become.
Epilogue
TALON
It’s been two weeks since the All Hallows Eve ball and the night that everything changed, all for the better. And yet, I still wake each morning half-expecting the dream to end. That this—Kasha and us—is some fragile illusion I’m not meant to hold.
But each time I open my eyes, she’s there. In my arms or by my side.
Today, she’s curled up on the couch, blanket twisted around her legs, an old book propped open on her lap. Her copper hair tumbles down one shoulder in relaxed waves, the morning light catching the gold in it like trapped flames. She’s mouthing the words as she reads, and every now and then, I sense her wolf stirring beneath the surface: content, aware, and settled.
She’shome. Not just in Crossroads but in herself.
Gods, I could live a thousand more years and never grow tired of looking at my mate like this.
Kasha glances up, one brow lifting in that mischievous way that tells me she’s already guessedexactly where my thoughts are. “You planning to stare at me all day, or do you need something?”
I close the space between us in three strides, press a kiss to the top of her head, and wrap my arm around her as I pull her closer like it’s the most natural thing in the world. Because it is now.
“I do,” I murmur against her hair. “I need you.”
Her eyes soften, and that smile—slightly guarded, always a little wild—breaks across her face. I’ll never forget the first time I saw it. And now I get to see it every damn day.
The bond hums between us, low and constant. Not a tug or a flare, but a pulse, like breath and instinct wrapped into one. Our wolves’ spirits reach for each other just as we do, brushing across that unseen space with ease, as if they’ve been doing this forever.
Kasha throws the blanket off, setting her book down as her chest rumbles. “We’re never going to leave this house if you keep looking at me like that.”
“I told you,” I say, tightening my grip on her waist as I tug her into my lap, “I’m good with that.”
Just as I get her shirt halfway off, the front door slams open with the force of a small storm. “I’ve waited long enough! Where is he?”
A woman barrels into the living room like a war goddess on a mission. Her white-blonde hair is twisted up in a messy bun, her blue eyes blazing with equal parts fury and curiosity. She doesn’t hesitate or bother to knock. Hell, I’m not even sure she’s breathing. She just barges in and glares around the room until she sees us.
“Seriously?” she snaps, planting her hands on herhips as her gaze flicks between me and Kasha. “You’restillgoing at it?”
From outside, a calm voice calls, “I told you to leave them be.”
She whirls around and glares over her shoulder. “And I said no.”
Kasha groans softly, tugging her shirt back down as she stands, smoothing her tousled hair as if this is normal behavior. “Spencer,” she says, her tone laced with exasperation and affection.
Of course. The infamous best friend.
