She started to argue, but I put my thumb over her mouth. She glared.

“Don’t interrupt. It’s my turn.” I removed my thumb and kissed her, making sure she knew I’d been teasing. She glared again, but I kept going. “I like stubborn and the wolf is patient. We will slowly, thoroughly overwhelm you with so much love that you won’t doubt. You’re mine, Lou. I’m yours.”

I kissed her again, because I could. “And as far as I’m concerned, that’s the end of it. We’ll fight, we’ll argue, and there will be days where you probably want to hex me. But at the end of the day, every day, every week, until months pile into years, you will know that I will never, ever regret choosing you.”

Lou sniffed, her eyes full. “Pretty hard to argue when you say stuff like that.”

“You can argue if you want to.” I brushed a kiss across her cheek. “We have time now, Lou. That’s all I’m saying. We’ll figure everything else out together as we go.”

She kept her eyes wide, trying to not let the tears fall.

“It’s okay to cry,” I said gently. “I won’t tell anyone and ruin your badass image.”

“Badasses can cry,” she said, sniffing again.

“Yes, they can.”

She gave in and closed her eyes, tears going down her cheeks so slowly that I easily caught them with my thumbs and brushed them away. “Your secret is safe with me.”

Lou laughed, kissing me because she could, and I let her, trying to hold it all in my mind. It was a memory I’d want to keep for a long time. When life was hard, trying to break me down, I’d want to remember this moment when I felt whole, happy, and loved. I had enough bad memories. I was looking forward to building more good ones with the people I loved most.

Epilogue

Six Months Later

Lou

The trees outside Wulver Craft Brewery were a riot of color—fall in all of her glory. The day was cold, the sky clear, blue and bright. The kind of day that made you think of hayrides and hot apple cider. I couldn’t keep the smile off my face.

My wolf, however, was currently having a minor meltdown.

“What if they changed their mind?” Declan fidgeted. He’d been a ball of fidgets all day. Right now he was shifting his weight back and forth between his feet, and he kept looking up and down the street. “I should have picked them up from the airport.”

Tomorrow would be Zoey and Sid’s big prewedding dinner, but tonight was family only. Since Declan’s fussing had been driving everyone else crazy, I’d dragged him outside to wait, giving the brides-to-be a moment to themselves. Zoey was excited to see the twins, too, but she’d seized some alone time with Sidney with both hands. They wouldn’t get much of it until they were off on their honeymoon.

Though the formal dinner wasn’t until tomorrow, we’d both dressed up a little. And I have to say, my wolf cleaned up nice. His jeans were new, as was the thin black sweater that hugged his frame. He’d even shaved. It was the first time I’d ever seen all of his face without the beard. He’d told me that he thought it would be easier on the twins—they’d never seen him with a beard, and he wanted to make himself as familiar to them as possible.