Epilogue Part Four- Auðr

Sage and their family are right about one thing: their Goddess always has a plan. I’d never thought about why I’d had the dreams about Eclipse back when I was human. I never realized the cute guy who’d bought me a drink and tried to chat me up at the club the night I died was a werewolf, let alone my mate. It’s weird to know now. It was strange that Miles and his Eclipse wolf appeared as a warning to Sage and me after our marking.

I already didn’t like Joar and the others, so to hear it was his ancestor who killed Miles wasn’t a shocker. I want to trust Christian and the others. I know it’s unfair to hold the father’s sins against the son, so I will give those boys the benefit of the doubt. However, the benefit of the doubt has only extended so far. If I get even the slightest inkling that they are a danger to Sage, I’ll rip their fucking heads off.

I didn’t feel safe in Steelcrest during the day. It wasn’t that I’d be their target. Though now that we’re mated, killing me would be a quick way to kill Sage. Yet it wasn’t my safety that I worried about. I couldn’t be with Sage during the day. I had to trust Christian, Elton, and Otto but couldn’t. I just fucking couldn’t.

So, after Sage had fallen asleep, I stepped out of the room and texted the wolves of our family to ask them to meet me. It was late, but River, Leo, Hale, Austin, Erin, Suzie, Léonel, Léonel’s niece Evalyn, Léonel’s nephew Daxton, and Léonel’s younger brother Ruben all found me quickly.

“What’s going on?” River asked.

“Where’s Sage?” Erin asked.

“Are they all right?” Hale asked.

“What’s the emergency, uncle?” Léonel asked.

“Sage is fine,” I assured everyone, holding my hands up.

“They are inside sleeping. Let’s take this into another room,” I suggested, pointing to a door.

No one questioned. They just filed into the room. I don’t know my way around, but thankfully, I’d randomly chosen the library, so there was enough room for the crowd of Shelton, Carlisle, and Darby wolves. I ran my hand over my face and leaned on the table in the center of the room. How was I going to explain this to them?

“Uncle Auðr? What’s wrong? Why did you call for us on the night of your marking?” Ruben asked.

“Which, by the way, the Carlisle eclipse looks good.” River nodded to the mark on my neck that matched theirs and Leo’s.

“It’s about the marking,” I sighed.

“Before anyone asks, it went fine. I’m marked, Sage is marked, and our bond is complete. But… after we marked, we went to a different plane and saw Miles Blackburn.” I began.

“Who?” River wrinkled their nose.

“A man, apparently a werewolf, I’d met the night I died. I was supposed to be his mate back then, but I died, and so did he. He was the first to have the prophesized eclipse wolf. He told us that he was murdered by the Steelcrest Beta, Lorens Isaksen. He warned us not to trust the ranked wolves and to secure our line somehow.” I explained.

“Fucking hell,” Austin exclaimed, running his hand over his face.

“To be clear, Auðr, you’re saying that Sage is in danger from everyone in the Isaksen, Almstedt, and Akselsen families?” Hale asked.

“Sage truly believes that the boys, Christian, Elton, and Otto, are on their side. I want to believe that too, but you don’t live as long as I have and trust anyone easily.” I said.

“But why seek out Sage? Why encourage their mating with you? Why invite us here to witness your ascension of power, Uncle?” Evalyn asked.

I smiled at the soft-spoken girl. She reminds me a lot of my sister, making me want to hug the breath out of her.

“Because they don’t have an alpha, and the prophecy is known enough that it’s the only thing standing between them and claiming it for themselves,” Ruben said. “Am I picking up on your thought process?”

“Exactly, Ruben.” I nodded. “They are playing along with the prophecy because it’s what the pack expects, but if some misfortune should befall Sage..”

“I’ll kill everyone fucking one of them,” Erin growled, her new moon wolf coming out a little. “No one touches one of my babies and lives.”

“It’s going to be okay, Erin. None of us will let anything bad happen to Sage.” Hale promised, wrapping his arm around his mate and kissing her temple.

“That’s why you called for all of us.” Léonel nodded. “You can’t watch over Sage during the day, so you want us to.”

“Bingo.” I nodded.

“Don’t worry. We won’t let anything happen to my twin.” River promised.

“Appreciate it. Someone from the family should stay with them at all times. I want to trust the boys, but I want them watched as carefully as their dads and granddads.” I outlined.

“We can handle that. No one will question Sage’s siblings hanging around them tomorrow.” Austin nodded.

“Evalyn and I can watch their dads.” Daxton offered.

“Ruben and I will watch the elders.” Léonel offered.

“Perfect. Hale and Erin, can you check around where the ceremony is being held? Look for anything out of place, especially check the oath cup. I expect they’d want it to look like an accident or at least be untraceable to them.” I said.

“We’ll handle it. Return to Sage, and rest assured your family will watch over them.” Hale nodded.

“Leo and I will keep tabs on your room. An attack on you is possible, and during the day, you’re vulnerable. It could be seen as an accident for a window covering to malfunction, allowing in the sun,” Suzie suggested.

“Very well. It sounds like you’ve got everything covered. I’ll see you tomorrow night, and with luck, all these precautions will be for nothing.” I nodded as I left to crawl back into bed with Sage.

I only slept because my body required me to. My brain was restless the whole time, aware of every tiny sound in the unfamiliar room. More than that, my mind was hyper-aware of every change in Sage’s emotions throughout the day. I hadn’t told them I had their family and mine watching out for anything suspicious before morning, though I’m certain someone, likely their twin, told them. I was certain of it when I finally woke up to find Sage straddling me, their expression between adoring and annoyance.

“Good evening to you, too, Skittles.” I smiled sleepily at them.

“You had our families watching me, the elders, the current ranked wolves, and sniffing all around the place,” Sage whispered scolded.

“Did you expect me to do nothing after what Miles told us? I wouldn’t be awake and at your side. Precautions were needed, and the only people who could be trusted were families.” I shrugged.

“Well, no. A heads-up would’ve been nice. Austin and River were so far up my ass that the guys questioned if there was some weird going on with me and my siblings.” Sage sighed.

“I don’t control your brother and even less your twin. They volunteered to stick with you.” I said. “Did anything happen?”

“Not really. I mean, Suzie punched a maid who tried to come into our room in the middle of the day. She was just trying to do her job and wasn’t armed with anything besides cleaning supplies. Leo reminded the girl that you’re a vampire and would still be asleep in the room. No harm was done, and Suzie was off the hook ‘cause she was protecting your sleep.” Sage recounted.

“Good to know she’s on our side. I hope the maid didn’t get roughed up too badly, though shifter healing and all.” I chuckled.

“That’s so true. Now, come on. I brought you some blood bags, and then we must prepare for the oath ceremony.” Sage smiled as they moved to get off me.

“Food later.” I smiled, grabbing Sage and rolling them to their back.

I was so relieved that nothing had gone amiss during the day. There was no way I was letting Sage out of this bed without fucking them. Sage laughed but didn’t protest when I kissed them and started undressing them, making my intentions clear. It was a quickie but a needed one. I wasn’t getting through tonight without fucking them first. It was fun and grounding to start my night with sex.

After our fun, I drank the two blood bags, showered, and dressed for the oath ceremony. I was on high alert as we walked from our room to the banquet hall. I was going to ask why we were inside when I’d expected this to be done outside, but seeing the white-out conditions out the windows answered that. If someone tries something between the weather and the isolated location of the pack, we’ll be able to contain the threat quickly.