Epilogue
Five years later…
Catherine kneaded the dough in front of her, slid it to the side and started on the next. She continued this way for nearly an hour before she noticed someone standing in the doorway. Catherine glanced over and squealed. Juno raised her hands just in time to catch her friend.
“Careful, careful,” Juno said with a wide smile.
Catherine stepped back and touched her friend’s round belly. “Right, right, sorry. How are you feeling?”
Juno rolled her eyes. “Large. This one’s got me going to the bathroom a hundred times a day. I wish he would just get here,” she scolded her stomach.
“It’s your fault for getting pregnant so quickly after Lydia,” Catherine joked.
“Eh, once you’ve had three it’s just kind of like riding a bike,” Juno said with a wave of her hand. “Come on, we’re going to be late. Do you always have to be
covered in flour?”
Catherine laughed. “It’s the only thing they’ll let me do now!”
Catherine and Juno walked arm in arm down the hallway and up the stairs, nodding at those who greeted them as they passed.
“So…” Juno began as they neared the office for the Blackmoore Alpha.
“So, what?” Catherine asked.
“Is this meeting for what I think it’s for?” Juno asked with a wiggle of her eyebrows and a pointed look to Catherine’s stomach.
Catherine laughed as they entered the office. Her eyes immediately locked on the powerful lycan sitting behind the desk with his fingers interlocked and a stern expression. He looked up and his eyes immediately softened.
“No,” Catherine finally answered, unable to tear her eyes away from her mate. “We’re still not ready for that. We are happy just the two of us for now.”
“Well you better get on it!” Lucas jabbed, standing from his leaned position against Graham’s desk. “We’re nearly four deep already and, Theo, you just had your what? Seventeenth?”
“Six, dumbass,” Theo said, though his pride shone brightly. Then his face wrinkled, he turned to Natalie. “Six?” Natalie laughed and rolled her eyes before nodding. “Six.”
“A set of triplets, twins and a single? No, thank you,” Juno said while rubbing a hand down her own stomach.
“Never say never, Babe,” Lucas chuckled.
“Don’t,” Juno warned with narrowed eyes and a scolding finger.
Catherine walked around the desk and allowed Graham to pull her onto his lap.
Natalie and Theo sat together on the couch while Juno and Lucas took the chairs opposite the desk. Graham rubbed his hand down Catherine’s back. His nose ran along the back of her neck making her shiver.
You’re getting close, Baby, he whispered to her mind. Even in her head he sounded husky.
We’ll leave for the cabin once the meeting is over. Keep it in your pants.
No promises.
“So…” Lucas said, smacking his thighs. “What brings us here today? Got an announcement?” he asked with the same eyebrow wiggle and pointed look his own mate had given earlier.
1/3
Catherine shook her head. “It’s true what they say. After a while mates become mirror images of each other.”
Catherine understood why her friends were so eager for her to get pregnant. Not only had all of their friends become parents to at least one child, she and Graham were expected to have an heir for the Blackmoore pack. Even if they were eager to have children, though, there were several reasons to wait. First, they had an eternity to have children. Second, they had been enjoying the peace their diligent work sustained. Diligent work that would diminish once they brought a child into their world. Third, and most important, they knew their children would likely be gifted and be in danger from the moment they were born. They decided to wait, and they were content with that decision… for now.
“You’re one to talk,” Natalie quipped, bringing Catherine out of her thoughts. “When was the last time you two were apart for more than a day?”
Graham and Catherine exchanged a look. Graham held a finger up. “Last week, I went to Sterling.”
“That was four hours, Dude,” Theo said with a shake of his head.
“That long?” Graham asked with a wink.
“Soooo, it’s not a baby? Lucas asked, looking at his mate for confirmation. Juno closed her eyes and shook her head. “Damn.”
“I had a vision,” Catherine said without preamble.
Everyone in the room exchanged looks. Catherine only had sporadic visions over the last few years. The first one came a few months before Juno became pregnant with her first child. Catherine saw her friend holding a sweet baby boy with rosy cheeks and his father’s eyes.
Though her visions were random, some important, some not, they always came true. This one came a week ago. Despite the fact that her visions were always accurate, Graham felt he had to investigate it first before calling a meeting.
“What was it?” Theo asked, gripping Natalie about the waist in a protective embrace.
She understood his reservation. The last vision she had showed Natalie having a miscarriage. It was a vision she prayed wouldn’t come true, but unfortunately did. Catherine glanced at Graham and he gave a nod.
“It’s Julia,” Catherine said.
“Julia? You know where she is?” Lucas asked, sitting up straighter.
Catherine nodded but Graham answered. “Catherine had a vision that Julia was making her way through pack alphas again. In the vision she gets between two men and their packs start a war with each other.”
“Classy,” Natalie scoffed.
“I reached out to Toma. He and Timone did some digging around at packs in their area and it appears the vision is already in motion,” Graham continued.
“I don’t get it. What’s the big deal? Let the wolves work it out between themselves. This certainly wouldn’t be the first war between wolves since we took on our new roles,” Lucas said with a dismissive gesture.
Graham nudged Catherine’s shoulder. “It’s not that simple. It’s the child I saw caught in the middle. A gifted child.”
“A gifted wolf?” Theo asked.
“The first,” Graham agreed. “Born the day Jensen passed. An orphan.”
“Wow,” Theo said with a loud breath out. “So what? What do you need?”
“Ohhh shit,” Lucas said, sanding his hands together. “Are we getting the old gang back together?”
Graham smiled and his arms flexed around Catherine. The tattoos on his right arm stood out, tattoos that had not been added to in five years. Her mate was itching for a fight. Old habits die hard. It seemed the five years of peace they’d sustained was making him antsy for action.
“What do you think?” Graham asked. “For old time’s sake?”
2/3
“Oh, hell yeah,” Theo said with a nod. The beta was just as ready for a fight as his alpha.
“When does it start?” Lucas asked, an answer in and of itself.
Graham looked Catherine over and felt her forehead to gauge her current heat. “What do you think, Baby? Two days?”
“You think that’ll be enough?” she asked, her rising heat making her a bit more daring in front of their friends.
Graham chuckled and looked back at his friends. “Make it four.”
Author’s Note
Thank you to everyone who read “Surrendering To Destiny. Whether it was just a few paragraphs or all 138 chapters, your support means more than you’ll ever know. This platform has allowed thousands of y’all to read something I truly loved writing and I will forever be grateful for that. I have several projects in the works including a new mafia romance entitled “Accardi” now available. For more on my writing journey, please follow me on instagram at
