Epilogue

Epilogue
It was almost new year’s eve. Bella stood looking out of the window and watched the snow-covered landscape. The snow fascinated her, as she wasn’t used to it. Graham, Logan, Bastian and Charlotte had taken Bella and Mickey out on the lake as soon as the ice was thick enough.

They had also been sledding and skiing. Bella had accepted that she would never be a talented skier. But she still had a lot of fun. Not to mention building snowmen and having snowball fights. She couldn’t wait to do all those things with the beans.

As if they knew she was thinking about them, they kicked and did what felt like somersaults. Bella sighed and placed her hands on her belly. She was huge, and she knew it. She couldn’t remember the last time she looked at her feet or could get up from the bed without getting help.

Graham loved it. She finally had to admit that she needed his help with just about everything and he took full advantages of it.

Graham walked into the living room and stood behind her, placing his hands next to her on her belly. The gesture made Bella smile and lean into him.

“They are wild today,” he said, kissing her shoulder.

“I think they are getting as restless as me,” she told him. He chuckled and rubbed her belly.

“Are you going to explain why Fred and Winston are out shuffling a path between the pack house and the hospital?” she asked.

“We need a clear path for when it’s time,” he simply said.

“Yes, but it’s still snowing, love,” she pointed out.

“You never know when it’s time. I have ordered that the path is to be kept clear at all times,” he told her.

“Gray, you are doing it again,” she sighed.

“It’s not being overprotective, it’s being prepared. You taught me that,” he smiled.

“Oh, lovely. You know it will be a miracle if anyone in the pack survives this pregnancy,” she said.

“Don’t be dramatic, Ellie,” he chuckled.

“Why are you here, by the way? Not that I’m not enjoying having you here. But I thought you had to do the last bookkeeping before the end of the year,” she asked.

“I did, well, I do. But I came to tell you that the memorial is finally here,” he said,

“Really?” she asked excitedly and turned around. “Can we have a look?” she then asked.

“They are putting it in place. When they are done, I will take you down to see it,” he told her.

“Thank you,” she said, giving him a kiss.

“There is something else, isn’t there?” she then asked, looking at him.

“There is,” he sighed.

“That bad?” she asked, worried.

“No, not really, just irritating. Sheriff Jones called,” he told her.

“Okay, what did he want?” Bella asked.

“He had gotten word that the internal investigation on inspector Frank had been concluded and he got suspended for a year for unprofessional behaviour,” Graham said.

“Well, that’s good news, isn’t it?”

“The reason sheriff Jones had this information was that after his suspension, the investigator has disappeared. His boss called the sheriff to let him know in case he showed up here,” he continued.

“Oh,” Bella said.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart. He’s a human, a clueless one at that. If he shows up here, he has no chance of survival,” he told her. Holding her closer and kissing her.

“Sure,” she agreed, but she still felt uneasy. As usual, Graham read her like an open book.

“I’ll call alpha Brutus and ask if he can put one of his agents on it,” he told her.

“No, Gray. That is unnecessary. We can spend the money on something else,” she said.

“Ellie, we have enough money to not have to think about it. Let me do this so you can have some peace of mind,” he insisted.

“Okay, thank you,” she nodded.

“No need to thank me. Now, let’s focus on the memorial statue and I’ll take care of inspector Frank,” he told her.

After an hour of waiting, Graham told Bella they could head out. They mind linked the beta and gamma couple to join them. Together they all walked in the snow fall towards the lake. Well, to everyone’s enjoyment, Bella waddled.

By the shore of the lake, on a small outcrop, the statue they ordered from a local artist stood. It was a wolf the size of a werewolf, standing on a rock with its head raised in a howl. The artist was skilled, and the wolf looked life like, like it was about to jump down off the rock and run into the woods.

As Bella got closer, she could see the engravings in the wolf’s fur. It was the names of everyone lost to the rogue rebellion. The way the artist had engraved them made them look like a part of the fur, but still legible. Around the wolf’s shoulder were the names from their pack. Bella’s hand found Mikka’s name.

They all stood admiring the memorial for a while.

“It’s amazing,” Graham said, kissing Bella.

“It’s the perfect symbol of those lost,” Logan said, pulling Mickey closer to him with one arm while Mavis was sitting on his other.

“It looks like it belongs,” Bastian said, kissing Charlotte.

Bella was satisfied. The artist had taken the idea that she had in her mind and made it come to life. Charlotte had helped her find the artist and Mickey had helped her sketch her idea. All three of them had been involved in every step of getting it here.

“Let’s go back. James and Jessica are coming over in an hour,” Graham told her. Bella nodded happily.

Her father and Jessica had been talking about mating. But first they wanted to live together for a while. Bella’s father had been going back and forth between his pack and theirs for a while. But now he had sold his house and he and Jessica had bought a new home on Blackmoon pack land. They were coming over to discuss her father’s initiation into the pack.

 Bella woke up in the middle of the night. Something was off. She was pondering what as she laid on her side with Graham spooning behind her. She felt the contraction hit and stopped breathing for a second.

“Gray,” she said as it passed.

“Hmm,” he grunted.

“Gray, it’s time,” she told him.

“For what? It’s in the middle of the night,” he complained.

“For the pups, Gray. I’m having contractions,” she patiently explained.

Graham sat up in bed and looked at her.

“Now?” he asked.

“Yes,” she nodded, and tried to sit up. Graham helped her and came around to her side to help her up.

“Okay,” he said. “We are calm, and we are not panicking,” he calmly said.

Bella smiled and felt relieved. She had definitely thought he would panic. She and Alice had often talked about how their mates would react when it was time.

“I’m calm and collected,” Graham said.

“Calm, nothing to panic about. This is just as we rehearsed, nothing to panic about,” he repeated.

“That’s nice, Gray. But can we be a little less calm?” Bella asked. He looked at her.

“You haven’t moved. You are standing in the middle of the bedroom. We need to get to the hospital in the near future,” Bella pointed out.

“Sure, in a calm and collected manner,” he said.

“Yes,” she agreed.

“Okay, then we will calmy go to the hospital,” he told her, taking her hand and leading her towards the door.

“Love, I think you are forgetting something,” Bella said.

“What?” he asked.

Bella gestured at her body. She was wearing her panties and nothing else.

“Ah, yes, you need clothes,” he nodded.

He left to get her clothes, Bella presumed.

“Gray, pick up the speed a tad,” Bella told him as she felt another contraction hit her.

“Sure, sweetheart,” he told her as he came back with sweatpants, a t-shirt and her jacket.

“Reddy to go?” he asked when he had helped her on with her clothes.

“Gray, you are basically naked, and I have no shoes,” she sighed.

“Right,” he said, disappearing again.

“Gray, we need to get to the hospital this year,” she urged him as another contraction made her fist clench.

“Now, don’t panic, we will get there,” Graham calmly said as he came back, fully dressed with her shoes.

“Gray, if I give birth on the stairs because you are calm and collected, I will make you sleep in your office for the next year,” she growled.

“Did you just growl?” he asked, surprised.

“Yes, so get your ass moving,” she told him.

“Sure, but you know we need to stay calm,” he told her as he helped her out of the apartment.

Bella didn’t remind him he hadn’t brought her bag that was ready to go and stood beside the door. She would have Charlotte bring it later.

“Can you make it down the stairs or should I carry you?” Graham asked her.

“I will walk,” she told him. She was afraid he would stop to do breathing exercises on the way.

Halfway down the stairs, another contraction hit, and Bella grabbed a hold of Graham’s hand and squeezed.

“Ouch,” he said.  

“Sorry,” Bella sighed as it passed.

“No, you just squeeze if you need,” he told her.

They made it down and out through the front door.

“We will walk calmly along this nicely shovelled path,” Graham told her.

“Are you trying to win points for having the boys shovel the path?” she asked him.

“Just saying that it was a good idea,” he said.

“Fine, it was a good idea to have two of our best warriors shovelling snow all day. Did you mind link the doctor?” she asked.

“No,” he admitted. Bella had to stop and laugh for a while.

“I love you Gray, but I think I might kill you before we are done tonight,” she giggled.

“I love you too, Ellie. We will get through this together,” he said.

“If we ever make it to the hospital and have a doctor that can deliver the pups,” she pointed out.

“We will make it, as long as we are…” Graham started.

“If you say calm and collected, I will mind link Charlotte to take me the rest of the way,” Bella threatened.

As they got to the hospital, Doc was waiting for them with a wheelchair and a nurse.

“Good evening luna. Ready to meet your pups?” he asked with a smile.

“More than ready,” Bella admitted as she sat down in the wheelchair.

“We are both excited to meet them, but calm at the same time,” Graham said proudly. Bella succumbed to another fit of laughter.

“I can see that, alpha. Very impressive,” Doc smiled.

---

Twelve hours later, Graham was laying in bed. His one arm was wrapped around Bella. With his other hand, he supported his daughter, that was laying on his naked chest. His son was cradled against Bella’s chest.

Graham had never felt so much love in his entire life as in this moment. There were no words to describe the almost painful love he felt towards his pups and his mate. He turned his head and kissed Bella on top of her head. She was the source of all his happiness, and he knew it.

“Are you okay?” she asked and wiped away a tear that rolled down his cheek.

“I am. I’m just overwhelmed by the emotions,” he admitted.

“Who knew something so small could cause such powerful love?” she said as she gently caressed their son’s head with a finger.

“They are amazing,” he agreed, and kissed the top of his daughter’s head.

“We can’t keep calling them Bean and Sprout,” she smiled.

“How about Stella, after your mother?” he asked. Bella nodded, and he saw a tear run down her cheek. He kissed it away.

“Stella Mikka Blackfur,” Bella said.

“Perfect,” he agreed. “And this little one?” he asked, and placed a hand on his son’s head.

“Theo, after Theodor, your grandfather, and it’s your second name.” Bella said.

“Theo James Blackfur,” Graham said happily.

“It suits him,” Bella smiled.

“We made some perfect pups,” Grahams said, kissing her.

“That we did,” she agreed.

“I didn’t think that I would be here a year ago,” he said, watching his daughter with fascination.

“Neither did I,” Bella told him. “Any regrets?” she asked.

“No, not a single one. Despite everything, these five months have been the happiest in my life. I would not change it for anything,” he said.

“I love you Gray,” Bella told him, and his heart skipped a beat as it always did when she told him that.

“I love you too, Ellie,” he said, pulling her closer.

---Authors note---
This is where Bella's and Graham's story end.
But they will not be forgotten, they (and the beans) will play a part in the next book, Scales of the wolf, that will center around alpha Mikael.
for more details on when and where that book will be released, please go to my facebook groupe: Dripping Creativity.

As a small thank you to the amazing readers of this book I have added a short bonus chapter. It's just a short, fun, side story. But I know some of you have asked for this. I can't tell you have much I enjoy reading your comments and your theories. You are amazing.