Epilogue: The Last Prank

Epilogue: The Last Prank
Elena
I laid on the lounge chair next to Scarlett as she watched my brother do laps in the pool. I stretched out, groaning a little as the soreness between my legs made itself known again. Scarlett glanced at me, smirking.
“You should stop letting him bend you like a pretzel, Lena. You’re a married woman now,” she teased.
I widened my eyes playfully. “Oh, Goddess, that means I should stop giving him some all together. I hear married women are prudes.”
She giggled before stilling her face into a serious look. “I have a headstart on you. I told Osprey last night that I had a headache.”
I burst out laughing, shaking my head. I knew for a fact that she had said no such thing. Her little cries of pleasure, coupled with my brother’s moans, had filled the secluded beachfront house that our parents had rented for us for our mutual honeymoon several times through the night.
“Yeah, and I’m a nun, Auntie.”
“Ahhh. So you were praying. Oh, Goddess,” she moaned, drawing my brother’s attention to her.
I giggled when his heated look made her blush. “Oh, yeah, Auntie, you’re a prude all right. Probably thinking of the many ways that Osprey had you all twisted up.”
Her blush got harder. “I still can’t believe that we're married now. Those are our husbands.”
I looked over at Beanie, who was watching me hungrily. I hope that he still looked at me the same way after 24 years of being my husband that he did at the 24-hour mark. I smiled softly at him.
“Neither can I.”
Our husbands went back to their laps as I thought back on the simple ceremony we had the day before. Scarlett had chosen silver as her color, while I chose a deep green. I knew why she had chosen silver. It bothered me at first, but when I saw little Silver Jr., who had become an everyday visitor at the house along with his mother, walking shyly down the practice aisle as he held both practice rings in his pudgy little hands, I understood. It had taken me years to understand why she had forgiven Silver for his role in what happened to her, but it hadn’t been for him. It had been for her, Osprey, and our entire pack.
Aunt Tara and Aunt Mona had pulled me aside after we killed Silver to tell me how proud they were of how I supported Scarlett. It had crushed me when they explained to me how forgiving Alpha Sows were meant to be. It was something unlike anything else. Mom had the same forgiveness for Daddy Tim, Daddy Falcon, and Aunt Mona. It was the hardest thing for us Betas to understand, and I was glad that they had explained it to me.
Seeing Scarlett with Silver Jr. for the first time, I broke down and felt the first little niggling tentacles of regret. I wished that I had tried harder to convince Silver to stay alive. I had cried so hard over him that night, and all Scarlett had done was climb into my bed to hold me. The next morning, she gave me a kiss on my cheek and slipped out of my room. We never talked about it. She never looked down on me for being so emotional, and I felt whole again.
Mallery was surprised when I welcomed her into our circle. She confided to me that Silver had warned her about me. It made me sad that he had thought that I would have hurt a child, but I understand why. I was a cold-calculating bitch before he died. I would have warned the mother of my child about me, too. I was just glad that she had slowly let me into the little boy’s life. Osprey's growl made my eyes snap back to the pool, where my husband was backing away from him slowly, grinning like a fool with his hands up in surrender. I turned my head back to Scarlett.
“Hey, Scarlett, do you want to help me with one last prank before I have to grow up?”
She sat up straighter as mischievousness lit up her eyes. “Yes!”
I leaned close to her, whispering my plans quietly to her. When I finished, her eyes were glistening with tears.
“Really?”
I smiled softly at her as I nodded. “Yeah.”
She hugged me tightly. “Let’s go.”

Beanie
Osprey and I continued to swim laps for about an hour after our women left. We had seen them chatting quietly before hugging and going inside. We had been worried, but we decided to let them have a little space. We were both feeling a little antsy and needed to make sure our wives were okay, so we went inside to find them, pausing when it was dead silent in the house. Not even their scents lingered in the air. We hurried down the hallway, calling for them. We both stopped outside of his room to read the note that had been taped to the door.
‘Shower and meet us on the beach.’
We relaxed immediately after seeing Scarlett’s note before going into our separate rooms to do as they asked. I grinned to myself when I saw the shorts Elena had laid out for me. Hell, if that’s what she wanted me to wear, I’d be happy to. There were fewer clothes to take off later. I happily made my way to the shower. I quickly finished in the bathroom and was brushing my teeth when I heard him groan from the other room. I walked out of my bathroom with my toothbrush in my mouth, only to freeze when I saw the large, bright pink dress on the bed. I tossed my toothbrush back on the sink counter before hurrying to the dresser. I quickly pulled all of the drawers open before sprinting to my closet. I stomped over to the door, growling as I yanked it open to go to Osprey's room. I burst out laughing when I saw the even more girly dress that lay across his bed.
“Are all your clothes missing, too?” I asked grumpily.
“Yeah.”
“What do we do?”
He grinned at me. “We beat them at their own game and wait for the perfect opportunity to get them back.”
“And how do we beat them at their own game, Osprey?”
“We wear the dresses and their favorite shoes.”
I paled. “I am not wearing a dress! Or heels!”
“Yes, you are, and when we find our mates, we are going to throw them into the ocean.”
I perked up at the image his words conjured in my head. Elena all soaking wet in the warm, salty ocean. Goddess, I was already plotting to fill her with something warm and salty, too, as the ocean guided our movements. I groaned.
“Fine! But I better get to throw Elena in the water.”
“You will. Go get dressed so we can go get our wives.”
“Wives…”
I loved hearing the word. I had waited for years to make Elena my wife. Now that she was, I was never letting her go even more than before. She was mine, and I was hers in every way that would ever matter. I stepped in front of the mirror to look over my new outfit. I flexed in the mirror, almost mesmerized by the way the clingy material accentuated my muscles. The door opened behind me, and Osprey chuckled as he carefully walked in, balancing on heels that were way too high. I stared at his feet, shocked that he hadn’t broken Scarlett’s shoes.
“You look beautiful, Alpha,” I said, laughing hysterically.
“Right back at you, Beta Bernard. Where are your shoes?”
I hesitantly pointed at the three-inch black heels situated beside the bed. “I’m going to fall and break my neck.”
Osprey chuckled. “It’s not that bad. Come on. Our mates are waiting for us.”
After gathering all of the dresses extra material in my hand, I sat down on the bed to put Elena’s shoes on. I cursed when the straps at the front of the shoes crushed my toes together and almost snapped the strappy things that criss crossed over the top of my foot. Osprey laughed again.
“Goddess, you’re going to have to replace Elena’s shoes. She’s going to murder you!”
I must have looked horrified because he patted my shoulder. “It’s okay, you big ass grizzly bear. I’ll protect you from your tiny mate.”
“You know what our mates say about small women.”
He nodded. “They’re the right size to punch you in the balls. Come on.”
I gingerly got to my feet. He walked slowly at my side as we made our way out of the house. As we walked down the beach, following our mates' slight scents, we turned the corner of the island. Elena and Scarlett had laid out a king-size sheet on the beach, and several platters were laid out on the sheet between plates and glasses. I glanced at Osprey.
“Where are th-”
I bared my teeth when a flash of light blinded me for a second. Elena and Scarlett’s laughter filled the air as I narrowed my eyes on them. Osprey pranced over to Scarlett, turning in a circle.
“How do I look?”
She threw her arms around his neck. “Glorious, my gorgeous queen, just simply glorious.”
Elena watched me, and the nervousness in her eyes had me dancing over to her to curtsey in front of her. She giggled, relaxing in front of me before kissing my cheek.
“Alright, alright. I’m happy. Thank you for wearing the dresses for us. We left you shorts over there.”
I smiled before rushing over to the trees to grab my shorts. I quickly pulled them on under the dress before tugging it off and taking the hells—I mean, heels—off, too. I went back over to the sheet where Scarlett and Elena were serving butter shrimp and fancy rice with lobster, shrimp, and scallions on two plates. Elena immediately crawled into my lap, looking up into my eyes as Scarlett poured three glasses of wine and put cranberry juice into the last one. I frowned down at Elena.
“What’s going on?” I asked as Osprey sat down next to Scarlett.
Elena wrung her hands nervously in front of her body. “Beanie, I’m pregnant.”
Everything in me froze as I tried to process what she had just said while Osprey’s mouth dropped open. I put my hand over her stomach.
“Are you really?” I whispered.
She nodded. “I just found out.”
I pressed my lips against hers. “We’re going to have a cub?” I asked in amazement.
“Yes.”
I wrapped my arm around her waist as I tossed my head back to let out a joyful roar into the sky, celebrating our good news. Osprey and Scarlett echoed my roar, bringing me even more joy that they could join us in our happiness. Osprey patted my shoulder, smiling at me.
“Congratulations, Beanie, Elena.”
I looked down into Elena’s mesmerizing, dual-colored eyes, smiling at her. “Thank you, Alpha.” I pressed a slow, lingering kiss on her lips. “And thank you, my perfect mate, for giving me everything that I never thought I would ever have.”
She ran her fingers through my hair. “You were always meant to be mine,” she murmured.
“And you were always meant to be mine, too. I love you, Ellie.”
“I love you, too, Beanie.”