Epilogue - The Final Howl
POV Thalyndra Moonclaw:
Anton's eyes widened slightly, the gleam intensifying until I could almost see the light dancing in his pupils. He puffed out his chest, as if an invisible weight had been lifted from his shoulders. His muscles grew tauter, and there was a deep satisfaction in every line of his body.
"You don't know how much this means to me," he whispered, his voice low and laden with emotion.
He had finally achieved what he wanted: to feed his female, to take care of me in the most primal, most truthful way for him. I could feel the pride radiating from every pore of his body, and it moved me in a way I couldn't explain.
I stood up and wiped the back of my hand across my mouth.
"Anton... I... I think I'm pregnant," I stammered, breathing with difficulty.
For a moment, silence filled the space between us. I saw the shock pass over his face, followed by an expression of pure ecstasy. His eyes, which already gleamed, seemed even more intense, as if the Universe itself had set a fire in them. He dropped the deer to the ground and held my shoulders with his strong hands, his fingers pressing my skin with protective care.
"Pregnant?" he repeated, the word leaving his lips as if he were trying to assimilate everything. "You... you're carrying our pup?"
I nodded, feeling tears well up in my eyes, happiness pulsing in my chest in an almost painful way.
"I think so." I cast a glance at the others, who were watching us. "According to Lyris and Celindra, messing up the room that way is something related to a nest I created, and you hunting like a madman to feed me is also related to it, to a pregnancy."
For a second, he seemed lost in his own thoughts, absorbing the magnitude of that revelation. And then, with a quick, emotion-filled movement, he pulled me against him, hugging me with a force that almost took the air from my lungs.
I was enveloped in his warmth, in his scent, and in his protection.
He laughed, a laugh full of emotion, as he held me, his lips pressed against the top of my head.
"I'm going to be a father," he whispered, almost as if saying it to himself, and then pulled back and looked at me, his eyes wet with unshed tears. "I'm going to be a father, Thalyndra... and you... you are mine. My female. My companion. The mother of my pup." He dilated his nostrils. "Yes, I can already smell it on you... how did I not notice before?" He bent down, laying his head on my belly. "I can hear it too, it's faint, like the fluttering of a small butterfly's wings, but it's right there." He stood up, unable to contain himself. "We're going to have a pup!"
"It seems so," I replied, laughing.
I still didn't quite know how to react to the news, but I felt as wonderstruck as he did. I didn't plan to have the pup, I let our wild nature command that course. It would happen at the right time. And I wasn't wrong.
"Good thing we have all this meat, we won't need to hunt for the party." Edric's voice came from our left side. I pulled away to look. He was smiling broadly while Lunara sniffled, wiping tears that welled up in the corners of her eyes.
"What party?" Aurelka asked.
"You don't really think I'll let the news of my first grandchild go uncelebrated, do you? We'll tell our people together, tonight, in the clearing."
They celebrated and laughed among themselves, happy with the arrival of the new Eldoria member.
Anton held my face, our necklaces connecting with the proximity. His eyes were fixed on mine with a calmness that always made me feel safe.
"You are my choice, Little Beast. You always were. And you always will be." I opened a smile, feeling the warmth of his words.
"And you are mine, Anton Eldoria. Not because destiny said so, but because I want it to be that way."
"I love you," he said simply, as if the three words carried the weight of everything we had lived through until then.
"I love you too. More than I can explain." In his eyes, something gleamed that I knew was pride and love. "We are what destiny made us, but we are more because of what we chose to be," I whispered to him and to myself.
We stood staring at each other and, in the silence that enveloped us, I understood that what we had built was stronger than any legend or destiny. When I met him, I felt I was nothing anymore. Destroyed, shaken, without hope. He rebuilt me, showed me that there was still much of me left and that I still was something. That's why we didn't need grand promises, just the mutual understanding that, together, we followed a path that only we could trace. And that, more than any word, was enough.
THE END.
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Author’s note
Dear readers,
Thank you for joining me on this incredible journey for Eldoria alongside all my characters. Her support, her emotions and her love for this story meant a lot to me. Every comment, every message, every tear shared-you made this saga come to life.
But every ending is a new beginning.
What comes next?
If you loved the intensity and dark romance of this saga, prepare yourself for something even more engaging:
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A dark, erotic Mafia novel. Power. Obsession. Danger. The Gray family rules with an iron fist, and their heirs are all you fear and desire.
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