Twisting Her Fate
Epilogue

Terrance looks at Levi, looking for reassurance, but Levi will never tell him how to feel in this moment, he will always back Terrance up in whatever he decides, but Terrance has to be the one that decides. Terrance is slightly swayed as after replaceing out about his father, he suddenly knew that there was no hope for his family, that there wasn't some father out there waiting for him, there was just no hope.

As bad as his mother was, at least she kept him till the age that he was able to look after himself. If he moves forward and it works, great. If it doesn't, he hasn't really lost out in anyway, he will be in the same position he is in now. Terrance makes a decision.

He leans forward and kisses Levi, when he turns to his mother and doesn't see the look of disgust he was expecting, he nods and moves forward to embrace his mother.

Astrid grips Adrian's hand.

"Let's give them a moment"

Astrid turns and notices Simon's eyes on her. She looks up at her handsome new mate.

"Someone is watching us"

Adrian has felt the mans gaze scorching his skin. He never really thought too much of Simon before, there was always something a little off about him. When he found out the extent of it all, he realized that a little off was the understatement of the century.

He doesn't even look at Simon, only looking down at Astrid, who has her pale blue eyes trained on him, like she is waiting for something. If Adrian has one flaw, it is that he isn't quiet confident enough, isn't quiet bold enough when it comes to these things. He leans down pressing his lips to her ear in a sweet gesture.

"There is nothing that I would love to do more right now than to kiss you, but I don't want our first kiss to be viewed by such filthy eyes. When we have our first kiss, I want it to show you how much you mean to me and how much that signals the start of our long and happy life together"

Astrid's body goes weak as she melts into the man. She never dreamed of hearing sweet words again, all the sweet words she thought she heard from Simon can only be classified as gaslighting nothing more.

Simon watches as the woman that had to be fed serum to be with him, submits herself completely to another man. Just then a small group of children giggle as they run up and kick him in the shins with their little feet.

It is that moment that he breaks, he is a joke and everyone has moved on.

Everything he did was for nothing. All he has to look forward to is a life filled with pain and suffering.

***

Outside in the car park, Baxter gets out of the car, rushing around the car to open the passenger door for his own mate. Rosalie gets out of the car and shakes her head at her father, but a small smile slips onto her face. Back then she tried so hard to rebel against the sweet girl she was and the perfect family and that is what got her in so much trouble. Now she actually appreciates what she has, even though she appreciates it, it doesn't mean that she knows what she wants to do with herself, she can't even settle on a university course, just doing a semester and then skipping to the next. Luckily, her father allows such things, but she is close to twenty- six and hasn't found what she wants yet.

Alpha Baxter looks out at the grassed area that is housing Simon and then looks at his daughter.

"Are you ready for that?"

Rosalie shakes her head, since she was told about Simon being available in such a way, she still hasn't worked out how to feel, all she knows is that she is not ready to face him just yet.

"That is okay, any time you are ready"

"Okay dad, we are running pretty late, we better get in"

Rosalie looks at the man in the stocks and pillories in full view. In truth, she thought he would be dead by now. She never thought that the elite groups promise would actually be followed.

"Alpha Ryan is here"

Rosalie drags her eyes away from Simon to look at the two males walking toward them, her eyes just briefly resting on Alpha Ryan, who she has met a few times before, to the man beside him.

Ryan walks next to Jameson as he walks toward his father.

"I can't believe dad was telling us to look out for our mates and actually found his own"

Jameson laughs as his eyes skim the area, his laughter dies and his footsteps come to a halt as he looks at the beautiful girl standing next to Alpha Baxter.

"Mine"

A smile forms on Rosalie's face and her broken path suddenly becomes clear. Everything falls into place around the one word that slips through her lips.

"Mine"

***

Evie watches the speeches and watches all the happiness surrounding the family. Her heart has never felt so light and she suddenly knows that it is all going to be alright. Evie exits the meeting room and starts to walk. Damon doesn't say anything, just walking behind her as her silent guard. He knows first hand how strong she is, but it doesn't stop his protective nature. She was taken from him once and it was the worst time of his life. He let his grief allow his opinions to twist and warp to become unrecognizable. He still can't quite understand how he did what he did. Every morning he gets up and stares into the mirror glaring at the fading mark on his shoulder, no matter how many times he scrubs it, it still remains, just a constant reminder of how he failed his true love, a reminder that each and everyday he needs to be the man that Evie needs. Evie walks into a training room and stops, with her back facing Damon. Damon just stands two steps back, unsure if he should be here or not, not sure if she is seeking a little solitude, there has been a big crowd today and he knows that Evie still gets slightly anxious in a mass of people.

Before he can open his mouth and ask, Evie starts to speak.

"This is the room where Connor and I held our first ever training. I know it sounds weird that a small room like this can signal the start of something so large, but this is the room that is that defining point for me, the point when I turned my life around, where I changed for the better"

Evie clenches her fists beside her body, putting a lid on all the butterflies in her stomach that are threatening to make her nauseous.

Her voice is smaller than before.

"I would like to keep that tradition going. I would like this room to see my step in the right direction once again"

Damon stares at Evie's beautiful back, not quite understanding her words and not sure how to reply. He stares wide eyed as she turns slowly and closes the gap between them. He stands completely still as she rests a small hand over his beating heart, which is now thundering in his chest, she stands up on her tippy toes and her eyes flutter close, her lips are ready, all he has to do is bend slightly and their lips are joined. He knows exactly what she wants, it is the same way she would ask for kisses back when they were together, when everything was good, she was a lot more bold and confident in her moves back then.

Tears wet his lashes at the sight he thought he would never see again and he is so very thankful that he has.

Damon bends slightly, his lips touching hers once again.

***

Connor and Leilani are exhausted after the steady stream of well wishers pour through. Finally, they make an excuse and leave, there will be a lot of time to talk to everyone when they actually have more time, there has so many people that their faces were just starting to swirl

into one.

Stepping outside, out of the crowd, the silence of the night overtakes them as the two happy kids run ahead. It is late but the two children are still somehow running on adrenaline. They had such a busy morning and napped during the day, so they are still going strong even now, well past their usual bedtime, Connor walks hand in hand with Leilani. A bright smile on his handsome face. His steel gray eyes that were so cold before are now filled with warmth. Having his luna and his family within the stormy pack feels better than he ever could have imagined. Everything is perfect.

He tilts his head to the side and looks at the beautiful side face of his mate as she watches the children run through the darkness.

He was going to spend the night in the pack house, but now he only wants to be home. He wants them to all be housed in the place that they are going to grow up. Harvey had the house cleaned as soon as Connor called him.

Connor releases Lani's hand, causing her to look up at him. She smiles slightly at him as he wraps an arm around her shoulders, pulling her whole body close to him as he plants a large kiss on her forehead.

It is a still night, the moon bathes the ground, illuminating the family of four as they walk through the night. The large alpha house comes into view, the immaculate gardens surrounding the large house, that was always large, but with all the renovations that have happened in order to get it ready to house the entire elite group, it has become the size of a small pack house.

The two kids run straight in the open door and Connor's heart is beating heavily in his chest, his family home growing up is finally becoming his own family's home. The house that sat there abandoned for so long. The house that he hasn't lived in since he was fourteen years old is now going to be his home once again. The house that was so very empty for such a long time is going to be full of life. His heart that was so empty for such a long time is filled with love and life. Everything that happened happened for a reason and that reason is this very moment right now where he can finally call this Alpha house his home.

Connor scoops Leilani into his arms, earning him a squeal from Leilani, who was so lost in her own thoughts that she was not expecting his movements at all.

All Connor wants to do is carry his mate over the threshold of their house. He has dreamed of

this moment for so long.

Leilani is pulled so very tight to him as she shifts slightly, removing something from her pocket. He is two steps away from the door and he is so anxious to start his life.

But with only two steps to the door, Leilani stops him.

"Wait one second"

Connor looks from the open door to Leilani. He can't believe she stopped him in this moment.

He was so very ready to enter.

Leilani laughs at Connor's near impatient look, squeezing his cheeks with one hand. He looks

down at her joyful face and realizes that it can all wait, life is about all the moments.

"I have a present for you"

Connor's mouth falls open as his eyes move over the woman.

"A present for me?"

Leilani just nods as she moves her hand in front of his eyes, opening her tightly clenched

fingers revealing a white plastic stick with two little pink lines.

"We are going to be in this together this time, we are going to be a family this time, you will get

to be there for every check up, for the birth. You will get to hold our little newborn this time, as

will I. This time we can do it together and everything is going to be perfect" Tears fall down Connor's face as his eyes move from the plastic stick to Leilani's face.

"Thank you for giving me everything I could ever want. I love you more than anything in this

world" Connor leans down and kisses Leilani's lips as he takes the final two steps into the house, into their home with his love cradled in his arms and their lips pressed tightly together.