10 YEARS LATER

Roxy wandered through the woods near her home, walking along the familiar ground with ease, her footsteps silent among the crunchy leaves and twigs. A breeze wafted through the trees and she relished the feeling as it tousled her salt-and-pepper fur, keeping her warm against the night chill. The full moon hung high in the sky, shining down on her through the canopy and blessing her with this rare chance to embrace her base self. She always made sure to savour the few hours a month she could fully shift, flying through the wilderness with wild abandon, free from the restraints and responsibilities of her human form. Adulthood certainly had its perks, but her lack of free time was not one of them. Who would’ve thought that running an MMA class and working part time as a line cook while trying to raise a child would be a lot of work? Not her, apparently! Thankfully, she wasn’t alone. As always, she had her pack to fall back on when things got rough.

A flash of gold and a whiff of pine had her tail wagging and her gait speeding up. She rushed forward into the clearing and was greeted by her mate, who trotted over and lovingly nosed at her mane, gently nipping her and grooming her coat. Her attention was caught by the sound of yipping and the feeling of tiny teeth playfully biting her forelimb, prompting her to look down. It was a tiny wolf pup, with black fur and red eyes, a little too excited at the fact that her ah-may had turned up. Rose was always a little terror in her wolf form, so thank god she could only shift during a full moon right now, same as Roxy. That wouldn’t last forever, and she wasn’t looking forward to the havoc her daughter would wreak around the house once she figured out how to shift at will.

Right now, though, Roxy was more than happy to indulge in her daughter’s excitement, running around the clearing with her and Sam, letting her win in their play-fights, then letting her cuddle up to them when she inevitably wore herself out. She definitely took after Sam in her hyperactive nature, which made sense considering Sam was the one who carried her to term. Roxy was just happy that Rose looked even somewhat like her as well, due to her cousin being the donor. She had Roxy’s black hair and tan skin, and that was all she could really ask for.

They stayed there for a while, enjoying the rare moment of peace before Rose inevitably got excited again. There was a howl in the distance at one point, one of their packmates elsewhere in the forest echoing their call through the trees, and the three of them returned it with a call of their own. Rose’s was high-pitched and shaky and absolutely adorable, and Roxy would have cooed at it if she hadn’t been busy howling herself at the time.

A discordant chorus picked up all around the woods, werewolves howling back and forth, celebrating the full moon with all the enthusiasm they could muster. Some of them were Roxy’s pack, but many were not; new werewolves having moved to Dewsbury or come out of hiding in the intervening decade since everything went down. It was invigorating hearing them all out there with her, more free and proud than they had ever been for the many long years under the hunter’s threatening scrutiny.

The rest of the night was spent in much the same way, until Rose became too tired to go on. Sam picked her up by the scruff and they carried her back home, Roxy shifting back so that she could unlock the house and let them in. They put her to bed and she soon shifted back as well, the moon travelling too low in the sky to sustain her wolf form. Sam stayed and watched over her while Roxy went to have a shower, washing off any dirt she might have accumulated through the night, and once she was done she and her wife curled up in bed together, ready for a nice long sleep-in.

Then Rose started crying, and she had to get right back up again. Who ever said that parenthood was easy?

—

“Is everything ready?” Sam called from the bedroom.

“Just about!” Roxy replied, cling-wrapping the crunchy noodle salad she’d made for transport and covering the air-fried spring rolls with tin-foil to keep them warm. “How’s Rose?”

“As cute as ever.” Sam came out of the room holding Rose on her hip. She was dressed pretty casually, in her classic flannel and jeans combo from when they were teenagers with her long hair tied back in a ponytail, while Rose was wearing an adorable little tie-dye dress she’d picked out herself. Roxy hadn’t bothered to dress up much either, just throwing on a tank top that showed off both of her tattoo sleeves and some skinny jeans.

Rose’s green eyes found Roxy and her face lit up, arms reaching for her. “Ah-may!”

Roxy grinned. “Hello my gorgeous girl.” She took Rose out of Sam’s arms and into her own, her wife picking up where she’d left off and packing up the food. “Are you excited to see your pack?”

Rose made a vaguely agreeable sound and started babbling in that toddler facsimile of English all babies spoke in, and Roxy nodded along, agreeing with every incomprehensible word out of her daughter’s mouth. “Yes, indeed. Oh, is that so? Quite marvellous, Lady Rosemary!”

Sam smiled at her, running a hand through her short hair and leaning down to press a kiss to her temple, knocking her glasses askew. “You’re so good with her. If only I could bring you along to class to help me deal with the kids.”

“There’s a difference between handling a single toddler and a bunch of rowdy seven year-olds, I would think.”

“Maybe I just want an excuse to show off my darling wife, hm?”

“Please. My scarface would probably scare the children,” she joked.

“Oh, hush. They see me every day, don’t they? Besides, our story is pretty widespread, they’ve probably seen your face around on the news somewhere anyway.”

Roxy grinned. “Who would’ve thought that stopping a global genocide would make you a bit of a celebrity?”

“Well, maybe once you’re done writing that book about it, that celebrity status will actually mean something? Maybe bring in a little extra cash?”

Roxy sighed. “Here’s hoping. My old championship money won’t keep us afloat forever. I… I guess I could always go back to fighting, if we need it?”

Sam shook her head resolutely. “Absolutely not. That last concussion nearly killed you, and after everything that happened with your last manager, I’m more than a little wary of getting involved with all that again. The risk just isn’t worth it. If things get tough again, we’ll figure it out. We’ve got the pack to support us, now.”

Roxy shuddered at the memory of the slime-bag who used to manage her during her competitive MMA days. He would constantly ask her to throw fights for extra money or invite her out to seedy bars, often acting incredibly inappropriately around her and Sam, even threatening them once because they tried to talk to him about finding a new manager. She was stuck with him for a few years due to that and contract BS, but after a particularly nasty hit put her in a coma for two weeks - a hit that she definitely could have dodged if she wasn’t instructed to throw the match - they started looking for a way out. They would’ve tried to get out earlier, but in all truth they needed the money. They were living in Seattle at the time, which already wasn’t cheap, and Sam was going to college full-time for her teaching degree so couldn’t bring in as much money herself. The staged fights were Roxy’s way of providing for her family, even if they made her feel worse than dirt.

The injury really put things into perspective, though. With Sam nearing the end of her degree and already thinking about having kids, Roxy realised that putting herself in danger like that just wasn’t worth it anymore. She wanted to be around for her child when they came, and she couldn’t do that if she turned her brain to mush by taking fall after fall. She was already lucky to get away without permanent damage after the last one; she wasn’t gonna push it again.

Thankfully, fate decided to give them a break, and one of the other fighters that asshole was managing snapped and ended up murdering him, saving them the trouble of trying to find a loophole out of the last year of their five-year contract. There was a quiet court case where they had to go and testify, and once it was all done a few new, hopefully legit managers reached out to them, looking to take them in thanks to Roxy’s small slice of fame. After the scare with the concussion, though, she decided her fighting days were over for now, so she threw in the towel and retired, moving back to Dewsbury to be with their pack again once Sam graduated.

Still, the memory of winning her first championship, when things were still legit and the fighting was still pure, made sure that fire inside of her never truly stopped burning. She decided to follow in her mentor’s footsteps instead, renting out some space and opening up her own gym, training the next generation how to defend themselves and maybe kick a little ass in the process. It was rewarding, if not the best paying job in the world, which is why she took the extra gig as a line cook to make ends meet. Her fame from her previous fights did give her enough of a reputation to pull in customers right away, which was a small silver lining for all the shit she went through. She reckoned it wouldn’t be long until the gym was paying for itself in full.

Despite it all, things were generally better now. They were working on saving up some money to actually buy their own house, and their pack was always willing to lend a helping hand when they needed some extra support, looking after Rose when they couldn’t and buying things like groceries and baby supplies so they didn’t have to worry about it. It would’ve been nice if the Council helped out a little too, considering, y’know, they literally saved all of werewolf-kind, but expecting anything from a government was a one-way ticket to disappointment, in Roxy’s opinion. The one big gratitude payment they’d been given after it was all finished had dried up quick, after all.

“Yeah, you’re right,” Roxy said. “Now, let’s get going. Don’t wanna keep everyone waiting.”

Sam grabbed the food and they made their way out of the house, passing by Mr. Slinky on the way and leaning down to give him a little scratch. He was getting on in years, but the old boy was still just as spry as ever, if a little greyer than he used to be. Roxy could relate.

They strapped Rose into her booster seat and got in the car, pulling out onto the road and heading to Carol’s house. Today was a big day for them, and for werewolves everywhere. It was the ten year anniversary of the night they put a stop to the hunters’ plans once and for all, since named, quite plainly, Werewolf Liberation Day. Not a totally accurate name, given that many governments around the world were still discriminating quite heavily against werewolves, citing the events of that night as proof that they were evil, but still, it was nice to have their actions celebrated, even just a little bit.

The trip was a bit longer than it used to be when they were teens. Their new house was on the opposite side of town from Roxy’s childhood home, so Carol’s house was no longer one street away as it once was. That being said, it still didn’t take them long before they were pulling into the driveway of the familiar house. Despite some recent expansions, Dewsbury still wasn’t all that big.

They got themselves and their daughter out of the car and walked up to the door, knocking politely. From the sounds of things inside and the other cars in the driveway, Leif, Drew, and her dad were already here, most likely along with her dad’s new girlfriend and her kid, which was… exciting. Roxy was still sizing her up, to be honest. Damien didn’t have the best track record when it came to partners, and she didn’t want him to get hurt again, but so far, Vanessa seemed nice enough, and her teenage son was surprisingly easy to get along with, despite the age gap. Apparently he’d been a fan of hers back when she was fighting, which was pretty surreal, but Roxy would admit that she wouldn’t absolutely hate it if he became her step-brother.

Carol opened the door and invited them in. Rose immediately caught sight of Leif sitting on the couch with Drew and started wiggling out of Roxy’s grip. Roxy set her down and she toddled over excitedly. “‘Eef! Ann’ie ‘Eef!”

Leif smiled widely and set down her glass of champagne, picking Rose up and setting her in her lap. “Hello, Rosemary! How are you?”

Rose started babbling away as Roxy and Sam walked up. “Hello to you too, Leif. We’re good, thanks for asking,” Roxy teased.

“Well, I know that. I saw you yesterday.”

“You also saw Rose yesterday,” Sam deadpanned.

“Has it really been that long? We have so much to catch up on!” the woman said with a grin.

Roxy returned the smile and was about to say something else when she caught a whiff of something strange. Curiosity and excitement shot through her gut, equal parts her own and Sam’s, and she leaned in closer to Leif and Drew to get a better sniff.

“Oh my god, you’ve finally done it,” Roxy exclaimed with a laugh. “After ten long years of listening to you two idiots hemming and hawing about it, you’ve finally done it!”

“Yes, rather than binding our souls together after only being together for a month, we actually decided to think about such an important decision before making it! What a shocker!” Leif said, voice dripping with friendly sarcasm.

“It was an accident!” Sam cried. “I didn’t know what I was doing! Not that I regret it, mind you.”

“Well, so far, I’ve gotta say, it’s pretty nice,” Drew said, putting his arm around Leif’s shoulder’s lovingly.

“Yeah, how come you never told us how good this makes sex? Feeling twice the pleasure?! I woulda done this years ago if I knew!” Leif replied.

“Leif! Not in front of Rose!” Roxy whisper-shouted, covering her daughter’s ears, though admittedly grinning at her friend’s antics.

“Yeah, it is pretty great,” Sam agreed with a wistful grin.

“Roxy!”

She spun around at the sound of her name. “Dad! Hey!”

“Hi, sweetie,” he said, pulling her into a warm hug. It hadn’t been that long since they’d seen each other, but truth be told, Roxy was still making up for the time they lost while she was in Seattle. She’d missed him more than she’d dare admit, after failing to meet up for holidays and birthdays due to her fighting obligations. She hadn’t seen him for over a year before her coma, only to wake up to him sitting at her hospital bedside, just like how she’d woken up after escaping the outpost all those years ago. He was always there when she needed him most, no matter their distance. “How are you? How’s Rose?”

“Good,” Roxy replied. “Though I think Leif’s trying to teach her swear words right now.”

“I resent that assumption!” Leif called from behind her.

Roxy ignored her. “How about you? How are things?”

He waved a hand. “Oh, you know. Can’t complain. Things are good with Vanessa, and Tyler seems to hate me a little less every time I come over, so… yeah, it’s good.”

“It probably helps that he’s a total fanboy of your daughter,” Sam said, sidling up next to Roxy.

Damien grinned. “Yeah. I still remember the look on his face when he first met you. I thought he was gonna dislocate his jaw with how far it dropped.”

“Give him time, he’ll warm up to you,” Roxy said. “He’s probably still just sour about the divorce and upset that you’re moving on his dad’s old spot. Can’t say I can relate with the mindset, but I can sympathise, at least. Lord knows how inconsolable I’d have been if Martha had gotten custody of me and I wasn’t able to see you as much.”

“Yeah, though I think that’s more to do with how horrible Martha was than anything else. Vanessa isn’t like her at all.”

Roxy nodded, conceding. “I know, I know. She seems great. Is she here?”

Damien smiled. “Yep! Come say hi!”

—

Honestly, the day was going pretty great. As usual, everyone loved Roxy’s crunchy noodle salad, and spirits were generally pretty high. Rose was happy gnawing away on a werewolf chew toy, so she wasn’t chucking a fuss, either. But there was still one thing that was bothering Roxy.

“Carol?”

The woman looked across the table at her. “Yes, sweetheart?”

“Pedro said he was coming, right?”

She nodded. “Yeah, though he said he had a surprise that might make him and Valerie a little late.”

Roxy’s eyebrows rose, her curiosity piqued. “Did he say anything about what it was?”

“Only that we should ‘leave an extra spot open at the table.’ So, I assume he’s bringing someone new along.”

“Interesting. I guess we’d better save some food for him, then.”

As if summoned by her words, there was a knock on the door right at that moment, and Roxy perked up, excited to see her packmate after the past few weeks of separation. Carol got up and answered the door, letting them in.

Pedro was doing pretty well for himself, in Roxy’s opinion. After his injury on the night of their final battle, he’d been left paralyzed from the waist down, with little hope of recovery. Thankfully for him, just as Sam and Roxy had discovered, the eclipse ritual’s healing powers were unmatched. It took a few months before the next one came along in Dewsbury, but when it did, Pedro didn’t hesitate. And, despite the universe’s best efforts to the contrary, it worked! Well, mostly. Just like how both Sam and Roxy were still left with scars from the injuries healed by the ritual, Pedro wasn’t fully healed, but he could walk on his own two legs again with the assistance of a cane, and he’d gotten all of his feeling back, so he was happy.

After everything was done, Valerie ended up moving to Dewsbury to be with Pedro, and they’d been together ever since, finally tying the knot and getting married about a year before Rose was born. Roxy was happy for them. And, judging by the six or seven year-old kid trying to hide behind Pedro’s leg in the doorway right now, they’d apparently taken their relationship a step further.

“Hey everyone, sorry we’re late,” Pedro greeted as the party of three made their way inside. He gave Carol a quick hug before stepping back and gently encouraging the shy little boy clutching his leg to step forward. “It’s okay, they’re our family,” he whispered.

Instead of being encouraged, the boy just tried to hide further behind Pedro.

“Hey, Pedro, Valerie,” Roxy greeted as she walked up, carrying Rose on her hip with Sam following along behind her. “Who’s this?”

“Well, you know how we’ve been looking into adoption? This is Javier. We finalised everything and brought him home last week. We would’ve told you sooner, but this seemed like a good opportunity to introduce him to everyone,” Pedro explained. He turned to Javier. “This is Roxy, her wife Sam, and their daughter, Rose. they’re werewolves too, and very good friends of mine.”

Sam knelt down to meet Javier at eye level, her experience working with children clearly coming in handy. “Hi, Javier. It’s nice to meet you.”

The boy blinked at her owlishly, big dark eyes searching. “You’re… like me?”

“He was the only werewolf at the orphanage,” Valerie explained. “He hadn’t met any others before we came along.”

Sam nodded, her eyes flashing red and fur sprouting from her cheeks. “Yep. So are lots of the people here. When I was growing up, I was also the only werewolf I knew, so I know what it’s like. But don’t worry, you’re not alone anymore.”

Javier’s eyes brightened, and he looked up to Pedro. “Mr. Pedro, am I allowed to shift?”

Pedro smiled. “Of course. Here, let me show you where the bathroom is so you can take your clothes off and not damage them.”

They went to go find a bathroom and Sam stood back up. “‘Mr. Pedro?’ That’s adorable,” she said with a grin.

“I know,” Valerie replied with one of her own. “He’s very shy, but I think being around more of his own kind will be good for getting him out of his shell. We’re trying to get him enrolled in your school, actually. With any luck, he should be in your class by next year.”

“Most likely. Admin tends to funnel the werewolf kids my way, for obvious reasons, so if he gets in, I’ll probably have him.”

“Isn’t it detrimental, to have all the werewolf kids in one place?” Roxy asked. “Wouldn’t that give them and the human kids less interaction? I thought that would be a bad thing.”

Sam hesitated. “Eeh, yes and no. It helps give the wolf kids a sense of community, especially if they don’t know any other wolves outside of school, and they tend to get more mixed with the rest of the kids in other years anyway, since I’m the only werewolf teacher there right now. I know I would’ve killed to get to experience what they have when I was their age. Maybe I wouldn’t have gotten detention for chewing through pencils so much.”

Roxy laughed. “No, you would’ve just gotten detention for constantly forgetting to do your homework instead.”

“In my defence! Homework sucks and is bad. If I ever assign homework I need you to kill me, because I have been replaced by an imposter.”

Roxy grinned. “I’ll hold you to that.”

—

Day turned to night, and the festivities became a bit less child-friendly as alcohol became their primary beverage. Pedro and Valerie sadly didn’t stay too long, so as to not overwhelm their new charge, but left with a promise to return for catch-up drinks some time soon. Roxy tried to put Rose to bed in Sam’s old room, but she seemed bizarrely lively tonight, which was strange. It wasn’t even a full moon. It wasn’t so bad, though, as Leif always loved an opportunity to play her role as aunt, and was always happy to take her out of Roxy or Sam’s hands to give them a break for a while.

There was an over-dramatic gasp and Roxy turned to make sure Leif hadn’t gotten too drunk to safely care for her daughter, but was pleasantly surprised to just find her sitting on the couch making an assortment of goofy faces at her while Rose babbled on.

“Rosemary Clarissa Reed, how could you say such a thing?!” Leif cried in mock indignation. Rose just blew a raspberry in her face in response.

“You two ladies having fun?” Roxy asked, sitting down on the couch and taking a sip from her rum and coke.

“I would be, if your wonderful daughter stopped slandering my mother.”

Roxy scoffed. “Oh yes, Rose certainly has a mouth on her, and some very big opinions.”

“Oooh, yes you do,” Leif cooed, pulling an overexaggerated face that made Rose giggle. “You’re very politically incorrect, aren’t you, bubs? Who’s a little homophobe? It’s you! Yes it is!”

Roxy laughed. “I think you’ve had too much to drink.”

“Nonsense, I’m practically sober. Once this little goober gets to bed, I’ll drink you under the table.”

“I’ll take your word for it. I have work tomorrow and I’d rather not be hungover for it.”

Leif ignored her and focused back on Rose. “Isn’t your ah-may so boring? You should come stay with me, I’m loads more fun.”

“I think her other mom would have something to say about that.”

“Sam can take it up with my lawyer.”

In response to that, Rose scrunched her chubby little face up in concentration and started grunting. Roxy, after multiple years of parenting an infant, knew exactly what that sound meant. Leif, however, did not. Maybe it was the drink talking, but Roxy sorta just wanted to let this play out, just to see the look on Leif’s face when she figured it out.

Leif raised an eyebrow. “What’s got you all grumbly all of a sudden, missy?”

Rose redoubled her efforts, clenching her little baby fists and grunting harder. To the untrained ear, it did sound a bit like anger noises; she would give Leif that much.

Leif turned to look at Roxy, confusion and a light helping of concern in her eyes. “What’s happening?”

Roxy grinned. “You wanna keep her, you can wait and find out.” She raised her can and took a sip, eagerly waiting for the chaos to start.

Then something happened that neither of them had expected, not even Roxy. Rose’s eyes turned from pale green to bright red and she shifted, right then and there in Leif’s arms, changing from adorable toddler into adorable wolf puppy and leaving the both of them very confused. She wasn’t supposed to be able to do that.

Roxy gently picked up her lupine daughter, looking down into her inquisitive red eyes, absolutely shell-shocked. “...Saaam?!” she called, trying not to freak out as Rose playfully nipped at her fingers.

Sam responded quickly to the cry of distress, stumbling into the room with mildly-drunk clumsiness. It didn’t take long for her to piece together what was going on. “Oh, nuts.”

“I thought you said wolves couldn’t shift at will until they were at least four?!”

Sam winced. “Yeah, generally, but Rose is a direwolf. I’ve been able to shift for as long as I can remember. She must’ve gotten the early bloomer gene from me.”

“Great…” Roxy admittedly whined, not really able to sum up much enthusiasm for this development.

“Hey,” Sam said softly, sitting down next to her wife. “We’ll figure it out. If Carol could raise me, I think we’ll manage with this little one.”

Rose stumbled over onto Sam’s lap, attacking her fingers instead, and Roxy let out a sigh. “I hope you’re right.”

—

It was a true battle of attrition, but they finally managed to get Rose to bed at around two in the morning once they returned home. Mercifully, she shifted back once she passed out, so they were able to slip a diaper onto her to alleviate the worry of any night-time accidents. With that whole ordeal dealt with, Sam and Roxy wasted no time falling into bed and curling up under the covers.

“Well,” Sam whispered, gently hauling Roxy until she was half-splayed across her chest, face buried in the crook of her neck. “Today was fun.”

“It was certainly eventful,” Roxy mumbled, silently enjoying the smell of Sam’s skin, pressed up against her face as it was.

Sam hummed. “Yeah. Javier was cute. Maybe he and Rose will be friends once she gets a little older? They’re not that far in age.”

“At that age, a four year difference is like a lifetime. They probably won’t be able to properly relate to each other until Rose is in her mid teens, at least.”

Sam made a mildly concerned noise. “Sounds pretty lonely.”

Roxy shrugged. “It’s not so bad. I was an only child, look how I turned out. She’ll make friends at school.”

Sam was silent for a bit, but Roxy knew it was because she was too busy thinking. While waiting, she occupied herself by gently gnawing on Sam’s earlobe, because it was funny to distract her. And because the noises she made in response were quite enjoyable, and Roxy wanted to hear more of them.

“Y’know,” Sam finally responded. “We could always have another one.”

Roxy paused, getting up on her elbows to look down at her wife in the darkness. “Yeah?”

Sam smiled. “Yeah. I… I’ve been thinking about it for a while, to be honest. Just imagine it. Another little Rose running around. She’d have a friend closer to her age. She could be a big sister. I always wanted a big sister.”

Roxy rested her head against Sam’s shoulder, giving it some thought. “It’ll be a lot of work, and mean another uncomfortable phone call with my cousin, but it does sound nice.” She paused, running her hand over the soft flesh of Sam’s belly. “I’ll admit, I do kinda miss the baby bump a bit.”

Sam snorted. “Yeah?”

“Shut up, it was cute.”

“The morning sickness wasn’t. Why don’t you carry it this time?” she teased.

Roxy got back up, looking down at her wife, unimpressed. “I want you to think about why that won’t work with our current donor.”

The blonde’s face scrunched up. “Oh yeah. To be honest, I kinda forgot we didn’t just conceive Rose with lesbian baby magic.”

Roxy laughed, though it dimmed quickly. “If you really want me to carry this time, we can always find another donor,” she said, struggling to keep the reluctance from her voice. Pregnancy was not something she was eager to experience.

“No, it’s okay,” Sam reassured. “I was just teasing, I don’t mind carrying. It’s… rewarding, growing a life. Besides, it would be cool if Rose and this next one were full blood siblings.”

“Sounds like a plan, then,” Roxy decided. “If you’re sure.”

“We can talk about it more in the morning. For now, there are some more… pressing matters that deserve my attention.” She punctuated her words by running a hand down Roxy’s side, passing over her hip and squeezing the meat of her thigh.

Roxy grinned. “I think I can help with that.”

She leaned down and Sam leaned up and they collided in the middle, lips parting and tongues exploring. No matter how many times they kissed, it never got old to Roxy, her body lighting up with excitement just like the first time Sam cradled her face and brought their lips together under the moonlight. She kissed a trail down Sam’s neck, nipping and sucking on her skin and drawing out those lovely sounds again.

Sam clutched at the back of Roxy’s shirt, insistently tugging until Roxy conceded and slipped it off. She leaned back, straddling Sam’s thighs and allowing her wife to admire her.

“Have I mentioned how much I love your tattoos?” Sam said wistfully, running a hand along Roxy’s inked abdomen.

“Once or twice.”

Sam grinned and leaned up, kissing the tattoo of a phoenix on Roxy’s chest, right over the scar of the wound that nearly killed her. Then she moved a little to the right, and Roxy let her head fall back as pleasure overtook her senses. Sam knew exactly what to do to make her feel good.

It was late and they were tired, so they didn’t draw it out, finishing quickly with well-practised efficiency. For once, Rose didn’t interrupt or wake up at all, and when they were done, they were able to cuddle up together, sweaty and satisfied, and go to sleep.

It had been hard work getting to this point. They’d lost so much. Their childhoods, their innocence, many of their friends and family. They’d been bullied, attacked, beaten, kidnapped and tortured, shot, stabbed, electrocuted, mutilated, but they’d pushed through it all, and they’d finally made it to the end. A peaceful life was all they ever wanted, and they had finally achieved it. They were home, they had their pack, a beautiful daughter, and perhaps another child to come. They had lives, lives beyond the endless danger and fear and killing of the hunters’ reign. Sure, it wasn’t perfect. They both still suffered from nightmares of those darker times, still felt the pain of old wounds flaring up now and again, still mourned the loss of those they had left behind, and the world government was still undecided on many issues when it came to werewolf freedoms. But, it was life, and they were together. They always had each other, no matter what the world threw at them.

They were together, and nothing would tear them apart ever again.

THE END