Eclipse Sector (V-Clan #3)

Epilogue

ASHLYN

I’ve always known how I would meet my mate.

Or I thought I did.

Until it actually happened in Glacier Sector.

But I always thought it would be here, on the chilly shores of Kodiak Sector.

I’ve dreamt of this moment so many times, always waking with both excitement and regret.

Because I know how much this is going to hurt. How our story is going to begin and potentially end.

It’s not for the faint of heart. Sometimes I wonder if I can really handle it.

However, I wouldn’t change the decisions I made that landed me here. The alternative paths were far worse for everyone else. Too much death and pain.

If I have to endure this for everyone else to be safe, so be it.

I just hope Grey hurries up.

Glancing up at the sun, I note the afternoon time.

Should be soon, I think. Assuming he understood the messages I left for him.

I don’t mean to be cryptic, but I’ve learned that’s the best way to convey hidden meanings without altering futures.

Messing with fate comes with severe consequences, consequences I have no interest in facing.

I shiver as a chilly wave assaults my bare skin. It’s the only way to keep my scent from spreading, from alerting the Kodiak Alphas to my presence.

But Oracle, I’m exhausted.

I’ve been awake for days. Sitting in this chilly water while my body fights to stay warm enough to survive. I resemble a blue water-logged alien right now. Grey probably won’t even recognize me.

If he even comes for me, I think.

Closing my eyes, I refuse to consider that alternative.

That path isn’t good for either of us.

This is the only right way. The best?—

“All right, little riddler.” The deep voice washes over me, causing my eyes to spring open.

Grey stands a few feet away, covered in blood, just like in my visions. I tremble, both terrified and elated. “Y-you’re h-here,” I stammer out, my voice barely resonating above the waves.

He frowns, then holds out his hand. “Let’s get you somewhere warm.”

I consider it for longer than I should, then reach up to grab him just as howls sound in the distance.

Grey lunges forward to grab me, then shadows us out of Kodiak Sector before anyone can stop us.

But he doesn’t take me back to his lair.

He takes me somewhere else entirely.

To a place I’ve dreaded since the first time I dreamt of this moment.

I know what comes next. The words. The irritation. The pain .

He instantly pulls me into his arms, a wool blanket wrapping around me. But his eyes are hard as he tilts my head up so I’m forced to meet his gaze.

“I’m going to warm you up,” he tells me. “Then we’re going to talk about those little notes in your journal about Nikiski. And afterward, you’re going to help me find her.”

There it is.

Our fate.

The one that’s either going to make us… or break us.

Because it requires us to go back in time.

To visit a past neither of us wants to consider.

To embrace a potential future that could destroy us both.