Epilogue

“YOU LOOK HORRIBLE!” Beth gasped when Kana walked into work. “You sure you’re well enough to be here?”

A week had passed since the battle against the vampires, and Kana had called in sick to work. He had returned to his apartment a day after the fight, but today was the first time he had felt steady enough to ride the bus all the way to the office.

“I’m feeling a lot better,” Kana replied. A touch of hoarseness in his voice still made him croak, but his magic channels were starting to flow again.

“If you say so,” Beth said, but she was studying him as if she didn’t believe him.

Kana ignored her and hit the button to power on his computer. “Did I miss anything while I was gone?”

“Oh boy. Did you ever! They finally released the article about the vampires. You won’t believe what they did to it!” Beth dug through the piles of stuff covering her desk and handed him a printout of the written article.

Kana’s computer was still booting, so he took the paper from her to read.

Vampire Danger Solved, the headline read. The subheading continued: Hunter-Witch Deals with Scourge Before City is Attacked.

“Hunter-witch?” Kana asked, although he wasn’t certain how the newspaper had also learned the vampires were gone.

Beth shrugged. “Don’t ask me. Stephen came in one day last week with it.”

Kana skimmed the article, wondering if Ember knew about it. The article started with Stephen’s visit to the vampires and the subsequent, foiled attack, but instead of going into what regular civilians needed to know to protect themselves—which was the article Kana and Beth had spent so much time working on—it talked about an interview. Apparently, Stephen had called the vampire house again. Kana couldn’t think of why, so he asked Beth.

Beth snorted. “Because he was worried we had that lead vampire’s name wrong. Who’s called Octavius anymore these days? Although, I’m more shocked Stephen made the call himself. Usually it’s you or me doing the grunt work.”

And, according to the article, whoever answered the phone said: “Don’t worry about the vampires anymore. We had a super witch come in and our vampire problem is gone.”

“Glad that project’s done with, at least,” Kana said as he handed the article back to Beth. “Guess I should check my email and see what my next job is.”

He went through his email for a few minutes, deleting the stuff he knew was crap—the all-employee emails usually went straight to the trash bin—and skimmed the ones he wasn’t sure about to double-check. Once he was sure Beth was engrossed in her own work, Kana grabbed his cell phone and headed out to the nearest stairwell where he could have a private conversation.

Guess freedom’s gone to the wolves’ heads a bit, Sora commented. He had followed Kana, but Mika was content to nap on his pillow under Kana’s desk, so had remained behind.

Kana pulled up Ember’s number and hit Call. Ember had checked in on Kana regularly when Kana had been staying in their spare room and had reached out once a day after Kana had returned to his apartment. Usually they spoke in the evenings, so calling first thing in the morning might throw Ember off.

I hope no one reads that article and decides to travel here to take a look at the super witch, Kana replied while he listened to the phone ring. I do not need that sort of attention.

I doubt the wolves want that attention either, Sora admitted.

“Kana, how’s work? Is everything okay?” Ember asked the second he answered

“Work’s fine. I’m getting back into the swing of things. But my coworker showed me an article from last week saying someone with you talked about a superwitch?” Kana asked.

Ember let out a short growl. “One of our younger members was assigned to monitor the phones. He’s not allowed near even his own cell phone after that stunt. There’s no way to retract what he said. I’m sorry, Kana. Is it going to cause you problems at work?”

“No, not at work,” Kana replied. “They have no idea what I am.”

“But you’re worried problems might come from elsewhere,” Ember said, and his understanding tone indicated he was worried about that too. “I have some more mature wolves than the fool who spilled the beans already working on finding a way to monitor the city so our territory stays safe. I’ll make sure to let you know if we spot anything worrying.”

“I appreciate that,” Kana replied. While it helped to know he might have forewarning if anyone came looking for a super witch, he would have preferred to stay off the radar entirely. Kana wouldn’t take back his actions though. He did not regret stopping Octavius or helping the werewolves, and he definitely wasn’t upset about having met Ember.

“Hey, you want to swing by the city house sometime this week?” Ember asked suddenly. Kana’s heart started beating faster in anticipation as he helplessly hoped Ember might be asking him out on a date, but that hope died when Ember continued. “We’re planning to sell a bunch of the glitzy stuff Octavius left behind so we can get some equity and start rebuilding the pack. It would be great if you were here just in case there’s something you’d like to have.”

Seeing Ember even for some spring cleaning was better than not seeing him at all. “Let me know when, and I’ll be there,” Kana said.

“Will do. I’ll let you get back to work now. Sorry about my wolf.” Ember sounded distracted, and Kana could faintly hear someone calling Ember’s name.

“See you then,” Kana replied, then they hung up.

He’s just busy. Give him time, Sora said. He walked a figure eight around Kana’s feet, brushing his soft fur against Kana’s ankles in comfort. And until he does, and even after, you’ll always have Mika and me.

Kana picked Sora up to give him a hug and then headed back to his desk. Whatever was potentially building with Ember would or wouldn’t happen, but Sora was right. With Mika and Sora at Kana’s side, he couldn’t help feeling happy.