“Who’s afraid of the big, bad wolf?” Piper whispered.
In the quiet shadows of the wings of the community center stage, Koko’s ears twitched in response to her voice. Calm and content by her side, he was the antithesis of the big, bad wolf. Piper wished Ethan could see him now, the perfect gentleman actor, healed and whole, waiting for his big moment onstage.
Ethan wasn’t standing beside her, of course. Piper didn’t even know if he was anywhere in the building, seated among the audience or standing at the back of the crowded auditorium. She wholeheartedly doubted it.
She’d neither seen nor spoken to him since the morning after Koko had ingested the poison a full week ago. Ethan had respected her wishes and kept his distance from the sanctuary, taking her at her word when she’d said she’d no longer wanted anything to do with him. The morning after that first lonely day without him there, she’d driven into town for a copy of the Yukon Reporter out of pure, morbid curiosity. What had he written about Koko’s illness? How had he spun things? Had he painted her as the crazy wolf woman who lived on a mountain and accidentally poisoned her pack? He could have printed a story like that. It would have been accurate. Sort of. She wouldn’t have blamed him if he had. After the things she’d said to him, she deserved it. She deserved worse.
But that’s not the kind of story he’d written. Instead he’d written nothing at all.
Not a word. Nothing about the wolfsbane. Nothing about Koko. Nothing about the vigil they’d kept under the pink Alaskan sky. In fact, she couldn’t find a single article with his byline anywhere among the newspaper’s many pages. She’d checked. Twice.
She couldn’t believe it. It was over. At last. People were no longer debating the pros and cons of her wolf sanctuary over lattes at the coffee bar. She could flip through the local radio stations on her drive into town and not hear a single word about how she’d forced Ethan to clean out wolf pens. His front-page column had been replaced with coverage of the local mayoral debates. Business as usual. Piper and her wolves were no longer being mocked on a daily basis for the entire world to see. Or the state, at least. Tate had even located the kids who’d vandalized the cabin. They’d sent written apologies and were performing community service at the church.
Piper should have been thrilled.
“Is it crazy that I miss Ethan?” she said, not realizing she’d actually uttered the words aloud until Koko’s ears pricked forward in attention. “Because I sort of do.”
Now who’s the liar?
She didn’t just miss him a little bit. She missed him a lot. More than she’d ever missed anything or anyone in her entire life.
“Are you ready, Piper?” Zoey, whom Posy had appointed stage manager, poked her head through the curtain. “It’s almost time.”
“As ready as I’ll ever be.” Piper pasted on a smile, and her gaze flitted to the small portion of the audience that was visible beyond the curtain. She couldn’t make out anything from back here. She couldn’t even tell how many rows of seats were occupied.
“And how’s our superstar?” Zoey cooed at Koko.
Piper gave him a pat on his side, and noted that his weight seemed back to normal. She could no longer feel his ribs protruding through his thick coat. “As good as new and ready for his close-up.”
“Great. Just stand by. I’ll be directly opposite you in the wings, and I’ll give you the thumbs-up signal once the girls have all moved offstage. Then you’ll walk with Koko to center stage and take a bow. Easy peasy.”
“Easy peasy,” Piper repeated.
“Any questions?”
“Nope, it all seems really straightforward.” She fiddled with Koko’s leash, winding it around her hand, then unwinding it. “Except maybe just one thing.”
“Yes?” Zoey asked. “What is it? Shoot.”
“I was just wondering if, well...” Piper shook her head. This was silly. Of course he wasn’t here. Zoey would have already told her if she’d seen him. Why would he come, anyway?
Piper had said such horrible things to him. Things she’d had no right to say.
You’re the man who tried to get my wolf sanctuary closed down. You’re the man who wanted to run me and my wolves out of town. You, Ethan, are the man who tried to destroy my dream and then lied to my face.
Of course he hadn’t come to the dance recital. He’d probably never speak to her again, and she wouldn’t blame him one bit.
Zoey shook her head. “He’s not here, Piper. I’m sorry.”
And there it was. Her answer. His absence spoke volumes, far more than his column had ever said. “I know. I was just hoping, I guess.”
Maybe he’d moved on. Maybe he’d even gotten the job in Seattle. He’d missed the interview, but maybe somehow he’d had it rescheduled. She honestly had no idea what to think. One thing was sure—he wasn’t writing anymore. At least not here in Alaska.
The music stopped, and the whisper of tiny slippered feet exiting the stage took its place.
“That’s your cue!” Zoey’s face lit up, thoughts of Ethan forgotten. For one of them, at least. “Get ready.”
Piper took a deep breath, gathered Koko’s leash in her hands and led him into the spotlight. Just the two of them. Just like always.
The roar of applause from the audience was so loud that it was a wall of noise. Koko blinked into the light with his cool copper eyes and leaned against her side. She was so proud of him then, so amazed at all that he’d overcome in order to be able to stand beside her and represent the strength and beauty of his resilient species.
She glanced down at him. Her boy.
He lowered his head, narrowed his eyes and fixed his gaze on something just behind her. Before she could stop him, he gathered his legs beneath him and sprang. The audience gasped as he landed on his intended prey with a thud and bit down hard.
There was a sound of paper tearing. Koko tossed his head, and green tissue paper leaves from the closest prop tree flew through the air like confetti.
“Really, Koko? Attacking the props?”
He pawed at the tree trunk he’d knocked over, and a few chuckles skittered through the seated crowd. Feeding off their energy, Koko’s paws gained speed and soon he was shredding the tree. He looked like a dog—a very big, very goofy dog—trying to bury a bone.
“You are the world’s biggest ham.” Piper shook her head.
Laugher filled the auditorium as the curtain swished closed, and once again it was just the two of them. Center stage. It had all happened so fast.
Of course, that had been the plan all along, but it felt so strange now. Less than a minute onstage, when this appearance had caused such grief between her and Ethan.
She had to stop thinking about him. She couldn’t go on like this. Missing him. Loving him.
Seeing him.
She blinked. Was she hallucinating, or was that really Ethan walking toward her from the wings?
“Nice job,” he said, in that familiar voice that she still heard late at night when she closed her eyes and let herself remember. I’m in love with you, Piper.
It was him. In the flesh. “You came.”
“I wouldn’t have missed this, lovely.” His lips curved into a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “I hope you don’t mind.”
She shook her head. “Of course I don’t.”
“Nice touch, terrifying everyone like that.” He reached out and gave Koko a pat on the head.
Piper cleared her throat. “He was only playing.”
“I was kidding, Piper. It was a joke.” There was that sad smile again.
She swallowed. “I knew that.”
“No, you didn’t, but that’s my fault.” He nodded toward the green papier-mâché at Koko’s feet. “Besides, I’m pretty sure that tree was made entirely out of my column. I think what we just witnessed was simply Koko’s commentary on my work.”
The hum of the audience had faded to silence. Lights flickered and dimmed. It was time to leave. Posy and Zoey would come looking for her any second.
Not yet. She wasn’t ready. There was so much left to say. “I looked for your column in the paper and couldn’t find it.”
He shook his head. “I don’t work for the Yukon Reporter anymore. I’ve been out of town.”
“Oh, so you got the job in Seattle. Congratulations.” She should be happy for him. She knew she should, but all she wanted to do was cry.
To her horror, she did.
A tear slid down her face, and Ethan brushed it away with the pad of his thumb. “No. I changed my mind about that, remember? I’ve been in Denali. I needed to go back there. I needed to make peace with what happened. It was time.”
“And did you?”
“Yes, thanks to you.” His gaze dropped to Koko standing calmly at her side. “You and your pack, that is.”
“I’ve missed you, Ethan. I’ve missed you so much.” She took a shuddering breath. She was crying in earnest now. She wouldn’t have thought she’d have any tears left after the past week, but they were falling from her eyes faster than Ethan could wipe them away.
“Don’t cry, lovely. I’m here.” He pulled her close and whispered into her hair, “It’s okay.”
Koko whined. She tried to collect herself, but Ethan was here. And he was touching her and saying such nice things. Things she didn’t deserve to hear. “But it’s not, Ethan. I said such awful things to you. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
He held her even tighter against him. “We’ve both said things we wish we could retract.”
She pulled back so she could look him in the eyes. “But you were there. You were always there, even when you wanted to leave. Even when I tried to push you away...you were there. No one’s ever been there for me like that. No one.”
He kissed her forehead and smiled. This time, it lit up his entire face. “Well, what kind of stalker would I be if I gave up so easily?”
His smile, his gentle laughter, was all the encouragement she needed to say the thing she most wanted to articulate. “Come back, Ethan. Come back to the sanctuary. Please. I need you there.”
He shook his head. “No you don’t. The tip jar out there is overflowing, thanks to Koko. I have a feeling you’ll soon have more visitors at the sanctuary than you’ll know what to do with. You and I both know you could handle things just fine without me.” His voice was so tender that it almost made his refusal bearable.
“Oh.” She nodded. Woodenly. “Okay.”
He tipped her chin up so that her gaze was fixed with his, and in his eyes she saw the answer she’d been hoping for. Yes. “But I’d like to come back to the sanctuary anyway, if you’ll have me.”
“You would?”
“I would, but first I want you to take a look at something I’ve been working on the past few days.” He reached into his jacket pocket, pulled out a thick envelope and offered it to her.
She handed him Koko’s leash and opened the envelope. Inside she found a packet of papers with the NNC seal at the top. She recognized it at once, especially since she’d just received her rejection letter from their grant committee two days before. “What is this?”
“It’s a revised NNC application for the sanctuary,” he said quietly.
She flipped through the pages, which represented hours upon hours of work. How had he found time to put this together and also drive to Denali? He must have worked nonstop. “You did this? This is what you’ve been busy writing instead of your column?”
He nodded. “In order to reapply, the facility must show proof of a significant change in management. I want to be that change. I haven’t filed the papers because this is your call. Your dream. No more secrets, Piper. You have my word on that. If the answer is no, I’ll understand. I’ve been offered a job in Denali. At the park, like before. But I want to be here. I belong here. With you and the wolves.”
Her tremulous orchid heart that had closed so quietly when she’d seen those photographs in the police file bloomed as if kissed by the sun itself. “You want to help me run the sanctuary? Full-time?”
It was more than she could have hoped for. More than she dreamed possible.
“I want to do more than that, lovely. I want to be part of your pack, if you’ll have me. I love you, Piper. I always have, and I always will. I want to marry you. I want that more than I want my next breath.”
This time, there was no stopping her response. The words rose from the very bottom of her soul, where they’d been waiting for the perfect time, the perfect man. That man was Ethan. “I love you, too. It would be an honor to marry you.”
Koko pressed the weight of his wolfish frame against their legs. Ethan looked down at him and grinned. “I think I’m in.”
“You are, my love. You are.” All this time, Ethan had been the missing piece. But he’d come back, and she was going to be his wife.
Her pack was complete.
At last.