by T. S. Joyce
She swayed with Mom the whole song, laughing as the occasional tear fell, and reveling in the sound of a hundred voices lifting to sing along.
This was everything.
She could die happy now because this moment had existed for her. Watching her mate, her Rhett, play a song with her dad and Uncle Denny, his eyes drinking her in as he sang right to her soul, like nobody else in this bar existed.
“He’s a good one, isn’t he?” Mom asked.
“Well, instead of calling me and asking me to come back, he came all the way to the place that means the most to me and made it special again. Plus, he dragged their wild asses here,” she said, gesturing to the Rogue Pride Crew. God, she couldn’t even imagine them on a plane together. Grim was definitely about to get into a bar fight with everyone. “That alone is a giant effort. I think that’s what it’s about—the effort.” Saying I love you was one thing, but showing love? Now that was entirely different. Maybe it was even bigger than the words.
“I think you’re gonna be just fine, Juno-Bug.”
Juno smiled sadly. “I wish I had more time with him.”
“Now you do,” Beaston rumbled from behind her. Remi was standing with him, two shots of something strong-lookin’ in her hands.
Green eyes blazing, Beaston held two pictures in his hands. When she hesitated to take them in her confusion, he shoved them forward at her.
“You were always gonna die in your twenty-seventh year. I told you this.”
“Yeah,” she said, frowning at the picture on top. It was of a magazine clipping. She remembered this. A music mag had interviewed her to get insight on up-and-coming bands and what they needed to do to get signed. The picture was of her, sitting at a two-person table in a pantsuit, watching a band. Her eyes were totally dead. She’d hated that band and signed them anyway.
Beaston pointed to that picture. “She died.”
Juno frowned and looked up at him. “I…I guess I don’t understand.”
He pulled that top picture away and exposed the one underneath. It was her yesterday, outside the bar where the Beateaters had played, mid-stride, holding Rhett’s guitar case. She had worn a black ripped-up tank top, shredded black jeans, and heeled booties because she’d felt good about herself and wanted to be comfortable last night. Her leather necklaces were swinging in the breeze, and her hair was lifted on one side…but that smile on her face was what took up the whole, grainy, black and white picture.
“This girl was born,” he growled, pointing to that picture. Beaston studied her face with those unsettling green eyes that saw so much more than anyone could fathom. “Happy birthday, Juno.”
“What?” she whispered, tears burning her eyes. “I’m not…” She swallowed hard and looked at Remi, then back to Beaston. “I’m okay?”
“You were dead inside, and now you’re alive,” he said and then melted into the crowd, leaving Juno with a hundred emotions rushing her at once.
“But…my nose was bleeding,” Juno whispered to Remi, not ready to believe all her worries were through. She had questions! “And I had an accidental Change and got disoriented.”
“Well, yeah, the altitude is way different in Rogue Pride Territory,” Remi said. “I got nose bleeds, too, when I first got out there. And your bear was probably wanting to stay, am I right?”
Her mind racing, Juno nodded.
“Yeah, your animal is going to act up if you try to leave her new territory. She picked a place and a mate, and you made her leave.” Remi shrugged. “If I was her I would do way worse than bloody noses and accidental Changes.”
All Juno could do was stare. She wasn’t capable of handling such an overwhelming feeling of reprieve. She parted her lips to try to say something smart, but once again, she Juno-ed it. “Living is awesome.”
Remi snorted. “You’re dang right it is. Here, shoot this.” She handed her a shot.
Feeling like her heart was going to eject itself out of her chest, she could only nod and toss it back with Remi.
Rhett’s charming voice rang out clear over the speakers. “I’m gonna take a quick break and go kiss my girl. Is that all right with y’all?”
The crowd cheered, and a few brave or drunk ones, whichever, started chanting, “Kiss her! Kiss her!”
Completely overwhelmed in the best way, Juno made her way toward him, weaving through the crowd as he hopped off the stage. The audience cleared the last few yards that separated them and she ran for him, her Rhett.
He caught her, of course. He was good at that—catching her. And as he brushed her hair from her face, he looked at her like she was the air, and not the other way around.
And when his lips pressed to hers, the crowd went nuts. She smiled the whole way through that kiss, and so did he. Hugging her so tight, letting her feet dangle, he nipped her lip and eased back, looked her right in the eyes and said, “I quit this industry unless you produce my records.”
“What?”
The label will take all my money for breach of contract, but I don’t give a single fuck. You’re the reason I love this again. You’re the reason…I…love. Start a label, produce me, let’s live like we have ten thousand days left.”
She cupped his cheeks and tried her best not to bust out crying, but the dam was nothing but rubble now. All she could do was nod because her voice would break on her answer.
“Yeah? Is that a yes?”
She nodded again as the tears started falling. “You gave music back to me, too.”
The smile on his lips fell, but then came back softer. “I know what that really means.”
“Tell me.”
“You love me.”
Oh, she did. She really did. “How did you know?”
He kissed her once more. “Because I feel the same.”
Epilogue
“From the top,” she said from behind the glass. “It’s close but not quite there. Maybe hold that last note a second longer.”
“Yep,” Rhett drawled, adjusting his guitar.
“One, two…one, two, three, four,” Uncle Denny murmured, and he and Dad began strumming together in the background.
Rogue Rebel Records was now a thing, and they had three days to record an album before Vyr was demanding them back home.
This was her life, and it was a beautiful one. The last couple of days had been chaos, but so fulfilling she didn’t miss her old life at all.
Everything made sense now. They were going to release these songs for cheap, just to get them into listeners’ headphones. No gimmicks or high-tech equipment. Guitars, mics, and a whole lot of heart, back here in the office of Sammy’s where the Beck Brothers had produced all their albums. It suited Rhett. He was happy, and the new songs were flowing out of him. He was hitting his stride with these songs since no one was telling him what to do or how to write them anymore.
He was in control, and he was flourishing right in front of her. A total pro.
She was so damn proud of him.
Maybe they would sell one record or thousands. They didn’t know and they didn’t care. They were in this for the music, for the audience, for that feeling in their souls that they were making something special.
“That’s it,” she said into the mic with the biggest grin. “Nailed it. That’s exactly what it needed.”
“Okay,” Remi said from where she’d been going over numbers with Kong on how much Pen15 Juice beer she and Kamp could get him in two weeks. “Now go in there with him. I want to take a picture.”
“What? No, I don’t need a picture of me.”
Remi held up her phone, and on the screen was the pic of her as a little kid in this very room, coloring while Dad and Uncle Denny recorded. They’d kept the sound of the scratch of her crayons in that song.
Juno smiled at the memory. “You want to recreate it?”
“Nah,” Remi said. “I want to improve it.”
And so Juno made her way into the recording studio. She tried to sit next to Rhett, but he wouldn’t have
it. He pulled her onto his lap, and before she even settled from her laughing, Remi snapped a picture on her phone. And when she showed her, Juno’s heart swelled.
She was mid-laugh, and so was Rhett as he looked at her. Dad and Uncle Denny were grinning in the background, holding their guitars under the Beck Brothers, Rhett Copeland, and Rogue Rebel Records signs the Ashe Crew had made and added to the room.
Whatever filter Remi had used made the picture look grainy and old, as if it had been taken all those years ago.
And as Juno and Rhett stared at the picture, she knew pieces of her really had died in her twenty-seventh year. But her favorite parts lived on and were growing. Perhaps love did that, or perhaps it was finding something she was truly passionate about, she didn’t know. All she knew was the day she’d found Rhett, he’d changed the course of her entire life for the better.
A home. A place. A niche. A great love. A story. A life worth living.
He’d given them all to her.
A gift for a gift, he’d once said. He’d thought it was the guitar, but she saw it differently.
He’d gotten her living again.
And that was the greatest gift of all.
Up Next in the Series
Ash Bear
Daughters of Beasts, Book 3
Coming November 2018
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Want More of these Characters?
This series is a spinoff of Damon’s Universe, which includes several of T. S. Joyce’s connected series.
Sons of Beasts
Son of the Cursed Bear (Book 1)
Son of Kong (Book 2)
Son of the Dragon (Book 3)
More Series by T. S. Joyce
Red Havoc Panthers
Red Havoc Rogue (Book 1)
Red Havoc Rebel (Book 2)
Red Havoc Bad Cat (Book 3)
Red Havoc Guardian (Book 4)
Red Havoc Bad Bear (Book 5)
Harper’s Mountains
Bloodrunner Dragon (Book 1)
Bloodrunner Bear (Book 2)
Air Ryder (Book 3)
Novak Raven (Book 4)
Blackwing Dragon (Book 5)
Kane’s Mountains
Blackwing Defender (Book 1)
Blackwing Wolf (Book 2)
Blackwing Beast (Book 3)
Bears Fur Hire
Husband Fur Hire (Book 1)
Bear Fur Hire (Book 2)
Mate Fur Hire (Book 3)
Wolf Fur Hire (Book 4)
Dawson Fur Hire (Book 5)
Chance Fur Hire (Book 6)
Saw Bears
Lumberjack Werebear (Book 1)
Woodcutter Werebear (Book 2)
Timberman Werebear (Book 3)
Sawman Werebear (Book 4)
Axman Werebear (Book 5)
Woodsman Werebear (Book 6)
Lumberman Werebear (Book 7)
Fire Bears
Bear My Soul (Book 1)
Bear the Burn (Book 2)
Bear the Heat (Book 3)
Gray Back Bears
Gray Back Bad Bear (Book 1)
Gray Back Alpha Bear (Book 2)
Gray Back Ghost Bear (Book 3)
Gray Back Broken Bear (Book 4)
Lowlander Silverback (Book 5)
Last Immortal Dragon (Book 6)
Boarlander Bears
Boarlander Boss Bear (Book 1)
Boarlander Bash Bear (Book 2)
Boarlander Silverback (Book 3)
Boarlander Beast Boar (Book 4)
Boarlander Cursed Bear (Book 5)
Wolf Brides
Wolf Bride (Book 1)
Red Snow Bride (Book 2)
Dawson Bride (Book 3)
For More from this Author
Visit www.tsjoyce.com for a full reading list.
About the Author
T.S. Joyce is devoted to bringing hot shifter romances to readers. Hungry alpha males are her calling card, and the wilder the men, the more she'll make them pour their hearts out. She lives in a tiny town, outside of a tiny city, and devotes her life to writing big stories. Foodie, bear whisperer, ninja, thief of tiny bottles of awesome smelling hotel shampoo, nap connoisseur, movie fanatic, and zombie slayer, and most of this bio is true.
Bear Shifters? Check
Smoldering Alpha Hotness? Double Check
Sexy Scenes? Fasten up your girdles, ladies and gents, it’s gonna to be a wild ride.
For more information about T. S. Joyce and her work, visit her website here.
