(from the author—to the readers, and to the two souls who survived the storm)

Maybe this time, the storm has truly ended.

Thank you—
to you, who stayed with Joss and Gawin through all the turmoil, the unrelenting wars of the corporate battlefield, and the quieter wars within their hearts. Not everyone has the strength to stay through a storm. But you did. And for that—I am deeply, endlessly grateful.

Velvet Storm was never a gentle story.
I wrote of flawed Alphas.
Of Omegas who knew how to fight back.
Of wounds barely healed before being torn open again.
I wrote of power, betrayal, vengeance—and love.
Not sweet love, but the kind that aches all the way down to the bones.

There were times I asked myself:
"Can love ever be forgiven, after it has hurt us so deeply?"

I found the answer in Gawin's gaze—
when he chose not to walk away, even after everything was over.
And in Joss's whisper: "I love you."
No more pheromones.
No more dominance.
No more masks.
Just one human loving another.

—

If you asked me which character I loved most—it would probably be Joss.

The man who thought he had control over everything, but never once had control over his own heart.
An Alpha who carried the scent of amber, yet ended up unravelling before the chill of green tea—so cold, so familiar, it broke something in him.

And Gawin—
The one who never needed rescuing.
Never needed to be caged.
He just needed a place where he could be seen, be trusted, be loved as he was—no lies, no disguises.
And I believe Gawin didn't "lose" to Joss.
He stayed—not because he was held back,
but because he chose to forgive.
And because he believed.

—

Florence was a soft ending.
But who's to say...
that someday, when summer returns to Hua Hin, and the scent of ambergris drifts through a quiet café—
you won't catch a glimpse of Joss lifting his gaze to his lover,
and Gawin smiling back from across the table?

Because love doesn't always need to be loud.
Sometimes... it just needs to stay.

—

Thank you for walking with me through this storm.
Velvet Storm – We were the storm for each other.

See you again—
in another universe.