Epilogue
epilogue
TALON—12 YEARS LATER
The other kings and I ran around the field with a crowd of kids following us. All of them were yelling. Most were shouting threats, and giving battle cries.
Our mates were all lounging in the lake nearby. Blair had their first baby, a two-month-old little siren girl, in a carrier on her chest.
Avery had Lila, our one-year-old daughter, in her arms. She was our second, a siren, and possibly our last.
Izzy was holding her fifth son, and he was splashing wildly. They were calling it quits at five, finally giving up on trying for a girl. All five of the little guys were werewolves, and were equally crazy.
Zora’s twin daughters were ten, and mixed into the crowd with everyone else. They were technically the oldest kids, but Kai and Clementine’s son had spent enough time in the fae realm that he was really older by a year or two. Bane and Zora had another set of twins a handful of years after the first, both boys, one a siren and one a gargoyle. Kai and Clem had a daughter a few years after they had their son, too.
Pregnancy hadn’t come quickly or easily for any of the sirens, much to everyone’s frustration. But eventually, it had come, and the kids were worth the shitty wait.
The crowd of angry children chasing us finally caught up when we slowed to let them, and all of us men made a show of being taken down.
My five-year-old son, Reed, elbowed me in the nose with a scaly arm as he shouted in victory. His other arm was over my throat, pinning me down.
I laughed, giving him a minute to enjoy his win before I dragged him down to the grass for more wrestling.
Reed fought with everything he had, and after another long battle, I finally surrendered.
Our mates called us over for lunch after some more wrestling, and we towed the complaining kids over to the table of food we’d hauled out to the lake.
Everyone grabbed plates and sat down wherever they wanted, the kids all mingling like the best friends they were. The next generation of kings and queens would grow up united, and we were all fucking proud of that.
I scooped Lila out of Avery’s arms and plopped a kiss on her cheek, making her squeal and laugh. She babbled at me, and I talked with her as if I could understand what she was saying while Avery grabbed her food.
Avery sat next to me a few minutes later, and I set our wiggly little siren down so she could eat with us. Then, I pulled my mate in for a kiss.
She broke it off with a smile, her eyes bright and clear. “That was quite the loss a few minutes ago, Tal. I’m not sure whether to be ashamed of you, or proud of Reed.”
“I’ll start training more,” I agreed.
She laughed, and kissed me again.
“Get a room!” one of Porter and Izzy’s sons, Terren, yelled before he tossed a roll at us. It collided with the side of Avery’s face before falling to the ground.
“Terren,” Izzy threatened, lifting a finger in warning.
Avery grabbed the roll off the grass and threw it back at the punk. He dodged it and laughed loudly before his dad wrestled him back down with a grin. His brothers gave another round of battle cries before jumping back into the war.
Life was pretty damn insane—but it was perfect.
I absolutely loved it.
And I wouldn’t have changed anything, even if I could.