Epilogue
SCOTTY
Approximately Three Years Later
The glass rattled under Luka’s hands as he shouted himself hoarse and bounced in place, completely gone, zero awareness of anything except the fact that his team—our team—had just won the Stanley Cup.
“They won! They won! Did you see that?” he yelled, as if we’d all collectively missed the last thirty seconds of absolute chaos.
“I think the whole arena saw it, baby,” Ella laughed, even though he probably couldn’t hear her over the noise.
I still couldn’t believe how much he’s grown in the last three years since I moved back to Evercrescent. There was no way he wouldn’t present as an Alpha—he was already so much bigger than other kids his age. A future hockey player in the making, that one.
Just like Eugene, the little boy sitting on my lap, staring out onto the ice in awe.
It didn’t take long for everything to change after I bonded with the guys.
Nine months after my first heat with them, Eugene arrived.
Our son, our tiny human with Ryder’s eyes and my hair and Hunter’s complete lack of volume control.
The same baby whose nickname was Peanut for nine straight months because Hunter refused to let the joke die even once.
Pregnancy was rough, but my guys were amazing through all of it, which made the decision to try for another baby an easy one. Our daughter was currently cooking in my belly and would join our little family in a few short months.
Morgan sat beside me, fully distracted by Eugene, making ridiculous little faces at him. Brushing her fingers through his hair when he made an excited noise and tried to launch himself forward again. “Did your daddies win?” she cooed.
“They win!” he babbled back, thrilled with himself, like he’d contributed something to the win.
“They did win, buddy,” I laughed, adjusting his earmuffs when they slipped sideways again. As much as he clearly loved the noise, I wasn’t about to let him permanently damage his hearing before he could form full sentences.
I hated leaving him at home during games, even when Morgan insisted she’d watch him—and she would, happily—but this felt right. This was his dads’ world, and he belonged in it just as much as they did.
Morgan and I were closer than ever. She had become like a second mom to all of my friends, and we had weekly lunch dates where everyone complained about the men in their lives.
Not that I had much to complain about. My Alphas’ were amazing.
She and Dad got married a few months after I bonded with the guys, and they couldn’t be happier.
Morgan and Dad were our go-to babysitters whenever my Alphas and I craved a night to ourselves or when my heat arrived.
The nights when the guys and Dad were on the road for away games, Morgan’s place became my second home.
We’d curl up with Eugene, eat too much takeout, and stay up watching terrible reality TV until we both fell asleep on her oversized couch.
Sometimes I still felt Mom’s absence in the house like a physical ache, but I knew she would be thrilled that Morgan was looking out for me.
Eugene jabbed his chubby finger toward the ice, babbling something that sounded important in baby language. I followed his line of sight before gently correcting his arm so he was actually pointing in the right direction.
“There they are,” I murmured, because even in a sea of identical jerseys and helmets, I never had to look twice. My eyes always found them first in any crowd, like magnets drawn to their true north.
The bond hummed with their happiness as they celebrated.
I watched as Hunter slammed into Ryder, arms wrapping around him hard enough to knock them both off balance.
Ryder just went with it, laughing as they held onto each other for a second before the rest of the team crashed into them, bodies piling in, gloves flying, sticks clattering against the ice.
They broke apart when staff started trying to organize a team photo. I watched with giddy excitement as they skated away from the team, heading straight for me.
Ryder reached me first, his mouth claiming mine in a kiss that told me exactly how he planned to celebrate tonight. He grinned against my lips, and I felt his smugness through the bond.
“You proud of us, Sweetheart?” he murmured, and I rolled my eyes.
“You know I am, Ry. I would have been more surprised if you lost. This is your fourth year winning the Cup.”
“Fuck yeah, it is.” Hunter whooped, and Morgan shot him a death stare. I chuckled softly. He tried really hard not to swear in front of our son, but failed miserably.
I nearly collapsed from laughter when Eugene’s first word sounded suspiciously like shit.
Hunter’s hands found my face, his kiss urgent and desperate against my mouth, as if he’d been counting the seconds since the final buzzer.
Eugene squirmed and babbled, arms outstretched toward his daddies. Hunter scooped him up, his entire expression softening as he looked down at our son.
“C’mon, little man,“ he murmured, pressing a kiss to his cheek before passing him to Ryder, who got paranoid when anyone else but him carried Eugene around. He was an amazing dad, albeit a little overprotective.
“We’ll see you in a bit, Sweetheart,“ Ryder said, giving me one last peck before he and Hunter turned back toward the ice with our son between them.
I watched them go, my heart full in a way I never knew was possible. Because that—right there—was everything.
A few players from the team had gathered around Ella and Luka. I watched happily as one fist bumped Luka while the other two spoke to Ella. Luka giggled happily as the giant of the three scooped him up and skated back onto the ice, while Ella…
You know what? I’d let Ella tell you that story sometime.
The team gathered for a group photo, and right at the front and center of it all, Hunter, Ryder and our son. Sitting on the ice with Eugene snug in Hunter’s lap and Ryder holding the Cup, all three of them beaming with unfiltered happiness.
That photo would find its way onto every wall of our house if I had anything to say about it.
As soon as it was over, I saw Dad making his way over to the guys, looking pissed, but that was just his default setting when he was in coach mode. He pulled them both into a hug and said something that had Hunter laughing and Ryder frowning.
“That makes me so happy,“ Morgan said next to me, and I took her hand and gave it a squeeze. It took a lot of talks, but Dad and I were finally in a good place and closer than ever. He kept his promise and put in the work to fix our relationship.
Eugene had Dad wrapped around his tiny finger.
Whenever they were together, my father’s stern coach facade melted away completely, replaced by a softness I’d never witnessed before—not even in my own childhood.
The way Dad’s eyes crinkled at the corners when Eugene toddled toward him made my heart ache in the best possible way.
Dad had already bought Eugene a miniature coaching jacket with the team logo, complete with a miniature whistle that thankfully didn’t work.
Dad stole Eugene from Ryder’s arms, then playfully swatted away Ryder’s hands when he reached to reclaim our son.
Morgan and I couldn’t help but laugh at their antics.
He said something we couldn’t make out over the crowd’s noise, then he marched away with Eugene tucked safely in his arms. Hunter and Ryder both turned to me with those mischievous smiles that always meant trouble.
The bond filled with lust, so I assumed Dad probably offered to babysit for the night.
I didn’t know how I felt about my dad playing wingman, but pregnancy made me horny, and with them riding a high after their win, the sex was going to be fucking wild tonight.
If you had told me three years ago that this was how my life would turn out, I would have laughed in your face.
But now I had everything I never dared dream of— two Alphas whose eyes still lit up when I walked into a room, friends who’d seen me at my worst and loved me anyway, Eugene’s tiny hands reaching for my face each morning, our little girl I couldn’t wait to meet, Morgan who filled my childhood home with laughter and warmth, and a father who’d finally dealt with his grief to become the father I’d always needed him to be.
I was one lucky Omega.