EPILOGUE OF THE WHOLE SERIES
(It includes references to situations and people who do not appear in this book.)
LAKE
I walk between the tables, my heart swelling with happiness and pride, rising like spring waters. All my sons, and even their cousins, have found their True Mates, and I can’t imagine a more beautiful day in the life of any family man.
First, I stop at River’s table. He’s glowing, with little Phoenix on his lap. Archer leans in beside him and keeps feeding Phoenix the tastiest bites from his plate. That boy is growing like crazy, exactly what you’d expect from a purple alpha in his red variant.
"Dad, sit with us for a minute," River urges, but I only kiss his cheek and tell him, "I have to make the rounds, but I’ll come back to you at the end and we’ll talk." And I smile warmly.
Then I lean in and kiss the cheeks of all my grandsons, River’s boys: Riley, Igor, Van, Aiden, and my eight-year-old namesake, Lake.
"Have fun and eat as much as you want, go wild. We got the best catering possible, straight from a five-star hotel. The Sanders really outdid themselves."
And I ruffle Igor’s chestnut hair, he looks like a walking copy of my son Skye.
"We have plastic water pistols for you guys," I whisper into Van’s and Aiden’s ears. "Don’t hesitate to use them, just remember, they’re loaded with glitter rounds, not water!"
The boys’ eyes light up instantly.
At the next table sits my second son, Winter, with his fated mate, Sariel.
Sariel has his hand behind Winter’s back and absentmindedly plays with strands of my son’s white hair.
The warmth between them has long since melted the cold energy of my son, changing it into the easy closeness they share.
Winter has their boys on his lap, and every now and then he showers their chubby cheeks with a flurry of kisses.
"How are you two doing? Is everything good? Do you like the food?" I lean in, kiss Winter on the cheek again, then I can’t resist and kiss Sariel too.
"All good, the food’s amazing," Winter says with a smile.
Ah, Winter. My precious son, who lived for so many years like he was stuck in stasis, asleep, without hope for a family of his own, without dreams, afraid to even imagine the future. He finally thawed this past year, ever since he found Sariel. They fit each other perfectly.
"How’s work? I heard you’re preparing applications for the next stages of the government’s Beta Activation Program?"
Winter nods seriously. He’s basically the right hand of DevApp’s CEO, Jacob Lowen, who can’t imagine running the company without his favorite son-in-law.
"Yeah, we have several government projects lined up, including further Beta Activation Program app development. Looks like we’re not running out of work anytime soon."
I lean over his shoulder as the boys chirp happily.
"Let me hold my grandbabies," I say, because I can’t resist and just have to hug those adorable little ones.
Winter hands them to me with a smile. Their names are Summer and Snow, in honor of the people who saved their parents’ lives. I lift them, settling one on each hip.
Their hair is fascinating, a very pale green, so light it looks like pistachio ice cream.
"You’re both going to grow into such handsome boys," I tell them as I sway them gently on my hips.
Sariel smiles wide. "I hope so, I really want them to take after Winter. There’s no more handsome man in the world.
" He looks at Winter with so much admiration… I’m struck by it every time.
Winter’s albinistic looks used to be his biggest insecurity, and the most important thing for me is that he found someone who sees him as perfect. Everyone has someone meant for them.
When I see Sariel’s minty eyes, full of love, fixed on Winter’s face, I feel my own eyes grow a little wet again. It’s wonderful to see how much love flows between them, how close they are, and how full of tenderness Winter finally allows himself to be.
My next stop is Snow and Bay’s table, two of my sons, in order of age, sitting side by side, talking to each other in a way I’ve never seen before. I feel the shift in their energy right away, I know something finally changed between them.
"Hey," I say as I lean over them, placing a hand on Snow’s shoulder and the other on Bay’s.
"How are my only two sons blessed with bass voices? Maybe we’ll finally hear your duet, I’ve always dreamed of it?"
Bay glances at Snow, lifting his brows slightly in question.
"Why not? Maybe you’ll finally show your talent to the world," he says.
Snow hesitates for a moment, then suddenly smiles and nods. "Yeah, why not?"
He’s a composer, but he also has a beautiful voice, one he uses far too rarely.
"Maybe we can sing Let It Snow? Perfect time for it, right in the middle of June," Bay suggests jokingly.
"The microphone is all yours," I murmur, patting their shoulders. "This is going to be quite the show for the family. Have Jordan bring your instruments from your rooms, yes, yes, the ones you used to practice on!"
"All right," Bay says. "Come on, let’s rehearse real quick." He says it to Snow, and Snow nods. Of course, both of them are perfectionists. I watch them head off toward Snow’s tiny house to run through the song once.
Meanwhile, I lean down to kiss Alex and Summer on the cheeks. They’re sitting alone, with a bit of uncertainty in the air between them. I step back and start to move away, but then I see Alex shift over one seat to be closer to Summer, and Summer leans in, looking at little Gem with a gentle smile.
I catch a sentence Alex says.
"I heard you saved Winter’s life. That’s incredible… and honestly really admirable."
Summer blushes and quietly replies, "We did it together, Snow, me, and his dad."
Then after a short pause he adds, "It sounds cliché, but saving is so much more satisfying than destroying…" His expression turns a little melancholy, a little apologetic.
"I know exactly what you mean," Alex says with a grin and winks at him.
Smiling under my breath, I move on to the next table.
Rain and Kay are sitting there, and next to them Nathaniel with his True Mate and their son.
I place my hands on Rain’s shoulders and give him a warm pat. "How are you, guys? Be sure to thank the Sanders for the catering, it’s top-notch. I haven’t eaten anything this good in a long time."
Kay smiles with a bit of embarrassment. "I’ll tell them, of course. I’m really glad you like it."
I peek over his shoulder.
Pressed against Kay’s chest is little Light, cuddled close, his cheeks plump and rosy. On Rain’s lap sits little Ray, his chubby hands buried deep in a piece of cake. Rain has clearly given up trying to fight those endlessly busy hands that keep scooping up frosting and smearing it everywhere.
Then I move to my adopted son, Nathaniel, and plant a loud kiss on his cheek too. His story is truly remarkable, and I’m so happy he also got his happy ending.
Next I head to the table where Skye and Soren are sitting with little Silver, who’s already a year old and one of the cutest kids I’ve ever seen. His face is framed by black curls, and his big gray eyes draw attention everywhere he goes. With parents like his, it’s no wonder he’s gorgeous.
"How’s it going?" I ask as I take a seat beside Soren. He smiles softly, with that touch of shyness I always see in him, the one his bad-boy aura used to hide.
Soren’s stomach has a small but noticeable curve. He’s in his third month of pregnancy. I admit I was surprised when I found out they were expecting, because I thought Soren wasn’t too eager to expand their family so soon, but apparently Skye convinced him to try for another baby.
"So what name did you pick for the newest addition to the family?"
Soren thinks for a moment, then says, "I think we’ll stick to the color theme. We already have Silver, but we still can’t decide on a color…"
"I know a thing or two about naming kids in a specific pattern, it’s actually pretty fun, but at some point you start running out of good options, and that’s when you might want to go back to the classics."
"I personally like the name Lumen, it means ‘bright’ in Latin," Skye says.
Soren smiles and says, "What about Lumen Lake?"
"Hey, that’s too big of an honor," I laugh, leaning in to look closely at little Silver. "Has anyone ever seen longer lashes on a baby?"
Skye brushes his hand gently down Soren’s back.
"He gets that from his beautiful dad!"
Soren looks at him teasingly, secret promises hidden beneath his own black lashes.
"He really is the cutest kid," I murmur, gently rubbing Silver’s cheeks.
"And how are you feeling, Soren?" I ask softly.
"I’m good, Skye won’t let me lift a finger." He gives Skye a warm look.
Skye leans in and pecks him on the lips. I love the energy between them, soft and close, a far cry from how things between them started.
I turn, planning to head toward Storm’s table, where Damien sits with a huge bowl of ice cream, leaning back because his pregnant belly keeps him from sitting too close to the edge. But Storm isn’t there.
He’s easy to spot. His massive frame moves surprisingly quickly between the bushes, as he plays with River’s kids. My grandson, Aiden is clutching a plastic gun, same as Van, and they’re chasing Storm around the hydrangeas, spraying glitter at him. Little Lake follows them, giggling.
When they run past Rain and Skye, both turn at the noise, clearly hearing the boys shouting something.
They both get up and follow the little group.
"Hey," Rain calls to Aiden, "playing with the plastic guns is fine, but yelling ‘kill the alien’ is not okay."
Aiden freezes. Van stops too. Lake, who’s running after, catching glitter in the air, halts and tilts his head up at them.
Skye walks over as well and says, "Games are fun, but words can hurt someone," standing next to the boys, who both lower their plastic guns.
"Sorry," Aiden blurts, cheeks bright red. But Storm, noticing that his nephews are getting scolded on his account, walks over and ruffles Aiden’s hair.