Extra Epilogue
EXTRA EPILGOUE
LEYTON
By the time the second pencil snapped, I was willing to admit I might’ve miscalculated.
“Daddy, your line went crooked.” Eva leaned over my arm to look more closely at my paper. “You should start over.”
I stared at the patrol route I’d been drawing on the map and fought a smile. “Pretty sure the moose won’t complain if I’m a millimeter off.”
“But it’s this much.” Ellie spread her fingers as wide as they’d go.
“Thanks, kiddo,” I muttered.
Laken giggled from under the table while Lander took advantage of the distraction to climb onto my thigh, his little hands clutching my shirt. I slid an arm around his waist, keeping him from launching himself onto the table.
My beta-sized ego had thought I could handle the kids and update the patrol schedule while Evette helped Marielle deliver the newest member of our pack.
A small hand tugged at the hem of my shirt. “Daddy?”
“Yeah, bud?” I shifted Lander to my hip and bent to peer under the table.
Laken blinked up at me. “I stuck.”
“You’re not stuck.” Eva rolled her eyes.
“Am too stuck,” he insisted, his lower lip wobbling.
I nudged my chair back and crouched down to scoop him up. “Got you.”
“Thank you, Daddy.” His voice was muffled against my collarbone, but his head jerked back when a knock sounded at the front door.
“Stay here.”
I set Lander down beside his brother, who immediately latched onto his hand.
“We’ll watch ‘em,” Eva offered.
Ellie nodded as she moved closer to her brothers, and I flashed the girls a grateful smile.
Crossing the small cabin in a few strides, I opened the door to find Garner on the other side.
“Hey, Evette forgot her bag of newborn kit and sent me over to grab it since she figured you had your hands full with the kids and there’s no way Artemis is leaving Marielle, Lilibeth, or Draven until the new hatchling is here. ”
“For a lot longer than that.” I shook my head and chuckled. “He’s going to have even more reason to be a hermit when he has his mate and three little dragons at home.”
“Good point.”
Behind me, Eva yelled, “Daddy! Laken’s spilling!”
His gaze flicked over my shoulder, catching on the chaos at the table. “Need me to hunt down that bag while you corral the kiddos?”
“Yeah.” Jerking my chin toward the office my mate used, I added, “It’s probably in the closet on the top shelf. Look for the blue duffel.”
“Will do.”
I headed back to the kitchen. “Okay, what’s—”
Cold water splashed across my chest.
Laken froze, his cup tipped dangerously sideways in his hand. “Oops.”
My bear huffed in disgruntled amusement. “Yeah, that’s one way to put it.”
“I was firsty,” he explained, solemnly.
Judging by the puddle spreading across the table, he was still thirsty because he couldn’t have gotten much in his mouth. “I see.”
Eva hopped down, grabbed a towel, and started blotting up the mess. “I got it, Daddy.”
“Nice try.” I plucked the cup from Laken’s hand and set it far from reach. “I saw how you ‘helped’ with the pencils.”
“They were super pointy.”
That was an understatement. She’d sharpened three to the point of oblivion in under five minutes while her brothers had distracted me. “How about you draw some pictures for Mommy?”
“Yay!” Eva and Ellie cheered.
After I got them set up with blank sheets of paper and markers, the boys clambered into my lap as I sat back down. One settled against my chest, and the other wedged himself between my arm and my side like he was afraid I’d go somewhere without him.
While the girls scribbled happily, I adjusted my route a little farther from a newly washed-out bank and added a note about checking the area for fresh pawprints tonight. The lines weren’t as straight as I would’ve liked with a three-year-old elbowing me every few seconds, but they’d do.
“Daddy?” Lander said after a while, his voice soft with sleep.
“Yeah, buddy?”
“Are you gonna go on the trails tonight?”
“Yeah.” I pressed my chin to the top of his head. “After you’re all in bed.”
He was quiet for a beat. “Don’t let the moof get you.”
I smiled at his concern over the moose we’d seen while having a picnic only a few days ago. “I won’t. Promise.”
“Okay.” He yawned and snuggled closer. “I’ll tell him no. In my dreams.”
“Sounds like a good plan.”
The front door opened a little while later, letting in a cool draft.
“I’m home,” my mate called softly.
Four heads snapped up.
“Mommy!” the chorus rang out.
Evette barely had time to close the door before our cubs descended—the girls barreling off their chairs, and the boys sliding out of my lap and racing toward her on clumsy little legs. She laughed, the sound tired but happy, as she dropped to her knees to gather them close.
She gave out kisses, starting with whichever forehead got closest first.
“How is Marielle?” I asked, standing and stretching out the kink in my back.
“Tired but so happy.” Evette looked up at me over the tops of our cubs’ heads, her eyes shining. “Baby’s perfect.”
Pride swelled in my chest, not just for the new member of our pack, but for the woman in front of me who took care of everyone like it was as natural as breathing. I wasn’t sure what I’d done to earn such an amazing mate, but I was beyond grateful for her.