Epilogue 2 #2
Following the guardians’ correction of the balance, a program had been set up between the shadowlands, divine realm, and Earth to create a council to handle any large-scale problems or societal development issues.
I’d served on the council on occasion, so I knew that Ruby would be really good at it, helping to make those hard decisions and to come up with ideas to further the supernatural community.
“I just want to feel like I’m helping more,” she said. “We’ve already come so far, but I know it can get better…and eventually the humans need to know.”
It was true; it would make things far easier.
“Talking about humans…” Ryder sat down next to me. “Sorry to interrupt, but Michael and Isabella just ran into someone from her class and they’re arguing. I have no problem intercepting but the kid happens to be that boy from her class I don’t like.”
Crap.
Standing up, I made my way around the bend of the play equipment to find Michael standing in front of Isabella protectively.
“You’re always doing this—always!” she said, her voice nearly a shriek. “Just leave me alone if you’re going to be mean.”
The human boy in question—Travis—was an interesting kid.
He wasn’t a bad kid, but he argued a lot with my daughter, and I had a feeling I knew why—my daughter hated it.
She’d even wanted to be his friend at first, but after half a year in school together, she came home almost every day upset about him. And it was clear Michael knew.
“Then get out of my park. I live right across the street,” he said, his eyes narrowed on Michael. “No need for you to be here.”
“She can be here if she wants,” Michael countered as I saw a flash of magic surround him and Isabella.
It was only for a moment, but it was enough for me to step in.
While I loved the bond they had, very close knit and like actual siblings, I didn’t want this to escalate—especially in front of a human child.
“Everything okay?”
“Hello.” Travis offered a polite smile. “Everything is totally fine.”
I had a feeling it was a lie he uttered to his parents often. His mom was never around, and his dad was a total piece of work, so I couldn’t help but feel a stab of sympathy for him.
“Clearly not.” My daughter crossed her arms, looking hurt.
“Whatever.” Travis shook his head and walked away, towards where his dad sat with some woman I didn’t recognize, not paying attention to his son in the least. Sighing, I looked down at Isabella, who was telling Michael that he wasn’t worth getting mad over. I wasn’t sure Ruby’s son agreed, though.
“Maybe it’s better we head out soon,” I suggested to Julian as he appeared next to me, running a hand over my waist. “I can tell Ruby is tired too.”
Luckily, everyone seemed in agreement because moments later our kids were piling back into their SUVs with Julian and Ryder to accompany them back to the house, the rest of us choosing to stroll back down Main Street.
If I thought I’d loved the house when I first visited, it was nothing after having lived in it for years now.
From the greenhouse up top to all the personalized touches we’d added throughout the years, down to the crayon on the walls from our kids, it was my true home.
My true center. We traveled a lot as a family, but nothing would ever be better than being home with my mates and kids.
It was also a large enough property to fit everyone during the holidays, which I loved. And as our kids got older we would need more and more space, especially as they came into their lykos and kitsune forms. Already Isabella had shifted, and it had been both shocking and more than a bit awesome.
That day I’d been working on my own magic with my dad out in the back yard, finally taking the time to learn more extensively what I could do—what I was working with outside of what came naturally to me.
Isabella had been outside playing with her toys, and something about the magic I was using had prompted her to shift—out of freakin’ nowhere.
One minute my daughter had been standing there, and the next there was a pink and blue wolf with little flames coming off of her.
I still had no idea what lykos normally looked like—I hadn’t been able to find a cohesive image through all my research—but I had to assume her form was normal…
well, except for maybe the flames? I didn’t know.
My dad had been thrilled, and I was glad he was there because it had taken nearly an hour to coax her back into her human form.
Since then she’d shifted a few times more but hadn’t fully gotten the hang of it, her shifts usually prompted by someone else’s magic rather than her own ability to control it.
Which worried me with school…after all, the humans might freak out if a wolf appeared in the classroom.
I nearly winced, imagining how scared she would be if that happened.
We would have to keep tabs on it, but I hoped to keep them in school instead of homeschooling.
If only the humans knew, it would make everything far, far easier.
Already kids had started to comment on her hair and eye color, accusing her of wearing contacts or dying her hair.
While the teacher mitigated it on the whole, I knew it bothered her to feel different.
Something I more than empathized with—I’d felt similar growing up in the Whitepaw Pack.
“What are you thinking about, mon ange?” Caedmon asked, wrapping an arm around me. Dakota and Tore walked behind us, deep in conversation.
“Just Isabella shifting and the possibility of it happening in school.”
Caedmon nodded in understanding. “You know they really don’t tell you that no matter how old they get, you’re constantly worried about your kids. I don’t think that will ever go away.”
“No, probably not,” I mused, leaning into him.
My mates were far more relaxed about parenting now than they had been at first. In fact, when I first told them I was pregnant on our honeymoon, I had worried about a few of their reactions.
Julian, Tore, and Dakota had all been thrilled.
Tore in particular had really been excited, so animated and happy, and Dakota had looked so proud of himself—as if he had been freakin’ solely responsible!
I still loved his reaction though. Julian had been unbearably sweet and talked for the first few weeks about how excited he was about this new part of our life.
And then, when he’d first seen Isabella he had even teared up, causing me to cry of course.
But their reactions weren’t the ones I’d been worried about.
I had, however, worried about Ryder and Caedmon.
The first had immediately gone into ‘what do we need’ mode and ordered everything I could possibly want or need for my pregnancy before calling and arranging for the best possible doctors he could find.
The man didn’t rest for nearly three weeks until everything was exactly sorted how he wanted it, and even then, until he saw the first ultrasound and heard the baby’s heartbeat, he’d been an anxious mess.
Then there was Caedmon. He had been both so incredibly happy and extremely worried—terrified of messing up because of how horrible his own father had been.
It had taken a while, but I think I’d managed to convince him before the birth of our daughter that the idea of him being anything like that man was preposterous.
But once he actually held Isabella? It was clear that Caedmon was a natural at parenting.
All my mates were amazing fathers, but over the years he had turned out to be a constant source of comfort and understanding for our kids.
I think they came to all of us for different things at different times in their lives, but if someone was upset or crying, they almost always ended up in Caedmon’s arms.
I knew he understood what an amazing father he was now, but it had taken time.
One element I don’t think any of them ever got used to though was me being pregnant.
In fact, I think all of them both hated and loved it.
Loved it because we were expanding our family and they were more than a bit possessive over me, but hated it because naturally I spent a large amount of my pregnancy uncomfortable.
I mean, considering how large they were and how short I was…
well, I was just glad I had three daughters, because our son had been over ten pounds when he was born.
That hadn’t been very fun, to put it mildly, but it had been completely worth it.
I wasn’t sure if I wanted more kids in the future, but with the birth of our son, there had been something that had settled in me that told me our family was complete.
I planned on listening to that unless we decided we wanted something else as a family.
As we turned on our block, an SUV pulled into the driveway in the distance and disappeared. I knew they had made it back, but I had a feeling a few of our other guests may have arrived.
“Misty?” I called out as a streak of blue darted towards me. I bent down and immediately swept her up as she licked my face and began to purr. How the heck had she gotten out?
“That’s my bad!” Aanya’s voice echoed down the block as she flashed me an apologetic smile. “Sawyer let him out—he kept saying ‘kitty go play.’”
I couldn’t help but laugh because if that wasn’t a one-and-a-half-year-old I didn’t know what was.
Aanya’s son Sawyer was absolutely adorable and so incredibly smart.
I was excited to see his cute little face light up when he saw the little snow globe I got him.
Plastic, of course—I had avoided getting glass for any of the kids.
Aanya and her mates still lived stateside, so we didn’t get to see them as much as I wanted.
But the minute I gave her a hug, I recognized that it didn’t matter if we saw each other once a year or every day—we talked enough and had a close enough friendship that time didn’t make a difference.
Plus, I knew how busy the four of them were.
Especially now that Aanya and her mates were running SFU.
That had been a surprising decision, but she’d explained it so simply to me that I couldn’t deny it made sense.
She loved SFU, and she wanted to be in charge of an institution that she knew could be amazing—for our kids and any other kids like ours.
So now, three years into it, she was the president of SFU and the school had gotten academic recognition each and every year, becoming one of the best schools in the country, competing alongside human-run universities.
It was no longer just there to have people meet their mates—it was the real deal.
As the group of us went inside and I scooped up Sawyer, giving him a snuggle and hug hello, I realized that everyone had arrived.
Walking into the large parlor, I couldn’t help but smile.
All of our kids. My mates. Our friends. Our families—including my parents talking to Dakota’s father and sister—were all sitting around talking and laughing as holiday music played from the sound system in the corner.
The large windows were open, and snowflakes swirled down from the sky as the fireplace crackled in the center of the room.
It was perfect—my very own snow globe—and I wanted to capture the moment forever. But I didn’t need to, because this was our reality and my home. This wasn’t going anywhere.
I’d found my place in the world, and I wasn’t letting it go.
The End