Epilogue - Lily

Three Months Later

“Congratulations, Lily,” Doctor Amell smiles as she carries over a bundle wrapped in a baby blue nursing blanket. “You were amazing.”

Eagerly lifting my weight on my elbows, I stretch my arms out to take the bundle. When Doctor Amell places it in my arms, I meet my son for the first time.

“Beautiful…” I breathe as soon as my eyes land on the angelic face of my sleeping baby. With cherry-blossom lips puckered and a tuft of dark hair on his head, he stirs. When a low-pitched gurgling sound escapes his lips, his eyes open, lashes fluttering like a butterflys wings.

I gasp when golden eyes meet mine, my heart skipping a beat. I lose the air in my lungs momentarily—long enough for the baby’s eyes to drift closed again as he falls asleep. It’s at that moment I realize I’m falling in love all over again.

This time, with the dragonspirit cub nestled in my arms. The baby I’d birthed after carrying him in my womb for three months. I’d fallen in love with every kick and every craving while he grew inside me.

And now, as the perfect duplicate of his father, my heart swells with profound love.

“He’s perfect…” Draco gasps beside me while he leans over us, placing a protective hand on our baby’s head.

I was wrong if I thought I couldn’t fall in love with Draco any more than I already have. When I lift my face to watch his reaction to our baby, I see his amber eyes softening. Witnessing the tender love flash in his eyes makes me love him even more.

“Is it safe to take my family home?” Draco asks Doctor Amell as she saunters around the room, gathering blood samples and giving out instructions to her staff. Despite Skarlett’s crimes against the Alpha, Saphia Amell remains the resident doctor. ‘

I’d gone as far as requesting that she remain my doctor all throughout my pregnancy. It took some convincing, but Draco finally relented when I explained that Saphia was nothing like her daughter.

“Of course,” the doctor assures him, turning to me. “How are you feeling, Lily?”

“I feel fine,” I realize as I bring my attention to my body. Focusing on mentally scanning myself, I find nothing out of the ordinary.

Ive healed within thanks to the immortality brought on by carrying a dragonspirit. Unlike an ordinary birthing experience, mine had been blissful.

“Then you can go back home,” Doctor Amell jests with a reassuring nod.

I turn to Draco, who stares at me with fondness in his eyes. He reaches out to take our baby dragon, allowing me to climb out of the hospital in preparation to go back to the castle.

It’s like I’m riding on cloud nine, my feet featherlight as we enter our bedroom after quietly making our way back home. Draco gently lays our sleeping baby in the crib prepared by Kairo. He folds an arm around my shoulders, drawing me to his side while we both gaze at the life we’ve created.

Sighing in contentment, I lean my cheek on his chest. “Have you finally decided on a name?”

“Have you?” Draco asks as he smoothes a palm over my arm.

I take a deep breath before saying, “Three, two, one…”

“... Tyson,” Draco and I say in unison.

I giggle as I look up at Draco, amusement glinting in his eyes. Tyson was among three possible names we’d picked out for our son. But Tyson seems the most fitting.

I throw a playful punch at his shoulder. “Did you read my mind, Alpha Draco?”

“No, Lady Lily,” he teases. ”I guess this is just one of the many things we seem to agree on.”

“I can name one thing we don’t agree on,” I muse as I step out of his embrace.

Draco grabs my wrist and tugs me back. His breath is hot as it fans my ear.

“And what is that, m’lady?” he rasps at my ear, sending a shiver of awareness down my spine.

I’m about to turn seductive eyes on him when a knock on the door jolts us apart. I immediately lean over the crib in fear of Tyson waking up abruptly.

“Draco!” I grate annoyedly.

Draco huffs in irritation as he marches off toward the bedroom door. As soon as he throws it open, his siblings come crashing in with loud chatter and noise.

“Guys!” I reprimand just as Tyson begins to cry at the top of his lungs.

“Don’t worry, Lily!” Kairo assures me in a sing-song voice, sauntering toward the crib. “I’ve got it!”

Rolling my eyes as Draco’s brothers gather around the crib while Kairo lifts Tyson out, Draco joins me and mutters, “I’m sorry.”

“We were dying to meet the newest member of the clan!” Stryder yelps cheerfully.

“Yeah! It was totally unfair that we couldn’t be there when you gave birth!” Stryker adds, even though he wears a brilliant grin on his face.

Felix and Aragon argue about who should be next to hold Tyson while Kairo is able to soothe our baby’s cries with a lilting lullaby. Witnessing her maternal nature as she coos and sings Tyson to calmness, I feel the irritation subsiding.

Finally, when Tyson is calm, he hiccoughs and throws out a tiny puff of fire. Everyone bursts into laughter while Kairo groans, “Guys! Shhh… He’s gonna wake up again.”

I chuckle at Draco, who shakes his head as he watches his siblings. Felix comes over to us, cheerfully patting Draco’s shoulder. “

“Congrats, you two,” he praises. “What have you named the little one?”

“Tyson,” I reveal with a smile.

“Beautiful na—”

“Felix!” Aragon calls him, interrupting him mid-sentence. “You’re up!”

Shaking my head, I can’t help but smile at the Vulkan siblings as they fuss and fawn over Tyson. I’m snapped out of my daze when Draco tugs on my arm.

He doesn’t say a word, gesturing toward the door. I nod in response, following him out of the bedroom unnoticed.

He leads me to the old bedroom where I’d spent my time when I first arrived in Aurora Island. Once we’re inside, he closes the door, and I giggle.

“They’ll realize we’re gone,” I point out as Draco lifts my hands and presses chaste kisses on my knuckles.

“This will only take a minute,” Draco says as he reaches for his back pocket. “I was hoping I could do this before they arrived,” he sighs as he takes a step back.

“Draco, what are you—” I whisper in confusion as Draco drops to one knee. He clears his throat when he lifts a velvet box in the air.

“Lily Turner… You’ve made me the happiest dragon man alive. You birthed my child, and you’ve shown me unconditional love.” He reaches for my hand, smoothing his thumb over my knuckles. “Will you do me the great honor of marrying me?”

Too stunned to speak, I drop to my knees in front of Draco. “My love… We’re already mates…:”

Draco smiles as he removes the ruby-encrusted gold ring from the box. He lines the ring with my finger, hovering there.

“We might be mates, but I intend to give you a proper human wedding. One your family can be present for.”

I meet his eyes when he says this, touched by the gesture. I haven’t seen my family in two months, ever since I began showing. We decided to tell them that we adopted it just so it would make it easier to explain things.

And now he’s willing to honor my previous life as a mortal. As tears prickle my eyes, I nod fervently. “Yes,” I concede. “I will be honored to marry you, Draco.”

Draco slips the ring on my finger before pulling me into a hug. We embrace so fiercely, that the tears pooled in my eyes flow down my cheeks.

Sniffing, I pull back just to stare into Draco’s face. He cradles my cheeks, wiping my tears away as he professes his love for me.

When he helps me get to my feet, he says, “Earlier, you said something… What was it that we won’t agree on?”

I giggle girlishly into a cupped hand. “You know… We should get back to Tyson.”

Draco shakes his head sternly. “Not until you tell me.”

Shaking my head, I step forward on my tiptoes and lean in toward his ear. “Between the two of us, I love you more.”

Draco chuckles when I stand back on my heels. “Oh, I love you more, Lily Turner.”

I raise a cocky brow as I cross my arms. “Can you see why we can’t agree on who loves who more?”

“Yeah, but there’s one thing I do know for sure,” he says, grabbing me into his arms and cradling me like a baby to her chest.

“Hmmm… And what’s that?” I ask as I wrap my arms around his neck.

He carries me toward the bed, my heart skipping a beat with anticipation. “I will spend the rest of my life showing you that I’m the one who loves you more,” he drawls as he lays me on the bed. “Starting right now.”

“What about Tyson?”

I shriek when he parts my thighs and settles between them. “He’ll be fine,” Draco purrs as his face comes an inch from mine. “Right now, I have a point to prove.”

“Then prove it, my dragon man,” I challenge him as I crush my lips to his.

While he proves that he loves me more than I love him through the sweetness of his lovemaking, I remain immersed in the bliss that my life has become. With my dragon man by my side, I feel invincible.

And I can only imagine how invincible it makes the Alpha dragon to have his Lady dragon by his side.

For eternity.

*****

THE END