Epilogue

Keir

Our daughter came quickly, once our mate figured out her water had broken, and while she might be a bear shifter, both of our dragons were calling her the hatchling. Kaida, which means little dragon, burst into our lives with enthusiasm and a great set of lungs. And she was going to be somebody special, we had no doubt.

When she was only a month old, her mother strapped her into her baby sling and announced it was time to fly. Iris had wanted this for a long time, but the baby seemed so small and fragile. Iris, who was the strongest woman I knew, scoffed. “If she can’t fly with her daddies, how will she ever know who she is?”

Nix was going to give her, her first ride, this time, but we had decided it was not going to be far or high. We’d reinforced the harness, and the dragons were so excited to show their baby the sky. The human sides not so much. Sure, we wanted that, too, but suddenly the space that had been safety to us our whole lives seemed fraught with danger. We had made the mistake of telling her at some point that baby dragons were always taken up for a first ride, to meet the skies, when they were very small. And Iris insisted that we have this ceremonial flight for Kaida as well.

So…I helped Iris into the harness and, as soon as she was ready, I shifted and we all lifted off for the skies. It was an especially beautiful day for it, the sky a vibrant blue with just enough puffy white clouds for us to play with. I stayed as close as possible to Nix, keeping an eye on Iris and the little face peeking out of the sling. At the slightest sign of distress, I was to signal him to go back, but instead of tears or cries, I heard her happy sounds. The coos we lived for, and a little hand found its way out to wave in the air before Iris tucked it back inside the sling.

We soared after that, in and out of the puffy clouds, diving low before climbing again, always steady never bouncing or doing anything that could jostle her in her blanket-lined nest. When we landed, I shifted, threw on my clothes, and helped Iris down before taking the baby from her. I walked her around to the front of my brother dragon and let him nuzzle her. My dragon would want the same next time we flew.

Our daughter might shift into a bear one day, but she had the soul of a dragon, one we would nurture with all our love. Iris was the mate of our dreams, and she’d brought us the daughter of our heart. I hoped we would have more children, but none would be more ours than Kaida. Fate’s bonus gift along with our true mate.