Epilogue

Veryn

M y stress is officially higher than it’s ever been. My boots stomp across the floor as Nadia checks Ember out. At least she’s back in human form after the trip to the cave nest. It boggles my mind that she can still shift when she’s so full of babies, but I also know her wolf would never put them in danger. Being in wolf form probably makes her feel safer, like she’s capable of defending against anyone who might mean them harm.

Shaking out my hands, I pace back in the opposite direction.

Lorcan steps into my path, quirking an eyebrow. “Calm yourself. Your anxiety is filtering straight through the bond and into our mate.”

Fuck.

I’m about to lose my shit. My dragon struggles against me, mentally fighting for control, and my hands shift into my claws.

“I’m trying,” I say, shaking my head.

And I really fucking am. My dragon is freaking the fuck out, and no matter how I try to force him to relax, it’s just not happening.

Over the last two weeks, Nadia has seen Ember and the babies three times. Four, including today. And she mentioned last time that Ember is measuring way further along than she actually is.

This is all my fault. Wolves aren’t meant to carry a dragon egg and multiple other babies. This is a disaster in the makings.

I could have waited.

I should have waited.

And if I had, we wouldn’t be here right now.

Nadia leaves Ember, Anders, and Ember’s mom in the nest to come over to speak to me and Lorcan. She gives a tight smile that betrays her nerves, and it only ratchets my panic even higher.

“First things first,” she says softly. “You’re going to have to calm down, or I’m going to have to remove you.”

My eyes glow, and Lorcan takes a step toward me, like he’s about to zap my ass with magic if necessary.

“I’m perfectly relaxed,” I growl. It’s a terrible lie. Not even remotely believable, but I would do anything to be able to swap places with Ember right now.

“Okay,” Nadia says. “I’ve never actually run into a situation where this has happened, but I believe Ember is going to birth your egg first…” She plants her hands on her hips. “Like today. Maybe tomorrow, but either way, it will be soon.”

My heart stalls.

“What does that mean for the other babies?” I finally manage to choke out.

“I’m hopeful that we will only be delivering the egg today. Dragon’s eggs are generally born about this time, anyway. If all goes to plan, your baby will continue to incubate in the egg, and the rest will gestate where they’re supposed to be—inside Mom.” Nadia gives my arm a squeeze. “Please don't stress. I have Wraith on standby.”

Fuck me.

I barely have time to process her calling the other two babies “the rest” before my mind catches up.

If she has Wraith nearby… Goddamn. Does she think she’s going to need him to keep Ember’s soul attached to her body?

We are done after this.

No more kids for us.

This shit is insanely stressful.

“No more of that negative line of thinking.” Lorcan gives me a shove right in the pec.

Nadia nods. “I’m actually more concerned for the babies than I am for Ember, at least physically. Like I said, Wraith is around, but I’m staying positive, and you should too.”

I shudder out a heavy breath as my eyes ache. Holy fucking shit. I’ve never experienced this overwhelming feeling of helplessness, and I hate it.

“Nadia,” Emerson calls out. She does her best to keep her tone level, but she’s clearly just as worried as the rest of us.

Ember catches my eyes, and she doesn’t even raise her voice when she says, “Get your asses in here and hold my damn hands.”

Lorcan gives me a shove, but I would have gone to her, anyway. Neither my dragon nor I could deny her anything.

Except more kids.

If she’s dead set on extras after this pregnancy… She’ll have to sweet talk one of the others. I cannot go through this again.

Several hours of pushing later, Ember delivers our egg. It’s stretchy and soft—completely unlike a chicken egg—but Nadia tells us that it’s normal.

“…the egg will harden over the next few days. Can you imagine trying to deliver a hard shell?” Nadia chuckles as her hands swirl with her shadows. She slowly moves them over Ember’s stomach. “Everything feels good to me. Your contractions have stopped. We could try to get you in at the clinic in Haven. They have an ultrasound machine?—”

“No,” Ember says firmly. “My wolf is content. She doesn’t want to leave the nest.”

“I agree. It’s best to keep your wolf calm. If there was a problem, I would insist on you going in, but everything seems to be going really well.” Nadia smiles, pulling her hands away and shaking out her shadows.

Emerson leaves to call Ember’s family, and Nadia gives us a bunch of information before heading out.

Ember cradles the egg to her bare chest, smiling down at it, despite how exhausted she looks. “Shit, it’s probably time you call your mom. She’s incubated eggs twice. Also, this is her first grandbaby.”

“It’s still an egg.” Lorcan chuckles. “But, yes, I agree. Call Grandma, so she can put our mate’s mind at ease.”

“Are you sure you’re up for company?” I ask.

Ember nods. “Moms don’t count as company, and I really do have a bunch of questions for her.”

I tug my phone out, calling Athos. He answers on the first ring, and I chuckle. “Can you siphon Mom over?”

“We’re already dressed,” he says in his thick accent. “See you in approximately two minutes.”

I snort and hang up. “All right, we might need to readjust the sheet. They should be here?—”

Athos and my mom appear in a shimmery bluish-silver cloud of smoke right as Lorcan tucks the sheet around the top of Ember’s chest.

Athos waves. “I’m not going to stick around this time, but congratulations.” He turns to smoke and promptly disappears.

My mom’s hand flies to her mouth as she blinks, like she’s about to burst into tears. Compared to a human, she looks nowhere close to old enough to have a grandchild.

Ember waves. “Come on over. We have so many questions.”

And with that, my mom promptly bursts into tears.

It’s wild to now have an egg to keep safe and warm. All while Ember grows larger with each passing day.

Lorcan currently has the egg strapped to his chest. Ever since the little guy developed his dragonfire, it’s been necessary for us to take turns.

Anders and Ember help sometimes, but if it starts to heat up, they have to pass him off.

Ember was kinda losing her mind, wanting to know the gender, and Lorcan finally broke down and explained that his magic could tell.

“So, names,” my mate says, resting her head on my chest as she flips through the notebook lined with possible names. “We can ignore these pages. Do we want to stick with the letter of your first name, like my dads tried to do?” She snorts. “Well, except for Arsyn and Chaos.”

I shrug. “It’s hard to come up with V names.”

“Mmm, I’ve got a few. Vaughn, Valen, Virgil…” Lorcan offers, teasing his hand over the silver shell. Everyone who has seen it has been amazed by its color. Mine and my sister’s shells were blue and green.

“Valen is nice.” Ember flips the page and scribbles down that option.

“Victor, Von, Valor. Okay, V is kinda hard,” Anders says.

“Vaughn or Valen. Valor is good too.” I shrug.

Ember tilts her head, grinning up at me. “Maybe we should wait to see him to decide.”

I know she’ll never hold out until that long, but I smirk and bring my hand to her cheek. “That works for me.”

My mouth meets hers for a slow, sensual kiss, and my heart races, just like it always does when we touch.