Epilogue 3

Jagger Silvershade

Fifteen years later…

"Hey!" My beautiful wife appeared next to me, her eyes lit with an excited light. "Do you need any help? People just started arriving."

Shit. Apparently three in the afternoon meant two forty-five. Absolutely ridiculous, if you asked me—but it didn't entirely surprise me. Everyone looked forward to Bexley's parties, especially when it was for our kids.

"I'm good," I assured her. "You said we have a larger cake for the rest of the party, right? This sheet cake will probably only be enough for the four of them." And I really didn't want them to be disappointed by it. I would've gotten our kids anything for their birthday, so when they asked me to make them a sheet cake for their fifteenth birthday—which seemed far too old since they'd only been babies yesterday—I knew I needed to get it right.

I couldn't believe they'd even remembered the one other time I made one for them two years ago—it had been on a complete whim, wanting to teach the boys how to bake. Apparently it had made quite the impression despite being simple—a basic cake with a layer of frosting on top.

"They're going to love it," Bexley assured me. "But yes, I got cupcakes also."

Thank the fates for that.

"Alright, let's do this," I muttered under my breath, carrying the cake tray and following behind her. As we crossed from the kitchen into the ballroom, I saw that the foyer and the party space were already filled with family and friends. In the nearly two decades we'd lived here, we'd held a million parties, but in some ways this was the most interesting.

Despite being remarkably wealthy and revered within our society by virtue of being storm dragons, our four oldest children were unusually down to earth. Possibly more than the four of us ever had been while growing up.

They'd insisted this year that the party be as ‘normal' as possible and refused to pick any lavish themes or decor. Instead they wanted sandwiches, pizza, and baked goods. Bexley had convinced them to help her decorate with paper streamers and to create homemade birthday signs, so our wife had managed to wrangle that bit of decor out of them…but outside of that, absolutely nothing. I had a feeling what this was about—outside of them being pretty chill kids—and in a way it was amusing.

They were trying to fit in with their friends.

It wasn't something I would have normally encouraged—I thought it was good to stand out—but I also knew it was part of the process. And with them being fifteen today…well, that seemed about right for timing. As I set the cake on the catering table, I looked around the room for the kids, my eyes instead landing on Bexley.

She stood only a few feet away, talking to a few of the moms from the kids' school, her hands on her hips as she laughed. The way her head tilted back captivated me, and I paused to appreciate the beautiful sight. I had no idea how it was possible, but after nearly eighteen years of marriage, the woman still absolutely mesmerized me.

All of us had changed a lot in that time, and I thought it was for the better. Hell, leading this territory had been a massive part that had shaped us into better people. I felt like I had a far better idea of what it was like to be a prey shifter in our society, and I was now actively making an effort to ensure they were represented and protected. To ensure that no one like Linan caused a huge fucking issue again. Although Fletcher and Thomas had an iron hold on their wolves, so it wasn't something I worried about often.

What I did worry about was someone trying to talk to my wife. I understood completely why men kept trying to talk to her; I just wasn't fucking okay with it. As the mom group dissipated, I watched as some fucker from the kids' school, a dad of one of their friends, walked up to her. Approaching from behind, my gaze ran over my wife's jeans that clung to her hips. Her t-shirt was bejeweled with a birthday cake and matched her sneakers. It was dressed down compared to what she normally wore, but I knew she was trying to stick to the ‘chill' plan the kids wanted. Our kids often said we dressed and did things that were a bit over the top, but they'd never minded it growing up, so I had a feeling it was some little assholes in their friend group who were jealous.

Still, we would figure that out in good time.

"I was telling my son that if the boys were interested, we could plan a camping trip?—"

"We would love to do that," I said, causing the man to snap his gaze up. "I've been wanting to take the boys camping."

The man's eyes dimmed as I slid my hand around Bexley's waist and offered him a friendly smile. "Maybe you can take Ava to my mom's place for a girls' weekend while we're gone."

Bexley offered me a knowing smile. "That's a great idea. I'm not one for camping anyway."

"Right." The man nodded. "I'll get you that info…Jagger."

"Can't wait." I flashed a dangerous smile, and he nearly ran away. I sighed, shaking my head in disappointment. Looking down at Bexley, I found her smiling at me, an amused twinkle in her eye.

"As if I would let our wife go on a camping trip with some fucker," I scoffed, and she leaned up on her toes to kiss me.

"It was pretty ridiculous," she agreed, her gaze going distant for a moment as she looked around. "Hey, have you seen Ava?"

"No, I haven't. I assumed she was down here."

"I'm going to go check on her." She squeezed my hand and jogged into the foyer. Looking around, I spotted our three boys out on the patio, away from the party. I walked over to find Breaker watching them in amusement as they argued about something, my ears picking up the tail end of it.

"If you weren't acting like such a dumbass, this wouldn't be a problem," Leo hissed. I had no idea where he'd gotten his temper from…except that I did. Gage was completely to blame on that front. Or maybe I just saw the similarities because they had the exact same eyes. I mean, seriously, they were essentially a copy of one another, down to the hair color. It was a bit eerie, especially when Leo was this pissed.

"Dumbass?" Adrian arched a brow, his eyes—the exact same shade as mine—flashing with anger before running a hand through his dark hair. "You're the one who insulted her."

Ah. I could guess what this was about.

"Actually, you both made her cry—which is probably why you need to go apologize," Noah said, looking distressed. His gaze darted to where Fletcher was talking to his daughter. Shit . Breaker grunted, realizing that this was going to be far from amusing if the Clanguards got involved. We were walking on thin ice with our sons trying to spend so much time with their oldest daughter.

Noah was always the peacekeeper, similar to Breaker in a lot of ways, and not just in appearance. So while I had no idea what had been said, I was inclined to believe an apology was necessary.

"Fuck it—fine," Leo snarled.

"Watch your mouth," I snapped. It wasn't surprising that they swore. It was something I blamed myself in large part for, but Bexley didn't love it. When I saw Fletcher offer Leo a knowing and somewhat annoyed look, I let out a long sigh.

This was going to be a complicated night.

Bexley Blackforge

"Ava?" I called out, sweeping the kids' wing of the house in search of our daughter. I shouldn't have been surprised to find her in the nursery with her two newest little brothers. Their birth a year ago had made our family ten in total.

They were still napping and wouldn't be up for probably another hour. Rebecca rocked in a chair nearby, knitting, as my mom offered me a knowing look. The two of them had offered to take twin watching duty for the day, and I appreciated it with all the commotion of the party happening. Especially now that all my attention needed to be on my daughter.

I frowned, finding Ava staring down at Charlie with a sad look on her face, her brows bent together.

"I was just visiting the boys. Are you going to bring them down when they wake up?" she asked, trying to school her features. Her dark eyes were filled with worry, though. While she definitely looked like a teenager, her wavy hair straightened and even a little makeup on her face, all I could see was my kid. I didn't even question her excuse, instead going over and wrapping my arms around her.

She leaned against me and let out a sigh.

"Come walk with me. Charlie and Marcus will be down later," I promised her. "They need a good rest because I know they won't be going to bed on time."

"We've got it," my mom assured me, her eyes filled with understanding. All four sets of grandparents had been amazing through every step of our parenting process, and while I knew they didn't always agree with how we handled things, they respected it.

As we walked out of the room and down the hall, Ava froze, refusing to make the turn towards the party. Turning towards her, I grabbed her arms and examined her face. "What's going on, honey?"

"I'm nervous. The boys are so popular; that's the only reason anyone shows up. Even the girls are here for them."

Something I knew they couldn't care less about. In fact, there was only one girl they cared about, and Rachel and I were thrilled at the possibility—although it was more of an unspoken thing. After all, these things have to fall into place on their own.

"First of all, I don't think that's true," I said softly. "You have two amazing friends. Emily and Etro are going to arrive any minute?—"

"Ava!" Etro's voice echoed loudly through the hallway perpendicular to ours. It was unsurprising that he'd come to find her. In fact, I could almost bet that he'd been able to somehow sense her unease. Ever since they'd been little, the two of them had an odd sense of each other's emotions. Once again, I could have guessed what it meant, especially since he was a fire-based dragon, but I would just wait and see.

"Over here." She immediately lightened up, the tension in her draining until she was almost back to normal. I could tell it wasn't forced, either—she was simply that comforted by his presence.

As he turned the corner, I nearly shook my head. I'd always assumed that my boys would be taller than most, a lot like my mates, but it did surprise me when it came to other kids their age. Specifically, Etro. He was a year older than Ava, having just turned sixteen, and somehow was over 6'3" already. Lanky and a bit awkward, to be sure, but as tall—if not taller—than my boys.

It also hadn't surprised me when the four of them had become friends, which is how he'd met Ava in the first place—on the playground, helping her up after she'd fallen off her bike.

"What's wrong?" he asked, immediately concerned. "Why aren't you down at the party?"

"I'm kind of nervous," she admitted, not embarrassed about it in the least. Ava was a lot quieter than her brothers, and not in a bad way—they just often overpowered conversations, so when she did say something, I always made sure to listen. She was also a bit of a bookworm, always finding her way into the library to read and study. It was something I'd always encouraged, but I could tell she was starting to think it was a bad quality because she wasn't as outgoing as her brothers.

I hoped we could change her mind about that.

"Don't be, your brothers have already messed up," he said. "All the attention is on them."

"What did they do? Did they hurt Mia's feelings?"

"Yep." He sighed. "Emily is over there helping, but you know how that can be." Emily was his sister and one of Ava's best friends. She was also best friends with Mia, who was Rachel's oldest daughter, and the girl that my sons had apparently ‘messed up' with.

"Hi, Mrs. Blackforge," Etro suddenly said, looking embarrassed. "Sorry I didn't say hi right away."

"You're good," I promised him. "Let's just go down to the party."

Trailing behind them, I watched as my daughter's mood took a one-eighty, and I couldn't help but smile at what their friendship brought her. As we entered the foyer and walked towards the ballroom, I felt a sense of fulfillment at everyone under our roof for their birthday. Following Ava and Etro toward the patio, I slid in right next to Gage and Breaker, seeing that Jagger was over near Mia, talking to Fletcher.

"Any chance this will be resolved soon?" I asked, my brow dipping. "Did they really mess up that bad? I know they don't mean to, but if they're being jerks?—"

"No." Gage sighed. "It wasn't like that. Leo got jealous of Mia talking to someone, and then Adrian asked her why she would pick such a shit friend…and then it escalated from there."

Well, considering Noah had an arm around her shoulder right now, trying to comfort her, it didn't look like the situation was completely unmanageable. Mia was a bit of a sensitive soul, but in the best way possible. When Jagger walked over a few minutes later, I reached out and offered my hand as he pulled me against him..

"Do you remember when we were this messy?" Jagger grunted, pressing his lips to my forehead.

I offered them all a winning smile, turning in his arms to face the other two. "You know what, I actually do remember."

Breaker chuckled as Gage shook his head at my joke, kissing the top of my head. As the others started walking towards us, I offered my four oldest an encouraging look. "Alright, everyone good?"

"Yeah," Leo grunted. "We're good."

As they all made their way past, I offered Mia a soft smile and she offered one back, reminding me so much of my best friend. Which reminded me…

"What did I miss?" Rachel asked, her newest bunny shifter on her hip. The toddler played with her mom's pink hair before letting out an adorable yawn.

"Hello, Odelia." I poked her little nose gently, making her giggle. "You know how the boys are. Just a bit too blunt for their own good."

"And you know how Mia can be," she added knowingly. "Well, better to get the fights done now before they realize they're mates."

I broke out into laughter because yeah…that was pretty obvious to everyone.

Except to them. They would figure it out, though.

Just like my mates and I had.

Flash concludes The Storm Dragons' Mate series . While writing this series I fell in love with Bexley and her mates, so I hope you loved their happily ever after ! As always, thank you so much for your support. Happy reading!