Epilogue

EPILOGUE

ARTEMIS

" D addy!" Lilibeth shrieked happily as she ran toward me as fast as her little legs would go. "Look! Tweasure!"

I crouched down just as my three-year-old crashed into me. Laughter burst from both of us as we fell back onto the soft grass beside the creek we were visiting.

"What did you find, sweet girl?" Marielle asked softly as she walked up beside us. She bent over to take a look when Lilibeth held up her hand but was hampered by her protruding belly.

After helping up our daughter, I jumped to my feet and slid my arm around my mate, resting my hand over where our second little hatchling was growing.

"Tweasure," I murmured in an amused voice.

Lilibeth grinned and stared lovingly at the rock in her hand. "It's so pwetty. Can I keep it?"

Taking a closer look at it, I raised my eyebrows when I saw that it was a gemstone made from what looked like thousands of hairlike filaments stuck together in a cylinder.

Lilibeth had found a piece of tourmaline. It is not a common gemstone, though it is more prevalent in Brazil—the country we'd come to for a final vacation before our son was born.

However, the very rare electric-blue color made the rock even more amazing. "It's gorgeous, Lilybell," I told her with a grin, using the nickname that always made her giggle. "Just like my girls."

"Can we add it to our hoard?" she asked, her expression hopeful.

"Hmm." I pretended to think it over while scratching my unshaven chin. "I don't know, Lilybell."

Marielle frowned at me, but her forehead smoothed out when I winked.

I bent down and scooped my baby girl into my arms. "I think this should be the start of your very own hoard."

Lilibeth's face lit up, and she beamed as she threw her arms around my neck and hugged me tight. "Thanks, Daddy!!" Then she smacked a wet kiss on my cheek, and my chest exploded with warmth.

I wasn't sure how I'd survived so many years without my fated mate and the family we were making. But I'd go through it all again if I knew this happiness would be the result.

Marielle giggled as she watched our daughter strut around our yard, telling everyone in the pack all about her new hoard.

The part that made my mate laugh was when anyone asked to see the gemstone. Lilibeth would stare at them as if they'd grown three heads and then mutter, "Mine," before skipping off to tell someone else.

"She is definitely your kid," Leyton said with a chuckle as he leaned his hip on the porch railing.

I rolled my eyes and took a sip of my beer. If that were true, we'd be back at the cave instead of hosting a damn barbecue for the whole pack at our cabin. "You ever heard me say that many words at once?"

Marielle snickered and snuggled closer to me while I used one foot to gently move the two-person rocking chair back and forth. "She definitely doesn't get the social butterfly gene from you, babe. But she's just as possessive."

"She protects what's hers," I stated with an approving nod.

My wife sighed and glanced at our infant son, asleep in a bassinet on her other side. "She's going to have to learn to share soon."

I winced, and Marielle frowned up at me.

"What?"

"Dragons don't…well, their hoard isn't something they share..." I tried to figure out how to explain in a way that wouldn't make our daughter sound selfish for being protective of her treasures. "I'm sure she'll be happy to share everything else with her little brother. But if you want her to share her hoard…baby, that's just not going to happen."

"You share everything with me," she protested.

"You're my mate, the other half of my soul. My greatest treasure."

Marielle's expression turned soft, and she leaned up to place a soft kiss on my lips. "I love you, too."

"That is definitely your kid."

I looked up to see Aaron wandering up the steps, shaking his head with a half smile.

Quirking a brow, I waited for him to elaborate.

"I asked if she'd show me her hoard if I promised to keep it a secret."

My lips curled into a grin, and I was sure I would enjoy the rest of this story.

"She told me I'd have to swear a blood oath before she'd even consider showing me."

"A blood oath?" Marielle gasped. "Where did she learn about those? She's only three for crying out loud."

She turned her glare on me, and I held up my hands in a gesture of surrender. "It wasn't me, baby. I swear."

Keane and Laina joined us just in time to hear my mate's comment. Laina sighed. "It was probably one of our cubs. Sorry, Marielle. The boys are…"

"Boys," Keane finished for her, clearly fighting a smile.

A shout of distress drew our attention, and we all turned to see one of Leyton's twin boys running toward his father.

Behind him, Lilibeth had a put-out expression on her face as she huffed. Exhaling a puff of smoke. "Mine."

"Oh, good grief," Marielle muttered. Then she whacked my shoulder. "Stop laughing and go talk to your daughter. She can't just go around breathing fire just because someone asked to see her hoard."

"Baby, she's three. She hasn't even shifted yet. She doesn't know how to control it. Besides, I told you. Dragons are stingy with their hoard."

Marielle cocked her head to the side and studied me for a moment. "How come there's never been an incident with any of the girls?"

Fuck . I considered trying to look innocent, but she knew me too well. So I ended up shrugging and giving her an unapologetic smile.

My wife sighed and stood, walking over to the railing. "Lilybell, you have to stop acting like that every time someone asks to see your treasures."

Lilibeth screwed up her face in confusion. "Not tweasures. He wants to pway wif my baby brodder."

Marielle groaned and looked back at me with a resigned expression. "Definitely your kid."