Epilogue

Aster

"I'm ready to go! I'm ready to go! I'm ready to go!" It was safe to say Noel was excited about our trip to the North Pole for Christmas. Truth be told, I was too. I loved living in Vermont, but the North Pole would always hold a piece of my heart. I'd even kept my place there so we could visit when we wanted.

"Noel, are you ready to go?" Wolfe ruffled his hair.

"Daddy, I'm not a pup anymore. I can shift." It was a recent development, and one he was quite proud of, as he should be.

"Pups shift." Wolfe ruffled his hair again. This time Noel giggled.

I picked Davina up and held her in my arms. She looked adorable in her little elf-designed suit. The fabric was created to keep her cool while inside and warm when outside, which was perfect for where we were going. Here, we needed to bundle her up to go anywhere, and it often took more time to get her ready to go out with us than we were actually in the cold.

"Everybody's ready?" I doubled-checked.

"Yep!" Noel said again, bouncing with excitement, and picked up the little cat carrier holding Snowball, who was nearly unrecognizable from this time last year, when she was but a tiny kitten.

If we were going somewhere he had to carry it any non-magically traveled distance, I'd have asked my mate to hold the carrier, but even though we were traveling thousands of miles, we were going to be there in just a few seconds.

My mate held Noel's hand, and I held his. And when everyone but our sleeping daughter was looking at me, I pulled forth my magic, and, in the blink of an eye, we were in our living room at the North Pole. Santa had let me know after Davina was born that my magic was available for me to come and go.

I'd been coming up here every day during school since Thanksgiving, bringing Davina with me and getting the place all ready for Christmas. But now Noel was off school, and we were here to spend the holidays. He had two whole weeks off, and we were planning to make the most of them.

"That was more fun than I remembered!" Noel said, eyes wide with wonder, as if I hadn't brought him here only last week to help me with some pre-season decorating.

"I don't know what was fun about it. One second, we were in one place, the next, another, but I love seeing your enthusiasm."

Noel was a wolf shifter. Since he had just started shifting, he was going to have a blast with his father this vacation. Davina, on the other hand, was definitely an elf—her ears gave it away—but when Wolfe scented her deeply, he caught a whiff of wolf too. Sounded like he was going to have the best of both worlds.

I settled Davina in her crib and helped Snowball get settled in. The little cat was more than happy to get out of the box and into a world of Christmas ornaments he was going to inevitably whack around.

"Is it shifting time?" Noel didn't take even a second to soak in the place. He had a plan, and that plan was wearing his fur. It was adorable how excited he was about his beast.

Back home, he had to be careful when shifting. No one could see him do it and then, once he was shifted, there was the very real danger of hunters. Not so much at his size but that was only true if they followed the laws. Our cabin was pretty safe, but pretty and completely were two different things. I much preferred he shift here, where anything went. He could just be himself.

"Why don't you and your father go outside and wolf out? I'll work on getting some cocoa and cookies ready for when my friend Ernie comes over."

"Is he bringing Krampus? Is he? Is he?" Noel asked.

"Krampus is busy this time of year, but I promise, during this trip, we'll see him at least once."

Noel had been obsessed with Krampus ever since I read him that book, and, well, Krampus thought it was hilarious. Meeting was going to happen, just not today. Krampus had his own family, including multiple pets, a teenage daughter, and some elementary-aged children. His hands were as full as his heart…and his schedule.

I watched out the back window as first Noel and then Wolfe shifted. Noel was definitely his father's mini-me. Adorable.

I put on the cocoa and took out the cookies. I'd been working at the bake shop a couple of days a week, depending on how our schedules worked, and these were ones I'd made us. I enjoyed still being able to work part-time here. I got to be in a place I loved, to see my friends, and to do what I adored, but I also got to be home with my own family at night. It was the ideal gig, even if it paid in bells.

Noel was the most adorable wolf I'd ever seen. He was the spitting image of his father, only in a cute little furry ball, and the two of them played in the snow, rolling around, nipping at the air. I wasn't sure how long they'd be, but Davina and I would join them shortly.

It was hard to believe it was almost a year to the day when I first met them. Met being a subjective term, considering, it was more like they bought me. I tried not to think too hard on that part.

Cocoa made and cookies plated, I put on my baby wrap and snuggled Davina in. She was still sleeping, but she was about due to wake up any time now. I went outside planning to tell them that everything was ready, and, somehow, from the time I was looking out the window to the time I came out, they had managed to gather a bunch of friends. Cookies could wait.

Little elf children were throwing snowballs, some wolf cubs were running around, and even a couple of polar bears cubs and reindeer calves had joined in. It was a full-on neighborhood playdate.

"I see he's adjusting to life here." Ernie had appeared from somewhere. "I heard you were back in town."

"Yeah, for about five minutes." I shifted the baby in the wrap.

"I was waiting for you—and you too, sweet girl." He gestured to Davina.

"If you wake her, you change her."

"I'll just magic it," he teased.

"You would, too." I'd been known to on occasion. Why have a talent if you can't use it?

"You know, she looks just like you." He leaned in slightly, squinting as if he didn't have perfect vision.

"I thought she looked more like Wolfe, but whichever way, she's beautiful."

"Your entire family is." There was a longing in his voice. "I want to be sorry for what I did to you."

"Don't you dare. Messing up those cookies was the best thing that ever happened to me."

"Even the figurine part?"

"Maybe not that part exactly, but I have a mate I love more than the stars in the sky, a gorgeous daughter who makes the world brighter just by being here, a son who can make me laugh, loves to bake with me, and makes me feel worthy of being his stepfather, and a fluffy cat who loves to cuddle. There's not much better in life than that."

There really wasn't.

Want More Christmas Cheer from Lorelei M. Hart? One-Click The Omega's Beary Merry Christmas .