Chapter 12

Alec

Five Years Later…

"I can't believeit took you five years," Morgan says with a laugh as I organize her skis.

"Well, first you were pregnant with Asher, then pregnant with Millie," I say with a smile.

"Daddy, look!" Our oldest, Asher, calls as he wiggles around in the snow, trying to climb out of the snow angel he was making.

"Here, buddy. Let me give you a hand."

I reach over, lifting him up and he beams at me.

"It looks really good," I tell him, and he smiles proudly.

Our daughter, Millie, is sitting in the sled, watching the people come down the little bunny hill nearby, and I grin as I set Asher in the sled behind her.

"Are you guys ready to go?" I ask them, and they nod excitedly.

They squirm around in the sled, getting comfortable, and I smile down at them. Morgan and our kids are the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. I didn't think that I could love anyone more than I loved my mate, but then we had Asher and Millie. As soon as they were in my arms, I was wrapped around their fingers.

"Are you ready to go?" I ask my wife, and she nods, looking determined.

"Let's do this."

My bear is watching inside of me. He's standing by and I can tell he's anxious that our mate will get hurt.

We'll keep her safe,I promise him, and he grumbles but seems to relax inside of me.

"Let's go," I say, taking Morgan's hand in mine and the rope for the sled in the other.

I drag the kids up the small hill and then stop to help Morgan get into the skis.

"Alright, remember what I taught you. Pizza slice to stop," I remind her, showing her with my feet.

"Got it. And how do I speed up again?" She asks, and I chuckle.

"I don't think we'll need to worry about that right now," I tell her, and she laughs.

"You're probably right."

"Alright. I'll go down with the kids first. We'll wait for you," I say, and she nods.

I climb into the sled behind our kids and laugh as they practically bounce in their seats.

"One, two, three!" I call as I push off, and we take off down the hill.

The ride doesn't last long, but the kids don't mind. I get out and drag them out of the way as I turn to watch my mate come down the hill.

"You got this!" I call, trying to encourage her.

She looks a little shaky as she pushes off with her poles, and she's really wobbly as she comes slowly down the hill, her skis mostly facing each other as she makes her way down to the bottom. I reach out, stopping her, and she lets out a big breath.

"I did it," she says, sounding surprised.

"I knew you could. Are you ready to go again?"

"Yeah," she says with a wide grin.

I smile, dropping a kiss on her lips before I grab the sled rope and pick my wife up. She giggles and the kids laugh as I carry all of them up to the top of the hill.

We spend the next hour going up and down the bunny hill. I'm pretty tired by the time Morgan collapses in the snow, grinning up at me.

"It's quite the workout," she says, and I laugh.

"You had the easy part," I tease, bending down and picking her up.

"Maybe," she agrees.

"Did you have fun?" I ask as I bend down and help her take the skis off.

"Yeah, but if I was looking for a workout, there's other ways that I would prefer to burn some calories."

"Hmm, like what?" I ask, though I think that I know.

"I'll show you tonight," she whispers, and my bear howls inside of me.

Morgan and I celebrated our wedding here with our friends, and then we went down to California to get her things from her parents' house. We made a stop for a few days at Susan's nursing home. I know it was hard on Morgan to see her there, but she still said she was glad that she went. Susan ended up passing on our last day in town and we extended our trip so that we could give her a proper burial. I know that time was hard on her, and I did my best to be there for her.

Morgan hasn't talked to her parents since she left their house. I know that she doesn't really miss them, they weren't close after all. I thought that maybe they would reach out after we had our first child, but they never did. It's their loss. Our kids are awesome and my mate is the best. They're idiots to not see that.

I still work at the Mountain Rescue with the guys. All of our mates get along and the kids love playing together. The girls try to get together for a play date at least once a week. Now that the kids are getting older and some of them are about to start school, I know things will change, but we're all ready for it. We've started having dinners together every Sunday. It's potluck style where everyone brings a dish and it's been a blast so far.

We're supposed to be heading to dinner in a little bit, in fact.

"We need to head home," Morgan says like she can read my mind, and I nod.

"I'll return the skis if you want to get the kids in the car?" I ask, and she nods.

"Perfect."

She takes off with Asher and Millie, and I hurry to return the skis and poles.

Morgan started her own graphic design business. She's amazing at it, and her business has been doing really well. She gets to work for herself, setting her own hours and picking which projects she wants to take on, so it works for our family too. I'm just glad that she's happy.

"Ready to head home?" I ask as I climb behind the wheel.

"What about dinner?" Asher asks, and I smile.

"We're going to get cleaned up and then go," I assure him.

He's satisfied with that answer, and I smile to myself as I pull out of the parking lot. I pick up Morgan's hand, holding it tight as we head home.

I never thought I would meet my fated mate when she almost ran me over. I also never thought she would be the one to propose to me, but she did, and luckily for me, it all worked out.

My bear nods in agreement inside of me and I grin as I drive my family home. I'm looking forward to dinner… and to see what kind of workout my mate had in mind for us tonight.