Epilogue

“Who stole the tray of cookies?” Theo shouted. “Cassandra, was it you?”

“It wasn’t me, Mom!” she shouted back from the couch beside me, quickly shoving the last cookie into her mouth and chewing it as fast as she could to hide the evidence. Cassandra was four years old, a mage, had bright red, curly hair, and had been adopted by Theo and her mates three years ago. I absolutely spoiled the crap out of the adorable girl. I spoiled all of my nieces and nephews.

She wasn’t lying about not stealing the cookies. I had stolen the cookie tray and shared my spoils with all five of my nieces and nephews.

It was crazy how four years could bring so much change. Four years after my mating party, I now had three nieces and two nephews.

“Kass!” Zyra gasped. “You know you can’t give them cookies before dinner!”

Illa and Tanjin, my niece and nephew respectively, both three years old, with the cutest little troll tusks, pouted behind their mother as she scolded me.

“I don’t know what you mean,” I said and took a sip from my drink.

Zara pushed Aketa and Zulkaz, my twin niece and nephew, into the room, crumbs all over their adorable two-year-old faces. “Kass,” she growled. Zara saw Zyra and the kids and sighed, shaking her head.

Standing, I wiped my hands on my jeans and smiled wide. “Who is ready for dinner?”

“We are!” all my nieces and nephews yelled and we all ran to the dining room in a planned out, synchronized move. Now, Zara and Zyra were left grumbling in the other room and Theo just sighed and shook her head.

That sighing and head shaking happened a lot when I was around my family.

The kids sat at their smaller table and I sat with them. I preferred eating at the kids’ table.

Silver walked in and patted all of the kids on the heads as he passed and even patted mine, making me smile up at him.

Grant, Reed, Jong-min, Jong-hyun, Zyra, Zara, Zara’s mate, Kuroji, Zyra’s mate, Venjo, Theo, Damien, Tristan, Antoine, and Silver sat at the adult table.

Theo had tried to purchase a large table for holiday dinners such as this, ensuring there was enough seating for all of the adults. However, there were so many of us that Damien had ended up building one for us instead. It had taken them a full year to find a house that fit their needs and even then, they’d made adjustments to their first floor so the dining room was large enough for the huge table, and for the living room to be large enough to fit enough couches for us all to sit when we met. Normally, we also had Jong-kyu and his mate, Mi-Yong, with us, but they had returned to their homeland to visit his family.

We took turns hosting and next year was my turn. I had an easier time finding a location, since Silver had sold the bar to me and I could close it down to have our family events there.

“How’s the bar doing?” Silver asked as if he could tell I was thinking about it.

“Doing really well,” I said.

“She conned an entire basketball team and made over a thousand dollars in a single night,” Grant said, ratting me out.

“Tattletale!” I hissed at him.

“Snitches get stitches,” Cassandra muttered before she shoveled some cooked chicken into her mouth.

“Cassandra!” Antoine snapped.

I put another bread roll onto her plate, earning a big smile from her and a scowl from Theo and her mates.

Kuroji and Venjo, whispered conspiratorially together, which did not bode well for me. The two troll males liked tormenting me and playing pranks on me. My own mates joined in often, too, especially Reed.

“Auntie,” Tanjin whispered.

I looked over at him.

He leaned across the table, trying to get closer and whispered, “Don’t drink what Da brings you.”

My eyes widened. Tanjin must have overheard what his dad and uncle were planning. What a great nephew!

I winked and put a bread roll on his plate. “Thanks, buddy.”

He tore into his bread while smiling, his little tusks glistening with melted butter now.

“Let’s have a toast,” Silver said and stood.

“We got it, Father,” Venjo said as he and Kuroji stood. Kuroji passed out glasses while Venjo went to get the sparkling wine bottles from the kitchen.

Kuroji set a glass in front of me and I held it up, inspecting it, but there was nothing inside … yet.

Venjo poured glasses for everyone, including himself, leaving me for last. As he poured it, I heard the soft clink of him dropping something into the glass first right before he poured the wine.

Clever bastard!

I stood, carrying my glass with me as I made my way over to the adult table. I leaned my elbows on Reed’s shoulders, swirling my glass with a smile as I waited for Silver to make his toast. I set my glass down right next to Reed’s, set my hands on his shoulders, and leaned over to kiss his cheek.

He glanced at me, but when I just smiled at him, he returned the smile and turned as Silver stood.

Silver raised his glass. “To family. No matter what life may throw at us, we’ll be together and will help each other through it all.”

I quickly grabbed Reed’s glass and raised it, smiling wide. “To family!” I shouted.

We all clinked our glasses together and took a drink of the sparkling wine.

Reed immediately sputtered as the tablet caused him to foam at the mouth.

I laughed so hard I grabbed my stomach and doubled over.

“How did you know?” Venjo demanded.

I tapped my ear. “I heard the soft clink of the pill. You almost got me, though.”

Reed chugged his water to clear out the pill’s effects. “You brat,” he growled at me.

“Serves you right for all the times you’ve teamed up with them against me.”

As we made our way to the living room for games and dessert, I slipped an extra cookie onto Tanjin’s plate.

He gasped, eyes wide, and I winked at him. “My informants are always paid well.”

“What happened to, ‘snitches get stitches?’” Jong-hyun teased.

I screeched in surprise, not having heard him sneak up on me. Spinning around, I sweetly said, “That’s only when it’s against me.”

He slid his arms around my waist and nuzzled my cheek before whispering in my ear, “You’re such a naughty auntie.”

“Ew! No kissing!” Aketa and Zulkaz yelled simultaneously. The twins often spoke and acted at the same time. Their twin bond was similar to Jong-min and Jong-hyun, but stronger since they were younger.

“You’re no fun!” I teased them, spun and held out my arms. “Can I get hugs from you then?”

They yelped and ran away from me.

“Come back! Auntie wants hugs!” I yelled as I chased them around the living room.

“You’re going to tickle us!” they yelled over their shoulders.

“I would never!” I gasped.

Jong-min caught me around the waist, pulling me onto his lap on the couch. “Stop tormenting the children. It’s late and they need to let their food digest first.”

“Spoilsport,” I sighed.

“I challenge Kass to charades!” Antoine said as we debated what games to play.

“Can’t handle how badly I defeated you last time?” I asked.

“You lost,” he said.

“That’s not how I remember it,” I countered.

“That’s because you were hammered,” Theo countered back.

I gasped and put a hand to my chest. “Are you taking your mate’s side instead of mine? What kind of best friend are you?”

“Telling the truth isn’t taking sides,” she said and rolled her eyes.

“I think we should play teams,” Silver said. “I’m pretty confident Theo, Antoine, and I can defeat Kass, Zyra, and Kuroji.”

Zyra scoffed. “You can’t defeat me at anything, old man.”

He smiled, knowing he had her. “Prove it then.”

We spent the next two hours playing charades, laughing, and eating dessert. As the kids grew tired, we said our goodbyes to head home.

“Still on for tacos Wednesday?” Theo asked.

“You know it!” I hugged her and each of her mates before skipping down to my waiting mates.

“I’m impressed. You behaved this time,” Grant teased as we all buckled into the car.

“She switched her drink with mine,” Reed reminded him.

“Yeah, but you deserved it,” Jong-hyun teased.

“Ready to head home?” Jong-min asked as he started the car.

I nodded. “Yes. Home sounds great.”

“Especially since she knows Jong-hyun stole leftovers and a tray of cookies,” Grant said.

I squealed and leaned over to kiss Jong-hyun’s cheek. “You’re the best!”

“Don’t forget it,” he said with a wink and a smile.

“To second dinner and dessert at home!” I shouted and pointed out the front window.

My mates rolled their eyes, but all of them smiled as they did just that.