Epilogue

"Is it weird that I'm nervous?" Arvin looked up at me, his anxiousness palpable.

"It's not weird. This is exciting and big and new. Of course you're nervous." I wrapped my arms around him, holding him close.

"Are you?"

"Absolutely not."

He looked up at me in confusion.

"I'm not nervous because my mate is in charge, and he's got this." His lips brushed mine for an all-too-brief kiss, breaking off as the rumbling of a car coming toward the cabin alerted us that at least one of my brothers was here.

"It's showtime."

My mate missed being up at the cabins when we moved to be close to my brothers. As much as he didn't like his boss and the way he was treated, he loved being up here and running the place.

When we moved to be with my brothers, it was the right decision at the time. It still was. Having the cousins growing up together gave them something we'd never had. We were exactly where we needed to be.

But last year, I surprised him. His boss had finally followed through on his threat and put the place up for sale. For our anniversary, I bought it for him. Arvin didn't run it like he did before, but we summered here. Our previous fill-in had moved to another state, so we had hired a caretaker from town, a wolf shifter named Salvy, who was looking for a place to stay and had always loved the mountain. Salvy had done a great job keeping things up, and, in the summer, we came with the kids to help out and spend time where our family began.

Of course our family had grown since then. We went from a family of four to a family of seven a couple of years later. As challenging as twins had been, four babies at once…that was wild. Wild and wonderful. Although I had to admit, there might have been a little victory dance when the last of them was out of diapers.

When my mate and I got outside, my brother Aldryn and his mate, Eli, and their kids were already getting out of their van. Our kids ran over to them, hugging their uncles and then grabbing the children, needing to show them the brand new disc golf course we had put up only a few days ago.

"I guess the kids have a plan." I chuckled.

"I guess so," Aldryn hugged me. "Thanks for inviting us."

"Thanks for coming."

I showed my brother and his mate to their cabin, and when I came back, my other brother, Tatum, was there with his family. His mate, Vinnie, and their kids were already headed down toward the disc golf course to join the others. Apparently, it was a big hit.

And my otter dads would be here at some point in the summer. All those rejection dreams, well, the rest of the bevy still didn't want any part of me, but my dads were crazy about their grandsons and my brothers' kids as well. They'd been childless and yearning before me, and now…they could come and have all the kids they wanted to spend time with every year.

I hugged my brother tightly. It was hard to believe that once upon a time we were nothing but a prophecy of sorts, and now here we were, the three of us with our mates and all of our children, heading into a vacation together at the place where I met mine.

Legend has it that dragon shifters used to be plentiful, just as many of them as there were of other shifters, but their numbers dwindled. Somehow that tied into us. Three dragons born to a fated pair, their eggs would be emerald, sapphire, and amethyst, and they would be the beginning of the resurgence of dragons. It was weird finding out that meeting my mate was prophesied, that people were waiting for him. But that didn't change the fact that I was exactly where I was meant to be—with the person I was meant to spend the rest of my life with. I wouldn't change a thing if everything in my past was needed in order to get me to this life I now had. Not a thing.

"How are you?" I asked Arvin, putting his hand in mine.

"This is kind of how I always pictured it being," he admitted, leaning against my side. "A place where families could all get together and spend time without having to cram into each other's houses or go to fancy hotels. Where they could just be themselves—together. I can't thank you enough for buying this place for me. For us. For our families."

"It's the first place I ever felt like I was home."

Arvin came around front and pulled me into a hug. "This is where I first felt like I was home—right here in your arms."