Four years later

—–

(A/N – before you guys freak out about Aiden and Julian dying or some shit, werewolves in my books live long, to like 120, they still got lots of time. Relax)

For those who like music, I wrote this epilogue to Right Back Where we Started by Maxine Nightingale, it was always the song /vibes I had in mind for this last epilogue.

—–

William’s P.O.V

Stockings stuffed with candy and toys, check.

All gifts waiting under the tree, wrapped and sparkly, check

An absurd amount of lights on all around and inside the house, check.

A loaded up Christmas playlist of songs I’d hate until the day I die, check and check.

Spinning around the room, I finish off the last bits of my mental checklist one last time before I finally fix my gaze upon Sassy and Blaze.

The pair blink up at me with unimpressed expressions of betrayal that actually cut right through me because I knew how much this hurt.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper as I crouch down, “I can’t believe I’m doing this either, but things change.”

They both look away from me and a piece of my heart breaks.

For years, it’d been the three of us against Damon and his demented obsession with Christmas. None of us liked the stupid holiday but we’d put up with it because it made Damon so adorably happy.

But then, Damon had infected the girls with his Christmas obsession and I literally couldn’t hate something my kids loved so much, so now… we were here.

In a reality where I, William Calderon, actually liked Christmas.

A part of me was disgusted with myself, but the rest of me was deliriously happy.

“Look, we’ll get through this together,” I say as I take the antlers off the counter and fix them onto Sassy’s head.

Once they’re settled behind her ears, I give her a shitload of hugs and kiss to soothe her. The last thing I needed was for her to start throwing a fuss that would wake everyone up.

Surprising your family on Christmas was one thing. Surprising your werewolf family when you were a blind human was an entirely different ballpark of ‘hard as fuck’.

It was like trying to pull off a heist without blueprints. Next to impossible!

But I was doing it by putting together this special wake-up call even though I was usually the ‘Grinch Dad’. Not today though, today, everyone would wake up and find Sassy, Blaze and I waiting with smiles instead of our usual attitude.

That was the plan and I wasn’t about to fuck it up now with the pets.

Thankfully, Sassy doesn’t bark at me or try to scratch off her antlers, she just gives me another unimpressed look that I pretend I don’t see as I move on to the chunky bastard next to her.

Picking up the sparkly green bowtie with Blaze’s name all over it, I shake it between my fingers as I crouch down slowly, not wanting the chunky fuck to make a hop for it.

“Don’t fight me and I’ll hide you in a shirt pile later as a reward,”

I tried to hide the desperation in my voice, knowing Blaze still enjoyed seeing me miserable, even after all this time, but I don’t quite manage it and Blaze takes a single hop away.

Shit.

“Blaze, if I don’t do it, you know Taylor will and she’ll put you in something even crazier.”

Blaze wiggles his little nose in contemplation, but it doesn’t take long for the big guy to cooperate when he knew damn well that whatever outfit Taylor would find for him would be ten times worst than this little bowtie.

I move in quickly, fixing the loose accessory over his neck before I settle him between my feet so he couldn’t scamper off and hide.

Okay, now we were really ready.

We all looked festive, the house looked like Christmas puked all over it, and the bottom of the sparkling tree was overflowing with gifts that were probably going to make Sadie have a mini heart attack.

Sadie and her unhinged father who loved Christmas more than his own birthday.

With one final look around, I fix my Santa Claus hat onto my head and finally bite the bullet by pressing play on my phone.

Immediately, the jingling bells to Mariah Carey’s Oh Santa pump out of the house’s speakers, filling the living room with the familiar melody that travelled upstairs to wake the Christmas fanatics.

Five. Four. Three. Two. O-

Boom!

The sound of something, or rather someone, falling is quickly followed by a scream and then an excited shout and finally, by a stream of giggles that had my heartwarming as the family bond instantly lit up like the Christmas tree behind me.

“Christmas!” Alex screams from her room as her little footsteps resound from above.

“Christmas! Christmas! Christmas!”

That never-ending chant was all Taylor who from the sounds of things, probably got tangled in her sheets and fell out of bed.

It didn’t stop her from chanting though.

“AGHHH!” That particular mix of warrior cry and infant gargles was all Damon and Sadie.

Those two were the wildest of the Christmas enthusiasts, and they were probably about to faint if they didn’t remember to breathe through the excitement.

I listen closely to the chaos upstairs that drowns out Mariah’s whistle tones.

All the rushed steps and falling objects were making me imagine things that I hoped and prayed weren’t as bad as they sounded.

The gang tended to lose their marbles whenever Christmas was involved, but I loved them for it.

Finally, one pair of heavy footsteps comes stomping down the stairs and heads straight towards me while Sassy, Blaze and I take our positions.

Damon crashes into the living room, all wide-eyed and frantic with a massive smile and his favourite black Santa hat hanging on his head.

On Damon’s back, with her arms tightly wrapped around her father’s neck, with a smile that showed off her two missing front teeth, was Taylor and her bright green Santa hat.

In one of Damon’s arms, hung Sadie who was a mess of excited giggles and movements that had her blue Santa hat almost falling to the floor, and in the other was Alex, our eldest, whose smile was a little shyer despite the way her brown eyes were glowing with barely contained joy.

Altogether, they were my family and nothing could stop me from smiling right back at them as I spread my arms wide, “Merry Christmas!”

More tangled sounds of excitement erupt from the girls as Damon struggles to get them on their feet safely so they could run towards me.

Sassy and Blaze barely manage to get out of the way as they all dive straight at me, tackling me in a hug so tight I almost topple over.

I manage to keep my balance as I crouch down quickly so I could hug them all properly, keeping them close to me while they wrap their little arms around me and hold on tight.

The love that comes rushing to me through our bond is so pure and abundant that it makes my eyes slightly wet behind their lids.

Becoming a father had always scared a part of me, I hadn’t necessarily grown up with the best parental figures and I’d worried that in some way, their shit had rubbed off on me.

Nothing in this world scared me as much as the thought of being a bad parent to my kids.

But those had been foolish worries. I’d put real time and effort into learning what it took to be a good dad, a good parent. I read enough books to start a library, went to classes, talked to Julian and Aiden for advice as we prepared.

I wanted to be good to them, for them, and by the way I could feel their love for me in my veins, I knew I was on the right track.

“Merry Christmas Dad!” Alex and Taylor reply and while Sadie tries, she doesn’t quite get all the words out.

“Presents first!” Taylor demands when she pulls back, her honey-brown eyes already settled on all the wrapped gifts while she licks her lips hungrily.

“Yes, I know the way things work here,” I reply with a chuckle as I look up at Damon who was watching us with a gentle smile that made my heart falter. “But do you think I can hug your dad first before we do that?”

“No,” Taylor replies honestly. I give her a look and she says, “Okay fine, but be quick!”

It was impossible for me to get annoyed with Taylor’s attitude when I knew I was the source of it.

Damon said Goddess sent her to us to give me a taste of my own medicine.

“Let’s go look in the stockings!” Alex says, giving Taylor a nudge before she points at the big red socks with everyone’s names on them.

That gets the girls to disperse as Taylor and Alex each take Sadie’s hand before they run over to the stockings to see what was in those.

With the girls distracted, I straighten up and take a moment to take a good long look at my mate.

One adjustment that had been hard to get used to as a parent, was reigning in my lust for my mate with all the kids in the house. I didn’t want to traumatize them so doors had to be locked always, and I couldn’t let Damon’s lingering gazes turn into anything frisky.

But that shit was hard when my husband was so handsome, even more so when seeing him be a good, attentive father to our girls made me even more attracted to him.

So in this brief moment without the girls’ eyes on us, I take Damon in.

From the tight white top that was pressing against his broad chest, to the loose red sweats that hung on his hips, teasing the outlines of the powerful legs that were underneath.

My eyes dart up to his blue ones as he pulls me towards him, his smile turning teasing as his fingers move down my back. My skin warms from his touch and a pleasured thrill rushes through me as I weave my fingers through his blonde hair and settle them at his nape.

Don’t look at me like that – Damon groans through our bond.

I can’t help it – I reply as I scrape at his nape, smiling brightly when he shivers as he always did. You look like some kind of Sexy Santa Claus with that hat on and it’s doing things to me.

Sexy Santa Claus – Damon repeats with a chuckle – you’re ridiculous.

I miss touching you, but… I’ll make up for that later tonight. I can not wait to get inside of you.

Damon hums a little to that while he settles his hands on my hips to hold me still while he presses a kiss to my mark, then to the back of my ear, my cheek and forehead, before he finally lays one on my lips.

I melt into him, greedily soaking in his touch and care that never wavered.

Somehow, this love between us that I already thought was too much had only grown as we got older and closer.

This, our bond, our love, was a gift I was eternally grateful for.

“Merry Christmas, baby,” he whispers against my lips as he pulls me even closer.

“Merry Christmas,” I mumble as I nuzzle his nose with my own. “Did you like the wakeup?”

“Like? I love it,” Damon replies with another soft kiss to my cheek, “I never thought I’d see the day where you did anything for Christmas that wasn’t forced.”

“Not true, I danced for you our first Christmas,” I remind him as I pull back to see the smile that lights up his face.

“That’s true, and it was fantastic,”

“Yeah?” I whisper.

Damon nods against me, leaning in closer, “Yeah.”

Before our lips could meet again, mocking kissy sounds start behind me.

“Mwah! Mweah!” Sadie mocks, following her sisters’ lead through her gargles.

Glancing back, I stare at the girls while they pucker their lips at us through their giggles, making silly faces while they each act out their own versions of Damon and me kissing.

“Having fun?” I ask despite my own chuckles.

Taylor and Sadie nod their heads feverishly from their places on the ground where they were each huddled over the spread-out contents of their stockings. But Alex was still standing, with her fingers tightly clutching the closed stocking in her hands.

My smile wavers a little as I watch her hug it closer to her.

It was moments like these that broke my heart, the ones where Alex clung to something she loved like she thought someone would snatch it all away from her if she didn’t.

It didn’t matter that she knew we would never do that, the subconscious fear was still there.

Damon and I had fallen upon Alex and Taylor by what we decided to call faith.

When we’d decided we were ready to adopt, we’d been looking for one girl.

We weren’t sure exactly how it would go or how we’d know which child we should take home with us when there were so many. All we knew, was that we wanted to take home a little girl, not a newborn baby, just a girl that might’ve otherwise been forgotten.

Things hadn’t gone exactly to plan.

We’d been visiting a human orphanage when Damon had sensed them, or rather smelt them. Werewolves living amongst humans, but at the time, Alex and Taylor didn’t even know that that’s what they were.

All they knew was that they were sisters who were only a year apart in age when they’d been abandoned, with Taylor only being three months old. They’d been in the orphanage for three years when we’d walked in, but little as they were, they’d still gone running straight for Damon when he’d found them hiding behind the large building.

Some part of them must’ve sensed that he was like them in a way that nobody else was, and that had been the first building blocks of trust and our first sign.

So when we learned of their names, nothing could stop us from making sure they came home with us.

Like I said, it felt like faith.

But even so, it had taken work to earn Alex’s trust. Taylor had been open arms and happy smiles from the start, always willing to go wherever anyone led her, even a stranger.

Alex wasn’t like that.

For the first two months, Alex had watched us with a hawk’s gaze filled with suspicion and mistrust, like she was waiting for the ball to drop. But with time, we showed her that we’d never hurt her or Taylor, and she’d come to realise that we just wanted to love her and give her a home.

Now, almost two years later, Alex loved us all freely, and she looked out for Sadie just as much as she did Taylor. But best of all, she did hide her love for Damon and me, when she called me dad for the first time a few months back, I’d broken down crying like a little baby.

She trusted us, but there were quiet little tells that showed how afraid she still was that everything would one day be taken away from her, like the way she clung to her stocking right now.

Only time would show her that it wouldn’t. Time and a whole lot of love that we had more than enough of.

“Do you like your stocking?” I ask as I turn within Damon’s arms, leaning against his chest while I look at Alex

Alex nods her head quickly, her beaded braids shaking as she grins at us, “You put lots of lollipops inside.”

“Because I know you love them,” I reply which makes her smile even wider as she comes over for another hug.

I hold her close to me while Damon heads for his stocking on the wall that hung next between mine, and Sassy and Blaze’s. He plucks it down with a giddy smile and peers his blonde head inside.

What emerges is a sad version of the happy puppy that he’d been a second ago.

“Mine’s empty,” he whines with a little sob.

The horrified little gasp Sadie makes almost makes me laugh as much as the way Taylor gathers her stocking closer to her, does.

“Yours is empty because you’re an adult,” I remind him very slowly while I rub Alex’s back as she tries to hide her giggles against my leg.

“Do adults get presents too?” Damon asks sarcastically but I could hear the pout in his voice.

“Presents!” Sadie yells, the reminder making her drag her stocking behind her as she goes towards the tree and all the dazzling presents beneath it.

Taylor makes a run for it as well, and though Alex tries to play it cool, I could feel the way she was basically vibrating against my leg with excitement.

I look at Damon with a scowl, “I love you, I truly do. But I’ll never forgive you for infecting them with your Christmas cheer.”

Damon sucks in a breath like I’d cursed Goddess herself before he hurriedly opens his arms, gesturing for Alex to run to him.

“Come here, sweetheart. We’re it’s safe,” he coos as Alex goes towards him with a humoured giggle, “I don’t want you standing so close to the Grinch.”

“I am not the Grinch,” I argue as I watch him steer her towards the tree.

“Grinch Dad!” Taylor accuses and Sadie casts a downwards thumb my way while she sticks out her tongue at me.

I keep my mouth shut, knowing my kids weren’t old enough to handle my comebacks just yet.

I’d give them a few more years before I’d show no mercy.

For now, I swoop down in a flash and pick Taylor up, “If I’m the Grinch then I better lock you away on Christmas.”

“No!” She howls through her laughter as I throw her over my shoulder and run for the kitchen. “Daddy! Help me! The Grinch is taking me!”

“Fight force! Attack!” Damon calls dramatically as he charges after us with Alex who releases a mighty roar as she follows right at his side.

Time passes in the best fucking way while we run around the house without a care in the world. It’s slow, letting me appreciate every single second of happiness with my family while we play.

I was the Grinch who stole one of the kids for Christmas, and every time Damon rescued one, I’d grab another, and they’d all chase after me to save them.

Sassy joined in, playing the Max to my Grinch as she helped ward off the Christmas loving fiends we called a family. While Blaze just watched from the sidelines, letting Sadie cuddle him while she watched the mayhem before her, cheering for ′Santa Daddy’ to beat her ‘Grinch Dad’.

Damon and I turned up the act for the kids, pretending to war over them at some points while we tried to keep our smiles hidden for the show. And the girls loved it, forgetting all about the gifts under the tree while we had fun.

Real, unadulterated fun, as a family who loved each other more than I ever knew, was possible.

I’d always thought happy families, truly happy families, only existed in movies.

That they were fabricated and that if anything looked remotely similar to them in real life, it was just for show, much like the horror show I grew up in.

But then I’d met Damon and got to know his family, the people who’d taken me in as one of their own and showed me what real love could be like.

And now, somehow, I had a family of my own.

Three little girls who lit up my world and a husband who made sure to let me know every single day how much he loved me.

It seemed like a dream, like it couldn’t possibly be real, but it was.

This family of mine, this happiness, it was real and it was all mine.

“I give up,” I wheeze from the bottom of the heap of bodies that had ganged up on me to finally takedown Grinch Dad, “I surrender! I will enjoy Christmas to the fullest!”

“Do you promise?” Alex asks from somewhere in the heap.

“I promise!”

“Do you pinkie promise?” Taylor asks and the pile shakes a little with my laughter.

“I promise,” I chuckle, watching as Sadie crawls towards me and gives me a hard look, “I swear to Goddess, I will love Christmas!”

“I think he’s serious,” Damon says thoughtfully, “all in favour of releasing the newly reformed Grinch Dad?”

“Aye!” The girls all say in unison.

With that, Damon finally gets up, taking his fat ass off of me and lessening the weight on my back by at least half.

“We accept your surrender,” he says as the girls follow his lead and get up, letting me breathe as I roll over and try to jumpstart my crushed lungs.

“Come on,” Damon chuckles as he offers me a hand, his smile a blinding thing as his love glows through our bond, “we still have gifts to open.”

I can’t help my grin as I take his hand and let him yank me up.

───────────────────

“Santa Claus isn’t real!” Kane argues against Taylor who looks him dead in the eye.

“Yes, he is!” She replies confidently, “he is so real. So, so soooo real!”

“He’s a fairy-tale made for little baby children to believe in,” Kane shoots back smugly but if he thought that was going to get Taylor down, he had another thing coming.

“Santa Claus comes to those who believe,” she replies as she sticks her chin up, “he gives us gifts!”

Like the little cult they were, Damon, Alex, Taylor, Sadie and even Nikola, all raise their arms in unison from their private corners of the wide background. They each shake their wrists, making the little golden bracelets with the special pendants Santa had given them, sing a special musical tune eerily close to Jingle Bells.

“Santa loves us, that’s why we get special presents,” Taylor says as she folds her arms. “He just doesn’t like you!”

While Taylor argues with her cousin, I take a sip of my juice and glance at Levi who was sitting at my left and watching the exchange as well.

“Do you think they’re going to be having this argument every single year?” He asks, the dread obvious in his voice.

“Oh, without a doubt,” I confirm with a chuckle, “Damon got to them young, that belief is bone-deep now.”

Levi laughs as well before he turns himself in his lawn chair, fixing his gaze on Nikola who laid across from us with a dozing Hagen in his arms.

“Tell me the truth,” he mumbles, black eyes locked on mine “you buy those pendants every single year and say it’s Santa.”

Nik shakes his head, “I have better things to do with my time,” he replies while he keeps carting his fingers through Hagen’s hair, “plus, Santa is real.”

Levi groans as he looks across at me.

“Will, don’t tell me he’s got you believing too,” he sounded like he just might cry.

I shrug.

“Will!”

“I’m sorry,” I try to hide behind my juice box, “it just makes sense alright and those little gifts come every single year!”

I wasn’t the biggest fan of Christmas, that wasn’t a secret, and I certainly didn’t worship Santa Claus like my mate, but I couldn’t deny that the guy was real.

After our first Christmas together, when Damon magically received his first gift from Santa, his belief in the guy had doubled and then tripled when another gift came the year after.

Then again the next year, and the next.

It was always the same gift, a new pendant to add to ‘the bracelet of belief’.

It’d started with only Damon at first, but as he’d converted Nik and the girls, they’d started to get little pendants too.

It was the beginning of a very nice cult.

Honestly, I’d thought at first that it was Kat fucking with him, she found amusement in the smallest things so it made sense. But she’d assured me time and time again that she didn’t care about Damon enough to put that much time into punking him.

My next guess had been Mekhi, but after he met Wequie, there wasn’t even a chance.

Mekhi was positively and absolutely head over heels for Wequie, no matter what he said, he was enamoured with that incubus.

If it was him, I highly doubted that he would’ve kept spending his time on something so fickle with Wequie around. Incubi were full-time work after all, and Wequie was the best of them.

So if it wasn’t Mekhi, Kat or Nik, that only left the source of the presents being Damon himself or Santa, and I knew my mate wasn’t deranged, so yeah… maybe it was the white-bearded guy.

A part of me still doubted though, which Damon claimed was the exact reason why I never got one of those little gifts.

I didn’t want anything tying me to their cult so I was okay without it.

“He’s infecting everyone with that crap,” Levi grumbles with obvious annoyance, “even Jayson is asking me about Santa.”

I can’t help my smirk at that as I look across to where Jayson was talking to Luciel and Peter, his arms moving animatedly making Peter nod fervently while Luciel looked completely and utterly confused.

“I’m spreading the gospel,” Damon says as he comes over with Sadie on his hip, “it was what I was born to do.”

“Born to do?” Aiden snorts as he comes forward with a smug grin. “That’s a pretty shit life purpose don’t you think?”

“Curse!” All the kids shout at the same time as they point to Aiden who throws his head back with a groan.

“The only thing worse than a bunch of shitbags, is the little mini shitbags they make after,” he grumbles under his breath as he digs in his pocket for some money to add to the curse jar that was basically all his at this point.

As if he’d just been waiting for it, Julian comes forward with the jar in hand with an especially wide smile as he watches his mate stuff another dollar inside.

“Don’t even,” Aiden bites out but Julian only snickers before he presses a kiss to his mate’s cheek.

Without a word, he heads back over to where Alex and Elijah were playing football with the ball Elijah we’d gotten Kane for Christmas.

“It’s not that hard to hold your tongue,” Katerina taunts as she and Apollos join the growing group around us, “it’s called self-control, say it with me… self-control.”

“You’re a fucking bitch,” Aiden grinds out.

“What’s that Aiden?” Kat says loudly, “you have to add two more dollars to the swear jar because you keep saying bad words?!”

The kids pin Aiden with another look that has him stomping over to Julian while Katerina just cackles to herself.

“It’s the small things that bring the most joy,” she says with a satisfied smile as she leans against her mate. “Which reminds me, where’s my favourite hellion and her mate?”

“They’re on their way,” Damon replies as he sits down beside me, handing Sadie over to me so he can hold us both instead, “Josey said they got caught up in some pack business?”

“It’s always pack business with you wolves,” Kat scolds as if it was our fault, “Why can’t you be like the bloodsuckers? They’re always so fucking calm.”

Luciel lifts his head up at the mention of his kind, looking towards us with a curious gaze, “What are we bloodsuckers?”

“Calm,” Peter fills in from beside him, “you all are very calm and simple.”

“Simple?” Luciel asks, wrinkling his nose a little.

“In a good way,” Peter promises quickly, distracting his mate with a kiss.

While the others fall into conversation, I look drop my gaze to Sadie.

With her fingers in her mouth, and her wide, blue eyes blinking with innocent wonder, Sadie only giggles while I brush her blonde curls back and fix her blue Santa hat.

Sadie had been a welcomed surprise.

Before Taylor and Alex, Damon and I had been trying to have a baby for months, but no matter what we did, it just wouldn’t happen.

From all our visits to witches, healers and doctors, we knew that it was a mix of issues from the both of us.

I was human and that didn’t bode well with Damon’s werewolf genes, but beyond that, Damon’s womb had never properly formed for some reason we couldn’t decern. We tried everything to fix it; potions, habits, medicine and even prayers, but it just wouldn’t take.

We couldn’t have a baby and accepting that had been… hard

Those months were especially painful, but we got through them, together, as we did everything else and we’d decided that we’d adopt as we always planned to do anyway. And if we were meant to have a kid ourselves one day, then we would.

And we did.

Only a year after we’d brought Taylor and Alex home, we had Sadie, a happy giggling machine of pure sunshine that had Damon’s smile and my eyes.

“Does somebody like all the fairy lights?” I coo as I lift her up so she can get closer to the decorations overhead, “Do you want to fly with the lights?”

Sadies squeals wildly, her little hands making grabby motions for the lights while her legs kick out beneath her. I tilt her from side to side like an aeroplane, zooming all over until I brought her back down which sends her into an even crazier fit of excitement.

“If you make her puke, cleanup is all on you,” Damon warns from over my shoulder.

“Cleanup is always on me,” I shoot back as I bring her down.

Damon was amazing with the kids, truly, there wasn’t a thing he wasn’t ready to do, no matter the time, place or who was around. He loved his girls with a ferociously I adored, but when it came to vomit, you could count him out.

When puke entered the equation, I suddenly became a single parent, which made Sadie’s baby stage particularly difficult when that was something babies tended to do sometimes.

Damon opens his mouth, but I shush him, “You’ll make up for it when they start dating.”

Damon rares his head back with a look of pure disgust at the mention of the girls ever being anything other than his little girls.

Honestly, I didn’t think I could be a cool dad. I was pretty sure I’d terrorize any boy or girl they might date in the future, but I knew that Damon would be ten times worse.

But that was a problem for Future William to deal with. Present William was living the life as his kids’ best friend.

Before Damon can threaten future partners that were only kids right now, the back doors burst open suddenly, revealing Josey and her mate Kai.

The pair stagger through with wide smiles, hands full of unopened beers and several gift bags hanging from their arms.

“You can celebrate now,” Josey calls out from the top of the stairs, as she flips her hair over her shoulder, “we have arrived!”

Happy cheers come from us all as Kai and Josey descend the remaining stairs.

“Huh? What? Polar bears!” Hagen shouts as he jumps up, looking around wildly with dazed, confused eyes that settle on Josey.

In an instant, he’s on his feet and Josey’s dropping everything in her hand so that she can run to him. They crash together in a tight embrace that’s only broken up by their laughter as they cling to one another.

“What’s this about Polar Bears?” Josey teases against Hagen’s shoulder, “I thought Peter was the one who lived in Antarctica.”

“I visit,” Hagen replies as they part, his smile bigger than it’d been all day now that his twin was close. “You need to visit more, like wayyy more. I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too,” Josey admits with a weak smile as she glances over at her approaching mate, “if you want someone to blame, this chick is the cause.”

Kai rolls her eyes as she moves in to hug Hagen as well.

Josey and Kai had met in the academy. Kai had snuck in to check on a member of her pack she’d been worried about and she’d found Josey instead.

As an alpha, she was strong, confident and not used to being challenged, but Josey grew up in a house full of alphas, she had absolutely no qualms with letting her voice be heard.

The pair had but heads quite a bit at the start, not nearly as much as Hagen and Nik, but they’d still had their challenges. But in the end, Josey learned to trust her mate, to be vulnerable with her in a way she wasn’t with anyone else and she was now the Luna to their pack that was too far away for Julian’s liking.

Kai was a fucking badass but we already had too many alphas in the pack, and in the family.

It was why we were having the Christmas celebrations outside, it helped everyone breathe a bit with more than five alphas in the same space.

The distance wasn’t the greatest thing in the world, but we made do.

Sneaking up from behind like a maniac, Aiden pulls Josey down in a headlock before he twists her around for a bone-crushing hug. From over her shoulder, he ignores Josey’s flaying arms and pleas for help and looks at Kai.

“You taking care of my girl?” He asks in his dad voice.

“Yes, grandpa,” Kai replies sarcastically, making everyone laugh.

Aiden scowls, “Every time you come here, you give me trouble.”

“I’ve missed you too, Aiden,” Kai replies, smirking proudly.

While the Calderon-Heils head over to greet Josey with a family hug, Luciel wonders over to me and Sadie, sitting down carefully while he eyes her as if she were a bomb.

Luciel wasn’t the best with kids, that was no secret, but I found it seriously hilariously how the one thing that seemed to phase him were children. Especially when his counterpart was so undeniably amazing with them.

When I’d found out that Peter was mated to a vampire, I’d honestly thought it was a joke.

A very bad joke that had to be made by a fucked up person because everyone knew how terrified of vampires Peter had been. But somehow, it was true, Peter’s mate was a thousand-year-old vampire who led a clan of other vampires in Antarctica.

That shit was fucking crazy, but it was Peter’s reality and he’d come to love it.

At first, the family had been up in arms ready to fight for the baby of the family, but Luciel had proved himself to be good for Peter, amazing in fact.

It’d been years since I’d heard Peter stutter, a lifetime since he’d seemed anything other than sure and confident about his every move and discussion.

He lived in fucking Antarctica, if that didn’t spell Omega Badass, then I didn’t know what did.

“How was the journey over?” I ask as I move Sadie over so that Luciel could breathe a little easier.

“Fine,” Luciel confirms with a nod, “we began our travel a week ago. We used to journey to make stops along the way so that Peter could explore the creature in the waters.”

Luciel smiles a little as he glances at his mate who was currently squeezing the living daylights out of Josey while he berated her for not calling him more often.

“That sounds amazing,” It honestly did, especially when I’d seen the photographs Peter took when he took his deep dives, “did you swim as well?”

Luciel nods quickly, “I’ve learned to stop fighting Peter on it, I end up in the waters one way or the next.”

I nod, knowing how persuasive Peter could be about appreciating the ocean’s fishes and wonderful creatures from under rather than from up above.

“I know Damon told Peter we’re okay to stay in the pack, but if it scared your people,” Luciel starts kindly but I shake my head avidly.

“It’s completely fine, Luciel,” I promise, “you’re free to stay as long as you want, nobody is bothered by it at all.”

We didn’t have any toxic people in our pack who would.

“If you’re sure,” Luciel tries again and I nod, “then please let me know if there’s anything I can do to help while I’m here.”

“Actually,” I say as I lift Sadie up, kissing her cheek once as I hand her over to Luciel who blanches.

“I didn’t mean-”

“Thanks, Luciel,” I sing as I get up, leaving Sadie with Luciel who held her out and away from him as if she’d go off any second.

I didn’t actually need Luciel to watch Sadie, I just found it hilarious to watch the way he lost his shit when he was left alone with a child.

“Will,” Peter whines when I go over, “stop torturing him, you know how he is with children.”

I grab Peter’s arm before he could save his mate, pulling him in close as I chuckle against him, “Let me have my fun, for just a little while?”

“Please,” Josey begs as well as we all look over to where Luciel was now trying to figure out how best to lay Sadie down.

Peter slumps, rolling his eyes but not fighting us as we enjoy our entertainment for the night.

“Please,” Luciel begs after a while when Sadie gets hold of her face, squeezes and stretches his cheeks out through her giggles, “someone please, take this childling.”

Peter tries to bite back his own laughter as he heads for his mate, “coming,” while the rest of us don’t even bother hiding.

“Alright,” Julian says clapping his hands together once Luciel is freed from Sadie’s hands, “now that everyone here’s, let’s eat!”

Time flies by too quickly after that.

Between mouthfuls of food, we all catch up on what’s been going on in each other’s lives.

While Damon and I spoke to everyone over the phone at least once a week between the two of us, it wasn’t the same as being together.

There were little details that were forgotten, like how Peter was trying to make everyone in his clan adopt a bunny, while Jayson had broken his toe trying to join in on Kane’s karate classes.

Little, precious and funny details that were lost between time and the distance between us all.

After all, other than Hagen and Nik, everyone else in the family lived outside of the pack so we didn’t get to see them too much. At least, Damon and I didn’t. Aiden and Julian had seen everyone with the last few weeks with how much they travelled.

I swore at this point, those two had touched every corner of the earth together. So, there were always little details that were forgotten until we were together again.

But even with all the space between us, it felt like it may as well have been a matter of days since we’d last had been all together.

We carry on with games everyone can play, even the kids, and hours pass in the blink of an eye as gifts are shared, along with laughter and joy.

When the alcohol starts knowing the best of us down, one by one we all start to disperse to carry on the festivities tomorrow.

Damon and I were hosting breakfast at ours which meant that Theo and I would be up early to make sure we had enough food to feed this army we called a family, plus all the friends who’d stop by.

I’d been worried about waking up the girls too early with our cooking, but thankfully, Aiden and Julian were all too happy to host a major sleepover with all their grandkids.

Our hands were free which meant I was officially free to enjoy my mate as I pleased.

We say our goodbyes to the girls, barely getting hugs from them before they were rushing back to build their pillow and sheet forts with Kane and Elijah, so that they’d all be able to watch huddle close while they watched Home Alone.

I didn’t mind though. It was nice to see them so comfortable with staying overnight when they’d once been so reluctant to stay with Aiden and Julian in the past.

“They’re going to be fine,” I whisper to Damon as I pull him towards the door.

He nods but his eyes were still glued to them, “We should check the overnight bags again, make sure they have everything.”

“You checked them three times before we left the house this morning,” I remind him, “and then twice more when we got here.”

With the time Damon took to triple check the girls’ bags, I’d been able to call Francis and Blue each to wish them a Merry Christmas and let each of the girls say hi.

(A/N – I don’t know how that nigga Blue ain’t dead yet LMFAO)

I give my mate a firmer tug, “Come on Damon, they’ll be fine.”

Damon’s feet turn to cement that only consistent tugs and gentle promises can dislodge.

“They’re going to be fine, Damon,” I say gently as I pull the car round in the driveway and head us home.

I didn’t normally risk driving, my eyesight wasn’t the best for navigating, but the pack roads were empty and I knew the way home like the back of my hand.

“I know,” Damon groans as he finally slumps in the passenger seat, “I just worry, especially when I don’t get to read them their favourite stories.”

“I know,” I say as I take his hand and free a kiss to it, “it’s what makes you a good dad.”

Damon stares at me for a while, not saying a word while I take our turn home, he only watches me like a creep.

“What?” I ask, glancing his way with a frown.

“I fucking love you, Will Calderon,” Damon whispers, his voice something so sweet it makes my insides spin. “Goddess, I love your name too. William Calderon.”

I snort, “You love it because it’s yours,” Damon only shrugs, “and I fucking love you too, Damon.”

When we reach home, Damon circles the car so he can scoop me up in his arms and carry me inside.

I laugh the whole way inside, loving the pampering and theatrics as he kicks the door shut behind him and takes us to our room.

Dumping me on our bed, Damon scales my body slowly, pushing my shirt up so he can plant kisses against my skin as he makes his way up.

When his lips meet mine, I dive my fingers through his hair and pull him in close, breathing him in deep as our bodies align perfectly in the way they had from the moment we met.

We kiss lazily for a long time, just enjoying the feel of one another until I roll us over and press Damon’s hands down.

“Hmm,” Damon groans from under me as he rolls his hips and smiles, “I’m all yours tonight.”

My cock jerks at that, loving how fucking open and willing Damon was to take me. I loved his eagerness almost as much as I loved the way he got shy sometimes when I was filling him.

I loved it even more when he begged.

“Good,” I reply as I lean in close so I can catch his lip between my teeth before I slip my tongue inside for another taste, “because it’s just us tonight,” I remind against his lips, “which means I’m free to make you fall apart.”

Damon shivers against me, his cock rock hard against my hip while his cheeks filled with my favourite colour.

“Will,” he tries, but we both know how this was going to go.

“What?” I ask innocently, “you know I love to make you loud, to make my alpha moan like an omega in heat.”

Damon releases the exact moan I was talking about as his fingers dig into my hips, trying to bring me even closer to him even though we were already glued together.

I smile as I watch him relax for me, giving himself over while I pushed the strands from his face so I could see him clearly.

“I’m going to give you the best Christmas present ever,” I promise which makes Damon chuckle just a little, “I’m serious, I’m going to turn you into a puddle.”

“Promises, promises,” Damon mocks despite the smirk on his lips.

How was it possible to love someone this much? To care so much about them that a single smile could make you feel like fireworks were erupting inside of you.

How could I be addicted to another person’s lips, their hair, the ink on their skin, the crook of the nose, and the fullness of their heart?

How was it possible to feel so much happiness all because of one person?

“What?” Damon asks, his smile wavering a little as his eyes search mine.

“Nothing,” I say, shaking my head against his as I breathe him in, “nothing, I’m just thinking about how happy you make me.”

Damon’s smile returns in full force at that as he blinks up at me, his deep blues enchanting and eternally mine, “Well,” he draws, “I am the source of your happiness.”

“Oh shut up,” I say through my laughter as I nuzzle his tatted mark to hide my smile.

Damon laughs against me, hugging me close while he goes on and on about how he was my happiness, the apple of his eye, the centre of my heart, and a whole bunch of other crap that has me smothering him with a pillow.

We wrestle and laugh, roll and kiss and fall into one another, and I find myself thanking Goddess, as I did every single day, for giving me this perfect gift.

I thank Goddess, for giving me, my Damon.

——-

Good God, SO MUCH IS IN THIS CHAPTER HOLY SHIT

Thoughts????

TAYLOR, ALEX AND SADIE!!! THEY HAVE THREE GIRLS AND DAD DAMON IS JUST SO FUCKING AMAZING TO ME AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

And oh my God!!! JOSEY AND HER ALPHA MATE KAI!!!!!! I told yall in my notebook she wouldn’t be mated to a normal werewolf. You’ll see much more of them in Control!!

And AHHHHHHH Peter not stuttering and Luciel with the fucking family ahrhknrlwnrk I’m losing my mind.

SO MUCH SHIT HAPPENED!!! God, I feel old lol.

I specifically didn’t write much about Julian and Aiden cause I knew I’d fucking cry, so happy moment only.

Now, I did promise smut to the humans on Patreon, and I did plan to write Damon bottoming in this epilogue but it felt forced when I started. Like I was just adding smut cause yall wanted it and it just ruined the whole happy mood of things.

I’ll write you guys a Damon bottoming scene on Wattpad, I will not leave yall without Patreon without that, or his coronation. You will get it so just be patient and relax.

Beyond all that, I really hope you guys enjoyed this epilogue!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love Christmas, so when this idea popped in my head I just had to!!!

The book is now officially over I guess ughhh, but there’s still that coronation extra chapter and the bottoming scene I’ll probably put in my notebook, but fuck, we’re putting Delicate to rest.

What is life?!?!?!

I’ll be starting my next book next month probably, I’ll tell you all when I’m ready. But I work pretty much all day in my internship so I don’t have any time really to write, so that’s why I say probably.

I’ll keep you all informed as I always do, but for now, Master updates and Patreon Extras until I’m ready to start the next book for the series.

Thank you all for being so patient and amazing with me, your support means the absolute world with me and reading all the comments from the end of Chapter 80 honestly makes me cry every single time.

I just love Delicate so much and I can’t thank you guys for joining me for it.

Until the next book,
Byeeeeeeee Humanssssssssssssss