* * * Epilogue: Three Years Later * * *

“Hey! Are you guys gonna actually cook any meat, or are you just gonna stand there and drink beer all day?” Knox yelled.

Noah laughed, then looked over at Myles and rolled his eyes. Myles burst out laughing, probably more due to the number of beers he’d had than to his amusement at Noah’s facial expressions.

“I’m not kidding,” Knox said. “Vance is going to die of starvation if you don’t get him some brats soon! Look at the poor man. He’s wasting away!”

Vance was, in fact, stuffing his face with mashed potatoes at that very moment. Beside him, Grayson, Owen, and Weston were similarly occupied. Noah laughed again, but then turned his attention momentarily to adding more brats and burgers to the giant grill in front of him. He glanced up again once the meat was sizzling, and took in more of the scene in front of him. Holden and Finn were playing catch with some of the youngest boys in the Redwood Dragons Clan. The boys were actually bear shifters instead of dragons. In fact, the Redwood Dragons Clan was now made up of just about every type of shifter you could imagine, but the name “Redwood Dragons” had stuck, anyway.

Today was the three year anniversary of the day the Redwood Dragons had returned to the redwood forests to rebuild after the war. In honor of that momentous occasion, this day had been designated an official clan holiday. Last year the tradition of a celebratory barbeque had begun, and this year, that tradition was being continued with an even bigger barbeque. The clan had a lot to celebrate.

After the war ended, the dragons and many other shifter refugees had not only rebuilt the original redwoods cabins, but also built several dozen new houses. A general store was added, and a school, along with a town center and a city hall. Slowly but surely, the place began to resemble an actual village, albeit a small one. Noah had worried that he wouldn’t like living in a village as opposed to a small camp of ten bachelors, but the change had been a good one. The dragon stones were kept here now, in the vaults, so it was nice to have plenty of men to guard the place. Besides, Noah’s life was richer thanks to all of his new friends, and he had to admit that living in a community had its perks. Everyone here had different talents, and they all pitched in to make life in the redwoods the best, fullest life it could be. Of course, Noah was proudest of Izzy and her little medical clinic. She had done a great job of keeping everyone here healthy.

“Unkie Nowah. Unkie Nowah! More!”

Noah looked down to see the source of the little voice drifting up to him, then smiled. Lucas, Knox and Bree’s son who was just over two years old, was in search of another burger. Noah smiled down at the boy and took a small burger from the pile of meat that was already cooked.

“Here you go, buddy. Uncle Noah has a burger here just for you! If you want ketchup go ask your uncles at the picnic table. They’ve got some over there.”

Noah placed the burger on the boy’s paper plate, and the toddler proudly waddled off toward the picnic table where many of the other dragon shifters were sitting. Bree intercepted him on the way, admonishing him to hold the plate more carefully lest his burger fall to the ground.

“Dirt builds the immune system!” Noah called out to her. Bree glared back at him and then turned her attention back to her son.

Noah only laughed, then focused his attention on turning the meat. When he looked up again, his eye caught a blue streak that he knew was his own son, Jacob, as the boy ran across the lawn, squealing with laughter as his Auntie Elise chased him. Noah’s heart filled with pride as he watched the boy, who was younger than Lucas by a month. Noah had thought he’d be the last one of the dragons to have kids, but he’d very nearly been the first. What could he say? He couldn’t keep his hands off Izzy, so they’d had plenty of opportunities to make a baby. In fact, they were well on their way to having a second baby.

Noah’s gaze turned to where Izzy was standing now, munching on a hamburger while talking to Zeke, Mac, and Raven. Zeke was rubbing Mac’s belly, which was swollen in its ninth month of pregnancy. Izzy was not far behind, with an only slightly smaller seven month belly. Raven, who hadn’t yet jumped on the baby train, would be taking over for Mac in heading up the wizard-shifter military alliance while Mac was on maternity leave. All of the wizards who’d joined up with the Redwood Dragons had found new jobs to do here that allowed them to live with their dragons while continuing their work. The ties between Falcon Cross and the Redwood Dragons were unbreakable now, and Noah knew this meant that the peace that the shifters and wizards had enjoyed for the last three years was very likely to continue. Evil could not easily rise against such a tremendous alliance for good.

Izzy turned then, and saw Noah staring in her direction. She smiled and blew a kiss at him, which he returned by blowing a kiss of his own in her direction. She was always lovely, but now, glowing with his baby on the way, and with a mini-me already here and running around, she was impossibly breathtaking. He would never dream of calling her a coward anymore. Motherhood took a special kind of bravery that even he, a mighty dragon would never have.

Still, he was glad that she’d been frightened three years ago on the cusp of that last great battle against Saul. That fear had driven her into his arms, and made them both stronger. And now, they were living out their happily ever after. As a wizard, she was magical, but the true magic was in the joining of their hearts.

Even a tough dragon like Noah could appreciate a fairytale ending. Looking around at his clanmates as they happily enjoyed the celebration with their lifemates, he had a feeling that they could, too.