Etti looked up from her desk when the bell chimed at the door of her tattoo parlor. A giggling whirlwind of black ringlets came rushing into the Howling Wolf Tattoo.

“Mommy! Mommy! We got mail from Uncle Wes!”

Grey breezed through the door a moment after with another raven-haired little girl on his shoulders. “Izzi, what did I tell you about running ahead of me.”

“Sorry, Daddy! But I’m just so excited to see if my new cousin is here!” Izzi replied waving the card in the air.

Grey deposited his other daughter on the floor of the shop and smiled at Etti. It cracked her up that her big bad shifter was such a push over with his girls.

“Izzi, take your sister Marci to play, okay?” Grey said. “I need to talk to Mommy for a minute.”

“Is everything okay?” Etti asked once the girls were playing in the tiny courtyard behind the tattoo shop.

“Yeah. It’s more good news,” Grey said handing Etti the envelope he’d snatched from Izzi.

It was a baby announcement for Cali and Wes’s third child. They had twin boys and now a little girl. Etti grinned at the blue-eyed little girl with dark eyes just like Wes’s. “She’s beautiful,” Etti murmured, running her fingers across the photograph, wishing she could be there to celebrate with her friends.

A year after Etti and Grey had been living in New Orleans threat-free from the hunt, Etti took a chance to contact Wes. Etti asked one of her employees to write an anonymous letter to Wes with instructions to dig up a time capsule they had buried when they were eighteen. Three days after she sent the letter, Wes showed up at Etti’s doorstep, tears in his eyes, holding the dirty canister that contained their lives. When he saw Etti, he scooped her up and whispered, “I remember everything.”

It had been one of the happiest moments in Etti’s life. Now Wes and Cali came to visit New Orleans once a year. It wasn’t nearly enough to keep Etti from missing them, but it was better than nothing.

“This came today too,” Grey said, pulling Etti from her thoughts as he handed her another envelope.

Etti slid an invitation out. It was Marc and Brooke’s wedding invitation. Etti couldn’t believe it was right around the corner. Etti and Grey decided they couldn’t risk letting anyone else remember them. It kept everyone they loved safer that way. But that didn’t stop Wes and Cali from keeping Etti and Grey informed of what was going on in the lives of their family and friends.

A huge smile spread across Etti’s face as she read the details of the wedding invitation. She could barely believe she’d spent six years in New Orleans already and she was surprisingly happier than she’d ever imagined. Etti had a successful tattoo business, two healthy little girls, a man she loved and the protection of some of the most powerful witches in history. Etti was even enjoying honing her magic skills with her daughters.

“It’s about time,” Grey said nodding to the invitation.

“I’m so happy for Marc and Brooke,” Etti crooned.

“Check out the back of the invitation,” Grey added, his eyes shining.

Etti flipped the invitation over and read Wes’s handwritten note. Her hand flew to her mouth! “They’re expecting too!”

Grey grinned. “I gotta say, I didn’t think Marc had it in him.”

“I told you, Marc’s got layers,” Etti replied defending her friend.

Brooke and Marc had begun dating after Wes and Cali returned to Blue Creek. He finally asked Brooke to make him a shifter two years ago. Wes said Marc hadn’t taken to it right away, but now that he finally had, he and Brooke were planning a huge wedding to celebrate their union.

Grey joinied Etti behind her desk. He bent over her, nuzzling her neck and peppering her with kisses. “Ya know, everyone’s sneaking up on us in the baby count.”

Etti felt her desire pooling. Grey was never sexier to her than when he talked babies. “There’s no one in the shop today,” she whispered.

“Oh yeah?” he nibbled her ear making her shiver in all the right places. “How about we try to go even out the score upstairs?”

Etti flicked her wrist and the front door closed. She waved her fingers sliding the lock home and flipping the closed sign on. “Ready,” she purred turning to face her mate.

He gave her a wolfish grin. “You know how I feel about witchy stuff in the bedroom.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll go easy on ya big guy,” Etti said smacking his ass.

She knew that would make him crazy and as she’d hoped, he hauled her up and over his shoulder. “That’s it. I’m gonna have to give you a lesson on abusing your magic.”

Etti giggled the whole way up to their apartment, letting go of the last of her reservations. Life was good. Her family was good. And in a few more years they’d all be back together again—plus a few more members, with any luck.