Chapter 15
*One Year Later*
Angel held the large gift bag and watched as Ian unhooked their son from the car seat and lifted him into his arms. Cade yawned but didn’t wake, nuzzling into Ian’s neck. She loved to watch her mates with their son. It always made her teary-eyed to see them be so sweet with him.
She ran her fingers over the soft hair on his head and smiled. He looked like his fathers, but he had her blue eyes, at least for now. She knew they might darken as he got older, but she hoped they wouldn’t. She liked seeing a bit of herself reflected back when he looked at her.
“Do we need anything but the bag?” Brin asked as he reached into the SUV and pulled out the colorful diaper bag. He shut the door, and then winced, looking to see if he had woken the baby.
“No, we’re good,” she said.
Quill joined them. “He did so well on the trip. Hopefully he’ll sleep tonight.”
“Well, if he doesn’t, there are four of us to walk the floor with him,” she said with a chuckle.
“Nah, just three. You need your rest,” Brin said.
Her sweet caretaker was the first one up when Cade cried at night. She knew she was lucky to have such helpful mates.
“I bet he’ll wake up when we get into the party,” Ian said, holding him close with one hand and taking Angel’s hand with the other.
They’d come for her mom’s fiftieth birthday party. Fred had wanted to throw the party for her, and Whisper and Heaven had happily handled all the preparations, since Angel lived too far away to do it. She was excited to see her friends, including Bliss, who had driven up with her mates for the party.
Her step-dad opened the front door and said, “It was really nice yesterday, and then overnight we got a half foot of snow. I think you brought it down with you.”
She smiled. It snowed in New Jersey, but not as much as in Northern Pennsylvania. She was used to the wintery weather, but she preferred to be cuddled up in front of the fire with her mates when it was cold and snowy out.
Kissing Fred on the cheek, she asked, “Is Mom back yet?”
“Miracle just texted to make sure you were here, and I said you’d just pulled up, so she’s heading back now. Should be twenty minutes or so.”
“Cool, just in time,” she said.
Fred shook her mates’ hands and whispered hello to the still-sleeping Cade.
“I hear my bestie!” Whisper called from inside the house.
Angel hurried into the house and found Whisper, Bliss, and Heaven in the family room with their mates and their children. Whisper’s son Jasper and Bliss’s son Beck were playing with toy trucks on the floor. Heaven’s newborn daughter, Destiny, was asleep in Kayne’s arms.
Whisper and Bliss hurried to Angel and enveloped her in a three-way hug that brought tears to all of their eyes. “I’m so happy to see you guys,” Angel said. “I missed you.”
Both Whisper and Bliss answered that they missed Angel, the three talking over each other in a rush.
Then Whisper said, “Let me see my nephew.”
Angel and her friends had already promised each other that they’d be aunts to their kids. Even though each of them lived in a separate state now, the love between the trio was strong and Angel knew they’d be close for the rest of their lives. She hadn’t grown up with siblings, but Whisper and Bliss were as close to true sisters as possible.
Cade woke up when Ian handed him over to Whisper, and he blinked his big blue eyes at her, which made Whisper and Bliss sigh.
“What a heartbreaker he’s going to be,” Whisper said. “Such a handsome fellow.”
“His eyes are gorgeous,” Bliss said. “Hand him over, bestie.” Her son switched places, and Bliss sighed happily. “What a cutie.”
Angel pulled out the toys she’d brought as gifts for Jasper and Beck, and then she sat with Heaven for a few minutes and got to meet little Destiny. Angel gave Heaven a soft-bodied stuffed doll and took Destiny into her arms, smiling at the pretty little girl and her head of soft blonde hair.
“She’s beautiful,” Angel said.
“We were all surprised to have a girl,” Heaven said, “Since the guys and I are predator shifters.”
“She’s never dating,” Kross said.
“Never ever,” Kayne said.
Heaven rolled her eyes with a smile. “They’re already being protective dads, it’s adorable.”
Kross grunted. “Just wait until she’s older and stunning like her mom. Then you’ll be glad we’re overprotective.”
Heaven’s cheeks pinked in blush. “She better watch out for charming wolves.”
“And hyenas,” Bliss said. “They’re just as devious as wolves when it comes to finding mates.”
“It’s not devious when truemates are involved,” Quill said. “Right, sweetheart?”
Angel smiled and said, “Absolutely.”
“Your mom’s almost here,” Fred said, coming into the room. Angel handed Destiny to her mom and joined Fred at the archway that led from the foyer to the family room. He was holding the cake that Whisper and Bliss had picked out: a huge sheet cake covered with white frosting and purple and pink flowers.
The front door opened and her mom stopped in her tracks. “Angel? What are you doing here?”
“Happy birthday, Mom,” Angel said. “You didn’t think I’d miss your big day, did you?”
She met Angel and hugged her, and then gasped as the others in the room clapped and cheered, wishing her happy birthday.
Angel smiled as she watched her mom hug her friends and laugh as she wiped tears from her cheeks. “To be fair, we’re not celebrating my fiftieth,” she said. “It’s the twenty-fifth anniversary of my twenty-fifth birthday.”
“You got it, Mom,” Angel said with a laugh.
“Give me my grandson,” she said. “I need some birthday kisses from my sweetie.”
Cade was given to her, and Angel moved to sit with her mates on the couch, tucked between Ian and Brin, with Quill resting his arm on the back of the couch and rubbing her shoulder. She loved how they always had their hands on her in some way, as if the thought of not touching her, even innocently, was too much bear. She felt the same. She only really felt complete when they were all together: her, her mates, and their son.
“I love our family,” she said quietly, knowing they would be able to hear her with their sensitive hearing.
“We do too, love,” Brin said, kissing her temple. “It’s perfect.”
“Well,” she said with a wink, “Cade needs two brothers, and a sister to watch over, too.”
Ian squeezed her hand and gazed at her, his eyes flashing to the amber of his beast for a brief moment. “Love you.”
Her eyes stung with tears, and whether it was new-mom hormones or just the sweet emotions that surged whenever she found herself surrounded by her mates, she smiled. “I love you, too. All three of you. From the very depths of my heart.”
Her mates took turns telling her quietly how much they loved her, and when her mom put Cade in her arms, she felt entirely content. Loved, cherished, and important to the four males in her life who held her heart.
She’d gone to Pennsylvania for a fresh start and to help out a new friend, and she ended up finding her heart in the most unlikely of places. Her mates were everything to her, and she couldn’t wait to see what the future would bring.
The End
*Keep Reading for Brierley’s story – The Owl’s Minotaur*