Epilogue
Three Months Later
“Look out below!”
A pile of scrap lumber dropped out of the oak tree and crashed to the ground. It was followed by a cloud of wood shavings, as Xander swept off the porch of the tree house.
“Jesus fuck, Xander!” Flynn growled from the top deck. “Are you trying to kill someone?”
“Killing them with construction materials is a change from killing them with my claws.” He called down to the crew playing frisbee in front of the main house. “Lissa! Cue up the music! The tree house is officially…done!”
Lissa pulled out her phone and tapped the interface for the cabin’s wireless music system. “Celebration” by Kool & the Gang blared through the outdoor speakers.
It was a warm, sunny Thanksgiving morning—the official one-year anniversary of the formation of the Bad Blood Crew. Jasmin was in the outdoor kitchen next to the firepit, checking on the turkeys, which she was cooking on the grill. Brody boogied up behind her, sliding his arms around her waist.
There were no enemies anywhere in sight.
Kira was kicked back in a chair by the firepit, drinking a beer and soaking up the warmth. Lissa, Sloan and Jenny abandoned frisbee and started dancing on the lawn, trying to do synchronized moves and failing epically.
Xander jumped down off the tree house porch into their midst and went straight into a break-dancing move, almost kicking Sloan in the face.
Flynn and Tank followed him down. Flynn landed on the other side of the tree to avoid the dancing debacle, but Tank got pulled in by Lissa. Watching the giant bear shifter trying to shake his booty never failed to amuse Kira.
Flynn jumped down off the half-wall into the firepit, and Kira moved her feet off the cooler so he could grab a beer.
“Not dancing?” She smirked at him.
“Not with those lunatics.” He popped the top off his beer and took a deep swallow, sighing in satisfaction.
“What about with me?” She deliberately eyed him up and down. “You’re not really my type, but I’m willing to make an exception, even though you live in your mom’s basement and you’re not wearing skinny jeans.”
“Sweetheart, you’re lucky I’m wearing any pants at all.”
His jeans were full of rips, and barely covered his ass. She slid her fingers inside the biggest rip and tickled his ass cheek. “I usually feel luckier when you’re not wearing pants.”
“That could be arranged.” He grabbed her other hand and hauled her to her feet, right up against his chest. He smelled of sawdust and hard work, and she planted a kiss on the side of his neck.
Warmth spread through Kira, and she leaned her head on Flynn’s shoulder. She still got blindsided by the rush of love she felt every time she touched him.
There was a rustling sound overhead. Kira glanced up to see Brandon crouched on a branch just above Flynn’s head, in panther form, his little backside wiggling as he prepared to pounce. She bit back a grin and said nothing.
Brandon launched himself at the back of Flynn’s head.
Without even looking, Flynn let go of Kira, swung around and plucked the little panther out of the air. “Nice try,” he said. He added in a movie-villain voice, “But you cannot defeat the alpha, bwah ha ha.” He tucked Brandon under one arm and gave him a panther noogie.
Xander looked across at them. “Try knives next time, Bran,” he said.
Jenny said, “He is not getting knives until he’s at least ten.”
“Come on,” Xander said. “Five.”
“Eight.”
Flynn set Brandon on the ground, and he immediately skittered behind an Adirondack chair and began stalking Brody.
“Hey Sloan!” Kira called. “Where’s Caitlyn?”
Sloan shrugged. “In the shower, I guess. She felt like sleeping in this morning. She was tired.”
At that moment, there was an earsplitting owl screech from the direction of Sloan and Caitlyn’s trailer. Caitlyn flew into view, dipping and whirling, still screeching at the top of her lungs. She was clutching something in her talon—it looked to Kira like a white stick.
Everyone stopped what they were doing. Sloan dashed out into the middle of the lawn, looking up. “Cait? What is it? You okay?”
She dive-bombed him and dropped the stick so it bonked him on the head. Sloan caught it as it bounced off. “What the fuck is—”
He looked at it, and his face went completely stunned.
“What is it?” Lissa asked.
Sloan held up the stick, still looking shocked. “It’s a plus sign.”
“What?” Lissa and Jenny rushed over, grabbing at his arm. “Oh my God,” Lissa said, looking up at the wildly gyrating owl. “You’re pregnant too?”
Caitlyn swooped down and landed, Changing almost before she hit the ground. Sloan swept her up in his arms, spinning her around and around.
Everybody clustered around, hugging and offering congratulations. When they finally calmed down, they all gathered in the fire pit for a toast, Caitlyn wearing Sloan’s shirt, which he’d taken off and put on her.
Xander said to Jenny, “Now that we have a real house, can we have another cub? Pretty please? We have to stay ahead of Sloan and Cait.”
Caitlyn said, “You can never outdo us, Panther Man. We’re having flying snow leopards.”
“You are not. That’s not even a thing.”
“Yes we are. And they’re going to poop beautiful glitter poop, which we will leave on your doorstep.”
“You think so, huh?”
Lissa turned to Jasmin. “When are you and Brody going to have cubs?”
Jasmin just rolled her eyes. “God,” she said.
Brody said, “Hell, Lissa, leave her alone. It was all I could do to convince her to be my mate. I figure it’s going to take me another two or three years to soften her up enough for cubs.”
Flynn, perched on the stone half-wall next to Kira, shook his head, muttering something about Tahiti.
“Quit your bitching, Alpha Lion,” she said. “You love it.”
Flynn scowled at her. “A year ago, Lissa browbeat me into bonding the crew. One mate. She was one little mate. I mean, look how small she is! And somehow, she turned my crew into this.”
Kira kissed his shoulder. “Think of all the animal pancakes you can make. Better start practicing your flying leopards.”
Flynn groaned. “They can’t really have winged leopard babies, can they? Flying around peeing on everybody? Please tell me it’s genetically impossible.”
Kira grinned wickedly at him. “You better hope they didn’t get their hands on any of Gen-X’s genetic manipulation techniques.”
Flynn just shook his head. “I’m keeping the Tahiti idea on the table.”
“We could have lion babies with dragon wings, in retaliation.”
A slow smile spread across Flynn’s face. “Tell me they’ll breathe fire, and I’m in.”
Kira wrapped her arms around his waist and he hooked his elbow around her neck, watching his crew.
“Make the toast, Alpha Lion.”
He whistled sharply to get everyone’s attention, then raised his beer. “Okay, fuckers. Raise your glasses. And bottles. To the one-year anniversary of the Bad Blood Crew, to our bond, and to the cubs to come. Drink!”
As they raised their drinks, blue fire jumped from one to the next, lighting up the circle. The magic of their bond rose high in the air, weaving them together into one crew.
One family.
What’s coming next? DRAGONS! Watch for a brand-new dragon shifter series by Anastasia Wilde, coming in January!
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Want more of these characters?
Silverlake Shifters:
Fugitive Mate
White Wolf Mate
Tiger Mate
Silverlake Enforcers:
The Enforcers: KANE
The Enforcers: ISRAEL
The Enforcers: NOAH
Bad Blood Shifters:
Bad Blood Bear
Bad Blood Wolf
Bad Blood Leopard
Bad Blood Panther
Bad Blood Alpha