It was a midnight picnic with the whole Woolven Pack.
A great, long table had been conjured out on the south lawn overlooking the small town that sat in the protective shadow of Aphelion.
Westwood was busy fussing over various dragonlings, fairies, goblins, and Noah, while her new husband, the goblin-king Enoch looked on with a self-satisfied smile.
Gin, the sugar fairy sat much closer to the giant terror of a bone fairy and he showed her a new skull he’d affixed to his belt. This one had tried to kidnap a broom full of sugar fairies for his own nefarious purposes and Kasadya had stopped him. And cheerfully plucked his head from his body to bring to Gin. Gin, for her part, gave him another cupcake he couldn’t eat. She thought it was a trade, but his black, fathomless eyes shone with something Mari would’ve called devotion. The little sugar fairy would realize it soon enough.
Drew and Emmie laughed together, his hand on her waist and their attention mostly for each other. After all the darkness and horror, it was good to see. They were talking about going back to Greece where they’d met.
Parker and Belle were elbowing each other under the table and Parker couldn’t stop smirking. Until Belle licked her finger and shoved it in his ear. “Gotcha, fucker.” Parker was rather displeased by this turn of events, but he wouldn’t be outdone. He didn’t hesitate to pounce of her and shove her to the ground, tickling her mercilessly.
Noah and the other children decided this was a must-do activity and joined in.
Belle showed her vampire teeth, but that didn’t stop anyone.
Tirigan, her terrifying vampire-god father looked on. “You okay down there?”
“Help,” she cried.
“I think you’re fine. You’ve got this,” the scary bastard elbowed his current squeeze, Randi’s father, David.
“I don’t know. She’s turning kind of red,” David said. “When Randi turns that color, someone is pretty close to death.”
Tirigan shrugged. “Eh, Parker likes to live dangerously, don’t you, boy?”
Parker growled playfully, but when Belle nipped his finger, all the playfulness left him and something else altogether came over him.
“Gross, not at the table, Uncle Parker,” Noah said.
“Then we should leave the table, eh?” Parker waggled his brows.
“I ought to smack your nose with a newspaper, Parker Woolven,” Westwood interrupted. “There’s cake.”
“Cake?” Parker’s attention was back on the table.
Belle just rolled her eyes.
Blake sat at the head of the table with Randi by his side. “It’s so good to have all of my family here to celebrate our peace. As long as it lasts.”
“I’m here to make sure that it lasts a long time,” Alpha DeVaughn said, approaching the table.
“So glad you could come,” Blake said and embraced him.
Mari was frozen in place. She hadn’t expected to see her father. She’d missed him, she’d wanted his counsel, but she hadn’t known quite what to say.
Alpha DeVaughn turned to Mari and he didn’t say anything. Instead, he held his arms open and Mari flew into them, hugging him tight.
He wasn’t an overly affectionate creature, her father. So his public display meant so much to her.
She missed the comfort of him. The way he smelled. The way she felt like the whole world had to obey his commands when he held her tight.
“You channel her well,” he said quietly. “Did you get to see your mother?”
“No. I saw Tala.”
“Aww. Tala. A terrifying wolf if there ever was one. I had to run her gauntlet to win your mother’s hand even though we were mates. She wouldn’t tolerate anything less. I wish you could’ve known her.”
“She spoke… gently of you.”
“Did she?” He laughed. “I’m surprised.”
Oceans of things passed between them in that moment. Regret, sorrow, and loss, but on the heels of those things came joy, hope and love.
“If you have time soon, I’ll tell you about all of it. If you still want to hear it.”
“I do.” Mari nodded and hugged him again. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
Alpha DeVaughn held out his hand to Warner and Warner shook it with a very serious expression on his face.
“I knew you were the one for her.”
“Then why did you betroth her to Parker?” Warner blurted.
“Eh, I had a dream. These things in our family have a way of working out, you know.”
“I can see that.” Warner shared a look with Mari.
“In the future, if anyone cares about my opinion,” Blake coughed, “I’d like to be kept in the loop. When things happen.”
Randi waved him off. “Yeah, yeah.” Then her eyes went wide.
Mari was sad Lenore wasn’t with them, but she knew she’d see her soon. She was on the first vacation she’d ever taken.
With Luchtaine.
They’d gone to Antarctica. Mari couldn’t wait for pictures.
“What, what is it?”
“The baby is coming.”
“What?” Blake asked. “Right now?”
“No, in two weeks. You said you wanted to be informed. I’m informing you. Baby is coming.”
Westwood clapped her hands together and let out an evil wicked witch cackle. “Oh, perfect.” She got up and ushered Randi toward the house, with Blake, the Woolven Alpha, big, important wolf that he was, trailing alone behind them managing not to look like he was about to lose his shit.
Warner looked at her. “He’s totally freaking out.”
“Can we do anything to help, do you think?”
“Nah. She’ll do all the work. Westwood will ease her pain, and there’ll be a new Woolven at the table soon.”
“Maybe more than one,” Mari said with a grin.
Warner looked like he’d been punched. “What?”
“Why not? It could happen.”
He exhaled heavily. “It could, but should it? I mean… what we are.”
“Our pups would be amazing. But I want to practice making them some more, just to make sure we get it right.”
Mari got up from the table. “Wanna play Stealing the Heiress again?”
Warner pushed back from the table and got up to follow her. “That’s your favorite game, isn’t it?”
“It’s kinda hot when you rip the roof off the limo with your bare paws.” Mari licked her lips.
“You’re not going to make it to the limo, pretty one.”
“Wanna bet?” Mari’s eyes flashed red and she ran, thinking the whole way this was better than anything she could’ve imagined.
This was her fairytale.
The End.