The Alpha’s Fated Mate (6 page)

EPILOGUE

Seth

“Jessie, Lyall, Austin, Connell! Get your furry little butts over here now,” I yelled as I took in the state of the back wall of the house. Muddy hand and paw prints were everywhere up to waist height as were bright squiggly doodles courtesy of the pack of colored markers Aunt Gabby had gifted the pups. I bit back my smile and crossed my arms over my chest, as I turned to face the four little mud-splattered imps responsible for the artwork. Lyall and Austin were in their shifted forms and were trying to get away with it by hanging their little heads dejectedly and whining pitifully while looking up at me with their watery dark eyes. The other two had my gray eyes and were trying to use them to their advantage as well. My heart swelled with love and amused frustration.

“What did your dad and I tell you about drawing on the walls?” I asked ominously.

“We’re sorry, dad,” Jessie sniffed. He scratched at his arm where the mud had dried. The other three piteously echoed his apology.

I huffed a sigh as Connell stepped on Austin’s tail and Lyall batted Jessie’s leg. The boys were a total handful but not as much as their chief instigator. “And where’s your sister? The one who put you up to this?”

“I’m right here, daddy!” she called gaily, giggling as Wyatt brought her around the corner in his arms. It looked like she’d colored herself in too beneath all the mud. She was blond and black-eyed, and looked exactly like Wyatt, though the four boys were a mix of the both of us. Rune had been the little runt of the litter but she was already showing signs of her father’s alpha qualities as she left a trail of laughter and well-intended disaster in her wake.

Wyatt grinned at me as he set her down to the ground and I knew he was going to be as useless as I was at scolding them. We had to try though or they’d end up running the world with little Rune as the head dictator.

“Okay each of you go get your bucket and sponge.” This wasn’t the first time they’d tried to make a Michelangelo out of the wall. “You know what you’ll be doing for the rest of the afternoon. And as punishment your dad and I won’t be taking you down to the lake tomorrow.”

There was chorus of whining, howling and “nooooos!” but I ignored them and shuffled them off to pick up the supplies they’d need for cleaning duty.

“You know they’re going to get you to change your mind before it’s even dinner time,” Wyatt laughed as he pulled me into his arms, his large hands cradled my swollen stomach. I was due in another three months and this time Seamus said I’d be having six. We all shudder to imagine what eleven of Wyatt’s offspring could get up to. But they were mine as well so they were loved unconditionally regardless of it.

I fell more in love with my mate every single day and there wasn’t a day that went by that he didn’t show me the same was happening to him. Happiness, love and contentment swelled in me as I hugged his arms around me and wriggled my butt against him. I laughed as he growled warningly against my ear and nipped the tip of it.

We watched the troop of five march off around the corner and I’d never felt so lucky. I turned into Wyatt and smiled up into the face of the mate I loved with all my heart, a mate who loved me back equally as much. “Yeah, but before that happens I’m going to wring out some promises from them.”

“You were always good at getting me to capitulate,” Wyatt grinned as he rubbed his nose against mine.

“Only because you love me,” I reminded him.

He smiled and leaned in to kiss me. “Only because I love you.”

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I hope you enjoyed reading this story as much as I did writing it.

C.J. Colton

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C.J. Colton