48

I didn't have enough hands to hold my love in my hands at the same time. I balanced in my arms two little girls who had inherited their mother's cheeky mouth.

Contrary to all my fears, things have been quiet for the last five years. Caspian didn't appear once. What's more, no one who posed a potential threat to us could cross the borders anymore.

While the chaos continued to spread outside the borders, we were spared. I knew who I owed it to. It made me restless for a second every morning. It wasn't until I looked into Tara's face and into her happy eyes that I calmed down.

Ever since I came back with Tara, the traps on the borders had been set in motion. They seemed to be chasing rogues, strange wolves. Unlike the way I'd stepped carelessly into one back then, now they seemed to pick their targets automatically.

What was more confusing was that they avoided anyone who was part of our pack and ignored humans altogether. Whatever he did, Tara was safe and I could see her smile every day.

What's more, she gave me two girls whose eyes she looked at me from even when she wasn't there.

"Come on dad." Ivy looked at me with her mother's big blue eyes. She knew I had a hard time refusing her. She tested it every day and got better and better to my surprise.

However she did it, she might not know what she was doing, but subconsciously it grew more intense every day.

"What am I doing wrong again?" I admitted defeat.

"You're a spoilsport," Ava supported. She was smarter. For a long time she pretended not to be interested in anything, but watched Ivy closely, as did everyone else in the room. In that case me.

Ava never tried to get me around with a smile, she was always dead sober in everything she said. Sometimes she surprised me so much I doubted she was only five.

If she didn't look confusingly like her sister, I would have my doubts on so many days.

"One more time!" Ivy whined and Ava gave me a little slap on the shoulder. When it came to putting her to bed, they always agreed. They were stubborn little stubborn ones. If we resisted, they stayed up all night.

The only trick was to put her in our bed, snuggle up next to her and pretend we were sleeping. We always managed the latter better than planned. There was no doubt that they danced through our bed long after we were sound asleep.

"Sleepover at Uncle Trevor's," my brother yelled, immediately grabbing Ivy from my arms as she squeaked happily.

"Bed rest is still nine," I admonished him.

"Maybe for dad, right Ivy?" She wriggled excitedly in his arm and I already knew how this would end. For a few more hours he chased them around his house and Jade made popcorn looking for the cartoon they hadn't seen with them.

"Dad takes it all way too seriously," Ava commented scoldingly, and Ivy hastily nodded.

"If you fall asleep while eating pizza tomorrow, we'll have to skip the toboggan run," I admonished her.

"It's okay," they replied in unison. I had never asked Trevor what was going on when they were with him. I was thankful that he and Jade had so much fun consuming them more than once a month.

"What is okay?" Tara appeared at my side and eyed the two suspiciously. Not our daughters, but Trevor and Jade.

"They fill them up with soda, pizza and cartoons," I answered for them.

"Well, maybe we should take the condoms away from them." Trevor started coughing and Jade's cheeks turned red.

"You mean you want to fill your kids with this twice a month?" I asked dryly.

"Once a week, they have a lot of catching up to do." Tara grinned, holding out her hand. "Give me the condoms!"

"What's a condom?" Ava asked curiously and now she knocked us out once again.

"Something Aunt Jade and Uncle Trevor forgot at home, let's take a quick look," Trevor replied hastily, shaking his head the next moment Jade slapped him on the back of the head.

"What?" he asked her indignantly. "That wasn't a lie," he cleared his throat, offended.

Being an Alpha's child had many advantages. You learned from an early age to always only say what was fact or what you wanted. With children, that didn't turn out to be quite as beneficial. I had my own experiences and even Tara was scared of herself at times.

However, her family was not domineering like mine. She was protective beyond measure and concerned for everyone. They chose every word with care and never had to worry about the consequences like we did. Even a sleepover at her brother's was harmless, unlike Trevor's.

He gave the children back to us exhausted, pumped full of sugar and new expletives. They came back from Tara's brother relaxed and with handicrafts as well as new books.

"They complement each other," Tara would always reassure me, and I couldn't be more grateful for having such a loving woman by my side.

"Just a few more years, when they hit puberty, you'll both be banned from the house," I growled. It was either that or I stopped selling condoms to them in our area so they could finally empathize with what they were doing.

"Yes, we ban condoms," Tara agreed and Trevor's eyes widened.

"He's afraid of children," Jade shrugged.

"I'm not surprised," I mumbled, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Dad's serious," Ivy giggled and Ava nodded, staring into my eyes to study everything about me.

"Last warning," I cleared my throat. "No chips, no ice cream, and no partying until midnight!" My days were just too long. We were building a new settlement under my direction for all the refugees and I always felt sorry for leaving Tara alone with two overtired five year olds.

"Enjoy it and bring the condoms tomorrow," our twin grinned at her. "This is what they look like and she picked up a little red packet.

"That's not helpful," I growled at her.

"I know where they are," Ava grinned, grabbing the small packet from Tara's hand. "Uncle Safes are silver," she added, and I saw my brother sink into the ground in shame for the first time.

I refrained from commenting and Tara grinned to herself, laughing softly. Ava had not long ago discovered the worms, as she called them, in her bedside table.

"See you tomorrow at the Trevor site, have fun cuties!" I kissed my girls on the forehead goodbye and watched Tara having a hard time letting her go.

"That was too drastic, wasn't it?" Tara asked me when Trevor and Jade left the house with our little ones.

"What do you mean?"

"You know exactly what I mean!" she playfully slapped my shoulder. I looked down at her big belly and unceremoniously picked her up in my arms.

"Grayson," she gasped and I lowered her onto the sofa.

"Let him grow up and know how happy it makes a man when he can look at his mate the way I can see you."

***

the epilogue will be read on the last part. the next following chapters are different, so it's up to you to continue or skip. Thanks!