Here it is, on popular demand, the happily ever after :P
15 years later:
"Dad didn't want to go to Theo's recital because he dug out a white hair from his head and then he was like I'm too old to go to my son's kindergarten dance. The other parents will laugh at me." Hazel snorted leaning comfortably against her mother's shoulder as she swiped through her phone.
"Oh poor Theo" Anna cooed looking at the picture of the little five year old boy dressed as a star, his dimpled cheeks emphasizing the happiness that he felt, caramel eyes shining as bright as his costume "I'm glad Alex ended up going though"
"Of course he did" Hazel rolled her eyes recalling her father's antics "Harriet did the emotional drama that she's so good at and he had to give in with a hundred apologies"
Anna laughed at that "I totally love how she guilt trips him into doing things" she looked at the new Halloween picture of Theo that Hazel showed her "This one's totally growing up to be a lady killer"
"Eww mom he's five" Hazel groaned "I don't want to imagine my brother as anything but the little devil he's now"
"Fine" Anna surrendered "How's the France trip coming around?"
"Good" Hazel nodded "I'm not going to pack much"
"But baby it's going to be cold there" Anna frowned.
"I'll shop there mom" Hazel rolled her eyes "And I'll also not be travelling with Dad. I'll take off from the uni campus the day before Christmas"
"Why?" Anna asked, sterner this time.
"Because I'm nineteen?" Hazel offered.
"You are going on a family vacation Haze, you travel with your family. And you are still a child, I wouldn't allow you to travel alone"
"I hate travelling with children. Theo's a riot and he gives me headache. Harriet is too subdued to keep the devil in check"
"That's not a nice thing to say about your brother, Haze" Anna reprimanded.
Hazel simply stuck out her tongue "You say that because you have two little witches sleeping upstairs" she teased her mom.
Anna chuckled "Will you stop calling your siblings names?"
"It's true though. Do you have any idea how hard it is for me to explain my family tree to my friends?" Hazel sat up and dramatically raised her hands "Oh hey guys, meet my family" she mimicked "This is my dad, Alexander, my step-mom, Harriet and my half-brother Theodore. I'm introducing them first because they are the only family I've got who wouldn't freak you out because the good news is that they are humans. Yayyy" she clapped. Anna chuckled and sat back to observed her daughter who was growing up to be more and more like her father "Now that you think I'm normal, let's take you to the other branch of my tree. This is my mom, Reanna, she's one-eighth a vampire but the rest of her is human, so don't be scared......yet. Yeah, I know she looks like my sister, so does my grand ma, so stop saying that. The women in my family are sensitive when it comes to the topic of our age" Anna laughed out loud "Now this giant next to her may look like he will rip your heart right out of your ribcage but don't you worry he's nothing but a giant puppy who barks more than he bites"
"Don't let him hear that" Anna supplied.
Hazel waved her concern away "Oh he's Daniel Wood by the way, my step father and the Alpha of Bluewood. What's that you ask? Werewolves babes, wolves, those hot sex-on-the-leg creatures whom you can only admire from afar because all of them have an 'off-market' stamp plastered on their forehead. Yeah those things. Now where we? Yeah so don't fear him. As long as you stay away from his wife, you are good to go. Next, this fifteen year old devil here is my step-brother Matthew. His mother dropped him on his head a little too often when he was a child so he's a nut-case. Don't mind him, he's usually harmless. Although a word of caution will be to never mention how his parents never had sex because hey I hope you love your tonsils. The last dude who mentioned it is still attending the speech therapist"
"That's enough Haze" Anna hissed.
"Come on, we are just getting to the best part" hazel grinned "Even though my extended family is filled with wolves, vampires and humans, the last two people of my immediate family tree will have to be mentioned. They are the latest addition to our family since mom and Dan adopted them four months ago. Lily and Rose are my sisters. Yeah, I know right, finally women. That's why I didn't complain as much as Matt did when they brought them home out of nowhere one day. Those little witches are sleeping upstairs right now. They are almost one by the way and when I say witches, I mean witches, people who have magic in their blood"
"You don't know that" Anna sighed.
"Of course they do. Their birth mother was a witch" Hazel argued.
"But their birth father was a wolf, Haze" Anna said softly "We don't know which side they will lean towards or if they will have half of both"
Hazel immediately leaned into her mom, all her playfulness gone "I was just being silly mom, are you worried about them?"
Her mother nodded "They are so little and so beautiful like the flowers they are named after but I don't know what the future holds for them. I'm scared. I don't want anything bad to happen to them. They are mine now. It doesn't matter that I didn't give birth to them"
"Nothing bad will happen, mom. You and Dan are more than capable of taking care of them" Hazel assured
"I hope so. The council is being very supportive but they are also keeping a close eye on them"
"The council can go die somewhere" Hazel gritted out.
"Don't say that, your favourite Alpha Liam is also a part of the council"
"Well everyone except Alpha Liam can go die. They are old enough to be six feet under the ground anyways" Hazel loves alpha Liam. Although he could be overbearing with his affection sometimes but that was only because Hazel was the only girl child in the family until Rose and Lily came by.
"They were right though" Anna muttered quietly as she heard the front door open "Their mother didn't make it out of the labor room and her mate died from the loss. The council warned them against having children. I just hope that's where the misfortune ends. I don't want it to affect my daughters"
Two giant hands wrapped themselves around Anna and she leaned into the touch "Nothing will happen to our daughters" A deep voice whispered against her nape "I'll not let any harm come to them, love"
Anna smiled "You are early" It was only two in the afternoon and the Alpha usually worked till sunset.
He planted a kiss on the junction where her neck met her shoulder, the exact same spot he marked her this morning before letting her go "Yeah" he nodded and kissed Hazel on the top of her head who grinned back happily. He then moved to sit next to his mate pulling her against him "You'll see"
"What happened?" Anna laced her fingers with her mate's and started rubbing them soothingly.
"Matt ran away" he sighed.
"Again?" Hazel perked up at the news.
Dan simply nodded, too tired and too angry to respond verbally.
"You shouldn't stress over that. He's probably off to watching Kiara" Anna assured "I told you to hire a body guard who can keep an eye on him"
"I thought as long as I assured him that she was okay, he wouldn't feel the need to sneak out to spy on her" Dan sighed.
"He's your son Dan" Anna pointed out "You should know that when it comes to his mate he wouldn't listen to anyone"
"I was never this reckless" Dan defended himself.
Anna snorted but didn't feel the need to stress her mate more with the reminder of how similar he was to his son "I think they are almost here" she said taking a sniff of Matt's scent along with Ethan "Be patient with him please" she kissed him lightly trying to dissuade his anger a little "Put yourself in his place and you will understand why he's doing this"
Dan closed his eyes at the advice of his wife and prepared himself to face his son.
Kiara Davis was a human and also Matthew's mate. That's not the surprise though. After two generations of suffering, the goddess had finally decided to bless the Wood family with an early mate for the next Alpha of Bluewood. His mother's good luck probably worked in his favor.
When the nine-year-old Matthew saw sixteen-year-old Kiara at his uncle Henry's wedding anniversary, he was stumped. His eyes had followed her throughout the party like a hawk. It wasn't the first time he met her though. He met a couple of times before that too. She was after all uncle Jasper's niece even though she and her family were unaware of the wolves and thought of them as humans. The pull was however new and it happened after she turned sixteen.
His family was quick to catch on his little crush and this time they made no mistake. There was a huge family meeting consisting of four generation of Alphas. Important conclusions were drawn and decisions made.
Daniel Wood did everything in his power over the years to keep the male population away from the clueless girl until Matthew's wolf showed its presence a year ago and confirmed their suspicion that she was indeed his mate. The entire family sighed in relief and a celebration was held much to uncle Jasper's annoyance.
The current situation was however causing a headache to Dan. Now at fifteen his son was busy spying on his still clueless twenty-two year old mate as she attended college. In the past two months alone, Matthew has skipped school seven times.
The front door to their house opened again this time to reveal a tired looking Ethan holding an angry and dejected Matt in his place afraid he will run away again if his hold loosens.
"Don't tell mom" were Matt's first words as he stared at his mud-ridden football shoes in concentration. He was too afraid to look at his father.
Dan stood up to walk towards his son, Anna followed close hoping to calm her mate down if things go downhill.
"You skipped school to go to the city three hours away Matthew Wood" Dan gritted out "And you want me to lie to your mother about it when it's not the first time you are in this position"
"I had to see her" Matt grumbled "It's full moon today"
"Oh! My poor baby" Anna moved towards Matt and wrapped her arms around him, not caring about his sweat and mud smeared football jersey.
"Stop pampering him, Anna" Dan pulled her away sternly before Matt could blackmail her further with his act of innocence "Don't think I don't know where he gets all the extra money to spend on his stupidity"
Matthew glared at his father at the loss of his support system.
"But he had to see her Dan" she tried again.
"Does the full moon come seven times in two months?" The Alpha roared.
"She's mine" the other Alpha in the room argued back "I can see her as many times as I want"
"Why don't you just invite her over" Hazel supplied lazily from the couch.
It earned her a dark glare from Matt "Why don't you keep your opinion to yourself, human" he sneered.
He grinned when Hazel's face fell. He knew how to ruffle her feathers. She hated how not-supernatural she was.
"Matt" his father seethed "Is that how you talk to your sister? Apologise. Now"
"I'm sorry" he said in the most unapologetic way.
"No you are not" Hazel narrowed her eyes "But it's okay. This human will have a gala time with your mate who.....wait for it...." She grinned widely "is a human too"
"well at least she's pretty" Matt bit back.
"She also pulled your chubby cheeks every time she visited" she cooed "Awww such a cute baby" she mimicked.
"I haven't let her see me in five years" Matt's face went red as he muttered the words in embarrassment.
"Stop it Hazel" Anna glared at her daughter "Matt is that why you run away whenever she visits?"
Matt almost pouted at that "I don't want her to see me like this"
"But you are the most handsome boy I've ever seen love" Anna ignored her mate this time to wrap her arms around Matt who instantly leaned into her.
"After me of course" the Alpha added. His wife silenced him with a glare.
"So do I call his mother or what?" Ethan finally spoke. He was tired of the family drama.
"Yes" Dan replied firmly "Tell her to join us here after work"
Ethan nodded and patted his nephew's head encouragingly before walking out.
"But mom will kill me" Matt stomped his feet angrily.
"You do need a good beating" His father agreed "I'll discuss your punishment with your mother"
"That's enough" Anna sighed "Matt, why don't you go upstairs and take a shower. You must be hungry. Let's feed you before your mom comes to take you back"
The future Alpha nodded immediately. He would do anything to get away from his father right now.
Once Matt was out of sight, Anna turned to Hazel "Go check on your sisters"
Hazel rolled her eyes "Tell me to get out so you could romance your husband. I'm off to the lake" she said before walking towards the front door and disappearing.
"I really wanted her to check on the girls though" Anna muttered.
Dan chuckled "Let's go check on them quickly before Matt comes back" he wrapped his arms around his wife and pulled her into a kiss "I missed you"
"I missed you too" she agreed leaning against him, her ear pressed to his chest, listening to his heartbeats "Do you need to go back?"
He nodded "Once I sort Matt's punishment out. I've left a meeting with the enforcers halfway"
She sighed "Can't you go easy on him? She's her mate. He worries for her"
Dan shook his head as they walked towards the twin's nursery "He needs to grow up. Skipping school and breaking the rules wouldn't do. I already promised him that I'll keep her safe for him. He needs to trust his alpha"
"I know but...."
"Don't pity him Anna" Dan cut her off "he's one of the luckiest wolves born. No matter what he says, he has got it easy. These insecurities he feels will be gone in a couple of years. So don't let him manipulate you and stop pampering him. He knows you are emotional and so he takes advantage of you"
"Just like his father" she whispered before softly pushing open the door to where their little angels slept without a worry of the world outside.
A soft smile tugged at the corner of the Alpha's lips as they walked towards the two sleeping bundles of joy.
"Hey babies" Anna cooed peering into the cot as her mate once again wrapped her in his armed. He leaned down and rested his chin on her shoulder to peer at the babies.
"Were they this tall yesterday?" Dan noted.
"Yes they were, silly" Anna chuckled.
"I just don't want to miss any change on them" he said softy as Rose stirred in her sleep, her little lips pouted in discomfort.
"We will take it one day at a time" Anna said patting Rose back to sleep "Lets prepare for the worst and hope for the best"
Dan nodded "I've started putting money into the council. The next batch of oldies will be replaced well"
"Your father wouldn't approve of it" Anna reminded him.
"Well it's not the life of his daughters in line" Dan defended himself "As long as he doesn't know, no harm done"
"You are not a righteous person Mr. Wood" she chided lightly.
"Thank you" He ran his nose along the length of her neck "I've never claimed to be righteous Mrs. Wood"
"Sometimes it scares me" Anna whispered.
"As long as you are mine" he inhaled her scent "You have nothing to fear"
"What about when I wasn't yours?" Anna almost didn't want to utter the words.
A long silence followed.
"I did whatever I could to make you mine, didn't I?" he finally said.
He looked down at her the same time she raised her head to look at him, his gaze challenging her to question him.
She looked away first as Lily began to stir. She patted Lily the same way she did Rose until she was comfortable. She then stood up to face her husband.
She wrapped her arms around him and looked at him "Is that what you told Alex the day after you marked me?"
It was the first time she was bringing up the topic again after almost two decades.
"I remember telling you that you should have been there if you wanted to know" he replied wrapping his arms around the small of her waist "I told him what I had to. Do you really want to know?"
"I don't think I want to" she shook her head "I'm scared that I already know what your answer will be. I'm afraid I'll still love you as much and that will make me miserable"
"I'm sorry" He brought her closer to take her scent in "For being such a selfish bastard"
"You are" She nodded "So am I"
"The only difference is that I like what you are" He smirked "I like the you that likes me like you can't help it"
"I love you because I can't help it" She corrected him earning a grin from the alpha "I could never rein it......my obsession with you"
"And I love you because I can. Because you are the only one. Because you are my everything"
She sighed.
"I'm sorry too you know" she leaned against him "For being the worst mate ever. For making you suffer with me for the past two decade. For making you wait.....for prioritizing you the least" she fumbled.
"Your last choice huh?" he chuckled "I suppose that hurt a little" She looked up at him in distress and he realized she took it more seriously than he did "uh.... you made it up to me, I guess"
"How?"
"By making me your forever choice"
***** THE END *****