"Get your butt in here right now, young lady!" Lola scolded while running around with a towel chasing her two-year-old daughter who was running down the hallways butt naked.
With her arms swinging in the air and laughing menacingly, the water traced her steps on the carpets, and she headed towards the stairs.
Just before reaching the end of the hallway, she was lifted into the air by two large arms and flown around like an airplane.
"Daddy!"
"My darling Ophelia," he said and lowered her gently.
He tickled her nose and hugged her tight when Lola came to a stop with the towel.
"That little girl is definitely wolf," Lola panted. She halted to a stop and raised a brow when she took in Jax's appearance.
"Daddy indeed," Lola purred when she watched her husband's bare upper body as he stood sweating after his workout with the warriors.
"She could be a Doe," Jax said and looked into his daughters' eyes. "She has your big, beautiful eyes," he remarked.
Lola giggled and cupped Jax's cheek.
"Yes, but she was made with love and lots of it. She's not a Doe," she whispered and placed a peck on his lips.
Their eyes locked in a heated exchange and Lola wrapped the towel around Ophelia and tucked her in against her chest.
Someone made a gaging sound behind their backs and the Alpha couple turned around to see their most cherished friend gawk in disgust.
"None of that flirty-eyes in the communal areas please. Give me my goddaughter," Melissa reached out her hands and grabbed the girl from Lola's arms.
"We're getting dressed and then we're getting ice-cream," Melissa said as she looked into the child's eyes. Ophelia beamed with glee and squealed as she moved in Melissa's arms.
"You two better be done with your little love dance before we return," she said and wiggled her finger between the two of them.
Jax grabbed Lola's hip and pulled her in. Their lips met in a heated kiss and their hands explored the bodies of the people they knew best. After years of hardships and then happy marriage and one child later, they couldn't imagine anything else than what they had.
Jax stopped and leaned his forehead against Lola's.
"This came earlier today," he said and handed her a letter.
It was addressed from Ash Blackwood.
Lola took out the letter and read it cover to cover. She smiled and put it back, gently closing the envelope around it and handing it back to Jax.
"Looks like they're coming home for Christmas," she gleamed.
"I still can't believe he found her in battle." Jax said and shook his head.
A pack of rogues has attacked Ash's pack and when taking to the fight himself to protect his pack he fought a girl that put him under a spell while trying to kill him. Her scent invaded his senses and he couldn't focus on the task at hand. She got in a good dig at his neck and nearly killed him when they both stopped and felt the bond locking in place.
The soul tie took a straggling hold on both, and it was a fight they couldn't win. After three years they were expecting twins- two boys. Two Alphas.
It had taken time and patience and hard work, but they had moved past the lies and deceit that had plagued their family three years ago. Lies that killed more than one good person and held the others in utter mayhem.
Nash was still a part of the pack, although he had been relieved of his title as Beta. He had no control over pack matters nor did have elevated status within the pack; he was simply a member of the Blackwood family as he always would be.
Lola and Jax saw an immediate change in his behavior once that pressure of being the Beta was taken of his shoulders. He was happier, didn't drink a single drop anymore and could focus on being a Warlock without needing to be the strongest or the best.
The town of Wild Cliff was safe, the people were potected by creatures they didn't see or knew existed, but everyone lived in harmony and that was all that mattered.
Lola had taken on an executive roll in the Blackwood Enterprise and ruled alongside Alpha Jax with both business and Pack related matters.
Jax gazed into her eyes and reached out a gentle hand- rubbing it in slow circles over her stomach.
"How do you think Ophelia will accept her role as a big sister?" he asked and looked down at her growing stomach. The love in his eyes spread a warmth through her body and the baby kicked against his hand.
"I think she will kick his ass and protect him fiercely," she said through a smile.
They pressed their lips against each other, devouring each other in passion and lust as the love around them caressed their skin.
Jax grabbed the back of her legs and lifted her up in a cradling position against his chest. They continued kissing and tasting each other as he walked them to their bedroom.
The maids giggled as they watched the door close from around the corner and relished in the fact that the Blackwood mansion was filled with a love that had been long lost.
Mr. Blackwood had stepped down from everything after the death of his wife and decided that it was time he focused on other things that had nothing to do with the Blackwood name. He became a trusted member of the society and dived into church matters as well as acting as a right-hand man to the mayor.
Melissa had sworn off dating for all eternity after her unfortunate love affair with Ed who was hunted down not long after his clan was killed off.
They had all been dispersed that same year, Jax hadn't slept until each and every one of the vampires were nothing but a bad dream in his wife's head.
But Melissa knew that the day a man walked into her life again, it would be epic. As epic as her best friends love with her Alpha husband.
Melissa looked at Ophelia's little face, the ice cream on her button nose and the way that her fingers dug into the cone with no forethought.
"You better believe you're protected, baby girl. They went through hell to build you a paradise. I can't wait to see you live it,"