“Even though you know I am, Styx … yes, you make me deliriously happy.” She smiled. “You’re a good mate, protective and attendant. We are your world, and you care about us unconditionally. I couldn’t ask for anything more.”
He ran his thumb along the twin puncture wound scars.
“You’re a good father, take care of the boys, and I know you’ll do the same for the newest addition.”
He pulled her closer and just held her. She was his, and nothing would take that away. It had been years since he’d found her in the forest, and things had changed for them so much in that short time. She was his mate, the mother of his children, and the female he was meant to be with. He felt that deep within his body, consuming every part of him.
“Momma.”
The sound of Ryker had Audrey sitting up.
“Come here, baby.”
Because Ryker was up, Kai, his twin, rose as well. Their three-year-old boys were spitting images of Styx, and he hoped their daughter was just like Audrey, sweet and beautiful, and with a head full of bright red hair.
The boys got onto their sleeping pallet, lying between them, and snuggled against their chests. Styx wrapped his arms around his children and mate, and held them close. He leaned down to kiss his female on the crown of her head.
He had a beautiful family, two healthy sons, and a daughter on the way. His mate was healthy, content, and cared for him. That’s all he could ask for.
Styx stared at Audrey as she held their children close. Ryker had his little finger twined around a lock of her hair as he drifted off to sleep. Soon the boys fell asleep, and emotion filled him. It was only with them that he showed this gentler side.
He might be a hardened warrior, had killed countless beasts in order to survive, and would continue to do that every day for the rest of his life, but he knew this was exactly where he was supposed to be.
These three, soon to be four, people were his world, and nothing and no one would ever change that. He drifted off to sleep with his family beside him, his hand on Audrey’s belly, and the world at his feet. This was what it meant to truly survive, to be a male of worth.
He was never letting go.
The End