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“Look. I brought a ring. Mine. Not my brother’s.” He showed her a dazzling square-cut stone set in a platinum band caked in baguettes, then went down on one knee.

Of course, Gaia thought he was there for her and quickly stood with her little front paw against his shin.

He looked up from the puppy’s hopeful expression. His own was rueful. “I love all of you, Alia. Even the parts that are liable to leave a mess in the house.”

She laughed, but she believed him. His eyes were filled with such unabashed love, she felt suffused with it. As though a mirror inside her soaked up the heat and light of his love and shone her own back to him, then received his redoubled a thousand times. It was so great and expansive, it left her breathless.

“Will you marry me?”

“I would love to marry you.” She held out her naked hand, then had to explain, “I put the other rings in the safe-deposit box.”

“You’ll wear mine,” he said in his lovably arrogant fashion, working the ring onto her finger. He kissed her knuckle. Someone in the distance hooted and there was a smattering of applause as he rose and kissed her.

When her heart was galloping and she was utterly breathless, he lifted his head.

“Home?”

“Home,” she agreed.

EPILOGUE

Three years later…

The anniversary of Herena’s death might have forever been a difficult day for Alia if their daughter had not been born on that exact date the following year.

They hadn’t even been trying, but the planets aligned and magic happened shortly after they reunited. The pregnancy itself was uneventful, but Alia needed a C-section because Caliste refused to turn.

Otherwise, everything went well and here they were, three years later, marking the day with a few somber moments before presents, singing, splashing in the pool and birthday cake.

Now the guests and their overstimulated children had gone home. Only Khristos and Julian remained.

“That girl is false advertising,” Khristos said as he settled in the lounger beside Spiro.

“What are you talking about?” Spiro had Caliste back in her sundress and cuddled on his chest. Her little hand petted his stubbled jaw while her thick, dark lashes blinked heavily. “Aside from Alia, she is, without question, the most perfect creature ever created.”

Her dark brown hair curled just enough to form ringlets that framed her sweet face. When she smiled, her tiny white teeth were punctuated by dimples in both cheeks. There was an ever-present glint of mischief in her eyes.

“Exactly. You think she is an adorable angel with perfect manners, like her mother, then she turns into you. I said it was time to get out of the pool and she said ‘no, thank you’ like she was cursing me and the horse I rode in on.”

It was true. Caliste had a defiant streak that was expressed very politely, but insistently, to the point that, if she didn’t care to brush her teeth or pick up her toys in a specific moment, she might clench her fists and straighten her arms and find a pitch only Gaia could hear while she screamed, “No, thank you, Bampás.”

“So you agree, she is perfect.”

“Is she asleep?” Alia came up behind him with Julian. She skimmed a caress against Spiro’s shoulder, then stroked their daughter’s hair. “I’ll take her up.”

“No, thank you, mama.” Caliste sounded sleepy, grumpy and stubborn all at once.

They shared quiet smirks while Spiro mouthed, “I’ll do it,” and rubbed her back until she was fully asleep.

The tiny click of nails on marble followed him into the house. From the day they had brought Caliste home, Gaia had been taking her responsibility of guarding the youngest member of their pack very seriously. They had finally put a little bed in Caliste’s room for her since she slept against the closed door otherwise.

He settled both of them and came back to the pool to find everyone had gone.

“I’m in here.” Alia peeked from behind the closed curtains of the cabana.

These days, she reacted much less severely to being alone, but she still didn’t like it. Sitting in places like the enclosed cabana was a desensitizing technique she practiced a few times a week, breathing and reminding herself that she was safe.

“Khristos and Julian left?” he asked.

“Yes. I said I could use a nap and they thought that was a great idea. They went home to do the same. By any chance did you, um, ask the nanny to listen for Caliste?”

“I did,” he said with a knowing smile as he ambled closer. “Are you propositioning me in the middle of the day?”

“Maybe.” She peeled her crocheted cover-up off her body and lay back on the mattress. “What would you say if I did?”

He admired her luscious curves in her bikini.

“I’d say I don’t want you to be alone right now.” He pressed his knee into the mattress and joined her.

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