Prowled Darkness (Dante's Circle, #7)(29)

He shook his head in reverence before standing up with her in his arms. Jonah handed Penelope over, and Eliana clutched their child close, murmuring sweet words even as she held out a hand for Jonah.

“I can never repay you,” Malik said, his voice cracking once more.

Jonah shook his head. “You are my Leo and I’d like to think, my son. I would do anything for you.”

Malik blinked back tears and met Eliana’s gaze. She nodded, and Malik swallowed hard. “Will you be godfather? Will you be Penelope’s family?”

Jonah smiled. “I would be honored.”

Malik held his family close, knowing that he would be able to rule his Pride and find his own path with them at his side. He’d almost lost them once, he had lost Eliana more than once, and now he would ensure that would never happen again.

He was Leo. He was Eliana’s mate, Penelope’s father.

And he was home.





Epilogue


5 Years Later

Time changed in an instant. One minute, you’re drinking a beer with your friends, talking about the increasingly scary storm outside; the next you’re flying through the air with your body slamming into the nearest wall when lightning strikes. Or rather, when lightning strikes inside the room and hits you and six of your friends dead center.

Eliana looked around Dante’s Circle and knew her life had changed the night the lightning struck, yet she wouldn’t take that back for anything. Her life had changed again when she’d met Malik, and once more when she had her child.

Five years had passed since she’d risen from the ashes, and as she ran her fingers over her skin where the glamour covered that new feather, she knew she’d finally learned to take the changes in her life as they came.

Malik kissed her temple. “Doing okay?”

She smiled. “I’m doing fantastic. Though I still think it’s weird that we’re celebrating Pen’s fifth birthday in a bar.”

Her mate rolled his eyes before giving a shrug. “She wanted to see all her aunts and uncles, and this place is the easiest place for everyone to meet without having to deal with going to new realms.”

It made sense, and since her baby Penelope—who wasn’t a baby any longer—was currently giggling hysterically with Hunter and Becca’s Hazel, she couldn’t really feel weird about being in the bar that had changed it all.

Lily and Shade were slow dancing in a corner while their daughter Kelly was dancing with Samantha—Ambrose, Jamie, and Balin’s daughter. The two were mimicking the slow dance and laughing each time they stepped on each other’s feet. That particular triad was in a deep conversation with Becca and Hunter as they drank and ate.

Hunter’s friends had come with their twins Lavender and Raven, and Leslie and Hawke were currently on the floor with the twins, rolling around like lunatics rather than parents. Honestly, Eliana wouldn’t have it any other way.

Dante, Jace, and Nadie weren’t making out in their corner, but from the way they kept looking at each other, Eliana was pretty sure they were thinking about it. The only thing that probably stopped it was the fact that their twins, bear cub Luke and dragon Kieran, were doing a little dance in front of them. Of course, that dance turned into a rumble, and Jace sat up, trying to give Luke pointers about how to fight against a dragon. Seriously, Eliana never wanted that bear to grow up fully.

Faith and Levi were having an argument about something, though it didn’t look too serious. Their son Colby chased Eli around the room with a squirt gun of all things. Eli’s parents, Amara, Tristan, and Seth were trying to clean up after their little terror of joy, but Eliana didn’t think that would last long.

It was funny to think that at one point, she’d felt alone. Now she had so many people in her life she could barely breathe. This group of mismatched paranormals, royals, and Alphas, predators, and sweet prey were her family, her circle, and her future.

Lightning stuck overhead, and everyone froze. Calmly, each of the seven women looked at one another before breaking out into laughter. No matter how much time passed, lightning would never be the same.

They would never be the same.

Each of them had a new life, a new future, a new path. They would all have their forevers as they would always have each other.

And everything had started here in Dante’s Circle, where nothing was ever as it seemed. Yet their worlds were just as they’d always wanted.

Theirs.



THE END