Alpha’s Hybrid Cinderella
Chapter 80

"Evan! Ken! You're late!"

"Sorry, sorry. We got held up with the business party. But they folded and we're here, we got 'em." Ken winked and threw an arm around Evan's shoulders as they stood in the foyer. "Once the old Alpha man started getting annoyed, they realized they needed to stop trying to schmooze up to him and parted like the Red Sea. And we picked up the presents!"

I sighed as their Delta subordinates came marching in behind them through the open front doors. So cold! Not only were we getting a white Christmas, we were getting blizzarded down. The snowstorm would be on us in full in the next twelve hours according to the forecast. Evan and Ken should have been here two hours ago so they could avoid the icy roads. Who was out there at this time! The warnings had been blaring all day!

"Claudia." Evan kissed me on the forehead and held me close. Really! Damn it. He always did this when I was about to get worked up. "I missed you. Where are the boys?"

Ugh. Too late. My anger melted away, and I snuggled into his arms with a dreamy smile. He had been gone since yesterday morning for business, and finally I had him for Christmas Eve. "The boys went to bed already. They wanted to wake up at midnight and open presents with you."

"An hour left, then." He checked his watch. "Forty five minutes. Cuddle?"

Evan asking for cuddles? Aloud? A year ago, he was still struggling to verbally ask me for hugs. I squeezed him tight, and his contented hum rumbled from his chest into my body. Behind us, Ken rolled his eyes.

"All right, all right, lovebirds. Where should I put up my things?"

My words were muffled in Evan's jacket. "Um... Oh! Leon and Raf are in the kitchen. She accidentally ate all the cookies so they're making a new batch right now."

"What! Didn't you say you guys were making a hundred cookies?"

"All gone."

"Moon Goddess - she's got to get her cravings under control!" Ken slapped his forehead before rushing off, leaving me grinning in Evan's jacket.

"You think that's funny?" Evan squeezed me even tighter. "She's already pregnant with her second kid. She beat us to it. We should catch up. Have you thought about what we talked about...?"

I reached around and playfully slapped his bottom. "We'll get to it! But the boys are only three. They say if you space your kids apart a little, it's easier. We should wait until they're five, maybe." "Five! You really want to wait that long?"

"Well... if I get pregnant now... and if it's closer to an elf's gestational length than a werewolf's again... we might end up having the baby when the boys turn four. Alena was telling me last night about how elves and humans are usually about nine months, not five or six months like werewolves."

Evan groaned. "Gestational? I love when you use big words."

I slapped his bum again, and he grabbed my wrist to hold my hand there. We were going to get in trouble at this rate. Raf would run in any second, gag, and make fun of us about how we acted like newlyweds. As if she and Leon weren't all over each other, even with her pregnancy aches being what they were!

We stayed there for a moment, breathing each other in. My Evan. My beautiful, dangerous, strong Evan. He had been broken once upon a time, but we had our happy ending now. We'd had our happy ending for over three years. And there were so many, many, many more to come.

We didn't have much time before the kids were up at midnight exactly. We spent our last half-hour of peace reuniting with Raf, Leon, Ken, Alena, my two newly-discovered uncles Breda and Solomon. Additionally, we had managed to persuade Lucas Hanson to take a break from his continuous sleuthing so he could join us for Christmas too... by dropping serious reminders that Delilah, Alena's former loyal caretaker, would be here too.

He hadn't popped the question yet - the dating question - but they sat together closely on the couch. Very closely. Every time Delilah laughed at someone's joke, Lucas's face went a little pink.

It was almost time. Last preparations. I tasked Leon with controlling Raf so she didn't eat all the freshly baked cookies again. Ken, I entrusted with bringing Peelle, Osborn, and Laila down since they were always rowdy immediately after waking and Uncle Ken was their favorite who could make them calm down. Lucas and Delilah - well, I let them flirt on the couch. Evan went off to rearrange the presents under the tree one last time. That left Alena and my two uncles to sort out.

"I'm glad you came," I said softly. "I know Christmas isn't your thing. It wasn't mine either until I came to the Scarlet pack. But I wanted to spend it with all my family, and that includes the three of you. And I hope more once we find everyone. Maybe next Christmas, Jonah will feel comfortable joining us too."

Breda and Solomon nodded, while Alena smiled and glanced at them both. "Yes. Your mother would have loved to be here with everyone. One day... we'll be together again. All of us."

Elves. I was only half-elf, and although my appearance took on more elf traits each year, my ears still lacked the tapered tips my full-blooded relatives possessed. It was hard to imagine I was part of their world, not just the Scarlet pack's. But there would come a time when that was no longer a fantasy, just like how I had broken free of my old life and taken hold of a new one, unbelievably.

There was still so much more to come.

"Hey! Did Ken tell you why he didn't bring his ooh-la-la girlfriend even though we invited her?" Raf barged in, draping herself over my back with a laugh. I held her steady with a gasp.

"Raf! Be careful! The baby!"

"Oh, she's fine." She rubbed her swollen belly and patted it. "She's a firecracker. Anyway, Ken! Ken didn't tell you, did he?"

I shrugged and looked around at everyone. Curiously, they all snorted and laughed, or exchanged smug glances. Even my aunt and uncle did so. Wait, what did they all know that I didn't about Ken's girlfriend?

"He's so mad," Raf giggled. "He actually did invite her. He's been trying to put it out of his mind all day but she actually told him she's going to wait until next Christmas. Because she isn't... sure."

I gasped. "Abigail is playing hard to get? And he's falling for it?"

"Oh, Moon Goddess! He was so shocked. He's never been turned down by anyone before. He's head over heels for her now if he wasn't already. She's a genius."

Abigail was a genius for sure. She used to be even more of a player than Ken was before they met, but somehow she had tamed him. Well, maybe he had tamed her too. She had never done that... hard to get routine before. She was usually fast and hard all the time. Could it be? Was Ken finally going to settle down with her? And was Abigail going to do the same? We had only met her a couple of years ago, but we knew her too well to think it would be so easy...

But stranger things had happened. We all giggled at Ken's expense until he came gliding down the stairs with Peelle and Osborn in tow. Laila was in his arms, grinning and waving her little arms. "Here they are! It's 12:01. Go find your presents!"

Peelle and Osborn rushed to the tree, then reconsidered. They turned simultaneously and dashed to Evan and me so they could hug our knees and kiss our faces. "Thank you! Merry Christmas!" Evan and I smiled and hugged them back. Not for long though. They were desperately wriggling free. We let them go with smothering kisses, and they got to work tearing apart their presents. Laila, of course, sauntered right between them, and they made way for her like a princess so she could get her own gifts. Spoiled duchess - she had our boys in the palm of her hand. And we loved it.

Everyone broke out into warm chatter and laughter as the children squealed over their presents, Ken helping them when they couldn't quite decipher their names on the gift. Cookies and milk and chocolate were passed around, heart and love and goodwill. Evan sighed in my ear and kissed my neck.

"This is everything I could ever want," he whispered. "I love you, my Cinderella."

I blushed. Ever since that day, he kept calling me that, and somehow... I liked it. I would never admit it to anyone else, but it was the truth.

"Claudia! Your turn to open presents now!" Raf exclaimed. "Up and at 'em!"

Evan hustled me to the tree where the three small children were squealing in excitement, waiting for me to open their joint present. Moon Goddess. These three tots did everything together. Once Raf's second daughter was born, they would make a squad of fearsome four. And my next child would add to their little jamboree...

I looked around at everyone, love swelling in my heart. My family. My mate. My children.

"Thank you for being here with me, everyone," I said softly. "Merry Christmas."

And all in unison:

"Merry Christmas, Claudia!"