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R egis stood with Avor , and he wrapped his arm around her and lifted Ira in his other.

She grinned when Ira said, Daddy, you flew with us!

He laughed. Kaido s wings called to us, so we flew.

Kay is a good flyer. Did you have fun, Dad?

He nodded. It was nice to see the city as well. She knew what she was doing.

She giggled. Kay knows everything.

She does. She certainly seems to be happy with your brother-in-law, Regis said softly.

Ira immediately flailed and got to the ground. I have a brother?

Regis laughed as Ira made a beeline for Kay and Vaayu. Did you know him before?

He was a bloodthirsty general who had the emperor s favour. If what I gleaned is correct, Kaido was in the imperial court and assigned to the general for her heat. When the heat was over, she bolted, shifted, and made a portal to come here.

Why did she have to shift?

He chuckled and filled her in on what made female dragons so dangerous. Eggs. Human-sized eggs. From five to a hundred.

Oh, so she...

Gave us reinforcements in the only way she could. Steered generations to this moment.

And we broke the Stronghold.

What did you do with the elves?

Oh, they were depowered. Un-elfed. Turned into normal alphas. I think they are still walking to get to the nearest town.

How?

You have some very talented granddaughters.

That is terrifying.

Wait until you meet them. They are so sweet.

He held her and said, I think another kiss is in order.

She smiled and went up on her toes. Meet me.

Avor leaned down, and Regis sighed as the kiss went on and on. So, I have an excellent babysitter. And I have been learning sound-deadening spells. I am fairly sure that when we do head to bed, we can enjoy the reunion.

Avor sighed. I will be content just to hold you in my arms. Anything else is a bonus.

You have been here for a while.

He chuckled. Enough time to understand how things work, and you and yours were right to toss us back so that we could learn to walk in step with our mates. All of the males who haven t located their match are eager to start the search.

Well, the ladies who are local are coming in. I always thought we would be the draw, but it s Kay.

He chuckled. For many, but for the dragons, it is both of us. I can t believe she did all this. I can t believe she was even born.

Regis sighed. She wasn t. Her dragon pulled her out of my body and flew to the djinn, who were about to leave. They took her to safety, and then they followed her back here when it was time.

How do you know that?

She told Teyval the whole story, and what the archive knows, I know. Of course, I am not pleased that she faked my diary and bound it in her blood to make it toxic to the Stronghold, but to make it an artifact that only the archive s mate could read was a stroke of genius. She loves a good story.

Avor murmured, How did she know all of it?

Oh, honey, she was there.

When did you and Tawney become one?

When I had Ira. She hadn t been a mother; I hadn t been a mother; we learned it together. That was the point we became one. She looked around. Where s Rex and the guys?

I believe they have sought some privacy.

Oh. Oh. Regis chuckled. I guess they are working on the niece or nephew.

They have talked of nothing but your sister since we were together.

She smiled. Good. Rex has been a little frustrated herself.

He looked at the bonded groupings and blinked. What happened there?

Oh, that is Myrtle and her pack. The Elite fooled Toros, and they were draining the bond energy out of him using a bait beta.

They used illusions to confuse him. So he pulled on Denith s energy, and both were draining Myrtle.

She nearly died before Achilles, Dante, and Keres got Teyval and Byron to step in until they could find Toros.

Teyval? Wow.

Yup. He s her primary. They share books together. Regis smiled.

Unexpected. I know about the mages and Iris. They have two boys?

The boys were adopted by her primary, Brexel. They are dark Elite descendants as well. Their parents passed.

Ah. How did everyone get here so fast?

They live less than ten minutes away. Well, most of them. She smiled. When we started building the new palace, the properties nearby were purchased, and manor houses were built, but only the Elite and their partners stayed. Well, there were a few others.

Ira was grilling Vaayu if his surprised expression was anything to go by.

Ford was staring at the djinn and eased over to Regis as the less terrifying option. Reg, can you tell me why me and my siblings suddenly don t look that out of place?

I am guessing that Kay chose to have some pure djinn children. You would be descended from them.

Avor said idly, That makes us your great-grandparents, several times removed.

Regis smiled. Sorry for missing your milestones. I can offer you two weird aunties at this point, and that is your grandfather, by the way. She pointed to Vaayu. She spotted Vemel and beckoned to him. He can make introductions. Vemel is also a djinn omega, and he can introduce you to Vaayu.

She watched as Vemel approached and grinned at Ford. Hello, little cousin.

Ford blinked. You re an omega?

Vemel inclined his head. And I have my own omega and an alpha to watch my back. It seems to run in the family.

Ford blinked. I know your face. You model.

I do. I am very popular in certain markets. Come. Let s meet your great, great infinitum grandfather.

Vemel looked to Avor. I am assuming that that is what you wanted?

Yes, Vemel. Thank you. I am still dazed at the variety of power that I can sense in this space.

Oh, your guys?

No, the females. They are astonishing. The alphas are impressive, but the women are warriors.

A lot of them have had to be. Hunted by the Stronghold, rejected by their families, many of them have found peace and companionship in the book club and just being with those who have developed the same way.

If you want scary, look at Win and Poppy, Keres as well.

Vemel s mate Asel can wield Themak s fire.

Food trucks began pulling up, along with motorcycles and cars, families who were drawn to this moment for the impromptu family gathering.

Regis said softly, I never imagined this. I just hoped that they would be able to get out of the shadows and see each other.

Avor hugged her. I am stunned. Is that chocolate?

Ruby owns a chocolate shop. Apparently, she was motivated to bring some.

Can we?

Of course. This isn t my show; it s ours.

He lifted her, kissed her, then set her down and walked toward the food that was assembling under the watchful eyes of dozens of elves.

The crowd stepped aside as they approached, and Ruby smiled. Regis, I have been wanting to do a collab with your shop. I love your cream puffs.

They hugged face-to-face for the first time. Ira loves Patchwork Pixie. We are hoping the movie won t be too scary. I hear Teyval is the troll prince, and Myrtle ended up being the pixie.

Ruby laughed. Yeah. I was starting to show, and there was no way I was going to spend that much time on set.

Myrtle wrote the screenplay, so it was right that she be in there instead of me.

It gave a lot of the ladies a boost. They were able to work in the public world, and the dark elves got to get their flirt on.

Regis smiled. I can hardly wait to see it.

I think they are starting to run the ads now that all of the special effects are accounted for. Ruby smiled and rubbed her belly. It is a guess as to what is going to make its debut first.

Marshall walked up, and Regis grinned as he cuddled his mate and touched her belly.

Avor sighed. That is a memory I still have.

Regis smiled. Floral crowns every morning. I felt bloated and pretty.

He looked at her wistfully. I remember.

Regis looked over to where Ford and his siblings had gathered to talk to Kay and Vaayu.

Ruby asked, Who is that?

It s the golden dragon and the emperor of the djinn. Myrtle has the story. Teyval has the details. It is a lovely story with many children and a fight for freedom that exposed a family so big no backyard barbeque can hold them all.

Ruby smiled. Can I invite my uncle, my mom, and Dad? Emmy s around here somewhere.

Regis grinned. This place is an open house for now. Anyone can come and go.

Cool. She pulled out her phone and started dialling. She paused and said into the phone, They say you can come. See ya. She smiled and looked at Regis. My dad is a light elf. Just letting you know.

Regis nodded. Win has a light elf in her grouping; of course, he s grey. Something struck her, and she looked around. Where are Win and Alexi?

Ruby looked around, and Avor turned his head. There. Why?

Regis told her, Because Niko s dragon wants Alexi to have a dragon that can have daughters.

Avor murmured, Fucking hell.

They walked quickly to the spot where the dragons were standing and conversing with Alexi in their midst.

Regis walked up and said to Win, Have you made him a dragon yet?

Win blinked and blushed. No. Not yet. Why?

Don t do it. Don t give him a dragon that can have girls.

Avor sighed. A female dragon will bring the djinn and their army here en masse to stamp them out. This gathering that you see here is due to one single dragoness and one single heat. If she had a mate here, this world would have been lost under wings and fangs.

Niko froze. Why are the dragons asking for it?

Avor chuckled. It is ridiculously simple.

Mating flights. There is a heady rush from mating in your actual form, but dragons can never accomplish it.

A mating flight clutch could produce over a hundred eggs at one laying.

If there are female dragons in the clutch, they can start laying in twenty years.

Niko s eyes widened in horror. Even one out of a hundred with their mother still laying.

Avor said, The reason we are born with the dragons as part of us is to temper them. A female in the mix would destroy things.

Rikkart asked, Why didn t the original female keep laying?