Tilly

Epilogue - Jackson

Two Years Later

“Tilly,everyonewillbe here soon,” I shouted. But I knew she was on her way before I heard her footsteps and before I saw her. My blood pumped hard around my veins. Over two years later and she still did that to me.

Hearing two sets of footsteps and I turned to see her holding Aiden’s hand.

“Daddy,” Aiden screamed, running to me as Tilly checked on Sasha. I slid my hands around his waist, picked him up, and twirled him around the room.

“Don’t make him puke,” Tilly said, walking to me.

“It’s fun, Mum,” Aiden said, giggling away with his grey eyes sparkling with silver.

“I’m ready,” she said, sliding her arms around my waist, smiling from me to Aiden, who readjusted on my hip.

Luca strolled behind Tilly, putting his hands over her belly and kissing her cheek. Convinced she was carrying his child. “Do you know what time the caterers are turning up for the party?”

“They’ll be here at eleven, and Jackson is taking me to collect the cake,” Tilly replied.

“They should’ve delivered. You shouldn’t be doing too much,” Luca replied. We were all protective of Tilly, but Luca’s protective instincts had picked up a notch. It was possible his alpha instincts thought there was a baby inside her and it was his. Not that we were concerned with who got her pregnant and we let nature take its course and nature had been very good to us.

Tilly got pregnant with Aiden on her first heat, and she was pregnant with my baby girl Sasha on the first heat after having Aiden. Sasha was sleeping peacefully in her crib.

Tilly turned and pecked Luca quickly on the lips and pulled away from him. He growled, but the three of us knew our omega was like no other. She was still as cheeky and mischievous as the day I met her. Claiming her hadn’t changed her. She was still feisty when she wanted to be, but we loved she was strong-willed.

“I’m looking forward to seeing everyone today,” she said. “I’m excited to cuddle Jasper.”

Tilly’s cousin, Blair, had only given birth to Jasper two months ago. Seven years it took for her to have her first child, while she got an education and worked for a couple of years. Now her pack was desperate for more. Luckily for them, so was Blair.

We now lived in a large modern house Cruz designed. The floor plan suited our family, but the ten bedrooms and eight bathrooms were overkill on his part. But we were planning on having an enormous family, though our pack now slept together in a bespoke bed that accommodated not only the amount of people but also the weight of three alphas.

The weather was warm, and a clear day was forecast, which was great because the party was outdoors and included a small petting zoo, full of baby animals, and currently setting up in the garden. The party was nearly ready and soon we’d have a house filled with Tilly’s family and ours.

“Let’s get the cake,” I said, pulling her to me and kissing her hard. “Before I drag you off to bed.”

My hand coasted down her body to her ass and I gave it a firm squeeze, pulling her closer again and kissing her. Luca pressed behind her and kissed his claiming mark on the back of her neck.

Tilly clucked her tongue and stepped out from between us. “We have a party to organise.”

“There’s always time for a little loving,” Luca said with a mischievous grin.

“Later,” Tilly said, waggling her eyebrows. “I want everything sorted before my mum turns up. We’re discussing the new lines.”

Tilly forgave her mother. It took some time, but she knew her mother had her best interests at heart.

She perfected her mother’s suppressant creation and, with the help of Cruz, set up a manufacturing and distribution company. There was no profit for quite some time as they worked on more products for the company, but now our little omega was the CEO of this new venture.

What made me really proud of Tilly was her need to give back to disadvantaged omegas. Her friend Isla didn’t have her opportunity, and she wanted to make it so every omega could decide on their future with the aid of her product. Tilly knew we’d blessed her with our pack as we were for finding her, but there were too many omegas fighting for their freedom.

The product gave them that.

We all spun to the sound of the front door opening. “I’ve got the cake,” Cruz said, grinning. “The guests will be here by the time you get out of the house.”

I glanced at my watch, and I was glad of it. My eyes kept straying back to Luca and Tilly. I didn’t know if he could wait hours for her. “You need to chill, Luca. We’ll have a house full of guests soon.”

Tilly grinned at him.

“It’s looking incredible out there,” Cruz said as he placed the cake on a table. He checked on Sasha and then strode to Aiden, ruffled his hair and kissed his cheek, then to Tilly, and pulled her away from Luca, and kissed her hard. “You did a great job.”

I nodded, looking around. She wanted to take care of all the arrangements herself; from the flowers, music, cake, and outside catering. And it was less than an hour before the party would start, which gave our family enough time to sit down together.

The door opened again and each one of us spun to the sound of footsteps coming down the hallway.

“Saint, you’re back,” I said. He had spent three months in the US, trying to find Georgie by stimulating his bond with her.

I nodded his head slowly. “I think it’s time for me to give up.”

“No, she’s alive. I know she is, I feel it, Saint. Please don’t give up on her,” Tilly pleaded.

“I don’t know where to look,” Saint replied. His face was pale, his eyes lost their sparkle. And seeing his shoulders slumped, I knew he was feeling dejected. He touched his heart. “My bond is intact, but I no longer trust it.”

The thought was Tilly’s sister, Georgie, was in America, possibly New York, but Saint had tried and failed to find her. We didn’t really know if she was dead or alive.

“No, Saint. She is alive. She’s my sister and I know she isn’t dead. I never believed she was dead, but I wondered if I was wrong for a long time. Please keep looking.”

Tilly wouldn’t believe she was dead, then neither would Saint for many years—until lately. He looked exhausted and unhappy.

“Sorry, I don’t want to spoil your day. We’ll talk about it another time,” Saint said, standing up.

“Stay here for the party.” Cruz stared at his brother and then at Tilly. “Don’t give up. I’ll go with you next time,” he said, squeezing his brother’s shoulder. “If Tilly is okay, we’ll spend a few months there.”

Tilly nodded, tears laced her eyes. “She’s too scared to come home.”

She never once believed her sister could be dead. But we knew it was a possibility when the gang came after Tilly, too.

Her eyes met mine, and I could see the pain in her gaze. She smiled, and I waited for her to come to me. Her bond with her alphas was strong, but she always sought me out for extra comfort.

She held my gaze as she walked to me. The moment was perfect, and I nearly welled up at that. I wrapped my arm around her shoulder, dragging her closer to me.

“Let’s talk in the office,” Cruz said to Saint.

We watched as the two men left the room and Tilly composed herself a few minutes later and smiled, wiping a stray tear from her eye, and glanced at Aiden. “Do you want to see the goats?”

I placed Aiden on the floor. He took Tilly’s hand as they walked away.

Sasha stirred in her crib, and I rushed to take her out before Luca beat me to it. The three of us loved our kids, and when Aiden came along, we would sit and stare at him for hours, and I don’t think Cruz stopped crying for months after he was born. I could hardly say anything. I was the same with Sasha.

The rest of the day was incredible. Aiden’s birthday party went without a hitch. The children had fun, and the family laughed and danced to a live band in the garden. We ate delicious food and apart from Georgie not being there, our families came together and we had a good time with all the people that meant the most to us.