He chuckled. "Ready to find out?"
She bobbed her head and turned to lean against his side. "As long as you hold me close, I can handle anything tonight."
He longed to carry his mate out of the room and claim her in their bed.
His dragon snorted. I'll be the first one, don't worry, so she'll know what a true claiming feels like.
Not fucking likely, dragon.
Knowing that his dragon would probably fall asleep as soon as he started making the rounds around the room with his female, Jose guided Victoria down the stairs and over to where Luna and the rest of his family stood.
And as he watched his mate smile and laugh with his family, Jose knew he would be the one to claim her, no matter if he had to fight his damn dragon to accomplish it.
Fate had chosen the perfect female for him, and he would never take it for granted. Never.
Epilogue
A Little Over Eight Months Later
Victoria stared down at her newborn son and tried her best not to cry. Not because she was sad, but because she was beyond happy.
She'd survived the birth—thanks to shots of dragon-shifter blood—and now had the child that could've been taken away from her if she hadn't fallen in love with Jose and stayed on PineRock.
Jose nuzzled his cheek against hers. "It's okay, love. I'm here, he's here, and soon we'll have more family in the room than you'll know what to do with."
"I-I know." She sniffed. "I'm happy. Truly. It's just the hormones."
He kissed the side of her mouth as he cupped their son's tiny little head, one with more dark hair than she'd thought possible for a newborn. He replied, "I can tell the others to fuck off and give you as much time as you need, Tori."
"No, no, I'll be fine in a moment." She gazed down at the sleeping form of her son. "Let's just give him his name first. As much as I love your family, that's something for only the three of us."
"Agreed." Jose stroked their son's pudgy cheek. "Hello, Liam Alejandro Santos. We've been waiting a long time to meet you."
She leaned against Jose's cheek. "Liam. It's so surreal. After all these months, he's no longer inside me but actually here."
"Given everything that's gone on, I'm just glad things are settled again by the time Liam arrived."
"Me, too."
Between what had happened with Gaby, Wes, and a few others inside the clan—not to mention her own challenges on trying to keep her online teacher gig—the last eight months had been the farthest thing from dull.
But Victoria rather looked forward to things becoming routine. At least, for a short while.
No one knew what the future held, but she wasn't afraid. Regardless of what happened, she would fight for the best future for her son until her dying day.
Liam squirmed a second before falling back asleep. His actions brought her back to the moment. "You should let the others in, Jose."
"All of them?"
She smiled. "Well, maybe not all as that'd be like thirty people. But our parents, your sister, and Sasha, at least."
Sasha Wolfe, her best friend, and one who'd only recently gotten permission to visit.
Never leaving her side, he took out his cell phone. After typing something out, he put it away. "There. If they didn't bring their phones with them, too bad. I'm not leaving your side."
She sighed half-heartedly. The right thing would be to send him out to get their family and friends, but Victoria didn't want Jose to leave her and Liam just yet.
So for the next minute or so, she stared at her son and tried to memorize the moment so she’d remember it always.