swallowed his treat that he looked up to see where he was standing. It didn't bother him so much seeing Claus standing so near. They'd been cohabitating in the hotel for the week or so that the new construction took.
But when he looked at the angels, he squeaked and dropped his eclair. "Holy crap, you're angels." His eyes widened like a deer caught in headlights. "Oh no, I just said crap in front of angels. Shit!" Kansas clapped both hands over his mouth, looking around miserably for his mate. "Wyatt?"
"I'm here, kitten." Wyatt appeared by his mate's side, allowing the smaller man to bury his face in his chest. Wyatt balanced his chin on his mate's head as he spoke. "That all meant hello."
With his head still pressed into Wyatt's suit, Kansas nodded enthusiastically.
Whether he'd meant to or not, Kansas had broken the building tension, allowing everyone to get back to the party.
Hours later, the food was gone, our legs were tired, and the majority of the children had gone to bed. Only Nana Walker and Sitka's dad, Power, remained dancing. When we'd walked by, Power had her in a tight hold, whispering in her ear, "I haven't heard from you on the prayer chain lately, Ms. Nana."
My mouth dropped open at the blatant desire in the angel's tone. I searched the room for a pair of commiserating eyes and found Riley, Branson's mate.
"Are they…?" I mouthed.
Riley smirked, nodded, and then shrugged. It looked like he was trying to say you never know with Nana.
Epilogue
Diesel
"I mean it." Phineas released Sitka from a long goodbye hug. "We're doing it soon too. None of this 'let's meet up' but never meeting business. We're doing it. All the Star Wars movies, cosplay optional."
Sitka beamed and shook his head. "Oh no, cosplay required! I'll make them—"
Sitka walked Phineas to the truck, discussing which characters each of them should dress up as.
The other Walkers were busy saying their own goodbyes. Quinlan held Rebecca, standing in a small circle of him, Claus, Riley, Nash, and Branson.
"You're welcome to stay," Branson told Claus. "Not sure how much fun a demon king could have in Walker County, but our doors are open."
Apparently, Claus and Nash had hit it off. I hadn't decided if that said more about Claus or Nash. But Claus liked the alpha enough to travel with them when they left and check out his hometown.
Opposite to what the archangels were probably hoping for, Claus figured since he could go home anytime, why not stay a while?
Really, the archangels should've known he'd be contrary like that. I'd been to Walker County. The people were quality, but the surroundings were trees, water, trees, and more water. Though he managed to entertain himself well enough while he'd stayed here. But he'd had Quinlan and Rebecca to take up his time.
I held my hands out for Rebecca so Quinlan could hug his half-brother with both arms. I still despised it when he called Quinlan demonling, but couldn't ignore how integral Claus had been to our survival, nor the unwavering affection he held for Quinlan.
"Remember your promise," Quinlan whispered before sliding in his space under my arm. "And don't cause too much trouble."
It wasn't until Claus had piled into the vehicle with the other Walkers and driven down the driveway that Quinlan turned to me. "He didn't agree not to cause trouble, did he?"
I shook my head. But compared to the danger we'd just clawed out of, how much trouble could one demon king get into?
Storri, who'd lingered a longer time than Faust would've liked to say goodbye to Claus, ambled over, a daughter on each hip. "I'll miss him," he sighed.
"What's to miss? You have an alpha right here," Faust grunted. He kissed his mate as passionately as he was able while both had their arms full of children.
"I know." Storri smiled. The next second, his smile fell, and his eyes popped open. "Didn't Claus say something about more demon kings clawing through the gate?"
Sitka and Quinlan groaned tiredly as Faust used his body to herd Storri toward the hotel. "Let's not search for problems, sweet prince. They have a way of finding us eventually anyway."
I watched Quinlan shift from wolf to man, looking over his shoulder to see if I was close.
Sweet mate, you were never out of my sight.
A secretive smile stretched his lips. My baby boy thought he'd gotten away with cheating. He'd been the one to lay out the rules for our hunt: he was