"Mae, dessert comes after dinner." I sigh at the seven-year-old

She frowns, a frown that Killian says is identical to mine. "Dad said it was okay."

I jump when an arm wraps around my waist. After all these years, I still couldn't See it coming.

"Way to throw me under the bus, kiddo," Killian says, and Maeve giggles, shoveling more chocolate cake into her mouth.

"And what do I always remind you about your father?" I ask.

"Dad is always wrong," Maeve chants, and Killian snorts.

"Correct," I say, stepping out of Killian's arm and kissing her raven hair as I take the plate. "Your cousins will be here soon for dinner, go wash the chocolate off your face, okay?"

Maeve nods, bounding off to her room.

"Do you think she would conquer a territory if they had an abundance of chocolate?" Killian asks bemusedly, teleporting behind me once again to wrap his arms around me.

"As you often like to remind me, Alphas can do what they want," I say teasingly.

He nips at my ear. "I've never found that to not be true."

I roll my eyes, trying to squirm out of his arms, but he doesn't ease up on his grip. "Killian, let me go," I whine. "I have to set the table."

"Done," Killian says after a moment.

I look at him questioningly, and he smiles mischievously, gesturing towards the table, which is now completely set. "Now we have time for other things," he says suggestively, kissing my Mark.

I laugh. "No, I have to make sure that Kiera is ready. Where is she?"

"Where she always is," Killian snorts.

"Training?" I ask in surprise. "She already had training today."

Killian shrugs. "She wanted to go again. Knox is training her and Kalen, he'll bring her by when they come for dinner."

"Well, I still have to-"

Killian's hand clamps over my mouth as he spins me around so I'm facing him, still keeping his arm around me. "Please relax, darling," he says, kissing my forehead. "Why are you so stressed about dinner tonight? We have these things all the time."

"Monthly," I correct, pulling his hand away. "We have them monthly."

He rolls his eyes. "How about answering the question instead of finding semantics to argue over?"

"I don't know, I kind of like the arguing," I say cheekily, and Killian flicks my nose.

"Don't I know it," he mutters, his eyes glowing in amusement.

My head snaps up. "Door."

Sure enough, there's a knock on the door.

"My little Seer," he coos, pecking my lips with his.

Rolling my eyes, I slip out of his arms and open the door.

"Hello!" Layla sings, throwing her arms around me.

"Hi, Layls," I laugh, pulling away. "Hi, Kage."

Kage nods in greeting, both of his hands holding pans of food.

"Layla, did you make him carry both pans?" I sigh, taking one of them from her mate.

Layla laughs, skipping past me. "He offered!"

I suppress a smile. Kage, always the perfect gentleman.

"Hi, Luna," Adrian says, hiding behind his dad's legs and shadows.

"What, no 'Hi, Alpha'?" Killian asks in mock-offense.

Adrian further hides behind Kage.

"Oh, I don't think so, Nephew," Killian laughs, reaching behind his brother and picking the six year old up into his arms and tossing him into the air before catching him. Adrian giggles, sounding exactly like his mom.

"This is why he likes you better," Kage whispers to me as we go to set the pans down.

"Heard that!" Killian calls out, setting the pup down and ruffling his hair.

"Don't tell me Killian is tossing the pups around again," Jae says, stepping through the door with her mate and their two children.

"I'm the Alpha, I can do what I want!" Killian yells, chasing Adrian around the table.

Jae sighs, shaking her head. "Katrina, I don't know how you put up with having three children."

I laugh, knowing that Killian definitely requires just as much attention as Maeve and Kiera.

"Are we making fun of Killian again?" Gabe asks, walking in with his heavily pregnant mate, a small she-wolf from Midnight Bite, Gifted with enhanced intelligence. I get a quick vision of her beating him in chess earlier today and smile.

"No," Killian answers at the same time Jae, Kage, Layla, and I say, "Yes."

"Do you plan on blocking the door all day?" Knox's deep voice asks.

"Come in, Knox, we're making fun of Killian again," Layla giggles.

Gabe moves out of the way to help his mate sit down at the table, revealing Knox's towering frame. He hasn't lost an ounce of muscle after all these years. Not that he could, not with the constant sparring he does with his mate, Cara, a strong she-wolf from a Gamma bloodline.

Jae's pups run to the door to greet their closest friends, Knox's son Kalen, and my Kiera. They run off to play together, and for them, playing really just means sparring until they're too sore to move. At first, it scared the hell out of me, watching such young children spar so viciously, but Killian assured me that it's just in their nature, all of them being from such strong bloodlines.

"Hi, Cara," I smile, looking at the bundle in her arms. "Your pup is so healthy."

Cara grins at the baby, and Knox proudly says, "She's already got a strong grip."

I laugh, knowing that it's important to Knox that his children possess brutal strength, and they will.

"Can we start eating? I'm starving," Layla whines from her seat at the table.

"What did we talk about earlier, Layls?" Kage murmurs quietly, rubbing her lower back.

She sighs. "Patience." Cue the pout. 

"Does this look like patience to you?" He asks in amusement, his shadows always dying down when he looks at her.

She pinches his side, making him laugh.

"Agreed, let's break out the food and booze," a voice says from the doorway.

"Gwen," I greet, unable to help the grin that spreads across my face as we hug tightly.

"Missed you, little sis," She says, kissing my cheek. "One month apart feels like far too long."

"Yes," I agree. "Though I think you drank through all of Killian's alcohol the last time you were here."

"I thought that might be the case," Leo says from beside her, and holds up two bottles.

I laugh. "That might tide her over for about an hour."

"Hey, I'm cutting back," Gwen says defensively.

"No, you're not," Leo and I say at the same time.

At first, these family dinners were awkward, given our history. But Gwen and I agreed that family is far too important. And besides, after all these years, our fallouts from the past seemed insignificant. We both had our own mates, our own lives, and keeping our relationship close only enriched our lives even more.

"Here, I can take those," Killian offers, taking the bottles from Leo. "I'll put them with the others. Don't worry Gwen, I bought out half the liquor store in preparation."

Gwen laughs. "God, I love family dinners."

Bought, or stole? I ask Killian, who just winks in response before kissing my cheek and going to put the bottles with the rest.

"Hi, Aunt Kat," Wyatt greets, smiling and showing an adorable dimple. "Did Mae eat all of the cake already?"

I ruffle his hair. "Nope, but I don't recommend waiting too long after dinner to dig into it."

"Speaking of dinner," Layla begins. "I am waiting to eat, you know. Patiently," she adds, giving a pointed look to Kage, who rolls his eyes.

"Thirty more seconds," I promise her as Gwen and Leo sit at the very, very long table.

"Dammit, my estimation was off by two minutes," Gabe says sadly.

His mate tells him, "You didn't factor weather into your calculations. She's always about two minutes earlier when it's sunny."

"This is why I love you," he says, kissing her cheek.

"The next time Maryn is late, we're starting without her," Jae threatens, the same threat she says every time Maryn is late.

Which is every time.

"Okay, rude!" Maryn huffs from the doorway, followed by her mate, the Gamma of Blood Lake, Elijah, a distant relative of Cain. "There was traffic, and a snowstorm in Blood Lake."

Maryn pulls off her fur coat, handing it to Elijah, who takes it unquestioningly.

"Hey, Kat," she says, pulling me in for a hug.

"Congrats," I whisper to her.

She looks down at her stomach and smiles. Elijah wraps his arm around her protectively as soon as she steps out of our embrace.

He doesn't know yet.

"That's it, I'm eating," Layla says, shoveling food into her mouth.

Kage gives me a look that says: I tried.

Finally, we all sit down, and Killian puts his hand on my thigh, an absentminded gesture he always does that makes me smile.

The pups sit at the other end of the table, while the adults take the other side.

Maeve sits at the head of the table on the other side, across from Killian.

The future Alpha of Crimson Shadow.

When I first learned that our firstborn was going to be a girl, I was worried that Killian would be upset, but of course, I should have known better. He was beyond elated, said it didn't matter what gender the baby would be, that they would be far superior to any other Alpha because they would be ours.

My heart tightens at the memory.

Quit thinking about me and eat your food, Killian instructs through our mindlink.

I roll my eyes. I wasn't thinking about you, I lie.

Liar, you just flooded our bond with love, and unless you have a crush on Maryn, I'm definitely the source, he winks, and I scowl.

"I mean seriously, that snow is killer," Maryn continues her story about the snowstorm. "I need a vacation somewhere warm, like, seriously hot. Killian, we may require your services."

"Wolf travel agency." Layla nods.

"Where did you just get back from again?" Maryn asks. "Greece again, or did you finally let Katrina choose the location?"

Killian scoffs. "For the record, I've taken Katrina to every country."

And he has. He once told me he would take me anywhere, everywhere, and he did.

"It was Greece," Layla whispers, and Kage laughs.

"Greece is nice this time of year," Gabe says thoughtfully.

"Average temperature of 65 degrees Fahrenheit." His mate nods in approval.

"Ugh, we're so boring," Maryn complains. "Talking about the weather like a bunch of old geezers."

"You are an old geezer," Kage says quietly, and Layla giggles.

"Shut up, you baby," Maryn says, and winds her arm back to throw a bread roll at him.

"You're setting a bad example for the pups," Knox sighs, and Jae nods in agreement.

Fear floods our bond.

We all gasp as we look at the end of the table.

Maeve is sitting alone.

"Where did they go?" Knox says in a panic, leaping out of his chair, as do many of the other wolves, panicked at the disappearance.

"They're right there, Beta Knox," Maeve says in confusion. "I just hid them."

I can't form any words, but luckily, Killian can. "Mae, honey, what do you mean you hid them?" he asks calmly.

Maeve shrugs, and flicks her hand, looking exactly like Killian when he opens a portal.

Sure enough, the pups all are still sitting at the table, looking at their parents in confusion, perfectly calm.

Everyone exhales in relief.

"Illusions," Killian muses. "Her Gift is creating illusions."

Nobody says anything for a moment, no doubt realizing what a powerful Gift that is.

"I'll go get another bottle," Gwen mutters.

****

"Well, that was a disaster," I sigh, crawling into bed, where Killian's arms are waiting, as always.

"Gwen wasn't that drunk," Killian jokes.

"Yes, she was," I roll my eyes. "And you know what I'm talking about."

He shrugs. "What's the problem? That's going to be an incredibly useful Gift. We always knew she would have a strong one, there was no way she wouldn't."

"I'm worried about her," I admit. "I can't See much of her future and what if-"

Killian silences me with a kiss. "Katrina, she'll be fine. She has a strong Gift, she'll start training with the Viatoribus during the summers soon, and she'll become a better fighter."

"But-"

"No more talking," Killian says, and kisses me again, deeper this time. "You're stressing yourself out, and it's not good for the baby."

My breath hitches in my throat. "How did you-"

His hand rests on my stomach. "Stop underestimating your Alpha, darling."

"How long have you known?" I glare at him.

"Better question: Why didn't you tell me?"

I wince. "I wasn't sure if it would be... welcome news."

Killian looks confused. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"Well, we weren't exactly trying for one," I say slowly. "And you remember how fussy Mae was..."

Killian kisses me again. "I couldn't be happier," he promises. "Besides, Cain and Ares are practically starting their own army. We're just... catching up."

I laugh. "We are definitely never catching up with them. Seven is a little excessive."

"Have you Seen anything else about Blood Lake?" Killian asks after a moment.

I wince. "They're still pushing into other territories. Blood Lake is expanding rapidly, they want more territory for their pups. I'm not sure how much more they'll take."

"If they take Iron Claw, we'll have to go to war," Killian says calmly. "That's too close to our territory, and they're getting too big."

I wince again. "I know."

"Don't worry about it," Killian says, stroking my hair, an unfair gesture because he knows it makes me relax against my will. "Everything will be fine. Mae, Blood Lake, Gwen's alcoholism- all of it."

"But-"

"Alright, darling, we'll do this the hard way, also known as my favorite way," Killian says, kissing my lips and working his way down to my mark.

"What are you-"

"I'm taking your mind off of it," Killian grins up at me, his eyes melting into darkness as he speaks lowly.

Needless to say, he does. 

---------------

This may be the end of Katrina and Killian's story, but Mae's story will continue in the book: Master of Illusions! 

1. Master of Illusions will be completed on my patreon ONLY.  The first few chapters are up now, so feel free to check them out!

2. I debated a long time about whether or not I wanted to post any more books on Wattpad, but ultimately decided that I will be posting Book 5 of the Gift Chronicles here. It is titled Carnage in the Castle, and the first few chapters are already up! It's about Cain and Ares' daughter, Drakon. And let me just say... it's a wild ride. It will be completed on Wattpad, so be sure to add it to your library!

3. If you're curious as to what's on my patreon, here's the list: 

- Carnage in the Castle (Completed)

- Master of Illusions (Completed)

- Carnage in the Castle Sequel (Completed)

- Carnage Book 3 (In Progress)

- Tons of fun bonus chapters! For example, are you curious as to how Layla and Kage found out they're mates? Or Cain's backstory? Or want to read Dimension chapters from Killian's POV/ romantic Cain x Ares fluff? All are available on my Patreon! 

Okay that was a shameless self-promo, but seriously, thank you for reading! Hope to see you in Carnage in the Castle!

www.patreon.com/vviticus