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Gone was the confusion, to be replaced by love. “You’re a soft-hearted sweetheart, you know that?”

“Shush, don’t be saying things like that aloud. You never know who might hear,” he answered in a fluster.

Lennon tutted, but took the box and carefully peeled off the wrapping paper. “Oh my,” he murmured, voice thick with tears. His trembling fingers opened the box to pull out the hand decorated glass bauble, complete with a rainbow-colored Santa inside. He held it up by the ribbon and read aloud. “Peanut, our Christmas joy, love Daddy and Pops.”

Kodi’s chin trembled when the first tear slid down Lennon’s flushed cheek. “Oh my days. It’s beautiful. Did you decorate it?”

Kodi couldn’t get the words out past the tightness of his throat, so nodded. Needing something to stop the tears, he reached for the next box. “Here,” he rasped.

Lennon didn’t take it. Instead, he twisted and reached up to an empty branch and placed the bauble on the tree. The lights behind it made the colors bright and the glittery words sparkled. “It’s perfect.”

“Stop or I’m going to have to fight my brothers when they rag on me for having puffy eyes.”

Lennon giggled, took the next box and just as carefully took the wrapping paper off. He couldn’t see inside this box for a reason.

He flicked open the lid and burst into fits of giggles, reaching inside to pull out a tree decoration that was in the shape of a tiny red paddle, the words Kodi’s Keeper on it.

“How?”

With the tears dried up, Kodi wore an enigmatic grin. “I never reveal my secrets when it comes to gift buying. It’s why I am a champion gift giver!” he crowed in delight at Lennon’s continued laughter.

Lennon got up and crawled closer and planted a kiss on Kodi. “I can’t deny it, you are most certainly a gift. And I’ll happily be your keeper, Kodi. Forever.”

Kodi wrapped his arms around Lennon wearing a sappy grin. “I can live with forever.”

Epilogue (one)

Kodi

January

Kodi followed Dad upstairs to his bedroom after watching Laken, Booker, Silas, and Taylin leave with a growing sense of doom. This morning, Kodi had woken and been so damn pleased with his life. The morning sickness had stopped and Lennon was glowing with health as his belly grew a tiny bump. The house renovations had started, the baby furniture was all in the spare room waiting to be set up, and Somme was coming next month to do the mural on the wall now they’d decided what they wanted him to paint. He’d been spanked into his happy place over his desk. Life was as close to perfect as it could be.

It was all too fucking easy for his happy house of cards to come tumbling down when, hours later, he was thrown into a living nightmare: Jupiter’s.

Laken had been the one to start the worry gnawing at Kodi’s gut when Isley had disappeared with Jupiter and neither man could be found. Then, hours later, Isley had called, and here they were in a shit storm, right up to their necks, struggling to keep their heads above the creeping horror.

It was impossible to keep his thoughts from throwing a riot in his head over this situation. The second Dad had gone into what Kodi knew was ‘fight mode’, everything crashed into a reality that terrified Kodi. Lennon was somewhere in the house with Popi and Kodi wanted him to stay as far away from this disastrous situation as possible.

Kodi knew they were going to fight, it wasn’t something he’d shy away from. Fuck no. He just didn’t want Lennon involved or stressed, but there was no way to avoid it.

Dad’s eyes were flint hard as he spoke to Oakland, their head of security. “ETA for the helicopter is an hour for you. It’ll land just outside the gates to the ranch. Let whoever needs to know it’s happening Rue.”

“On it. Dad… ring me when you have an update. Whatever the time. I need to know he’s okay.”

Rue’s voice cracked and Kodi couldn’t stop his hands from trembling at his sides at hearing Rue’s distress and seeing Dad’s. He’d never felt more useless in his life. Jupiter, fuck was he suffering the same horrors as before?

Don’t get lost in your head, his wolf warned.

“I will. Oakland, the pilot will give me updates, you won’t need to.”

The silence in the bedroom was heavy with tension when the call ended, and Kodi forced himself to voice Jupiter’s worst nightmare. “Is this the man who cut Jupiter up?”

“Yes.”

That one word was laden with grief, terror and desolation, and it hit like a hammer blow to Kodi’s chest.

Kari stared at him as if seeing him for the first time. “How didn’t you say something before?”