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Two weeks later Marlo gave birth to a girl, Eloise Sherwood. She was an exact miniature replica of Marlo, minus the blue hair. We spent the morning after her birth with them as we helped Elio to assemble the crib and Megan, Ava and Rylee had gone on a massive shopping spree for the baby.

“She’s beautiful Marlo,” I said as I held Eloise in my arms.

“She’s perfect,” Elio said as he kissed the top of Marlo’s head.

“Better buy that shotgun,” Lucas joked as he joined us with a cup of coffee in his hands.

“Don’t you worry Lucas, I’ll sever the heads of anyone thinking of even looking at her,” Elio said.

“She’s got enough people that’ll teach her how to look after herself,” Jack said as Tank held his arms out for her.

“Nobody will ever hurt you precious angel,” Tank said in a surprisingly soft voice.

Later that afternoon we took the boat back to the island and settled down for the day. Lucas was on his phone as he started walking the perimeter of the island. Megan and Rylee got started on dinner and Felix and Ava disappeared to their own cabin.

We had big plans for the town of Bushnell. Tank got the information we needed and most days we’d sit on the porch and discuss which businesses to outright buy and which to invest in. We had interest in enough of them to keep us busy, ranging from Bushnell all the way to Orlando.

Lucas and Rylee were planning on staying until after Megan had given birth. I spoke to Chase twice a week and he sent plenty of pictures and videos of Luca, his son. Basil had RSVP’d for both weddings which were a few days apart.

Felix and Ava would be getting married first in Howey in the Hills. Their entire family was flying in from England, cousins, aunts and uncles and Gideon Delanie had also been invited. Their wedding was big, elaborate and cost a fortune. It was a spectacular wedding, full of traditions and we all had a great time.

Two days later I stood under the arbor that Jack had decorated. There were chairs on either side of the makeshift aisle. My extended family had all flown in for the ceremony including my father’s old friends like Jasper, Brandon and Timothy who had all become like family to us.

Megan’s mother, Mary, and her sister, Sharice, had also flown in for the wedding and almost all the available rooms in Nobleton had been booked. Megan had finally made contact with her mother two weeks after we had returned to Princeton but this was the first time she had seen them again.

We had decided on a garden wedding and Tank had gotten himself ordained so he could marry us. We kept it as small as possible and Jack had immersed himself in the decorations with Megan’s help. Rylee had been in charge of the flowers and food and Lucas put himself in charge of the booze.

“Are you ready little Ryder?” Tank asked me.

“If you call me little Ryder during the ceremony I’m going to hurt you,” I replied as he smiled at me.

Violin music started playing and I turned around as Megan made her appearance. She was simply beautiful as we made eye contact and she smiled. Her dress was an A-line gown of flowing fabrics with a side slit and a deep V-neckline.

Her dress was ivory lace over champagne chiffon with three-dimensional floral designs stitched on the lace. Her hair had loose curls in it with flowers adorned on one side. She wasn’t wearing a veil and when she walked and the dress opened on the side I saw that she was barefoot.

She looked carefree and beautiful under the blue sky and I felt like the luckiest man alive. I took her hand and kissed her as Tank cleared his throat. “Not yet little Ryder!” he hissed at me. I broke the kiss off and looked her in the eye.

“I love you Megan, every day more and more,” I said.

“Can we please just get married already?” she asked me.

“Welcome friends and family. I won’t elaborate on how I met Ryder although I think most of you know how, but ever since we first met Ryder and I became very good friends. I was convinced that he would never settle down and then I met Megan. From the first time I saw them together, I knew that she was the one that would keep him on his toes,” Tank said.

“Are you crying?” I asked Tank as he wiped a tear away.

“It’s an emotional day little Ryder, shut up,” Tank said as Megan nudged me in the ribs.

“Get a grip on yourself,” I whispered to him.

“Fine … do you Ryder Grey take Megan Greer to be your wife, to love her and to honour her, to be by her side in good times and bad times, do you promise to be faithful to her, to always consider her needs and to be the husband she deserves?” Tank asked.

“I do,” I said.

“Megan Greer do you take Ryder Grey to be your husband, to love him and to honour him, to be by his side in good times and bad times, do you promise to be faithful to him, to consider his needs and to support him in his endeavours?” Tank asked her.

“I do,” she said.

“Then by the power vested in me by the state of Florida, I now pronounce you husband and wife,” Tank said as he narrowed his eyes at me. “You may now kiss your wife.”

I kissed Megan again and then abruptly stopped and turned towards Tank. “You forgot the rings,” I said to him.

“Oh … oops, swap rings,” Tank said as everybody started laughing.

“You had one job big guy,” I said as I fished Megan’s ring from my pocket and slid it back onto her finger.

“I forgot about the rings with you being so mean,” Tank said.

After Megan slid my ring on we headed down the aisle as our guests threw confetti over us. Chase stood at the end and snapped picture after picture of us. We had set up tents with a dance floor and a buffet lunch with an open bar where everyone could help themselves.

It was a good day where everyone danced with everyone and at two am I waved the last boat off and turned to find Megan waiting for me at the end of the dock. “If we didn’t have other people living on this island, I’d undress you right here.”

“Keep your pants on Mr Grey,” she said softly and took my hand. “At least until we get inside.”

I picked her up and started walking up to the cabin. Lucas and Rylee were spending the night on the mainland with Chase, Melissa and Luca. We had barely made it to our bedroom before I started zipping her dress down.

“Your turn,” Megan said softly and I started undressing myself.

We moved together gently and then Megan took the reigns as she straddled me. At some point we fell asleep, spent and sweaty. I woke up a few hours later and untangled myself from Megan where she still slept.

“Morning,” I said when I found Lucas downstairs in the kitchen.

“Afternoon,” he said and I looked at my watch.

“It’s still morning,” I said and filled my cup from the coffee pot.

“Chase sends his regrets, the assholes from the Council only granted him twenty-four hours for your wedding,” Lucas said with disgust.

“It’s okay Dad, Christmas we’ll all go to the Lake House and spend some proper time together,” I said.

“Ryder, I want you to investigate this whole thing, see if there’s a way to overturn it,” Lucas said.

“It’s a ruling from the High Council, how the hell do I overturn that?” I asked him.

“By going over their heads,” Lucas said.

“To the Royal Family?” I asked him and he nodded.

“Why not?” he asked me.

“I like my life Dad, I like living here on the island, soon I’ll be a father …”

“Exactly and what legacy are you leaving him or her?” he asked me.

“There is no legacy here. I’m building up businesses and one day he or she can take all that over. For the first time I’m at peace and I want to keep it that way,” I said.

“We’ve got company at the docks,” Abeloth said in my mind.

“Ryder …”

“Someone’s on my territory,” I said and walked briskly out of the kitchen followed by Lucas.

A man climbed out of a boat and looked around. He started walking towards me when he saw us approaching him. “Dragonkin,” Lucas muttered. I had caught his scent too. He wasn’t a Sire but he also wasn’t just a warrior, he was a second in command by birth.

“Are you lost?” Lucas asked him.

“I apologize for arriving unannounced on your territory Sire Ryder,” the man said and bowed his head.

“It’s just Ryder and you are?”

“I’m Peyton Asher,” he said and I gripped his offered hand in greeting.

“What can I do for you Peyton?” I asked him.

“I don’t have your number otherwise I would’ve called you. I would like to set up an appointment with you officially as to your intentions with the surrounding unclaimed territory,” Peyton said.

“You can tell your Sire that I have no intention to claim any territory here,” I said.

“You misunderstand me Sire, I’m asking you to claim the territory as our Sire,” he said.

“I’m not a Sire anymore,” I said.

“I’m well aware of your exile status and you are still a Sire,” he said.

“Then you know that I can’t claim any territory as a Sire,” I said.

“We don’t really care about your status, whether we call you Sire or not, we’ve never had a Sire but as we grew up together we’ve banded together and lived in peace with one another, the way you’re buying up businesses in Bushnell is exactly the way a Sire would take over a town and we’d like to be a part of that,” Peyton said.

“I’m sorry Peyton, I can’t help you,” I said.

“Think about it Sire, take my card and call me if you’d like to discuss any of this, we’re just a group of supernaturals living here that would like a chance to prosper under the rule of a true leader,” he said and walked back to his boat.

Lucas and I watched him as he took off and I looked at his business card that he had handed to me. Peyton Asher was a lawyer in Bushnell. If I could, I would’ve accepted his offer to meet formally but under exile I couldn’t do anything to help them.

“Call him,” Lucas said.

“Dad …”

“Don’t be an idiot Ryder, he said a group of supernaturals, meaning not only dragonkin, you won’t be their Sire as such but more like their leader, you won’t be leading a lair but a tribe of people coming together and overcoming the odds,” Lucas said.

“When you put it like that …”

“It’s not illegal,” he said and left me standing there.