Ena [ 1 ] NEW DAWN

- Three and a half years later -

"Tristan?" I called out, shutting the door behind me as I pulled off my coat. The house was oddly quiet and clean of any toys. I kicked my shoes off and sniffed the air, honing in on my senses to feel where they were.

When I felt him upstairs, a smile slowly made its way onto my face. I climbed up the steps towards our bedroom and quietly opened the door. Tristan was sleeping soundly and our daughter, Alina, was snoring lightly on his chest.

His arm was around her protectively and my heart warmed at the sight. They looked so peaceful and I walked towards them cautiously. Alina was practically my reflection—she resembled me strongly with her dark brown curls and oak-coloured eyes.

When she was born, Tristan was overjoyed because his wish for a daughter who looked exactly like me was fulfilled. He had held her delicately in his arms, lightly brushing the very tips of his fingers along her tiny face. He admired her with teary eyes and muttered out a name.

His mother's name.

It fit her and I knew his mother deserved that honour. The load of emotions on the day of her birth didn't end there. We couldn't believe she was finally with us, and even though we had had six months to prepare ourselves, nothing could prepare us to see our child.

Tristan and I were a family, and my giving birth to his daughter extended a family of two to three. It hadn't been an easy birth, it was painful and didn't seem like it would end but as soon as she was in my arms, it was all worth it.

I was amazed that I had brought a new life into the world and instantly knew she would be the apple of everyone's eye. In reality, Tristan and I weren't the only family she had—she had an entire pack who loved her from the very day they found out I was pregnant.

That day had been filled with emotion too. Tristan and I had returned to Greenland from Chania and the first to pick up on the fact my holiday glow was not just a holiday glow was my mother. She had also noticed the slight bulge in my stomach and gasped as soon as she saw me.

Tristan couldn't contain his excitement and I put him out of his misery by announcing it to the pack. I was hugged by a lot of people that day. Everyone was overjoyed that our future as a pack was bright and I had felt their love for me increase tenfold.

I focused back on my mate and daughter, bringing my hand up to gently caress his face with the back of my fingers. He stirred slightly and I leaned forward to press a kiss to both their foreheads.

Alina was out cold and didn't move one bit but Tristan's eyes slowly fluttered open. Deep ocean blue eyes settled on mine and he smiled softly as he looked down at Alina.

"She got a bit too excited at playtime." His voice was husky and laced with sleepiness.

I smiled and glanced down at her, loving how innocent she looked as she slept on her father's chest. "She always gets a bit too excited. She's very hyper in the morning." I caressed her curls gently and Tristan reached out for my hand.

His thumb brushed over the diamond ring on my finger. It was a wedding ring. In the werewolf world, marks were considered marriage but Tristan had wanted it all. He proposed two months before Alina was born and we had had a mini-wedding in Greenland.

It had been absolutely beautiful. We got married under the Northern Lights and even though I was already Kara Vasilakis before we did, seeing it as legally official was amazing.

"How was training today?"

"They're starting to pick things up." I laid my head down on the pillow as I filled him in on the progress made by the new shifters in the pack. "They needed to get used to shifting before they started learning combat in wolf form."

Tristan acknowledged the feedback with a nod, brushing a hand over Alina's hair gently. He had decided to stay at home with her and like the past couple of weeks, he was encouraging me to take the lead with training. Over the past three years, our leadership had been a balanced partnership but training and combat had always been Tristan's thing.

When Alina began to stir, Tristan stayed extremely still and waited for her to settle again. Then he slowly slid out from under her, placing her properly on his pillow. I climbed off the bed so he could pull the covers over her small body. I figured they hadn't been asleep for long when I had come back home so when she fell back asleep, I let her be.

As Tristan freshened up, I took the time to look at our daughter. Although she looked very much like me, I could see what she got from Tristan. They both slept with soft smiles on their faces and when she laughed, she tipped her head back just as Tristan did.

I couldn't help but smile down at her and when Tristan emerged from the bathroom, I stood up to follow him downstairs. He went straight for the kitchen and I watched as he poured himself a glass of water.

When he leaned against the counter, I walked towards him and rested my hands on his waist. He peered down at me as I pressed a soft kiss to his mark and he placed his glass down. He shuddered slightly and I sated the desire I had all day to inhale his scent. My nose pressed gently against his skin and I felt him dig his fingers into my curls.

"Did you miss me, αγάπη μου?" he murmured quietly with a teasing tone.

I smiled into his neck and hummed in affirmation. "Like crazy." I pulled back and settled my gaze on his. "Did you miss me?"

He lowered his head and his lips delicately brushed against mine. "Mhm." His fingers tightened in my hair. "I missed this too." He smirked slightly before moulding his lips to mine. He favoured deep kisses and his tongue teased mine until I melted against him.

When his hand wrapped around my neck, I inhaled deeply and pulled away slightly. Tristan exuded dominance and it had the power to make me breathless. He pressed his thumb lightly against my pulse and nuzzled his nose into my cheek.

"I definitely missed that."

The warmth flooded my cheeks and he chuckled lowly, pressing a kiss to the underside of my jaw. My fingers grasped his shirt tighter and I fought the smile that wanted to climb onto my face.

"You're such a flirt, Tristan."

"What kind of mate would I be if I didn't flirt with my wife?" he questioned, pulling back with a warm smile on his face. His fingers splayed across my collarbone and he almost brushed them over his mark on my neck before a quiet voice sounded through the air.

"Daddy?"

Tristan withdrew his hands from me and I turned around in excitement. Alina was always so light on her feet, which was why we hadn't heard her. She appeared by the kitchen, rubbing her eye with a tiny fist until she caught sight of me.

"Mummy!" she exclaimed, running towards me before I lifted her into my arms with a grin.

"Hi, Alina!" I pressed kisses to her cheek and wrapped her legs around me. She hugged me tightly and I knew she had missed me too. I had been gone for the majority of the day.

"I missed you, Mummy." Her voice was muffled as she spoke into my shoulder.

Tristan smiled softly at the exchange, wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling us closer. He laid a kiss on the side of Alina's head and looked at her adoringly. "Tell Mummy what we did today, χαρα μου."

As he did for me, Tristan called Alina something in Greek. From the moment he found out I was pregnant, Alina was 'his joy'. It did, however, sound similar to my name so she often got confused until he had explained it to her.

She turned her excited gaze to me. "Tea party! Daddy gave me real tea."

I gasped. "Wow, really?"

His hand squeezed my waist as Alina nodded profusely. "It was warm milk." He chuckled quietly into my ear, pressing a kiss to my cheek.

I smiled and propped her on my hip.

"It was delicious and Grandpa gave me some apple pie!" Alina placed a small hand on my cheek to keep my attention. If there was any food she loved more than anything, it was apple pie. Matthijs, who I had accepted as my father, loved to bake with my mother. Alina was their very own taste tester.

"Did you say thank you to Grandpa?"

Alina nodded with wide eyes like the thought of not being polite was a shock to her.

"That's good. Good job." I held out my hand and she gave me a high-five.

When she began to ramble about her stuffed animals and her tea party with Tristan, I sat her down in her booster seat by the island before fixing her a quick snack. I helped her eat as cleanly as possible and Tristan began making lunch for us all.

I watched as he moved around the kitchen, dominating the space. He seasoned and seared two medium-sized slabs of salmon. Something about how controlled he looked in the kitchen enticed me.

'You look so sexy right now.' I spoke in his mind and he glanced at me over his shoulder with a pleasant smile.

He subtly flexed his biceps as a result and it made me want his arms around me. The urge to hug him took charge and I stood up to wrap my arms around his waist. He placed the spatula down and wrapped his arms around my shoulders. As he moved us slightly away from the stove, I nestled into his warmth and rested my head on his chest.

Alina watched us with a bright smile on her face. Tristan and I were very affectionate with each other naturally and we both agreed that it would be good for our daughter to see moments like that. It showed her that we loved each other very much and she would be able to see what love looked like in its purest form: between literal soulmates.

"I want to hug Daddy too!" she held her arms out and Tristan chuckled as we came round the island to stand in front of her.

With one hand, he unbuckled her out of her booster seat, wrapping an arm around her and lifting her into his embrace. He held me to his chest with his other arm and I smiled into his shirt. I could feel the warmth bloom in his chest. It was moments like this that let Tristan know he had a family that loved him fiercely and unconditionally.

The best thing about having a child with Tristan was that he had so much love to give and he was such an amazing dad because he loved Alina immensely. It had been that way from the day I told him I was pregnant in Chania.

We were all silent for a long moment and Tristan laid a kiss on the top of both our heads. "I love you two."

I lifted my head and met his warm gaze. Alina immediately returned the sentiment and I grinned slowly, leaning up to kiss his cheek.

"We love you too, Tristan."