"You have five minutes- use them wisely," Lucifer said and snapped his fingers, making him and Azrael disappear.

In their place stood a stunning young woman with a bright smile. She looked confident and bold, yet warm and welcoming at the same time. The man next to her was tall and handsome, his protectiveness of her evident in his stance. They both seemed engulfed in their conversation until I cleared my throat, drawing their attention to me.

She saw me first. Disbelief was written all over her face as tears began to quietly roll down her beautiful features. My own cheeks suddenly felt damp from the teardrops that were leaving my eyes.

"Princess," he said and stretched his open arms forward, ready to catch me as I threw myself at both of them, grabbing them into a tight embrace. "My special little princess."

His words broke something inside me and I found myself sobbing loudly in their arms.

"Shhh, baby- we've got you. We've been with you all along, even if you couldn't see us," my mum reassured me as she stroked my head.

Every cell in my body screamed "home"- I was home, the one I never knew I had but always felt was missing inside my heart.

"We are so proud of you, princess. You have turned into the woman we always dreamed of and more, and we are eternally grateful to your parents for everything they did for you," my dad stated as he kissed the top of my head. "But it warms our hearts that Lucien finally found you and that you are back to your roots. You have so much still to achieve and teach our world, Riley- you are a true leader. Just like your mother." He smiled at me and turned around to look at my mum adoringly. It was that same look I had seen in both Rafe's and Aiden's eyes the night after they marked.

"My baby girl! I could have never even hoped that I would be able to hold you in my arms again and tell you how much I love you," my mum added, tightening her embrace. "We love you so very much, sweetheart. You and your brother. And Anna, and your mates. You three are a bit of a handful from what we have seen, but we consider those boys family now, even if one is unfortunate enough to be related to Angus Macalister." She rolled her eyes and I did understand what she meant, even from the little that I had seen from Rafe's dad.

Then a thought crossed my mind- did she just say everything that they had seen?

My cheeks suddenly began burning and I imagined that embarrassment was written all over my face. This was probably worse than Lucien listening to what happened during my one-night stand...which turned out to be Markolf.

"You see everything?" I asked warily.

"Don't worry, princess," my dad chuckled. "We refused to move on because we wanted to keep an eye on you and your brother but we stayed out of your private business."

Without a warning, I stumbled to the floor as a sharp stabbing pain pierced my heart. Tendrils of terror curled into my stomach.

Something was wrong, so fucking wrong.

I closed my eyes and I focused on the pain. Shit- my mates were in trouble!

"Riley, baby, are you okay?" My mum was on the floor with me, cradling me as she feared for my well-being.

"Riley," Selene and Sol came running. "Your-"

"Mates. I know- I can feel that they are in danger."

"Markolf has them." The worry on Sol's face was evident. "He won't harm them if you go there."

"No way, not in a million years. I won't allow it." My dad's growl echoed in the In-between.

"Dad, he has my....my mates. I can't let him harm them. I would never be able to forgive myself if anything happened to them and I did nothing to protect them." I looked at my parents and I knew that they would get it, even if they hated the idea of exposing myself to risk. "You know what I am talking about because you would do the same thing for each other. I need them, dad- both of them."

My parents helped me to my feet and hugged me again.

"Go, sweetheart." My mother's soft lips touched my cheek and a tear escaped from my eyes again. "We were lucky to get even this long with you. Tell your brother that we are proud of the Alpha, the man and the future father that he has become. We love you both."

"And we will always be watching over you," my dad stated.

Tears were streaming down my face once more. " Promise me that you will cross over, that you won't be stuck here forever."

"We will, princess, once we know that both you and your brother are happy and safe. Now go- your men need you."

I took a step towards the Sun and Moon Goddesses and grabbed their hands. "You will always be in my heart." The words rolled off my lips as we teleported out of the In-between.