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I had no idea how he was going to deal with this pup. The male was seriously the most fastidious person I’d ever met.

After putting the cake on the counter, Julian came up to me from behind, burying his face into my neck as his arms wrapped around my belly. “Hello, you two.”

“Hello, you,” I said with a smile, leaning back into his touch. I’d been a little worried that since Julian was younger, like me, that the news he was becoming a dad might scare him. But to be honest, he might have been the most excited out of the pack, if such a superlative was even possible in this house. The expectant joy he filled the bonds with every day was almost smothering.

He’d even decided to quit his job and become a stay-at-home-dad, since I had just started a new company and the rest of us weren’t really interested in giving up our careers just yet.

He’d shrugged nonchalantly when I’d asked him if he was serious. “I’ve always just wanted a family,” he’d replied.

But of course, the rest of the pack was also ecstatic, and in order to prepare for the impending pup, each of the alphas had taken charge of a different aspect of parenthood.

In addition to becoming the main caretaker, Julian had decided he was going to be our safety czar. Even though it would be many, many months before the pup was mobile, he’d already started covering all the outlets and putting foam corners on the tables. He’d even signed up for an infant CPR class, and had personally taken all of our vehicles down to the fire station to make sure our car seats were installed correctly.

Nolan, meanwhile, was in charge of nutrition. He had bought a top-of-the-line breast pump and bottles, and had several cans of formula as back up at the ready in case breastfeeding wasn’t for me.

And when the pup was ready to start solids? Oh, Nolan was practically foaming at the mouth, having purchased the most expensivefood processor on the market and half a dozen cookbooks, already read-through and bookmarked.

Pup development was Archer’s domain, and he was not only well-versed on all the important milestones, but also the toys and gear that were the most stimulating, educational, and age appropriate. He’d even insisted our pup would be screen-free for at least the first two years, a declaration his sister Ivy found hilarious, and made even funnier by the fact that Cam was already planning to watch football games with the little pup as soon as they were out.

Elias had taken it upon himself to decorate the nursery and purchase all of the clothes. We’d chosen not to find out if we were having a boy or a girl beforehand, and he’d leapt at the challenge to curate a tasteful, gender-neutral aesthetic. I’d kept my “sad, beige baby” comments to myself every time he proudly showed off all the onesies he’d purchased, nodding with exaggerated enthusiasm and praising his exquisite taste.

And Cam? He was focusing on me. Whatever I wanted, whatever I needed, Cam was there—holding my hair while I puked for the tenth time that day, keepingTumson him at all time, running to the store at midnight because we were out of Blue Moon ice cream, or whatever else came up to help make this pregnancy a little more bearable.

“All right, baby,” Cam interrupted, pushing Julian out of the way. “You and Camden Jr. go get yourselves comfy. We’ll do the rest.”

I followed his command and carefully plopped in my special chair, a footstool and a glass of water brought to me immediately.

I had to say, it was kind of nice not having to do much but gestate the little guy or girl.

I took out my phone and scrolled through a shifter news site, pausing to read an article about a decree the newly-elected Shifter Conclave had recently made.

Ezra executing the last one at the temple had caused quite the stir, to say the least. Our pack had been the unofficial interim Conclave since we’d defeated them in the Rite, but then we’d all disappeared to Vespera and left behind a power vacuum. In that time, the shifter population as a whole had done a bit of soul searching, and when we’d finally returned, we were shocked to find that a pack which included not only alphas but also betas and females had been elected, in the hopes they could begin to correct the imbalances of the past.

A car pulled up in the driveway, and I took a deep breath, putting my phone away.

“Party time,” Nolan said with a wink, turning on the speakers and starting the playlist he’d been working on. The room echoed with a familiar bass line, and when the finger snapping and guitar riff kicked in, I laughed and shook my head.

He came up, grabbing my hands and lifting me to my feet, dancing with me slowly while lip syncing the words to “My Girl” by The Temptations. He was convinced we were having a daughter, and made sure to let us all know whenever he could.

His cousin Megan came in just as he twirled me gently, holding me from behind and swaying to the beat.

“Ugh, get a room, you two. Or should I say six?”

I laughed, extracting myself from his grasp and heading towards my cousin-in-law. “Hey, thanks for coming.”

She wrapped me up in a big hug and squealed happily. “Of course, I’m so excited for the little pup!” We made our way to the island, eating while we talked shop.

That new business I’d started? Megan was my partner, and together we’d founded consulting company to help shifter towns and firms move away from alpha-male-centric policies and cultures. We were creating specialized workshops and hiring trainers around the country to lead them and help bring our people into the twenty-first century.

Our first client had been the city of Maiingan Hollow itself, where, with Nolan’s help, we’d combed through all the old and outdated laws that had allowed the Conclave to try to take me away in the first place.

Now that they’d officially been repealed, I could breathe a little easier whenever I left the house on my own.

The arrival of Ivy and Shane with their four pups in tow, followed soon after by Linda and her group of friends, interrupted our conversation, and soon the house warmed with the sound of music and laughter, the smell of good food and of happy shifters floating in the air.

“Let’s see…” Elias took a look at the opened presents, ignoring Cam as he went around with a garbage bag and disposed of all the wrapping paper and bows. He double checked with the list in his hands. “Who gave us the bath set?”

I laid down on the couch, arm over my eyes while Nolanrubbed my feet. “That was from Patricia, right? Or was it from Kian, et al?”