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“Sounds good,” Warrick says as I watch him walk out of the kitchen.

Caelon looks at him, his eyes retreating back to me, and back again. “You okay, Aspen?”

I just nod my head, because, honestly, I’m not okay. I think I finally understand the piece that I’ve been missing this whole time and I don’t quite know what to do with that.

We were able to get everything done in time, like I figured we would. The pack house is full of everyone, from pack members to townsfolk. The level of excitement for what the twins will be is almost a physical being inside here. You can feel it everywhere you walk in the room. It’s funny how something this town has never done before has brought together so many people. We even have the Mountain Lion Shifters, the Goat Shifters, and the Hawk Shifters present. Nova really does have a way of bringing everyone together.

“Alright, who is ready to find out what the gender of the twins are?” Silas’s voice booms around the room.

The room erupts in whistles, cheers, and noise as everyone chants. “Show us! Show us!”

He wraps his arm around Nova, pulling her under his arm as he says to her, “I don’t think they want to know. Maybe we shouldn’t tell them. Doesn’t seem as though they are excited.”

I didn’t think it was possible for the room to get louder, but it does. He holds his hands up in surrender as Warrick and Nellie walk up, each holding an enormous black balloon with blue and pink ribbons hanging down. Each balloon has a bold white question mark on it. Warrick is the only one who knows what the gender is. Not even Nova or Silas were told, which makes him the world’s best secret keeper, since I know that she had to be asking him daily.

After handing off the balloons to each of them, Warrick steps to the side as his eyes slide to mine. He points to them and then he mouths “One day” to me.

“Alright, who's ready to count down? On the count of three, we will pop the balloons!” Nova yells out to the crowd.

Everyone begins to chant: “3…2…1…”

Nova and Silas slam their pins into the balloons as confetti drops to the floor in a shower of… blue!

“We are having BOYS!” Silas and Nova announce together.

Nova’s mouth falls open as she rushes to hug Silas. He kisses her forehead, each of her cheeks, and then once on the mouth before he wraps his arm around her shoulders.

“Welcome to the pack, Damon and Kael!” he announces to the crowd.

Awe, I love the names that they picked.Since we knew she was having twins, we had to pick two of each name, just in case. We also spent hours going over name combinations to make sure they sounded great together.

Glancing over to Warrick, I see his pained expression. I can see the desperate yearning playing across his face, the envy of what they have, and the moment he resigned, that he wouldn’t ever have it. I’m about to say something to him, when he turns and disappears through the crowd.

Maybe, just maybe, our fate is about learning how to love each other and accepting that we deserve that love.

Chapter 19

Warrick

“We don’t have as much time together like we used to, huh?” Silas asks from beside me as we make our walk around the perimeter. It’s not really necessary for him as the pack leader to do these walks, but he tries to walk at least once a week with me.

I scoff, “You have been a bit busy with Nova, the twins on the way, and being Alpha. Doesn’t leave much room left for your best friend.”

A grimace crosses his face. “I know. It feels like ever since we talked about me challenging Orion for Alpha, that my life hasbeen on fast forward. The last six months have been a complete whirlwind and the twins haven't even arrived yet. I can only imagine how quickly time will pass once we are busy changing diapers, burping babies, and sneaking in sleep where we can.”

I look over at him as he is watching his feet step one in front of the other. There is a troubled look to him that has me wondering if he needs this walk more than I do. “You’re good though, right?”

He shakes his head as though to pull himself out of his head. The laugh that comes from him seems almost forced. “Yeah, man, I’m good. Just worried that I won’t be a good enough dad and husband.”

I clap my hand on his back as I say, “I can’t say I know anything about being either of those things, but I can say that you being worried about it is a good indication that you will be great at both. I also, kind of, feel like Nova might keep you in line when it comes to that.

She can be kinda scary, especially right now.”

“Who are you telling! I thought that she was growly and possessive when it was the full moon, but it has nothing on pregnant Nova. Ever since the baby shower, I can’t even look in the direction of another female. It’s why we haven’t been going to town as of late. We went to the diner for her waffles and she almost bit the arm off of one of the poor servers because she walked too close to me. I spent at least thirty minutes consoling Nova because she felt so awful about it.”

My mouth hangs open, with shock coursing through me. “I didn’t know the females were that possessive during pregnancy.”

He laughs before turning to me. “When was the last time you were around a pregnant female, especially a wolf?”