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MARLOWE

One year later

My mouth watered as the savory, decadent aroma of garlic, mushroom, and melted brie made their way to my nest. I was feeling absolutely ravenous, and wanted to get downstairs quickly to eat whatever Nolan had just pulled out of the oven, but my belly got in the way as I tried to put on my fuzzy socks, and I whined in frustration.

“I just want to bend over!”

I wailed, my eyes blurring. Was it stupid to cry over socks? Yes, of course. But I was so tired of being pregnant and I just wanted to be able to bend over without a four-point action plan again.

Archer knocked, his voice almost patronizingly calm. “Is everything alright?”

“No!”

I yelled. I couldn’t even fall back on my bed dramatically because then I’d have to get up, which was another production in and of itself.

Archer opened the door and stuck a cautious head inside, trying and failing to hide a knowing grin off his face. “Does my little omega need some help?”

I was fuming now, wiping angry tears off my cheeks as I threw my socks in his direction. “Yes, your little omega who’s carrying one of your big, stupid pups needs help.”

He chuckled to himself as he picked the offending garments off the floor, kneeling at my feet to help me slip them on. “Well, if it’s a big, stupid pup, then it’s probably not mine, at least. So hopefully you can keep me off your shit list.”

I held onto the edge of the bed and snorted. “As far as I’m concerned, this pup is a chimera made of all of you, so you’re all equally to blame.”

Just my luck, one of these alpha fuckers had managed to knock me up on my first heat as their bonded omega. We’d taken all the necessary precautions, but life, well, “found a way.”

Everyone but me had been thrilled by the news at first, while I’d been scared out of my mind. Eventually I’d come around, though, and now felt excited to become a mom, even if I’d originally wanted to wait a few more years.

But that didn’t change the fact that I abhorred being pregnant. Morning sickness had been a 24/7 sickness for me, until about halfway through when my nausea had turned into constant heartburn. The guys were taking the absolute best care of me—from alleviating me of any and all housework, to daily, or sometimes hourly, massages, and finally to smiling patiently through all of my hormonal meltdowns.

Archer gave my foot a light squeeze. “It could have been worse—you could be having twins.”

I shuddered at the thought. Being a fraternal twin myself meant I was more likely to have them, too. Thank the Moon I’d dodged that bullet.

“Just roughly six more weeks to go. Come on, let me get you downstairs. Your guests should be arriving soon, and I think Elias has finished decorating. I’m sure he’ll be wanting all the appropriate praise and approval.”

Then he offered me his hand and effortlessly pulled me off the bed.

I gave myself one last look in the mirror. My makeup was still intact despite the crying, and my hair was looking healthy and shiny—one of the few benefits to being pregnant.

I smoothed down the dress Elias had bought me for the occasion. It was a winter white, faux wrap sweater dress, with a V neck and back. He’d taken me to get my nails done yesterday, and the light blue shade I’d chosen matched perfectly with the “Winter Wonderland”

theme we’d decided on for the baby shower.

Well, the theme Elias had decided on.

My only requirements for the festivities were in regards to the food, which Nolan happily agreed to take care of, and that we don’t play any games. I just wanted to laugh and talk with my friends, not guess which type of chocolate bar had been melted to look like poop in a diaper.

I rubbed my hand over my large, protruding belly and took a deep breath. “Okay, let’s get this over with.”

Archer lifted an eyebrow, his expression somewhat hurt. “You aren’t looking forward to this?”

“No, I am,”

I said, flattening my lips and shrugging. “But you know how I feel about being the center of attention. I’m just not looking forward to getting pawed at all afternoon by people lying to me about how cute I look.”

“They wouldn’t be lying,”

Archer replied, cocking his head, his eyes crinkling as he smiled. “You’re stunning, Marlowe.”

Ugh, these males. I rolled my eyes in dismissal and waddled towards the door. “My ankles are swollen and my face is puffy. I know the truth.”

Archer shook his head and sighed, realizing he couldn’t win this argument, and simply followed me out of my room.

I looked out from the upstairs landing and audibly gasped as I took in the sight of the living room, now transformed into a fête for the Moon Goddess herself. Ornate balloon arches framed an egg-shaped rattan chair, surrounded by small, snow-capped Christmas trees. Snowflakes and icicles hung from the windows, and large, white floral arrangements covered every table.

Meanwhile, the kitchen island was covered in finger food, from a charcuterie board to cookies to hummus with veggies to a hot chocolate station.

I was about to gush to Elias and Nolan about how impressed I was when the loud buzz of the vacuum started up, and Cam angrily ran it around the large, real Christmas tree I’d insisted we get for the season, cleaning up the needles that had offended him this morning by daring to fall.

Archer gave me a knowing smile and offered me his elbow, helping me get down the stairs.

Elias stood triumphant in front of his work and beamed, waiting for Cam to finish his rage cleaning. “Do you like it?”

he asked, once the vacuum was off.

“I love it,”

I whispered, giving him a kiss before heading towards the pastries I’d been smelling. I picked one up and took a big bite before Nolan could warn me.

“Careful, they’re–”

“HOT!”

I cried, opening my mouth and fanning my tongue. Nolan bit back a laugh, filling a glass of water and handing it to me.

I swallowed the piece and took a big gulp, smiling through the pain. “Worth it.”

Taking a few more careful bites, I walked around the living room to inspect the rest of the decorations when Julian came in through the front door.

“Got the cake!”

he announced, kicking off his boots haphazardly as he headed towards Nolan to hand it off.

Cam’s right eye twitched at the sight of the small, dirty pools of snow now melting at the entryway. I gave him a pointed look before he could yell at Julian, and he gave up, sighing loudly as he grabbed a paper towel to clean up the mess.

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 expensive food 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, keeping Tums on 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 Nolan rubbed my feet. “That was from Patricia, right? Or was it from Kian, et al?”

Elias clicked his tongue and his pen, scribbling something down. “No, Kian and his ladies got us the monogrammed blanket and beanie, so I think it was Patricia. Alright, that just leaves…”

A bolt of power jolted through me and I tried to sit up, failing miserably and just flopping like a fish.

“Damn, baby, you good?”

Cam asked. “Wait—is it time?”

The rest of the pack perked up, their bodies tensing and looking at me expectantly. Julian’s fingers flickered at his side, ready to grab my hospital bag.

“What? No, it’s still too early. Ezra’s here.”

They grunted their disappointment and sat back down, while Cam helped me get up off the couch. I shuffled towards the back door, where my brother now stood, flanked by two shifter guards.

They were wearing clothes, thank the Moon, and I gave a mocking bow. At least as well as I could.

“Your Majesty…”

“Rise, bitch,”

he replied, his face breaking out into a shit-eating grin. He leaned down, framing my cheeks in his large hands and planting a big kiss on my forehead.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and breathed him in. “You missed the party, jerk.”

He laughed, giving me a little pat on the head.

Things were almost back to normal for us. I still wasn’t sure if I could ever fully forgive him for what he’d done to our parents and to me. But as more time passed since I’d defeated Alaroth, Ezra’s mind cleared even further, and I could see how the reality of his actions were affecting him.

Ezra had been vulnerable when the king had found him, and he’d used his magic like a poison to make him easier to manipulate. Sure, his feelings of resentment had already been there, but without the king pulling his strings, my brother would never have even thought about killing Mom and Dad.

As he’d promised, he started crossing over once every two weeks to join me with a family therapist in Eau Claire. Archer had suggested her to us, since she was a shifter acquaintance of his.

We were making progress, but the pressure of suddenly becoming a monarch, as well as coming to terms with how he’d gotten there, weighed on him heavily, and righting his own wrongs were more emotionally challenging than he’d anticipated. I couldn’t count how many times he’d shown up here in the middle of the night, stressed out and crying, asking me to help talk him through his trauma.

“Sorry,”

Ezra replied. “We couldn’t shift and carry your present at the same time, so it took longer to get here than I’d anticipated.”

I let go of him and clapped my hands. “Yay, present! Gimme gimme!”

One of the guards went behind a tree and brought out a large, intricately carved wooden cradle. Twisting vines and curling leaves intertwined along the rails, while the phases of the moon and a howling wolf adorned the headboard. Cam whistled in appreciation, knocking gently on its side.

“Damn, that’s beautiful. What is this, maple?”

My pack had not been as keen to work towards forgiveness with Ezra, even after he’d helped us in the end. But they had come to a tacit understanding after a few more rounds of all-out brawls in the backyard. How males could go from mortal enemies to best friends after punching each other senseless, I’d never know.

Ezra smiled. “No, it’s Liunrin, a type of tree in Vespera. I worked with a fae midwife to spell the wood, so whenever your pup cries, it will start rocking them back to sleep automatically.”

Damnit, these pregnancy hormones had me fucked. I started to tear up, grabbing my brother again to give him a giant hug. “It’s perfect, thank you.”

He hugged me back, gently swaying us side to side. “It’s no problem. Not going to lie, though, Canna helped out a lot.”

I laughed into his chest.

Canna, as I’d predicted, had become quite the powerhouse as the new queen. And Ezra, for all his “alpha of alpha”

bullshit, loved having a female tell him what to do, which worked out perfectly because Canna was amazing. She was smart, funny, and my brother absolutely adored her. She called him out on his shit regularly, but was also compassionate and understanding, and had been instrumental in his healing. She was the perfect counterpart for the crown, and together, I knew they could bring a whole new era of peace and prosperity to Vespera.

“Is Canna here? I haven’t seen her in ages.”

“No,”

he sighed. “She was going to come, but the pup’s been rough on her, too.”

Canna was a few months behind me in her pregnancy, and to say I was thrilled would be an understatement.

Ezra and I had always had each other growing up, but I’d envied my friends who had large, extended families. Including Ivy’s four boys, this pup was going to have more cousins than they’d know what to do with.

“Aw, that sucks. Want me to send you back with some ginger tea? It helped me a lot.”

“Sure, why not?”

We exchanged the tea and some of Wasabi’s favorite Earth treats—canned tuna fish, mostly—for the cradle, and after a few more hugs and assurances that Nantier and Bohun were doing well, Ezra left with his guards to do some work.

One of his other big projects since becoming king was to keep the one portal near here strong and open. The priestesses had closed them to end the Great War, at the high cost of shifters’ and vampyrs’ magic abilities.

But now, he was clearing the portal of its restrictive properties, allowing the magic from the fae realm to once again flow freely into our world.

It was all thanks to him that shifters were shifting again.

Archer reported that there had also been a downtick in cases of Shifter Repression Syndrome, but said it would be years before it had likely disappeared altogether, and many more before we’d find out if the magic would bring omegas back, too.

Just getting rid of the disease that had prematurely killed so many shifters was good enough, though.

I watched Ezra as he slinked back into the night, and a distant howl pierced the cold, quiet air. My own wolf perked up inside, whining gently to be released.

“Sorry girl, not until this little pup is out,”

I whispered, rubbing my belly. Apparently shifting while pregnant could trigger premature labor, and my wolf was getting restless at having been locked up for so long.

I went back inside to find the guys had already finished putting away all the food, but Nolan had left another slice of cake for me on the counter. Cam came back into the kitchen after dropping the cradle off in the nursery, and then helped me head into the basement, where the rest of the pack was now relaxing and watching the highlights from last week’s Packers game.

Elias patted the empty space next to him. “Hey, California, curl up here.”

He held my hips and helped me ease into the low sofa, and I landed with a wumph. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder, nuzzling into my neck. I giggled and handed him my plate.

“Hold on one sec,”

I replied. I took out my phone to check the text Esther had sent me a few minutes ago.

Esther: How was the puppy shower??

Another thing I’d taken care of after we’d returned from Vespera was to let Esther know what was really going on in my life, finally bringing her into the fold.

Being able to shift into a wolf definitely made the news a little easier to swallow for her than it had been for me. Back when I’d first come out here about a year ago, the only proof I’d been shown of shifter existence was a bunch of growly, horny guys who kept telling me I smelled good.

And being from the Bay Area, Esther knew enough people in “contemporary relationships”

that the idea of me being with five males barely made her blink. “Okay, so you’re the luckiest woman I know. I mean, at least you’re not pregnant,”

she’d said with a sarcastic laugh.

Whoops.

I think that had been the most difficult piece of information for her to come to terms with. But after the initial shock had worn off, she’d jumped headfirst into the role of “human godmother”

and had started making plans to stay here with me for a few weeks to help me in my postpartum period. I’d assured her that with five pack mates, I already wasn’t planning on lifting a finger, but she’d insisted I would probably want another female here, too.

“Are you really going to ask them to help you go to the bathroom? You know what they say about those first poops after giving birth…”

she’d warned.

I’d booked her flight as soon as we hung up.

Me: The shower was great, I wish you could have been here. I can’t wait to see you!

Text sent, I took my plate back from Elias and sighed, nestling into the crook of his arm and propping my feet up on the coffee table. “Is this really what we’re watching tonight?” I asked.

“Nope,”

Julian replied. He took the remote and opened up Netflix, going straight for the new holiday movie, Christmas at Cormorant Hall. “You ready?”

he asked with a smile.

Julian was now a bigger fan of corny Christmas movies than I was, and his eyebrows bounced with excitement as he settled into his seat.

I looked around the room at my pack and felt surrounded by their love, their joy, and their affection. It all barreled down the bond towards me, and I felt my pup kick in response.

“Yeah, I think I’m ready.”