Page 11 of The Wolf Guard’s Mate (Marked Beneath the Moon #3)

eleven

OLIVE

Everyone else was already in the lounge when we made it there with minimal awkward run-ins. Jake congratulated us cheerfully when we passed him outside the Lodge, so no ripping off of heads occurred.

Fletcher had basically been adopted into the Savage family after Aspen mated with Enzo, so I wasn’t surprised at all to see him and Syd on the couch together. They were snuggled up all cutesy—and when I saw their matching bite marks, I nearly squealed.

Throwing my arms around her, I congratulated her, and she congratulated me too with a laugh.

Nova dragged me into her arms for a hug of my own, and her grin was genuine enough that I didn’t have to worry she was secretly pissed about me mating with her brother-in-law slash sort-of-ex.

Yeah.

That was forever going to be awkward for me.

Or for a few years, at least.

“Welcome to the family,” Clay declared, draping an arm over Hunter’s shoulder. Hunter pushed it off, but when Clay put it back, my mate grumbled and accepted the physical contact.

“Agreed. We’re a mess, but usually an entertaining one,” Aspen remarked, lifting a glass of whatever she was drinking toward us with a smile.

Enzo sat beside her with his arm over her shoulders, and he was grinning too.

The grin was slightly terrifying, but similar enough to Hunter’s that I was mostly cool with it.

Mostly.

Hunter finally shrugged Clay’s arm off again and captured my hand, pulling me toward the tray of food that Enzo had apparently supplied. It was charcuterie, and there was a cellophane-wrapped gift basket set up behind it.

“What’s the gift basket for, and why does it have a congrats on your baby tag? They know you didn’t accidentally knock me up too, right?” I whispered to Hunter.

“They know. Enzo always does this shit,” Hunter murmured back. “He thinks everyone likes gift baskets.”

“Everyone does like gift baskets,” Enzo called from the couch.

“I don’t know why this is the one thing you still refuse to believe me about,” Aspen remarked. “I keep telling you they’re not a thing anymore.”

“What’s not to like? It’s full of snacks.” Enzo gestured to the basket.

“You guys rarely even eat prepackaged snacks.” Aspen pointed out.

He dragged her onto his lap. “Fine, Princess. You win. I’ll stop buying gift baskets.”

“Liar,” she teased, and he barked out a laugh as he pulled her closer.

“Ours still had the ‘congrats on your baby’ shit too,” Nova said with a grin. “Clay keeps trying to convince me that it would be fun to have a baby.”

“It would be,” he tossed out, his expression matching hers as he loaded his plate with charcuterie.

“In ten years, sure.” Nova ducked under his arm, and he pulled her close, dropping a kiss to her forehead. “We literally have forever.”

“Ten years will go by fast,” Clay agreed, and they headed over to the couch.

“How do you feel about babies?” I asked Hunter, eyeing him closely.

There were so many things we hadn’t talked about yet.

“Ten years sounds too soon,” he admitted.

I laughed, and he gave me a small grin.

“Did Hunter just smile ?” one of the girls whispered across the room.

“Maybe we’ll give it eleven,” I said with a wink.

He chuckled. “It’s a plan.”

There wasn’t much space left on the couch when we made it over there, but when Hunter pulled me down on his lap, there was plenty of room.

I could enjoy being a Savage if it came with charcuterie and teasing.