“We need to clean up and get some s’mores.” Alicia took my other hand.I had two alphas at my side. How could I have ever thought this wouldn’t work out? The question was, how. And that was something only time would tell.We cleaned up in record time and rushed to the s’mores table. They had everything from chocolate chip cookies to graham crackers to sugar cookies with more kinds of candy bars than I’d ever seen in one place that was not the candy store, before. The three of us ate our fill, my stomach queasy by the time Aspen called for us all to take our fur and run, the cubs being treated to an outdoor movie while we did.Home. Home. Home.Yes, this is home.But for how long?TWENTYDANTEI was home alone and I had to admit my mates had done an amazing job of making the place not only function well, but it looked nice. I’d never mention it to them because they laughed at how little attention I paid to my surroundings.While I was sitting on the sofa, I rested my feet, not on the c

“Which room will be the nursery? This one or the other one. We need wallpaper and a crib and onesies.” Alicia was on a roll. But as he twirled around, he froze and almost fell face-first on the floor. “But what if you can’t stay in Bruin Ridge?” He curled up beside Clarissa and sobbed into our omega’s neck.Clarissa patted his back, saying, “It’ll be okay.” And despite the bed being small, I crawled on the other side and the three of us lay there with our own thoughts.“No matter what happens, you are our mate, forever and ever.” Alicia wasn’t hiding his distress and I handed him a tissue to mop up his tears.This wasn’t right. We should be celebrating new life, not wallowing in self-pity. I got up. “If we make our bed, will you come back into the main bedroom?” I couldn’t bear having Clarissa sleep elsewhere when… when… he may have to leave. Sorrow squeezed around my heart, making it difficult to breathe.“Sure.” Clarissa grabbed a handful of ginger candy.Alicia raced ahead to get t

“Betas.” Julian’s voice came in through our open front window. “Betas, are you home?”I put down the instructions for the surprise I was building for Clarissa. “Hey, Julian. What’s going on?” He was a nice kid and had started to take on an active role in the den, particularly when it came to our rentals.“Beta Dante, Alpha asked me to get you two for a tour.” He put his hands in his front pockets. “So I’m to fetch you.” His head tilted slightly, a habit from his younger years, one many of us still fell into on occasion.“A tour? Why?” We did varied tasks as Betas, but tours generally weren’t one of them.“Alpha said you’d want to do this one.”“I’ll get Alicia and meet you down at the rentals.”“The Alpha house.” Julian looked down. “And I’m to bring you.”Nothing about this was how we typically did things around here, but I chalked that up to Alpha probably being busy. As Alicia and I got closer to Alpha’s, we scented it was more than that.“Alicia,” I said and then inhaled again, ju

“What do you think?” Aspen asked. “Because you are den, vow or no.”“I think we need to add to the plan.” Our omega leaned back in his chair. “Even if we have a bear, this education will be beneficial since they could one day be the parent of a snow leopard if the recessive genes hit just right.”The next hour was spent making a tentative plan, Waylon agreeing to come on a pack run and stay for a few days while we worked out the details. The issue needed to be approved by the council at large, but the way Waylon spoke, this was all but a done deal.TWENTY-THREECLARISSA“Need some help.”Both my mates tore into the bedroom and kneeled on either side of the bed. I’d taken to sleeping some nights in the third bedroom, as the second had been converted to the baby’s nursery. Much as I liked sleeping with my mates, getting me out from the middle of that huge, custom-built bed took a while and with our young sitting on my bladder, I didn’t always have the time.They manhandled me to a sitti

Even Healer was chuckling. “The T word?” That set everyone laughing even more.“They’re a good weight so we’re done, unless you have any questions.”He handed me paper towels to wipe the gel from my belly but my mates took over and cleaned me up. And when we finally got outside, we linked arms and walked to the car. It had been a good day. I’d gotten over my fears and Healer had confirmed I had three babies inside me.TWENTY-FOURDANTE“I feel bad leaving him.” I set my folded clothing onto the boulder. “What if he needs us?”Our mate was pregnant—very pregnant. Like even the paternity clothing no longer fit him pregnant. But that was the way of things when you were carrying triplets. There was just a whole lotta baby growing inside our mate.Babes.Ours.Home.Now.My bear was being a butt. Or maybe he was just echoing how I felt. In either case, he was right. We should be there with him.But then again, I’d been saying that every perimeter run for the past four weeks. It wasn’t a ne