Alpha Queen (Claimed by Wolves 4)

“What are you slackers doing?” She cocks an eyebrow. “Don’t you have some hammering to do? I know they need help putting up drywall down at the complex. I’m going to head there now.”

Then she gives me a wink and tosses an arm around Ridge’s shoulders, steering him and the other alphas down the road toward their next job. The guys are too intrigued by what just happened between Gwen and Amora to protest when I join them, which is nice because I’m ready to get my hands dirty.

I may be pregnant, but I’m fully capable of wielding a hammer just like they are.

And we’ve got a future to build.

Epilogue

Sable

Three Months Later

The room is quiet, and the ceiling fan spins lazily overhead in the afternoon sunlight filtering through the gauzy white curtains I chose for our new bedroom.

Trystan nuzzles his face against my growing belly, feathering tiny kisses down my side. Even though I’ve already been satisfied thoroughly, his lips brushing along my skin send my libido back into overdrive.

My head rests on Ridge’s warm chest, while Dare and Archer cuddle lazily against my body. I can’t recall a time I’ve ever been so happy and content with my life.

“Hey, quit turning her on,” Dare says, shoving Trystan’s face away from my stomach. “I don’t have it in me to go again.”

I laugh, and Ridge’s own chuckle echoes through my ear as he sweeps my hair away from my face and runs his fingers gently through it.

“Your inability to go again isn’t my problem,” Trystan retorts, and his tongue darts out to wet my skin.

The moan that comes out of me makes all of my mates groan in response.

“Fuck. You’re sexy as hell when you’re pregnant.” Trystan nips at my skin again. “Can we have a million babies?”

“Well, let’s start with one and go from there,” I shoot back, laughing as I rub a hand over my belly.

Ridge shifts beneath me, and I can tell he’s glancing over his shoulder at the clock on the bedside stand. “We need to get up anyway. Meeting’s in twenty, and I’m ninety percent certain Sable’s about to tell us she’s hungry.”

I look up at him without lifting my face. “I resent the implication.”

His warm hands cup my face. “Tell me our child isn’t hungry.”

With a sigh, I lever myself into a sitting position and begrudgingly agree. “Yes, our child is hungry.”

I’d spend every moment of the day in bed with my men if I could, but we’ve got a pack to run. So we shower together in the big standing shower my men custom built for our new home, where all four of them demand to be the one to rub soap on my belly. Then we grab a quick snack in the kitchen before we leave for the meeting.

The original East Pack meeting house has been expanded and updated. It’s more like a warehouse now, large enough to fit most of the Montana Pack, as long as some of the kids and grandparents stay home. If we’d gone any larger with the addition, it would have taken over too much of the land we needed for homes.

I follow the alphas to the head of the table, where several of the elders are gathered, chatting. While my men join in the conversation, Elder Jihoon turns to greet me with a nod.

“Hello, Sable,” he says as he reaches to pull out a chair for me. “How do you feel?”

“Exhausted,” I tell him honestly, thanking him with a nod as I sink into the chair.

“I’m sure,” he says. “But Camilla is taking good care of you and the baby, yes?”

“Camilla is wonderful,” I say. Eccentric as all get out, but definitely a great midwife.

“Good, good.” He settles into the seat beside me, then smiles. “If you want, I could use my divining rods to discover the sex of the baby.”

The reminder of our first meeting sends a wave of affection through me. God, that feels like it happened to an entirely different person. That scared little girl, surrounded by wolves, being told she’s not who she thinks she is? I can barely remember being her.

“No, but thank you,” I say, reaching out to squeeze his hand. “I think I want it to be a surprise.”