Epilogue XO
One year later…
The clink of glasses and the low hum of voices filters to me through the open glass doors behind me. The party is still in full swing inside, well past midnight, and I’m feeling a little peopled out.
But this is Liam’s night. A wrap party for his most recent Huntington Force movie. The entire cast and crew are so deep in their cups, things are getting a little sloppy. Someone shrieks and then laughs raucously, and I feel a little shiver work its way down my spine. Not the bad kind. Just… excitement.
Tonight marks the end of a busy six months and the start of a month-long vacation for our whole pack. Gray has promised he won’t work at all the entire time we’re gone. Liam has stated the only work he plans on doing is song writing with me. He won’t even look at any scripts. Gage is leaving his new business in very capable hands, as am I. I still own the Snack Shack, but I haven’t worked there in months. Instead, it’s managed by a very capable beta couple that reminds me so much of my parents I cried after the first time I met them.
And Rafe… well, he’s always going to be head of our security, focused on our pack’s safety, but we’re going to a private island in the middle of nowhere, so he should be able to relax a little.
But that’s not even the best part.
I have a secret. One I’ve been saving to share with them for a few weeks now.
My first instinct was to tell them right away, but then I thought it better to wait until we could all bask in the joy together.
My phone vibrates, and I pull it out of my jeans pocket to check the screen.
Sadie:
We did it bitches!
She’s attached a link to an article that I already saw. Gray made sure I was aware of it the moment it published.
Not only is today the last day of filming for Liam, but it’s also the day that the courts reached a ruling against Apex Pharmaceuticals, resulting in countless higher ups and lead scientists in the company serving jail time, as well as paying reparations to the people they hurt in their quest to make money.
Sadie and Sylvie were far from the only victims.
“What’s got you so happy?” Gage murmurs, stepping up behind me. Both of his hands brace on the metal railing in front of me, caging me in. Not that I mind in the slightest. I’d happily spend the rest of my life with this alpha looming over me, making me feel safe and secure.
His lips brush against my bare shoulder in a lingering kiss. “Biscuit?”
I lean back into him, my head resting on his shoulder. “Nothing, really. Just glad Liam’s finally done with filming. Now we can take a vacation. I’m ready for it to be just us.”
He chuckles. “Sure, just us and Sadie and Sylvie. Jackson, Davis, Swift, Maddox, Ethan, Topher, Logan-”
I cut him off as I spin and press my lips to his, because he would definitely keep listing all the members of both the Falcone and newly minted Grace pack. It still makes my heart go all melty that Vee’s pack changed their pack name to her middle name, rather than make her use the name of the man who conspired to keep them apart.
Gage laughs against my mouth, then kisses me back, slow and steady, before he pulls away slowly. “They’re family,” I say, a little breathless. It’s a common problem these days, with four men that I adore kissing me to the point of lack of oxygen. “And it’s an entire island, Gage. We’ll all have our own villas and space.”
He nods and kisses the tip of my nose. “I know. It’ll be so fucking nice to be lazy.” In the last year, Gage opened his own gym. With the backing of the Cordova pack, he’s able to offer deeply discounted—sometimes free—memberships to those of lower incomes. He’s started offering free classes to kids in just about everything from karate and boxing to yoga and Pilates.
It was an overnight success, especially once word got out that Liam, Gray and Rafe Cordova use the gym exclusively. He’s been busier than ever before and if I’m being honest, I’ve missed him. Even though he makes a point of being home every night by seven. All of them do, except for Liam, who is a slave to his filming schedule. It’s not enough time. It’s never enough time. Not when it comes to the men I love. I want to spend every second of every day with them.
“You sure you’re just excited about vacation?” Gage asks in a way that has my eyes flying up to meet his. He can’t know. I haven’t told anyone.
I nod slowly. “Yep, just excited to sit on a beach and sip margaritas and do nothing else for three weeks.”
He hums and runs his nose along my cheek until he reaches my ear. “We both know you won’t be sipping any margaritas, biscuit.”
I jerk back, looking up at him with wide eyes. “What?”
He pins me with a look that says, be serious . But I can’t admit it. I want to tell them all together as a group. So I tilt my chin up as a slow smile crawls over his face. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“No?”
“Nope.”
“None?”
“Nada.”
“ Biscuit .”
“ Gage. ”
“What are we arguing over?” Rafe asks, stepping up next to us, and Gage removes one of his hands from the railing to give the other alpha space.
“Whether Sorrel will be drinking on our vacation.”
Rafe snorts. “Uh, no. You won’t. It’s adorable that you’ve been carrying around the same glass of champagne all night, as if we wouldn’t notice.”
I frown over at the full glass resting on the railing where I left it. “How…”
“Superior sense of smell, sweet thing.” Gray joins us, and Gage shifts again, pulling me in front of him and leaning against the railing, so my back pressing to his chest, one of his big hands resting possessively on my stomach. The other two alphas flank us, twin looks of pride in their eyes as the watch Gages hand stroke over my belly. “We knew before you did,” Gray admits.
My frown melts into a scowl. “And you didn’t think to tell me? To mention it?”
Rafe shrugs. “Your scent changed, but we didn’t know for sure, conejita .”
“And then you tried to be all sneaky going to the doctor, which was so fucking cute, telling us it was just a regular checkup when you just had one right before Liam’s last heat.” My cheeks flare, remembering the heat, the likely result of which we’re now discussing.
“Your emotions have been all over the place,” Gray says gently.
Gage tugs me tighter against him. “But mostly, we’re bonded, Sorrel. We can feel you, everything you feel, and you’ve been this ball of happiness and excitement and nerves. We knew something was up.”
I sigh and sink against him as Gray picks up my hand and presses a kiss to my wrist. “So you’ve all known I’m pregnant?”
“What?” Liam’s voice cuts through the noise of the party. Drawing the four of our attention to the omega standing just outside the double doors, staring at us. His mouth is open and his pretty green eyes are wide and glossy.
“Well, not all of us,” Rafe murmurs, with a small smile on his lips.
Liam’s gaze locks on mine as he takes one step forward. “You’re pregnant?” He whispers, like if he says it any louder, it might shatter the illusion.
Tears prick my eyes and my lower lip trembles as I nod. “Yes.”
“We’re having a baby?” His voice cracks on the last word.
Another nod. “Yes, Liam.”
“I-I’m gonna be a dad?”
The most beautiful grin crosses his face. He whoops and laughs, jumping into the air and pumping his fist, drawing the attention of the party goers inside. I laugh, my tears filling and spilling over to my cheeks as he lunges forward and cups my face with his hands, pressing an urgent kiss to my mouth. “I’m gonna be a dad,” he whispers against my lips, sounding awed. “Holy shit.” He drops to his knees in front of me, pressing his face against my still flat stomach. “Hi there, little bean. It’s your Daddy Liam. We’re gonna take such good care of you. I promise. You are so fucking loved. We’re gonna give you the best fucking life.”
“Watch your language when you’re talking to our baby,” Gage growls from behind me.
“They don’t understand anything yet,” I giggle. “They won’t for a long time.”
“No, but we should get in the habit of not swearing now,” Gray says matter-of-factly. “We don’t want any slip up when they can understand.”
“Sorry,” our omega whispers into the fabric of my dress before pushing to his feet and kissing me again. “I’m so fucking happy, lovely.”
“Me too.” I laugh, then pull back to look at the alphas surrounding us. “That’s how you’re supposed to react to this type of news for future reference.”
Liam kisses me again. “Thank you. Thank you for giving me this.” Then he pulls back and glares at the men surrounding us. “You all knew and didn’t tell me?”
They shift uncomfortably. “Sorrel didn’t tell you either,” Gray points out, then winces when the back of my hand meets his stomach. He catches my fingers and lifts them to his mouth again. “Emotional,” he murmurs.
“I didn’t tell any of you!” Feeling guilty, I look at my omega and pull him closer. “I wanted it to be a surprise. I was going to tell you all tomorrow… before we left. I had a whole thing planned. Apparently all for nothing.” I’m pouting, but I can’t help it.
Liam laughs and sucks my bottom lip into his mouth, scraping his teeth over it. “Pouty little beta. You can still do it. I promise we can all act surprised.”
I shake my head. “Nope, it’s silly now.”
Gage kisses my shoulder. “What were you going to do?”
“Scavenger hunt.”
Rafe’s eyebrows arch. “What kind of scavenger hunt?”
Another sigh. I spent so long on it too. “One that was going to take you around the city, to a park, a fun zone, a toy store, all things you do with kids. I kind of hoped you know what was happening before you reached the final destination.”
“What was the final destination, sweet thing?”
A small smile curls my lips. “Liam’s nest where I’d be waiting, naked with a positive pregnancy test.”
“Hmm… Maybe we should still do that. I love the idea of hunting all over the city for my girl and finding her naked and ready for us.”
A low growl sounds from Rafe. “Fuck yeah, I can get behind that.”
I shake my head. “No, now it’s ruined. You guys know where you’d be going. Stupid scent change.”
“Lovely,” Liam chides. “If you put the work in, we’re happy to do it.” This sweet man.
I run a finger down the front of his shirt. “We could just skip to the part where I’m naked and ready and willing?”
They all shift closer, scents rising right alongside mine. Liam groans and falls into me, takes my mouth with his in a frantic kiss while he grinds his hard length into my stomach, before he abruptly pulls back. “Shit. I’m sorry.”
I blink up at him, confused. “Why?”
“You’re pregnant now, we need to be careful… Oh fuck. I fucked you so hard last night, that can’t… that wouldn’t hurt the baby, right?” I roll my eyes and chuckle a little at that.
“We all fucked her hard last night,” Gray says, sounding concerned, his grey eyes running over me like he’s looking for signs of distress in the life growing in my womb.
“Fuck. Liam’s right, we need to be careful.” Gage tugs me closer.
Rafe nods. “Yeah. We don’t want to take any chances.”
I laugh. I can’t help it. It’s so sweet and so adorably absurd. I laugh until tears are streaming down my face and I’m doubled over with my ass pressed against Gage’s lap, and Gray stroking soothingly up and down my spine.
When I’ve finally got myself under control, I straighten and wipe my eyes, not carrying in the slightest that my makeup is now smeared. “Oh fuck,” I chuckle a few more times. “Oh man. Vee and Sadie warned me you might react like that. Their packs did the same thing. But it’s so much better in person.”
Liam folds his arms over his chest, his lower lip pushing out in a pout. “I don’t think taking the health of our child seriously is anything funny.”
That dries up the last of my laughter. I nod. “You’re right. It’s not. But I can assure you that sex of any kind will not hurt our baby. Even rough sex. Even deep, hard sex. Even knotting or heat sex. Women have been having sex while pregnant for millennia.” I look around at all three of them. “Please don’t start treating me like I’m breakable because of this. I’m not. And I love hard fucking. You all know this.”
Rafe smirks at me. “Damn right we do, conejita .”
Gage kisses my neck, tongue trailing a wet streak over his bonding bite, then down to Liam’s. “I don’t know about you three, but hearing our girl say the word sex and fucking so many times has got me rock hard.”
“Hmm,” I press my ass harder into him. “Maybe we should go home and do something about that.”
“Fuck yeah, we should,” Gray growls, tugging me out of their center and into his arms. I laugh as he scoops me up, carrying me into the chaos of the party.
“I can walk, you know. I’m pregnant, not injured.”
“I know.”
I can tell he won’t put me down, so I drape an arm over his shoulder, fingers playing in the short strands of his hair.
He looks at me out of the corner of his eye. “So you told Sadie and Sylvie before you told us?”
I frown. “No.”
“Then why did you say they warned you we would react that way about sex?”
I shrug, teeth sinking into my bottom lip. “We might have had a conversation about how much fun it would be to be pregnant together and have kids around the same age. And we may have stopped our birth control all at the same time.”
He stops walking and looks down at me sharply. “They’re pregnant too?”
I nod with a grin. “Yep. During their last heats.”
Gray’s cheeks flush, and he starts walking again. “I don’t need to know the specifics of their pregnancies, sweet thing. Yours, on the other hand, I’ll need to know everything.”
I nod. I expected nothing less from my prime alpha.
A low chuckle rumbles out of him as he looks down at me again, shaking his head. “I can’t believe the three of you planned this, you little minx.”
“Who planned what?” Rafe asks.
“Sadie and Sylvie are pregnant too,” I say airily.
The rest of our pack draws up short before hurrying after us. “They are?”
We push out of the building and onto the street. “Yep,” I say, kicking my feet a little and making Gray tighten his grip on me. “I’m so excited to experience this with them.”
Gage shakes his head. “I feel sorry for the Falcones.”
“Hey!” I protest. “That’s my friend you’re disparaging, buddy!”
Gage pins me with a look. “What? You know she’s a handful for them now. I can only imagine what it’ll be like with her hormones going wild.”
I mean, he’s not wrong. “But that’s why we love her,” I say primly.
“Vee will be good. That girl is the calmest omega I’ve ever seen.” Liam nods his head knowledgeably.
I nod along with him. Again, he’s not wrong. Rafe opens the door to the car and Gray slides me in. “And what about me, hmm?”
Gray strokes his fingers over my cheek, leans in to press a kiss to my mouth. “You’re a dream, Sorrel. Our dream.”
Tears prick my eyes as I lean forward to kiss him again before I whisper. “And you’re mine.”