The pack party was in full swing. With our uncle Hugo and Enzo back in town to meet my five children and Kyle’s mini-Uncle Charlie, the compound was crowded. Uncle Maon and Aunt Effie had even come to town with all their children, including the new baby, Bob. I really wanted to ask where they’d gotten such a basic name for their newest family member, but as Uncle Jun liked to say—not my circus, not my monkeys.

Kyle cracked up and pointed at the look on Charlie’s face when Raven fluttered by with his two gorgeous fathers chasing after him. Lucky had taken Charlie under his wing, and the two of them were wandering around the pack chatting with everyone as they went. I laughed aloud when I heard Raven caw like a crow as he began dive-bombing through the crowd while Spike chased after him, barking as if to tell the baby to get back on the ground where he belonged.

We were sitting on the grass at the edge of the gathering, people-watching and enjoying each other’s company. Kyle wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling my back up against his chest as he nestled his chin on my shoulder. “Remember when we had crazy cubs that we couldn’t control? Imagine having a baby with wings that could take off flying whenever it wanted.”

I shook my head and shuddered playfully. “I don’t even want to imagine that. I wonder how long it will be before his wings retract and he looks human? I’m assuming he will at some point, right? I mean, his dads look human, but they can grow wings when they want. I’m guessing it works like that for him, but instead of learning to shift into gargoyle form, he’ll need to learn to shift into a human?” I thought about that for a second then shook my head. “At any rate, it’ll be fun to watch. With the world’s first gargoyle baby, who knows what the future has in store.”

I watched as our parents visited with our aunt and uncles after Uncle Enzo had caught Raven. Our triplets were being passed around the pack while Xander and Zane were back in cub form, chasing after Spike. I grinned when I saw Xander chasing after the mean little shit and pointed it out to Toby. “Does that help you feel any better about that dog biting your nose when you met him?”

Toby laughed so hard as he leaned back in his chair, rocking onto the back legs with the front ones off the ground, that he fell flat on his back. The lawn chair he was in snapped shut, the seat slamming him in the balls. I shook my head sadly. “Toby, that’s why you don’t have your legs over the arms while you’re leaning back in a chair. No offense, but I can’t feel sorry for you this time.”

Aaron shot me a glare as he rushed over to offer Toby a hand up. When Toby took Aaron’s grip, they both jerked their hands back as if they’d been shocked. Aaron held his palm up, staring at it in wonder before gazing up at Toby, who’d slowly risen to his feet and was suddenly looking at Aaron like he’d never seen him before in his life.

I rubbed my hands together and looked around until I caught Jonny and Connor’s eyes. They both glanced over to see what I was so excited about, then looked back at me with knowing smiles after they saw the newest coupling. Yeah, we weren’t lying when we said we’d seen all the future matings in our pack. Aaron and Toby were just the last to be matched… for now.

Kyle pulled me over onto his lap, jerking his chin toward our friends. “The final couple, huh? Even I had that one figured out. I mean, if the rest of us all hooked up, it stood to reason that the two of them would be fated too. Especially since they’re such good friends. They’ve always been so cute together, I’m glad the goddess made them mates.”

I rested my head against his and smiled as Toby gallantly held his arm out to Aaron and the two of them quietly walked away together, murmuring sweetly between themselves. I winced when Toby stumbled over a rock, but smiled when Aaron steadied him and kept him from falling. Kyle snorted into my hair. “See? They’ll be perfect together.”

“And maybe Toby will require a few less Band-Aids.” I couldn’t help but laugh.

“You know, it was just five months ago that we were at a party like this and caught each other’s scent.” Kyle nipped at my ear then kissed my neck.

“It’s all happened so fast, right?” I looked around at our pack and marveled at how much things had changed over the past year. My brothers and I had all gotten our mates and begun our families, and now Toby and Aaron would be doing it too. The rest of my generation were mated and the future was wide open.

“Guess what?” Faith asked brightly as she and Phoenix came over and sat down beside us, both of them grinning from ear to ear.

“I hope you’re not trying to make a pregnancy announcement, because you’ve both got to know that we can already smell it, right?” Kyle smirked at my cousin.

Faith shot Kyle a dirty look. “Well I wasn’t planning to, you big jerk. My plan had been to announce it to Phoenix privately when we were alone. I was hoping that everybody would keep their mouths shut in the meantime, either that or they’d be too distracted by all the babies we already have around here.”

Kyle slapped a palm to his forehead, obviously feeling bad that he’d blown it for her big announcement. We always forgot that some of our friends didn’t have the same enhanced olfactory senses that we cats did. As a wolf, Phoenix couldn’t have known about it yet, unless someone told him.

Phoenix pulled Faith in for a kiss before she could say whatever she’d intended to before the accidental pregnancy announcement. A hawk flew overhead, squawking joyfully as it flew in wide circles while a tiny red panda raced around the yard, chasing after a dingo. I smiled as a remembered vision from years ago came to mind. Sitting here at this party, surrounded by these people, I had a sense of déjà vu and realized why the girls were excited. I kept my mouth shut, though, and let Faith tell Kyle once she and Phoenix were done kissing.

“So anyway, if you will notice the excitement among our chickadee triad, I’ll tell you what I came over to share.” Faith stuck her tongue out at Kyle.

Kyle laughed and buried his face against my neck before glancing back at Faith. “Sorry. Will you please tell me why the girls are so excited, Faith?”

Faith beamed from ear to ear. “I’m not the only pregnant one! Lulu and I get to be pregnant together. She just found out, and that’s why she’s up there doing the aerial stunts.” We looked up to see that Lulu was indeed doing stunts. She was flying upside down when I first looked, then she did a loop-the-loop and dive-bombed her mates before shooting straight back up toward the sky and spreading her wings as she floated in a wide circle over the crowd. The joyful shrill chirping noise she made was echoed down below by little Raven, making all of us crack up.

“Daddy?” I looked over to see Xander standing there, his face red as he strained to hold his brother in his arms. Zane dangled there, belly out, still in cheetah form. “I think Zane got stuck again. Can you fix him, pwease?”

Kyle grinned and stretched his hand out to touch Zane’s forehead. Ever since the moment he’d compelled them the day the triplets were born, this had been a game the cubs played with him. I was pretty sure it was partially a test to see if it would work again. And it did, every time. Because they were ours now, and we were theirs.

I smiled lovingly as Kyle compelled Zane to shift. Xander barely released his brother before he fell on his butt with his twin abruptly landing on top of him, no longer a tiny little cheetah but instead a much bigger four-year-old boy.

“Cubs wear fur, boys wear clothes, boys!” Oni called out as he walked by with Dylan on his hip.

“Uncle Oni!” The boys took off chasing after their uncle. I bit back a laugh at the sight of Zane’s bare bottom, knowing full well that Oni would make sure it was covered before I saw him again. Oni was the strict one, and yet he was the cubs’ favorite.

Phoenix watched them go then turned to me with a grin. “I guess there’s something to kids feeling safe when there are rules, huh? That’s the only explanation I have for how much your boys love Oni. If you ask me, that guy is a chip off the old block—he’s totally Uncle Jun’s mini-me.”

Faith elbowed Phoenix in the side and looked around for Uncle Jun. “Watch that shit, hon. Uncle Jun will cut a bitch.”

I chuckled and snuggled closer to Kyle. “Nah, Uncle Jun’s a big softy. He just likes to look tough.”

Phoenix glanced my way with a sneaky grin. “So, what do you think the final mission will be? I’m assuming there’s four, right? Every clue so far has given a compass direction and there’s still one left.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s why Toby and Aaron finally scented each other. My brothers and I only ever saw ourselves for the portal quest, so finding out there was a fourth couple was a surprise to us. But that’s just an example of what we’ve always told you about how visions can change.” I shrugged. “Since we never had a vision of the fourth couple, I’m not exactly sure who it is. But the way it’s been so far, the couple who has been most newly mated has been the next on the quest—that leaves Toby and Aaron.”

Faith waved a finger at me, sitting up straighter as she stared at me in shock. “Can you back that up, please? I told you my gossip and yet you held that back from me? And especially when it involves my own brother? Damn, Sammy-boy! Since when are Toby and Aaron mated?”

I stared at her for a moment before I realized that we’d watched them scent each other before Faith and Phoenix had joined us. “Sorry, it literally just happened right before you guys came over. I forgot that you hadn’t sat down yet. Toby fell on his ass and Aaron went to help him up. They jerked their hands away like they’d been shocked and then they walked away arm in arm, practically whispering sweet nothings in each other’s ears as they went.”

Faith delicately dabbed the back of her finger to each eye. “That sounds like my Toblerone. Damn, I sure wish I’d been here to see that. I bet it was sweet as hell. So they aren’t mated yet, as far as you know, anyway. But they are about to be? Oh, my goddess. To be a fly on the wall when that happens.” She started giggling at whatever she was picturing.

“You’re kinky, babe. And usually, I love it. But even I would draw the line at wanting to see my kid brother get mated to yours.” Phoenix winced at the thought.

Faith threw her head back with a loud laugh. “No, I don’t want to watch them literally mate. I’m thinking about how clumsy my brother is and how tiny yours is… and… shit. Just do the math! Please don’t make me say it.”

Kyle snorted out a laugh. “Holy shit, someone might actually die tonight.”

Phoenix and I both laughed along with them. Phoenix shook his head. “Well, at least they’ll die happy, I suppose. I sure hope poor Toby doesn’t starve to death, though. Aaron’s not awful about people with non-vegan lifestyles eating around him, but with his own mate? That could get dicey.”

Kyle grinned. “I feel like there’s a joke about sausage breath in here somewhere…”

“Too soon,” Phoenix groaned. “That’s my baby brother you’re talking about.”

“Speaking of babies.” Faith stood and pulled Phoenix to his feet. “Let’s go find your dads and tell them the good news. I’m sure they’ll be thrilled to know that they’re finally going to be grandparents. I swear they look at my belly every time we go over to visit. If I have a burrito for lunch, your dad is suddenly offering me tea with a hopeful smile.”

I smiled at them as they walked off, then turned to kiss my mate. “Speaking of babies, should we go gather ours and take them home soon?”

“Soon.” Kyle wrapped his arms around me and pulled me in for another kiss. He paused to murmur against my lips. “But first, how about a little alone time? Daddy doesn’t get enough one-on-one time with big papa these days.”

I laughed against his mouth, making a mental note to tell him later to never call me that again. As Kyle’s tongue slid against mine, I lost myself in his kiss and the lifetime of happiness it represented.

I had my family, my pack, and finally—my mate. Kyle wasn’t just my best friend, he was my heart. With him at my side, I had everything.