An August evening had never been so beautiful. A light breeze blew through the leafy trees and the scent of roses filled the air. I leaned over to Hank, rested my head on his shoulder, and sighed with total contentment.

“I love you,” he whispered against my hair.

“Love you more,” I whispered back and then sat up straighter. We were finally getting to the good part.

“Dwayne, do you take this Demon to be your lawfully wedded husband?” Preacher Moongie, Sandy’s dad, asked a blubbering and highly bejeweled Dwayne.

Dwayne’s gown really was to die for—strapless and only a hint of beading. His arm had grown back perfectly. You’d never be able to guess that he’d lost it twice in one day only a month ago. The wedding gown hugged Dwayne’s tall, muscular body beautifully. Of course, he’d made up for the simplicity of the gown with an obscene diamond and ruby choker, huge diamond studs in his ears and a tiara on his bald head that would rival the Queen of England’s. He’d opted to go with no veil. He said they were tacky… oh, the irony.

“I do,” he said gazing into Belphegor’s eyes with so much love I felt my own eyes fill.

“And do you Belphegor take this Vampyre to be your lawfully wedded husband?”

Belphegor had chosen leather wedding attire… white leather—the tightest white leather pantsuit I’d ever seen. I had no clue how he’d been able to squeeze into it. It looked like it was painted onto his body. Since the color scheme was red and white, he’d chosen fabulous red combat boots to go with the skintight ensemble. Again, I was sad that we didn’t wear the same sized shoe. I would so rock those boots.

“You bet I do,” Belphegor shouted to laughs from the small crowd gathered in Sadie and Jack’s beautifully decorated back yard.

My mother-in-law had outdone herself. She was, hands down, the hostess with the most-est. Since Sadie didn’t get to throw Hank’s and my or Junior and Sandy’s weddings, she went all out and over the top for Dwayne’s. This was appropriate since Dwayne was all out—pun intended—and over the top.

Several elaborate tents, covered in blood red roses, dotted the lawn. Gorgeous white parquet floors had been laid out in the tent that was reserved for dancing. Silver candelabras, surrounded by roses, held white candles and sparkled on the tables. And twinkling strings of white and red lights rimmed the peaks and gables of the tents. Long tables with pristine white tablecloths groaned under the weight of so many Juju’s pizzas, I couldn’t count them.

Sadie had a shit fit when she realized Dwayne had secretly fired the caterer and replaced her elaborate ten-course menu with pizza, but it was Dwayne’s wedding and Dwayne got what Dwayne wanted. Since eating wasn’t his thing because he was dead, he felt like he’d get bored if dinner took three hours. Plus, everyone loved Juju’s pizza and Dwayne wanted happy guests.

“Dwayne’s girls look… umm… clean,” Hank whispered in my ear with a chuckle.

“Yep,” I said with a soft giggle.

Hank was correct. They were impeccably groomed—I was fairly certain they’d even brushed their hair. Dwayne’s eight Were Cow daughters sat in the front row blubbering harder than Dwayne. They adored their adopted daddy. The gals would dismember and gore anyone who even looked cross-eyed at Dwayne—and they had some serious tusks when shifted. Of course, the rabid loyalty went both ways, as Dwayne would happily mind meld anyone who spoke ill of his babies. It was alarmingly beautiful.

Each of the girls were dressed in white jean gauchos, flowy white tops and brand spanking new red tennis shoes. It was a sight to see. At least you could tell they were girls for the most part. Their other halves—or “the fuckers” as Dwayne liked to refer to his Vampyre sons-in-law—were all wearing red kilts and white shirts. That could be a serious problem once the dancing started.

“If even one of those freaks turns a cartwheel and shows their junk at the reception, Dwayne will go apeshit on them,” I whispered to Hank.

“Should be an interesting reception,” he shot back with a smirk so sexy, I wanted to jump his bones.

We’d been back home for a month and I’d pretty much jumped his bones everyday… like several times a day. We were working on our own little pack. Hopefully, we would join Sandy and Junior in the parents-to-be club soon.

“Can he kiss him yet?” Granny asked in her outdoor voice as she stood on the altar next to Dwayne as his best woman.

Granny had gone all out and was sporting a red sequined low cut gown that covered her traffic stoppers… kind of. She looked like a high-class stripper—which was strangely appropriate. I just hoped she’d been joking about doing part of her act after the ceremony. But, knowing Granny, she wasn’t. Dwayne had a full-on Lady Gaga drag show planned for the reception. Even Reginald was in on it and slated to perform a Cher set. I wasn’t sure how Cher would look with a handlebar mustache, but I was looking forward to it with morbid fascination. I had my cell phone charged up and planned to video it for future blackmail purposes. My dicky godfather was coming out of his shell.

Zeernebooch, stood up for his son but had not taken his eyes off of Granny’s partially exposed knockers for the entire ceremony. The fact that he was wearing a white leather pantsuit like Belphegor was slightly unsettling, but at least it wasn’t as tight as his son’s. However, his obsession with Granny’s traffic stoppers made it a little awkward when he had to find the rings, but the horny Demon somehow made it work.

“Does the best man get to make out with the best woman when the groom and groom go at it?” Zeernebooch inquired of Preacher Moongie.

“Umm… no,” Preacher Moongie told him with a polite smile as he tried not to laugh. “That’s not how it usually goes.”

“My bad,” Zeernebooch said, smacking himself in the head before Granny could do it for him. “Not used to these religious ceremonies, being a Demon and all.”

“Weiner Hooch, we can make out at the reception behind the bushes,” Granny assured him.

“Works for me,” he bellowed, giving her a thumbs up.

Zeernebooch had asked Granny to marry him four hundred times in the last month. She’d refused to answer him until he could get some of his outstanding warrants settled up. Turns out he was wanted in forty-nine states. Luckily Georgia was the only state that wasn’t currently holding a manhunt for him. Granny liked to travel. Having the FBI, CIA and every law enforcement unit in the country on her ass wasn’t her idea of a good time.

Zeernebooch was working on it. Junior had caught him hacking into the FBI database. Even though he was the Sherriff of Hung, Junior usually let stuff like that slide—especially when family was involved. However, when he realized he was Zeernebooch was replacing his own name on the warrants with Bob Herm’s, Bob Harold’s and Bob Hiram’s, he put a quick stop to it. Zeernebooch and Junior had good laugh over it and then Junior locked him up in the pokey for five days.

Zeernebooch was never going to change. Amazingly, Granny was just fine with that. She loved him, illegal activity and all. I suspected she would say yes to his many proposals soon. I knew she didn’t want to steal any of Dwayne’s thunder. She loved Dwayne like a son.

“Oh my goodness,” Preacher Moongie said. “With all the excitement, I forgot one of the lines.”

Dwayne patted the preacher on the back. “No worries. Just shove it in.”

“Very well, if anyone of you has a reason why these two men should not wed, speak now or forever hold your peace,” Preacher Moongie said.

“What kind of fucked up question is that?” Zeernebooch demanded, looking out at the crowd to see if anyone dared to say something that would ruin his son’s big day. “Because I will smite any bastard that says a word. DO YOU HEAR ME, PEOPLE?”

“Pappy,” Belphegor said, shaking his head and grinning.

“Did I say something wrong?” Zeernebooch asked, wildly unsure of himself.

“No, Pappy. I appreciate your violent concern,” Belphegor replied. “But that’s just a normal part of the ceremony. It’s okay.”

Zeernebooch mulled that one over for a moment in confusion. “Bobbie Sue, would you be opposed to living in sin?” he questioned. “These religious rules are alarming.”

“We’re gettin’ married, Weiner Hooch,” she told him with a delighted laugh. “While livin’ in sin is nice, I want to own your evil ass.”

“EXCELLENT, I want to own your traffic stoppers as well. However, I vote we get married in Georgia since I’m currently not wanted here.”

“Of course you’re wanted here,” Sadie chimed in. “As long as you don’t go back to eating puppies, you are more than welcome on Hung Island.”

“Mom,” Junior said with an eye roll. “He meant by the authorities.”

“Whoops,” she said. “My bad. But I’m quite serious about the puppy thing.”

You could dress us up, but you still couldn’t take us anywhere.

“So no one has an objection?” Preacher Moongie asked, getting the wedding back on track.

No one said a word. Zeernebooch eyed the crowd menacingly, just in case anyone was dumb enough to protest. For an evil dude, he had a very soft spot for his boy.

“Then I now pronounce you husband and husband. You may kiss the groom!”

The crowd whistled and cheered as Dwayne and Belphegor kissed for the first time as husbands. It was all kinds of wonderful and every kind of right. There really was a happily ever after for everyone.

“Let’s party!” Dwayne shouted as he came up for air and held his Demon close.

And we did. Dima and Nicolai won the limbo contest and their adorable son, Daniel danced like a mad man with each of Dwayne’s Were Cow daughters. The Vampyre sons-in-law did indeed show their goodies, much to Dwayne’s displeasure, but he was having such a good time, he decided not to behead any of them.

“This is waaay better than the baby shower,” Sandy said as she came up behind me and rested her chin on my shoulder. “Sadie didn’t serve poop.”

“This is true,” I said with a giggle as I turned around and hugged her.

She was just starting to show and she was gorgeous. “How are you feeling?” I asked, touching her small tummy.

“Fantastic,” she said. “Do you want to know a secret?”

“Will it make me puke?” I asked squinting at her.

“Possibly,” she said with a laugh. “But it’s a really good one.”

“Okay… hit me.”

She whispered in my ear and my knees almost buckled. “Are you shitting me?” I demanded, feeling light-headed.

“I shit you not,” she replied with a wide grin.

Junior grabbed Sandy and pulled her away to dance. I was left standing on the sidelines with my mouth open.

“You really should close your mouth,” my mom said as she and my dad danced happily by me. “You’ll catch flies.”

Quickly I closed my mouth and searched the crowd for Hank. Where was he?

“Hey friend,” Birdie called out as she and Chicken approached and hugged me warmly. “Love it down here in Georgia.”

“And Georgia loves you as well,” I told her.

Birdie and Chicken were dressed in the requisite red and white. They’d opted for coveralls. It was perfect.

“So what’s the deal with you and Bob Hiram?” I asked because asking questions I didn’t want the answers to was one of my hobbies.

“Awwww,” she said with a cute giggle. “Hiram and I go way back. He’s a real cutie, that one.”

I simply nodded and tried not to puke in my mouth. The Bobs were anything but cute. They were here but had shown up not in line with the color scheme. Sadie had an absolute shit fit. The Bobs quickly gave in and donned the red suits she’d provided for them. They were ill-fitting but the Bobs didn’t utter a single complaint. Sadie was scary as Hell when pissed off. My mother-in-law was the first and only person I’d ever seen the Bobs terrified of. It was awesome.

“We’re gonna dance,” Birdie said. “Do you want to join us?”

“Save me one,” I said as I watched her pull a very uncomfortable Bob Hiram onto the dance floor.

Chicken followed his sister onto the floor with his umpteenth partner of the evening. He was wildly popular with the single Werewolf gals and had been dancing up a storm. There was even a line of giggling Weres waiting their turn to dance with the Pigeon. His specialty? The Chicken Dance… I wanted to stay and watch Bob Hiram bust a move, but I needed to find Hank. Immediately.

He was standing across the tent staring at me with such an expression of love and adoration on his face I almost couldn’t breathe. His smile melted my heart. I had to get to him.

We met in the middle of the floor just as the music changed to a slow dance. Couples joined up and swayed to the music.

“May I have this dance?” Hank asked.

“Always,” I whispered as I fell into his strong arms and sighed with happiness. “I have a secret.”

“I have one too,” he said as a smile of wonderment pulled at his lips.

“Who’d you hear your secret from?” I asked, reaching up and wrapping my arms around his neck.

“Junior,” he said. “Who’d you hear yours from?”

“Sandy,” I whispered. “Do you think it’s the same secret?”

“I think it might be,” he said as his hands lowered to my stomach and he placed them protectively over it.

“Do you think they’re right?” I asked, hoping so hard they were.

“A pregnant Were can scent another pregnant Were,” he said, pressing his lips to mine.

I was so excited I wanted to scream. Instead, I kissed my mate for all I was worth. I had a tiny baby in my belly—a baby that Hank and I made together with love. It was insane and fantastic and wonderful and scary. But most of all it was perfect.

“One down. Nine to go,” Hank said with a laugh.

“You’re crazy. You know that. Right?” I said as he scooped me up in his arms and headed for our car.

“Let go celebrate.”

“With sex?” I asked, snagging a whole pepperoni pizza from the table as we passed it.

“Pizza then sex then pizza then sex and sex and sex,” he said as he grabbed a sausage pie to go.

“Works for me.”

And it did. Pizza and sex with my guy for the rest of time was a good life.

We were Shifters. Shift happened all the time. Good shift and bad shift.

But today? Today was a damned good shift.