EPILOGUE

Three months later…

Zara

With a deep breath, I headed out our back door and smiled. Our backyard was full of people and activity. I walked over to where Silk was sitting. At five months pregnant, she was well and truly showing now. I handed her a glass of lemonade before I sat beside her and sipped my own drink.

“You know, they’re having way too much fun with this.”

I nodded. “Boys will be boys.”

We sat in silence for a few minutes, watching the men as they pulled down the side fence–with way too much force and enthusiasm.

“You know, I’m surprised they haven’t decided to blow it up.”

I groaned at Silk’s suggestion. “Please don’t say that too loud. You know they will.”

That had us both laughing hard enough our men heard and glared over at us for a moment before they went back to smashing out sections of the fence. I couldn’t wait for them to get done with it.

Just as Mac had said, the house two doors up from Silk and Eagle’s place had been for sale, and he’d bought it for us. We’d moved in two months ago, just after Christmas. Then last week, Taz had settled on the house between us. Now the three men, along with several other Charons, were tearing down the fences that separated the three houses. I rubbed a palm over my tummy as I imagined how, in several years’ time, when we all had kids, how they would be constantly going between the houses. I couldn’t wait for that to happen.

“Um, Zara? You got something to tell me?”

Heat raced over my face when I realized Silk was staring at my tummy. I wasn’t going to say anything until later. We had a big barbecue planned for dinner and Mac was going to tell the club then. Guess I sort of let the cat out of the bag early. Oops. I looked over and when I caught Mac’s gaze, he grinned widely before coming over, shaking his head.

“Knew you wouldn’t last until tonight. Go on bunny, tell them all the news.”

Eagle, Taz and the other men all had come over with Mac.

“We’re pregnant. Ah, due in mid-September.”

I’d just started to get worried about the silence when the men began hooting and slapping Mac’s back with words of congratulations. Silk rose and pulled me in for a hug.

“Congratulations, doll! This is so cool. Our kids will grow up together!”

Eagle was snickering when he spoke up over the other men. “Don’t need to ask how you two celebrated the new house then, huh?”

My cheeks flashed hot again. We’d already worked out that I’d gotten pregnant that first week after we moved in.

“I’m just gonna run in and check everything’s ready to go for the barbecue.”

I scurried away like a coward before the men could start making any more jokes about our sex life. They were horrible teases, the lot of them. But they were family. My chosen family that I knew would do anything for me. I also knew, without a doubt, that our child would have a life filled with love from lots of uncles and aunties. They’d also be protected at all times. I winced at the thought of a daughter. Poor girl would probably be a virgin into her thirties.

“Nah, she’d find a way. I did.”

Shit. I hadn’t meant to say any of that out loud. Nor was Silk supposed to have followed me inside.

“I can just imagine how much she will moan and complain about her father and uncles ruining her life, if we have a daughter.”

Silk laughed. “Yeah, she’ll complain, trust me. But it’s not a bad thing, it means that only boys who are real serious about her will come sniffing. And we’ll make sure the men don’t pull shit like they did with Eagle. That was ridiculous.”

“What did they do?”

She waved me off. “Oh, they made up some bullshit reason to give him a beat down. I actually walked away from the club when I found out what they’d done.”

I looked out the window into the yard at Eagle. “He doesn’t look like a man easily taken down.”

“Oh no, the stupid jerk agreed to it. Idiot males, the lot of them. It was him who came and got me and brought me back to the club after he healed up.”

“Yeah, they definitely have their moments.”

The men had finished taking down the fence. The timber had been stacked for a bonfire, which Mac was currently lighting. The rest of them all stood around with beers in their hands as they teased and carried on with each other. I couldn’t hold in the grin.

“They might behave like little boys half the time, but they are awesome, aren’t they?”

Silk scoffed. “Oh, yeah. MC men are a breed apart. All growly alpha male, until you get them alone. Then they’re nothing but big ol’ teddy bears.”

I gave Silk a raised eyebrow. Mac was pretty damn growly alpha man in the bedroom. “Not sure I agree with the teddy bear part. Mac likes to be in control all the time. Likes to tell me what to do all the damn time, too.”

Not that I was complaining. I loved every single thing that man did, in and out of the bedroom. The only time he’d been all soft and gentle was the first week or so after I got out of the hospital, and it drove me nuts. I knew he’d been holding back. After the doctor confirmed everything had healed up well at my appointment ten days after the attack, we’d come back to the clubhouse and I’d jumped on him. He struggled for a few minutes as he tried to stay gentle and soft with me, until I snarled at him that I wasn’t made of glass. After that, he got the message about what I wanted and I got my growly alpha male back.

“Hey bunny, ready for me to start grilling the meat?”

Mac’s strong arms came around me from behind, his palms resting over my still-flat tummy. I tilted my head to the side and his lips were kissing up my neck within moments.

“You already put a bun in that oven, Mac. Here, take this out and try not to burn any of it.”

Silk was trying to be stern, but I could hear the humor in her voice and when I glanced up at her, she winked at me. Mac nipped my ear before he released me to grab the tray of meat from Silk. I watched him walk back out, each flex of muscle as he strode out with powerful steps making me clench my thighs. A sigh escaped me and Silk snickered again.

“Oh, shut up. Like you don’t ogle your man.”

“And you laugh at me when I do it, too.”

I grinned at my friend before I turned back to preparing the salads. After my parents died and I’d gotten sick, I’d given up ever having a man or family of my own. But here I was, with not just a wonderful man I could call my own, but pregnant with his baby. To top it off, I also had this huge bunch of crazy friends.

Life was good. Really good. And for the first time in a damn long time, I couldn’t wait to see where my future was going to take me.

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Keep reading for the first chapter of (Charon MC Book 1) and excerpts from Elle Boon’s Kellen’s Tempting Mate ( book 3) where you’ll learn more about Kellen, Xan and Jenna who were mentioned in Chapter 12 of Fighting Mac.