"Oh my god!" squeals Jayden as she holds up her phone. Her other hand is resting on her very pregnant stomach. "Number nine, Chelsea!"

"She broke the top ten?" asks Quinten as he walks over to me with a lemonade in his hand. "New York Times bestseller list, here she comes!" He sets the drink down on the small table on Juliet's back porch with a thud and grabs my hands to pull me up to my feet. Once I'm standing, he lifts me into the air.

"Stop!" I laugh when he begins to twirl me. "You're going to throw out your back lifting your whale of a mate."

Quinten sets me down on my feet and drops to his knees to kiss my very pregnant belly, which contains three of our children. He gazes up at me. "Told ya I'd like you fat." He squeezes my bottom before he stands up. "More to love."

I chuckle at him, and Alisha speaks from the porch swing she's sprawled out on to keep her swollen feet elevated. "I'm so proud of you, Chelsea. I always knew you'd hit it big."

I smile at her praise and think about how it doesn't matter one bit to me that I'm achieving success without anyone knowing the person behind the pen name. Once I became pregnant, I agreed that my family would be in danger if people started poking around looking for Chelsea Cross, thriller author, in a town full of werewolves. Especially since I am a werewolf now too.

The screen door creaks as Juliet steps out of her house with silverware, and Roman follows her with a platter of meat to grill. "Congratulations, Chelsea," my friend says.

Quinten takes the platter from Roman, and the two men walk over to the grill as Juliet sets her tray down. She cocks her head because she hears the sound of an SUV approaching and smiles at me. "So much for peace and quiet."

I smile back, because in a few minutes, Alex and Jackson will be here along with seven little children. They went to the car wash so the kids could delight in watching water spray and wheels scrub the vehicle. It used to amaze me how little things can make a child so happy. But now I know better.

Quinten walks back to the women with four plates bearing ribs expertly balanced on his arm and hands them out. “I figure the moms could use a little appetizer before the little ones arrive.”

I glance around at my three pregnant friends, who are sitting with me on Juliet's porch. We’re all wearing comfortable shorts and T-shirts. I spend most of my days writing in my leggings and loose tops now, but I still have my stilettos and nice clothes. When Quinten takes me out, I do dress up. But when it comes to appearances? The smile on my face and the happiness in my heart shine through anything I choose to wear. I have the love of my life by my side and the love of the Cross family as well as the warm embrace of the Smokey Falls pack. But most importantly, by choosing to stay here with Quinten, I have a career I want and the true-mate love I was destined to find.

I take a bite of a rib as Quinten sits next to me. He reaches over to wipe some of Grubby’s root beer sauce from my cheek with his finger and then licks it off.

“You take good care of me, Quinten.”

“And I always will.” He leans in to give me a kiss that still stops my heart and will until the end of time.

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