Page 63 of The Billion-were Needs A Mate

“Werewolves,” Chester said, in astonishment, shaking his head. “My grandchildren are going to be…werecubs?”

He looked at Chantelle for confirmation.

Cliff had agreed to let Chantelle tell her parents, because it was going to be impossible to hide. They would demand to see their grandchild, and werewolf children were known to shift spontaneously. They couldn’t control it.

There were select humans who were permitted to know the truth about werewolves. They had to have at least one werewolf family member, and they had to be vetted by both the Alpha and the Elders.

“Are you…are you okay with that?” Chantelle asked her parents tentatively.

“Are we okay with it?” Carol said, her voice rising. “Are we okay with it? Are you kidding?”

Chantelle looked at her nervously, and Rusty squeezed her hand reassuringly. “Mom, you’re freaking me out a little.”

“Chantelle, for years I thought I’d lose you. I was terrified that you wouldn’t live long enough to give me grandchildren. And now you’re not only cured, forever, but you’re going to present me with a magical fairytale grandbaby that I can spoil to death? You bet your butt I’m okay with it!” Carol burst into tears and hugged Chantelle, drawing bemused stares from Roger and Dax.

“Grownups are weird,” Dax whispered to his brother.

“But they’re how we get chocolate,” Roger pointed out. Dax nodded in agreement.

The growl of a lawnmower started up, and Cliff looked over at Fergus and waved at him. Fergus had just finished up high school, and now was working for a lawn maintenance company on their property.

Leota opened the front door. “Lunch is almost ready!” she called out. It turned out that Leota loved to cook. She’d filled out nicely, her once emaciated frame now pleasingly plump. She worked for Cliff in the kitchen, whipping up irresistible concoctions every day. And recently, after spending months and months shying away from any male attention, she’d started dating Taurus. She said he made her feel safe and loved. There was talk of a mating ceremony in the near future.

Taylor leaned in to Cliff with a sigh of contentment as Serafina let Carol pick up Brandon.

Pack life had returned to normal after Cliff had finally been declared Alpha. Grant had agreed to stay on as head of marketing for the company. Austin was secretly still talking to Serafina and her brothers, even though he was banished, and Cliff pretended he didn’t know about it.

Mandy called and texted from time to time. She wasn’t dating anyone. Taylor felt like there was something that Mandy wasn’t telling her, but she also had a feeling that she’d be better off not knowing whatever secrets Mandy was keeping.

“You forgot to tell me something today,” Cliff whispered into Taylor’s ear.

“I love you,” she whispered back. “You big lug. Don’t you get tired of hearing it?”

He leaned forward and kissed her gently on the lips, and the gleam in his eyes promised that later tonight, they would get started on baby number two. “Never,” he said. “Never ever.”