Page 64 of Lycans & Lattes

“If you need a hex . . . ,” Jordyn said, sipping from a cup of tea as we sat around my small dining room table.

“That’ll go over well,” Harlow countered. “I don’t think hexing her potential mother-in-law is a good idea. That’s bound to cause a pack fallout—again.”

Jordyn shrugged. “Just saying, if my hex book happened to fall open onto a stomach bug emergency spell . . . Nothing more humbling than shitting your pants.”

“Indeed,” Citrine agreed in her masseuse-like voice.

I didn’t have enough energy to laugh. I dropped my head into my hands, my anxiety leaving me exhausted. The immediate threat was over, but there was still so much to figure out. But the only thing I could do was wait for Citrine to wake him up.

“You still have time to back out, you know,” Harlow hedged. “You don’t have to marry him. You don’t have to be the pack queen.”

“I want to marry him,” I replied instantly. “Even if he never actually asked me.”

Her eyes bulged. “What do you mean he didn’t ask you?”

A tired smile pulled at my lips. I wasn’t too numb to find my sister’s reaction comical, it would seem. “It was more like ‘the pack wants me to get married under the next full moon’ and less of a proposal.”

Jordyn snorted. “You two have done everything out of order.”

“We’ve always worked differently,” I countered. “We pre-dated for four years. But if being with him means being the pack queen, then I guess I want that.”

“Good,” Jordyn agreed. “It’s about damn time.”

I smiled at that because it really was about damn time.

“So, what’s next? A half-wolf, half-human baby?” Harlow asked, and I nearly choked on my own saliva. “Eloise better watch out because I’m going to be the cool aunt.”

Jordyn elbowed Harlow.

“What?” Harlow threw her hands up. “Everyone was thinking it!”

“Everyone?”

“Okay, well, mainly me,” Harlow amended.

“And me.” Citrine chirped as she waved her hands in the air in delicate circles.

Harlow held up her arms and vaguely gestured to Citrine in grateful thanks.

“See!” She shook her head and continued, “How exactly does that all work?”

“I’ve barely gotten to date him, and now I’m about to marry him,” I said. “I haven’t really had time to think about wolf baby logistics!”

That was a lie.

After our romp in the forest, it was all I’d been thinking about. But telling them that would entail a lot of TMI content—and that was definitely not happening. The truth was I’d been fantasizing about children for years, children who had my eyes and Wyatt’s mop of unruly hair. It was his fault, really, for being so sweet and nurturing. Who wouldn’t see him and think he’d make a great dad?

“You’ve always wanted kids,” Harlow said, giving voice to my thoughts. “Unless that’s changed now that they might come out with tails and fangs?”

“Oh gods, will they?” I asked Jordyn, my panic rising again. “Not that I’d love them any less!” I amended quickly.

“I’d much prefer a tail and fur over fangs,” Citrine added, getting to her feet to attend to the teapot on the stove. She snickered and shook her head. “No.”

“Of course not,” Harlow jeered. “But no one wants a Twilight-style wolf baby chewing its way out of you, either.”

I blinked at her. “I can’t believe you just said that to me.”

“If you and Wyatt had children,” Jordyn said, “it would be up to them to decide whether they wanted to embrace their wolf side or remain human once they hit puberty. There’s usually a big family party. It’s really fun.”