Zara laughed and then tried to cover it with a cough when Jen’s eyes shifted to her. “Got something in my throat,” Wadim’s mate said as she patted her throat.
“Jennifer.” Decebel would not give up.
Jacque started to stand, but Jen shoved her back down.
“Nothing has changed, Dec,” she said to her mate. “It’s still girls’ night. Only better because now I know I’m sane.”
“Not sane,” Sally said. “You’ve never been sane.”
“Still vaginas only. Oh, and a uterus that can carry a baby. Like mine.” Jen pointed at her stomach and ignored their brunette friend. “Which means if you do not have a vagina, then you cannot participate.”
“If you want to get technical…” Costin’s voice came next through the door. “Since Sally is mine, that makes all of her parts mine. So, I do, in fact, own a vagina and a uterus … that is currently carrying a baby, for that matter.”
Jacque’s eyes snapped to her brown-eyed friend. Though her face was the shade of a ripe tomato, Sally glared at the door as if she could melt the barrier away simply with her eyes.
“Do you want me to throw the shoethroughthe wall this time?” Jen asked.
Sally shook her head. “I’ll get him back later.”
“Just remember,” Costin called out, “you won’t be pregnant forever, mate. And payback is a bitch.”
“Good grief,” Sally grumbled. “Is there any sort of relationship privacy in this pack?”
“That’s a dumb question, Sally,” Jen said. “We’ve been friends a very long time. Has thereeverbeen any sort of privacy between us? I mean, Jacque knew I was pregnant before me and my mate.” She frowned and then looked at the door as if she could see through it. “B, why didn’t you know I was pregnant? Shouldn’t you have been able to hear the heartbeat?”
“I will not answer any questions until you open this door.”
“Actually,” Sally offered, “you’re very early in your pregnancy. I literally just watched the heartbeat fire up when I was doing my healer mojo.”
“Sally heard the heartbeat before me?” Decebel sounded desperate. As everyone knows, a desperate true mate is an unstable true mate.
“No, there has been no sort of privacy between us.” Sally pointed at her, addressing Jen’s question. “And we’ve talked about it a million times. It’s your fault everyone is up in everyone else’s Kool Aid. Not to mention, Jacque can’t help that she has the whole can-see-into-the-pack-bonds superpower.”
“Mmm-hmm.” Jacque nodded. “What she said.”
Jen rolled her eyes. “Y’all are so dramatic.”
Jacque’s eyebrows rose, along with everyone else’s in the room.
“Did she seriously just callusdramatic?” Bethany asked.
Jacque waved her off. “Just go with it. It will make your life much easier.”
Suddenly the door flew open, and a very pissed-off looking Decebel stepped into the room. His eyes immediately found his mate’s.
“Did you seriously just break someone else’s door?’ Jen’s voice was completely calm, as if she hadn’t been having a breakdown minutes ago or that she hadn’t just found out she was pregnant. “We’ve been talking about this knocking and waiting thing for years, B. Years.” Jen drew out the word.
Decebel walked over to her, and Jacque and Sally scrambled away. He crouched down in front of her. His movements seemed overly controlled, as if he was trying very hard not to lose his crap. He lifted his hand and cupped her cheek. Jen’s lips turned up in a small smile, and she leaned into his touch. “And I have been telling you for years that a damn door will not keep me from you.”
Jen lifted her hand and pressed a finger to his lips. “No. Cussing.”
Decebel brushed her hand aside and leaned forward. It was clear he didn’t care that they had an audience as he pressed his lips to hers. Jacque’s chest tightened at how gentle such a large man was with his mate.
Jacque saw the other mates file through the doorway, hers included. He took a seat behind her and pulled her back between his spread legs, her back pressed to his chest. “I guess girls’ night just became couple’s night,” she muttered.
“It is always couples’ night, Luna.” He pressed a kiss to her neck. “The males just happen to always be on the wrong side of the door.”
She laughed as she smacked his hands that rested on her stomach. She continued to watch Jen and Decebel, unable to take her eyes away, regardless of the fact that she probably should give them some semblance of privacy. But when she glanced away briefly, she saw that everyone else stared at them as well. So she went back to watching their special moment unfold.
