Jacob cupped her cheek, turning her face to his.“Not maybe.Definitely.”
Mason felt her hand slip into his under the water, fingers threading tight.He squeezed back.In that grip was trust, acceptance, love—and a promise of a future.
When they finally rose from the hot pool, dripping and flushed, the night air was cool against their skin.Violet shivered, and they each grabbed a towel, wrapping her up and carrying her inside between them.She laughed at the ridiculousness of being carried, but she didn’t tell them to stop.She never would.
Later, stretched across Violet’s wide bed with her tangled between them, they whispered again about the baby she had just agreed to.What it might look like.Whose temper it might inherit.Mason secretly prayed it wouldn’t be hers, though he suspected fate would not be so kind.
Violet punched him in the arm when he said as much, and Jacob laughed so hard he nearly rolled off the bed.
For hours they talked, weaving plans and dreams together—where they’d raise the cub, how they’d balance danger and safety, and what kind of world they wanted to help shape for their child.Violet surprised them by admitting she wanted to teach their kid to fight early, “before they even lose their baby teeth.”Mason and Jacob both groaned, already picturing a miniature Violet running circles around them with batons.
They reminisced too—about the first time they met her, about the battles they’d won side by side, about the nights they thought they wouldn’t survive.Each memory stitched them tighter together, their laughter and whispered words soothing the scars the war had left.
At one point Violet fell quiet, her head pillowed on Mason’s chest.“What if I mess it up?What if I mess them up?”
Jacob brushed a strand of wet hair from her face.“Then we’ll fix them, together.That’s the point, Vi.We’ll always fix it together.”
Mason kissed her forehead.“And no cub of ours will ever grow up doubting they are loved.That’s more than either of us had.That’s everything.”
The night stretched on, soft and warm.Mason drifted to sleep with his mate snug in his arms and his brother at his back.For the first time in a long time, he let himself believe that tomorrow could be better—that the three of them could build something lasting in the wreckage of all they had survived.
And as Violet’s breathing evened out between them, Mason whispered into the dark, “Yeah.Let’s have a baby.”
****
Their bed at PrideHouse was wide enough to hold them all, but Kieran still felt the instinctive need to wrap himself around Josie.Liam spooned her from the other side, their mate cradled safe between them.Outside, the night was just beginning, painting the room in dark shadows.The house was quiet, too quiet after days of chaos and battle.For once, silence didn’t mean danger—it meant peace.
Josie’s voice was soft in the stillness.“How many?”
Kieran pressed his lips to her shoulder.“Three.”
She tilted her head toward Liam.“What sex?”
Liam chuckled, his Irish lilt wrapping warm around the words.“Two boys and a girl.”
Josie’s eyes softened, her hand drifting to her stomach.“What do we want for them?”
Kieran’s throat tightened.“Safety.That’s all I’ve ever wanted for you, for us.With Caruso dead, the world is safer than it was.But his backer—the traitor—he’s still out there.That battle will come in its time.For now, we have peace.And we’ll guard it with everything we are.”
Liam kissed Josie’s temple.“And we’ll do it together.The Pride.The ESE.All of us.”
They lay in silence for a while, the steady beat of her heart between them grounding everything.
Then Josie whispered, “Will these three be our only babies?”
Kieran smiled faintly.“Do you want more?”
“Yes.At least two more.”
Liam nearly choked.“Two—bloody hell, woman.You’ll be the death of me.”But his laughter softened the words, and he pressed a kiss to her hair.“All right.Two more.”
Josie giggled, and the sound filled Kieran’s chest with warmth.He hadn’t realized until that moment how desperately he needed to hear her laugh like that again.
He shifted slightly so he could see her face.“I want them to grow up never doubting where they belong.I want them to know what it is to be proud of who they are—and to know they’re loved beyond measure.”
Liam added, “And I want them to have choices.We’ll train them, aye, but we’ll never force them to fight.They’ll be warriors if they want, scholars if they want, janitors for all I care.As long as they’re safe and happy.”
Josie reached for his hand, squeezing.“They’ll be everything we couldn’t be.Free.”
