Everyone cheered again.
He wasn't surprised at the news. He and Daemon were twins, though his brother was the first born.
Daemon immediately left the dining room and brought in another couple of bottles of champagne.
Life had gotten just a little more uncertain and a whole lot busier.
Atreides knew they would have a big vampire bash to welcome the first royal babies to the clan in centuries. He glanced at Tezra, wondering when she and Daemon would have babies of their own.
"We were waiting for my sister to finish hunter school," Tezra said, as if she could read his mind. "She wants to live with us, hunt, and help with the baby."
Atreides thought with the long vacation she and his brother had had when Atreides had been left in charge, they would have surely been making a baby. And he was certain his brother would want to have one first.
But when it came to Tezra, Daemon often did anything to make her happy, and Atreides had admired him for it.
"But we're having one anyway. You know what they say—babies will come, sometimes when you least expect it."
Atreides noticed then that though everyone had been drinking champagne, he hadn't poured any bubbly into her glass. She'd been pretending to drink toasts!
"We were going to tell everyone within the next couple of days because we wanted this celebration for Selena. But it seems silly now that she has baby news, we don't share ours also," Daemon said.
Atreides smiled at his brother. “The whole year next year will be a cause for celebration.”
Smiling, Daemon inclined his head to him.
They would rule on, Atreides thought, unless someone else objected. But should anything happen to Daemon and him while fighting rogue vampires or rogue hunters, their offspring would carry on. Though this time, they would be hunter-vampires and able to be out during any sunny day. At least he hoped so.
Though they stayed up late, visiting family, it was finally time to take his mate back home and the hunters left to enjoy the rest of their evening, the same as Daemon and Tezra.
“We have to go back to the vampire club and dance like we did before—and before I get too pregnant that I can’t make those kinds of moves,” Selena said.
"We will, and instead of alcoholic drinks for you, I'll make sure we have milk on hand."
"Okay. That sounds good. I want to change into a wolf," Selena said, when he thought they were going to bed to make love.
"Think of being a wolf," he said, helping her to remove her clothes. Once she was naked, he began to take off his own clothes, thinking she would help him and they would make love, but she began pacing, frowning, and he wondered what was wrong.
And then she was a wolf in the blink of an eye. His lips parted in surprise. She looked up at him, startled and he stared at her in disbelief. He smiled. She did it! But then he frowned. He hoped she wouldn't get stuck at it like she did when she turned into mist. And she’d be disappointed or upset.
She suddenly vanished. Damn it. He was trying to remove his clothes so fast, he nearly fell. Then he was naked, shifting, and vanishing, appearing in the general vicinity where she'd gone.
He saw her off in the distance and he woofed, then tore off to join her. He could have vanished and reappeared, but he loved running as a wolf and hadn't done so since she had come into his life because she'd wanted to so badly and couldn't seem to do it.
She nipped at him in play, woofed, and tore off through the woods. He raced after her, loving her, glad she was his mate, and could even shift into the wolf, that she was having his babies, and he knew the choices they had made had been all the right ones.
Acknowledgments
Thanks to my beta readers, Darla Taylor and Donna Fournier, for jumping out of the world of wolves and into the world of vampires to help me catch my bloopers. I couldn't do it without you ladies, so thanks for all the help!
About the Author
USA Today bestselling and award-winning author Terry Spear has written over eighty paranormal romance novels, young adult, and medieval Highland historical romances. Her first werewolf romance, Heart of the Wolf, was named a 2008 Publishers Weekly's Best Book of the Year, and her subsequent titles have garnered high praise and hit the USA Today bestseller list. A retired officer of the U.S. Army Reserves, Terry lives in Crawford, Texas, where she is working on her next werewolf romance, shapeshifting jaguars, cougar shifters, vampires, hot Highlanders, and having fun with her young adult novels and helping to take care of a granddaughter and soon a baby grandson. For more information, please visit www.terryspear.com, or follow her on Twitter, @TerrySpear. She is also on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/TerrySpearParanormalRomantics. And on Wordpress at:
Terry Spear's Shifters
http://terryspear.wordpress.com/
And her Wilde & Woolley Bears, award-winning teddy bears, that have found homes all over the world: www.celticbears.com
Also by Terry Spear
Heart of the Cougar Series:
Cougar’s Mate, Book 1
Call of the Cougar, Book 2
Taming the Wild Cougar, Book 3
Covert Cougar Christmas (Novella)
Double Cougar Trouble, Book 4
Cougar Undercover, Book 5
Cougar Magic, Book 6
Cougar Halloween Mischief (Novella)
Falling for the Cougar, Book 7
Catch the Cougar (A Halloween Novella)
Cougar Christmas Calamity
Saving the White Cougar, Book 8
Heart of the Bear Series
Loving the White Bear, Book 1
Claiming the White Bear, Book 2
The Highlanders Series:Winning the Highlander's Heart, The Accidental Highland Hero, Highland Rake, Taming the Wild Highlander, The Highlander, Her Highland Hero, The Viking’s Highland Lass, His Wild Highland Lass (novella), Vexing the Highlander (novella), My Highlander
Other historical romances: Lady Caroline & the Egotistical Earl, A Ghost of a Chance at Love
Heart of the Wolf Series: Heart of the Wolf, Destiny of the Wolf, To Tempt the Wolf, Legend of the White Wolf, Seduced by the Wolf, Wolf Fever, Heart of the Highland Wolf, Dreaming of the Wolf, A SEAL in Wolf's Clothing, A Howl for a Highlander, A Highland Werewolf Wedding, A SEAL Wolf Christmas, Silence of the Wolf, Hero of a Highland Wolf, A Highland Wolf Christmas, A SEAL Wolf Hunting; A Silver Wolf Christmas, A SEAL Wolf in Too Deep, Alpha Wolf Need Not Apply, Billionaire in Wolf’s Clothing, Between a Rock and a Hard Place, SEAL Wolf Undercover, Dreaming of a White Wolf Christmas, Flight of the White Wolf, All’s Fair in Love and Wolf, A Billionaire Wolf for Christmas, SEAL Wolf Surrender (2019), Silver Town Wolf: Home for the Holidays (2019), Wolff Brothers: You Had Me at Wolf, Night of the Billionaire Wolf, Joy to the Wolves (Red Wolf), The Wolf Wore Plaid, Jingle Bell Wolf, Best of Both Wolves
SEAL Wolves: To Tempt the Wolf, A SEAL in Wolf's Clothing, A SEAL Wolf Christmas, A SEAL Wolf Hunting, A SEAL Wolf in Too Deep, SEAL Wolf Undercover, SEAL Wolf Surrender (2019)