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thought you were on the pill before you got pregnant.”
    “I was. Have been since graduating.” She bent down and kissed the baby’s forehead.
    Ellie frowned. “Doesn’t that make you wonder how you got pregnant? And on top of that, you had three .”
    Karla snorted. “Yeah, I wondered about that starting the day Jordan and I did the double dip.”
    Ellie glanced at Jordan. “You what? Went for ice cream?”
    Jordan laughed. “No, silly. After thinking about the symptoms she’d been going through, I thought she could be pregnant. Heck, I knew she’d freak if I told her to take a test. So I said I’d do it, too. She came to the house with about ten different tests.”
    Everyone at the table laughed.
    Karla scoffed. “It’s not like I’d done it before. I didn’t know which one worked the best. The boxes all said they were the number one choice. Besides, I was wound up tighter than a rubber band at the time.”
    “Ha! I knew you would be.” She grinned. “I’d do a happy dance if I didn’t have the little one here. Woohoo.” Jordan bounced in her seat, making her arm load giggle.
    “That tells me,” Barbara started, “my grandchildren were destined to be born and they thought now was a great time to do it. They’ll make great alphas, if the packs survive.”
    Ellie jerked her head sideways to stare at her mother. “Mom, what do you mean by that? You sound as if the end of the world is coming.”
    Her mom’s features appeared strained. “Of course not. But with all the corruption and killing for power and money, I’m not sure how much longer the hierarchy tradition will remain as one alpha to one pack. Who knows? Fifty years from now, all could be united under one leader.”
    Ellie shook her head and dismissed that idea. “I doubt that, Mom. But I do see a pack that keeps up with the times to finally let a female be the main alpha and not the husband.”
    Nicole snorted. “That’ll be the day. Men are so arrogant; they’ll never give up their ‘right’ to lead to a female. I’d like to see that.”
    Michael’s bottle bounced on the floor. “Hey, little baby man.” Karla looked down at the baby’s innocent eyes staring back with a toothless smile thrown in for fun. “Guess you’re done, then.”
    Ellie picked up the breast milk container that had rolled against a counter. She handed it back to Karla after washing the nipple. “Did you lose your grip on the bottle?”
    Karla propped Michael over her shoulder and patted against his back. “I’m not sure. His little arms started flailing and I guess he got his hands on the plastic and flung it away. I’ve never seen that before.”
    Barbara joined the ladies at the table. “Looks like he’s going to be a strong alpha already.” A loud burp came from the infant.
    “That’s a good boy.” Two other burps soon followed.
    Ellie stood at the table. “Are you guys ready to meet with the men to talk about what we’re going to do?”
    Karla set the bottle on the table. “Go ahead and gather the men. We’ll put the babies down, Matthew’s already asleep. Then we’ll join you all.”
     
     

 
     
    SEVEN
     
    Ellie glanced around the living room as each couple took a chair. These people were her family. She would die trying to protect them. She wondered at the thought that her best friends, those she met at different places at different times in her life, ended up being her brothers’ mates. Like her mom said about the babies, this was destined.
    Caleb wrapped his arms around her and she leaned against his chest, she on his lap. “Everything okay?”
    “Yeah, fine. I was just thinking about the past and how things turned out for us.” He frowned and turned her around to face him.
    “Ellie, I know we haven’t fully mated, and we agreed on that reason, but you’re my life. Don’t forget that in the crazy mess going on.” The fear for her was real in his eyes and she hated it was there to begin with. “I would walk away from