Page 112 of The Denver Alpha

“Wow, you’re really starting to show,” I comment, eyes zeroing in on her swollen belly beneath Gray’s palm.

“Isn’t her little bump the cutest?” Serena pipes up, tucking her flame-red hair behind an ear. Her dress is almost the same shade of red, giving me major Jessica Rabbit vibes. Her mate’s a lucky man- and judging by the way he’s been devouring her with his gaze, Reid knows it.

“It won’t be cute in a few months, when I can barely walk,” Fallon groans, placing her hand atop Gray’s. “Fate sure has a funny sense of humor, giving us twins when I wasn’t even sure if I wantedonekid.”

“You’re just salty because you have to slow down on training,” Vienna teases, shooting Fallon a grin as she reclines in Chase’s arms. He’s freakishly tall and she’s a pipsqueak, but somehow, the two of them fit together perfectly.

Fallon makes a face at Vienna and she laughs, turning toward Cole and me. “She gets pissy when she can’t work out like a maniac,” Vee adds in explanation, winking.

“She doesn’t have an off switch,” Brooke agrees, chuckling.

“Hey, at least you aren’t the only one sitting out,” Astrid offers, cradling her own small baby bump. “And we’ll get to raise our pups together, just think of how fun that’ll be!”

Brock and Gray exchange glances while the bartender sets a tray of champagne flutes down atop the bar. Jax reaches for it and starts passing them out to everyone.

As soon as one lands in my hand, I raise the glass to my lips, taking a tiny sip and savoring the tart taste on my tongue and the tickle of the bubbles in my throat.

“You guys had better get on it,” Astrid says, wheeling back to Cole and me as I sip again. “My baby needs cousins.”

I choke on the champagne, pulling the glass away from my mouth and sputtering to catch my breath.

“You alright, babe?” Cole asks. He rubs my back with a palm, eyes alight with amusement as he gazes down at me.

“Fine,” I cough, wiping at my mouth with a wrist.

“We’ll have pups when we’re ready,” Cole tells his sister with a pointed look. Then he glances back down at me, smiling softly. “I want Jules all to myself for a while.”

I can’t help but smile back as I lean into his strong chest. We had this discussion just last night- given what happened to his unborn son last winter, I asked Cole if he had any hesitation about starting a family together someday. He kissed me until my toes curled, then told me that nothing would make him happier than me carrying his pups. WhenIwas ready, and not a moment before.

I haven’t told him yet that I’m late.

“Give me that,” Brooke admonishes, snatching a champagne flute from Fallon’s hands.

“I only wanted a taste,” she whines as she watches her sister pass the glass to Theo, who drains it in a single gulp.

Astrid steps over to the bar, grabbing another flute from the tray and handing it to Fallon. “She needs it for the toast,” she says, spinning around and raising her own. “Cheers to the newlyweds!”

“To the newlyweds!” everyone echoes, raising their champagne glasses and cheering for us.

I take a small sip, glancing up at Cole as I lower the glass and lick the taste from my lips. He swallows his own gulp of champagne, then leans down to steal a kiss. His tongue slides along the seam of my lips and I open for him, tasting the champagne in his mouth as he deepens the kiss.

“Okay, okay, break it up,” Jax grumbles.

“Leave them alone, it’s their special day!” Quinn admonishes.

I just keep kissing Cole, winding my arms around his neck, completely swept up in the moment- in the love between us, the love surrounding us.

Cole, with his devastating good looks and disarming grin.

The man who lives every day by a rigid schedule, but sleeps in with me on the weekends and stays up late to help me study.

The Alpha who leads his pack with a firm hand, yet has a softer side that he reserves only for me- like when he gifted me with a set of keys to his precious Camaro on my twentieth birthday, declaring that what’s his is mine. He didn’t even freak out when I scratched it a week later, but I did let him give me a hell of a spanking for it… which ended with his tongue between my legs. I’ve always been a sucker for his brand of punishment.

We kiss right there in front of everybody and I lose track of time, of where my own lips end and his begin. For a beautiful, suspended moment, it’s just the two of us, him in a dapper suit, me in a white dress. And when Cole finally breaks the kiss, both of us breathless, he stares down at me with so much love in the dark depths of his eyes that my heart aches.

“Mr. Bauer,” I whisper, sweeping my thumb against his cheek affectionately.

The corners of his mouth curl up in a prideful grin. “Mrs. Bauer.”

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