The pack house smelled like roasted venison and pine smoke. I stood alone in the main hall, smoothing the silk of my dress over my stomach. Three days ago, Lena the Healer had gripped my hand across her examination table and smiled. "You're carrying, Luna," she'd said, and the world had tilted into something brighter.
I pressed my palm flat against my abdomen now, feeling nothing but the warmth of my own skin. It didn't matter. I knew. My wolf knew. She'd been purring since the moment Lena spoke the words, a low rumble of satisfaction I hadn't felt in two years of hoping and waiting and bleeding every month like clockwork.
Tonight I would tell Gavin. I'd planned it carefully—after the Harvest Moon Banquet, when the pack had eaten and the ranked wolves had made their toasts and the younger ones had started the bonfire outside. I would lead him to the east balcony, where the moonlight pooled silver on the stone, and I would take his hand and tell him the secret I'd been carrying for three days like a candle flame cupped in my palms.
The front door swung open. Gavin stepped through, and my wolf surged forward with the instinct to go to him, to press close and breathe in the scent of cedar and leather that had been mine since the night he marked me. But I stopped.
He wasn't alone.
A small hand was tucked into his. A child stood beside him—maybe eight years old, dark hair pulled into a braid, eyes sharp and watchful in a way that made my wolf's purr stutter and go quiet. The girl didn't look around the pack house the way a nervous child would. She looked at it the way you look at a map, taking inventory.
Gavin's jaw was tight. He had the expression he wore when he was managing something—when a council meeting had gone badly or a border patrol brought back news he didn't want to hear. He met my eyes, and I saw the control there, the Alpha putting everything in its place before anyone could ask questions.
"Sienna," he said. His voice had that edge of command, the tone that told me this wasn't a conversation. It was an announcement. "This is Rosie."
I looked at the girl. She looked back. Her face was small and pale, her mouth a careful line. She didn't smile. She didn't fidget. She just stood there, still as a stone, and watched me.
"Rosie," I repeated. My voice came out softer than I meant it to. I glanced at Gavin. "Who—"
"Her mother was a rogue named Jenna," Gavin said. He pulled a folded set of papers from his jacket and set them on the entry table. "She died two weeks ago. Rosie has no pack, no family. I've brought her here."
My wolf growled. It was low, guttural, the sound she made when something was wrong in a way I couldn't see yet. I swallowed it down and forced myself to step forward, to kneel so I was at eye level with the girl.
"I'm sorry about your mother," I said gently. I reached out, slow and careful, and brushed a strand of hair from her face. Her skin was cool. She didn't pull away, but she didn't lean into the touch either. She just watched me with those sharp, measuring eyes.
"Silverfang will take her in," Gavin said. His Alpha tone was fully engaged now, the voice that didn't leave room for objection. "She'll stay with us. It's the right thing to do."
I looked up at him. The bond hummed between us, warm and familiar, but underneath it my wolf was still growling. I didn't understand why. This was charity. This was what a Luna did—opened her home to a packless pup, gave shelter to the ones who had nothing.
But my wolf didn't care about charity. She cared about the way Gavin's scent had changed, tight with tension. She cared about the way his hand stayed on Rosie's shoulder, protective and firm. She cared about the timing—tonight, of all nights, when I had been holding a secret that was supposed to be ours.
I pushed the growl down and smiled at Rosie. "Welcome," I said. "You're safe here."
Rosie's mouth curved, just slightly. It wasn't quite a smile. "Thank you, Luna," she said. Her voice was small and clear, the voice of a child who had learned to say the right words at the right time.
I stood and turned to Gavin. "Can I speak with you?"
He shook his head. "Not now. The banquet's starting. We'll talk later."
"Gavin—"
"Later, Sienna." His eyes flicked to Rosie, then back to me. The message was clear: not in front of the child.
I pressed my lips together and nodded. The secret I'd been holding for three days stayed locked inside my chest, heavier now, harder to carry.
---
The next morning, I found Gavin in the training yard. The sun was just rising, painting the frost silver. He was running drills with the Deltas, his breath misting in the cold air. I waited at the edge of the field until he called a break, then walked over.
"Gavin," I said quietly. "I need to tell you something."
He glanced at me, wiping sweat from his forehead. "What is it?"
I opened my mouth—and Rosie appeared at his elbow, her hand reaching for his. "Alpha Gavin," she said, her voice trembling just slightly. "I had a bad dream. I couldn't find you."
Gavin's expression shifted immediately. He crouched down, his hand steadying her shoulder. "You're okay," he said, his voice gentler than I'd heard it in days. "I'm right here."
I stood there, the words caught in my throat, and watched him comfort her. My wolf snarled, low and vicious, but I didn't know why. This was normal. This was kind. An Alpha taking care of a frightened child.
When he finally looked back at me, his expression was apologetic but firm. "We'll talk tonight," he said.
But we didn't. That night at dinner, I tried again, leaning close and starting to speak—and Rosie knocked over her water glass, the sound loud and sudden, pulling every eye in the room to her. Gavin's hand shot out to steady the glass, his attention fully on her, and the moment was gone.
I excused myself early and went to bed alone, my hand pressed to my stomach, the secret still unspoken.
---
By the third day, my wolf-dog wouldn't eat.
He was a big grey animal, loyal and steady, who'd been with me since before the marking. He followed me through the pack house, his presence a comfort I didn't have to ask for. But now he refused his bowl, retreating to the corner of the kitchen and tucking his tail whenever Rosie walked through.
I knelt beside him, running my hand over his fur. "What's wrong?" I murmured.
He whined, low and uneasy, and pressed his nose into my palm.
I looked at his bowl. The food was fresh, the water clean. I picked up the bowl and sniffed it—and there, faint as smoke, was the bitter edge of wolfsbane. Not enough to kill. Just enough to warn.
My wolf's growl rose again, louder this time, insistent. I stood slowly, the bowl still in my hands, and looked around the kitchen. Everything was clean. Everything was in its place. But the scent was there, faint and deliberate, like a message left just for me.
I didn't tell anyone. I washed the bowl myself, scrubbing it until my hands ached, and filled it with fresh food. My wolf-dog ate, cautious and slow, and I sat beside him on the floor, my hand on his back, my other hand pressed flat against my stomach.
The secret I was carrying felt different now. Not lighter. Heavier. More fragile.
And my wolf, who had been purring with joy just days ago, was growling again—low and constant, the sound of a she-wolf who had scented a threat she couldn't yet see.
