I accepted the mindlink before the connection had fully settled.
His voice reached me immediately, restless and edged with impatience.
“You said you would come see me, Elira. Are you changing your mind?”
“No,” I answered softly, stepping farther from the infirmary bed. “I am not changing my mind. Something unexpected happened.”
A pause.
Then his voice sharpened with concern.
“What happened? I should return from England at once—”
“There is no need,” I interrupted gently before his worry could grow into something larger. “Just give me a few more days.”
Silence stretched between us before he finally agreed reluctantly and severed the mindlink.
I had barely lowered the moonstone communication crystal when the infirmary door opened.
Alaric stepped inside.
His timing had always been like that—precise enough to feel dangerous.
His eyes settled on me instantly.
More specifically, on the faint smile I had not realized still lingered on my face. Small. Fragile. Almost unfamiliar after so many years beside him.
Something flickered briefly in his expression.
But Nyra was waiting for him back at the pack house. Earlier through the pack mindlink, she had asked him to return quickly and sing to the unborn pup resting in her womb—as though the heir of the Blackthorne Pack would inherit lullabies instead of bloodshed and territorial wars.
So Alaric asked nothing.
Not who I had spoken to.
Not why I had smiled.
He simply assumed what he always had—that outside of him, my world was empty.
He gathered the territory scrolls from the table beside my bed and spoke without looking at me.
“There are urgent matters within the western borders. I will not return tonight.”
Tonight.
Then tomorrow.
Then perhaps never again.
Without waiting for my response, he turned and left.
And just like that, he disappeared from my world once more.
**
The days that followed carried news through pack whispers and wandering mindlinks.
Even without leaving the infirmary, I heard everything.
Alaric had been seen attending moon banquets with Nyra at his side, his arm resting possessively around her waist while introducing her to neighboring Alphas as though she had always belonged there.
The feared Alpha of the Blackthorne Pack moved beside her with a patience and gentleness I had never once received.
Some wolves even joked quietly that their Alpha finally looked like a man choosing peace after years of war.
The day I was released from the infirmary, the pack crystal network lit up with a newly shared memory fragment from Alaric himself.
Nine images.
A sunset flight beneath floating sky lanterns.
Crimson clouds melting into gold.
And at the center of every memory—
Alaric cradling Nyra’s face while kissing her as though the rest of the world had ceased to exist.
I stared at the glowing crystal for a long while before leaving a single response beneath it.
[May the Moon Goddess bless you both with a long life and many pups.]
Then I extinguished the crystal completely.
Ten minutes later, it began glowing again with repeated mindlink requests.
I ignored every one.
Half an hour later, I signed my release papers alone and left the infirmary.
I did not expect to see them there.
Outside the healer’s hall for expectant she-wolves, Alaric stood beside Nyra, one protective hand resting lightly over her stomach as though his entire world now centered around the pup growing inside her.
My steps slowed instinctively.
Nearby, one of the healers spoke warmly enough for everyone nearby to hear.
“Lady Nyra, Alpha Alaric truly treasures you. He has not missed a single examination.”
The healer laughed softly before continuing.
“During your moon-womb reading, he worried the sacred oil would be too cold against your skin, so he warmed it himself before allowing us to continue.”
Around us, several pregnant she-wolves turned with visible envy in their eyes.
Admiration.
Longing.
I stood frozen.
Slowly, my hand drifted toward my own lower stomach.
There had once been a life there too.
A pup I never got to keep.
The memory struck without warning.
That night after the carriage accident, I had lain bleeding across the healer’s floor while desperately trying to reach Alaric through the mindlink.
When he finally answered, the face that appeared within the crystal projection was not his alone.
It was Nyra.
Half-dressed and smiling sweetly while leaning against his chest.
“Luna Elira,” she had said gently, “Alpha Alaric lost a wager to me tonight, so he is being punished. He cannot answer you right now. Did you need something?”
I could no longer remember what I had wanted to say.
I only remembered ending the connection.
Less than a minute later, Alaric contacted me himself.
And when I answered, his voice carried nothing but irritation.
He told me I always turned everything into drama.
That I could not even protect the pup I carried, so what right did I have to complain?
Then, with cruel indifference, he added that perhaps if I had been more careful, none of it would have happened.
I blinked hard, forcing myself back into the present as footsteps approached.
Alaric suddenly stood before me.
His expression remained unreadable, but his voice turned sharp.
“What are you doing standing here?”
Instinct immediately forced my gaze downward.
“I was not following you,” I answered quietly. “We simply crossed paths. I apologize.”
The words came naturally.
Like breathing.
Like survival.
Alaric frowned slightly, as though something about my obedience unsettled him for the first time.
He opened his mouth to speak again—
“Wait.”
Nyra’s voice cut in softly.
But when I looked at her, I caught it instantly—
the sharp possessiveness hidden beneath her gentle smile.
And for the first time, it no longer felt like two women standing beside the same Alpha.
It felt like the beginning of a war blessed by blood and moonlight.
