Alaric followed the moon-healer into the den chamber to collect the prenatal report. Ravenna, however, murmured something about needing a moment and lingered in the corridor.
Once they were both inside, she finally drawled, her voice lazy and slow, "You can come out now. You've been standing there watching long enough. Haven't had your fill yet?"
I stepped out without a word, my expression blank.
Seeing that I stayed silent, Ravenna grew impatient. Her gaze sharpened with mockery.
"What, no shame left at all? You knew Alaric never loved you, yet you still insist on holding on to the title of Luna of Blackthorn?"
I let out a cold laugh. "And you don't find it shameful to be the other woman, fully aware he's mated?"
Ravenna's lips curled into a smile. The faint scent of night jasmine and copper drifted off her, sweet and wrong, like something bruised beneath the surface. "I knew Alaric long before you did. If I hadn't gone across territories, you'd never have had the chance to bond with him."
She lightly patted her belly, then added smugly, "But I'm back now, and I'm carrying his pup. So I'd say it's time for you to step aside."
From the moment I bonded with Alaric, I knew he had a she-wolf he considered his one true love. But I never thought she'd hold such an unshakable place in his heart.
The pain that shot through my chest nearly brought me to my knees. Somewhere inside me, my wolf curled tight, pressing herself small, as if trying to protect something already breaking. My grip tightened instinctively on the report in my hand.
And that's when Ravenna saw it and snatched it from me.
She scanned the conclusion and burst into wild, gleeful laughter.
"Silver-scar blood rot?" she said. "So, what do you think? Will you live long enough to give birth to that bastard pup, or are you both going to die together?"
Her laughter rang in my ears like sirens and something in me snapped. I stepped forward and slapped her, hard.
She staggered back dramatically, then fell to the ground with a wail.
"Selene, I didn't mean to keep this from you! But I'm carrying a pup! How could you hit me like that?"
Huge, dramatic tears rolled down her cheeks. And before I could even process her performance, I felt a violent shove from behind. I lost my balance and my belly slammed into the cold, hard floor of the Healers' Hall.
Alaric grabbed my arm and yanked me up. I was still dazed, still trying to process the shock, when he yelled in my face.
"Are you out of your mind?! How could you push Ravenna? She's carrying a pup!"
I stared at him, stunned. Before I could speak, Ravenna cried out, "Alaric, please don't fight with Selene because of me. I shouldn't have asked you to come to the appointment with me. This is my fault. As long as the pup's okay, she can slap me."
She looked like a tragic heroine, eyes glassy, lower lip trembling. She even bared the side of her neck in a show of submission so practiced it could have been rehearsed.
Alaric's face twisted with anger. His voice was low and sharp when he turned to me.
"You've crossed the line, Selene," he said coldly. "Apologize to Ravenna."
The sound of it shocked even me. I laughed. Bitterly.
"You want me to apologize?" I said, my voice hoarse. "Alaric, do you know what this is?"
I shoved the silver-sickness report into his chest, my hands shaking. My throat tightened with emotion.
He didn't even look at it.
He tore the paper in half and glared at me like I was the problem.
"I don't care what that says! All I know is you've gone too far. Moon Goddess, you're carrying a pup, Selene! How could you be cruel to another she-wolf?"
Tears finally slipped down my cheeks, hot and silent. My whole body trembled, not from pain, but from sheer fury. My wolf trembled with me, pressing against the inside of my ribs, and I could feel her grief tangled so tightly with my own that I couldn't tell where mine ended and hers began.
Alaric saw me crying and for a moment, his expression softened. His tone shifted to something gentler.
"Alright… can you just apologize? I know I haven't been giving you attention these past few moon cycles. But I promise I'll make it up to you once the pup is born."
Then, without a trace of shame, he pushed me toward Ravenna.
She looked back at me, eyes glinting with smug triumph.
I looked hard at Alaric, wondering how the man who once swore he loved me could change so drastically the moment Ravenna came back. Had he forgotten every promise he made the day we stood before the Moon Goddess and sealed our bond? The place on my neck where his claiming mark still sat burned faintly, as though even it knew something was wrong.
I drew in a long, steadying breath.
"No," I said quietly. "I won't apologize. And Alaric… you've truly disappointed me."
Then I turned and walked away.
