Chapter 2

The moment those words left my mouth, everything went black.

Alaric's traveling Healer rushed over and seized my wrist.

"Don't close your eyes! You close them now and they're not opening again — think about your baby, he's still alive!"

The Healer pulled back the fabric over my abdomen to examine the wound. His hands trembled.

He looked up at Alaric, his face white as bone.

"The vampire's claws tore through her uterus. The baby's losing blood. The only option is moongrass combined with healing magic to seal the wound — otherwise we lose them both."

Alaric hadn't even steadied himself, but his voice had already dropped low.

"Where's the moongrass?"

"There's only one stalk in all of Shadowfang Pack. It's in Alpha Cain's private stores. Without his direct order, no one can access it."

Alaric called a warrior over immediately.

"Find Cain Thorne. Tell him his Luna needs the moongrass from his stores. Now."

The warrior turned and ran.

I lay on the ground, hand pressed against my still-bleeding belly, knowing better than anyone what was coming.

Cain wouldn't give it.

He didn't care about me. He didn't care about the baby inside me. All he saw was Vivienne. All he'd ever see was Vivienne.

In my past life, I traded my mother's heirloom to win him the Northern Territory, and he never once said thank you. In this life, he couldn't even be bothered to show up for the Alpha King's inspection — what was one stalk of moongrass?

The warrior came back empty-handed.

He knelt before Alaric, forehead slick with sweat.

"Alpha King, I found Alpha Cain. He's at the pack house with Vivienne — she said she got caught in the rain and isn't feeling well."

Alaric's gaze turned cold.

"The moongrass?"

The warrior lowered his head even further.

"Alpha Cain said… said that Luna has been making a fuss ever since she got pregnant. He told me to pass along a message — Vivienne's had a sore throat all day, and he's saving the moongrass to brew her tea."

Tea.

I didn't speak. I didn't cry.

I'd used up all my tears in my past life — cried until the very end, when the rogues tore me apart, and there was nothing left.

Alaric stood up.

His wound had just healed. His whole body was still shaking. But his eyes burned with fury.

He unclipped the obsidian token from his waist and handed it to his captain of the guard.

"Take my token. This is an absolute order from the Alpha King — bring Cain Thorne to me."

The captain took the token and disappeared into the forest with two warriors.

The Healer had been keeping me alive with healing magic the entire time, his hand pressed against the edge of my wound, fingertips glowing faintly. But the sweat on his forehead was getting worse.

I knew — without the moongrass, his magic wouldn't hold much longer.

I felt the baby move inside me. Just barely. As if telling me he was still there.

I clenched my teeth and refused to pass out.

Footsteps finally approached.

But the person who appeared wasn't Cain.

It was an Omega servant — Mira.

I'd found Mira during a patrol along the pack's border. She was nothing but skin and bones, half a day from starving to death.

I brought her back to the pack. Gave her food, clothes, a position as my personal attendant. She'd knelt before me and sworn she would never forget what I'd done for her.

She kept that promise.

Just not in the way I expected.

One day I came back to my room early. The door wasn't fully shut. Through the gap, I saw Vivienne handing Mira a small pouch of silver powder. Their heads were nearly touching, voices low, scheming over how to mix it into my dinner.

I kicked the door open.

Vivienne's hand was still frozen in midair. Half the powder had spilled from Mira's grip onto the floor.

I seized them both, ready to charge them with attempted murder of a Luna and banish them from the pack.

Then Cain arrived.

He strode in and planted himself in front of Vivienne.