LOGIN"I understand your concerns," she began, her voice carrying clearly through the chamber. "You're right that I'm pregnant and that it makes me a target. You are also right that protecting this child is one of my highest priorities." She paused, meeting eyes around the room. "But what you're wrong about is thinking that pregnancy makes me weak.""No one said weak," Moira started."Didn't you?" Korra interrupted gently. "You're asking me to step back, to limit myself to 'ceremonial functions.' You're suggesting my primary value is as a brood mare for the Alpha line. That's not a concern for my well-being. That's fear of what I represent."The room went very quiet."I'm not the first Luna to be pregnant," Korra continued. "Your own history shows that female Alphas and Lunas have led packs while carrying children. Some have even fought in battles while pregnant. So why the sudden concern for me?""Because you are carrying the prophecy child," Rothgar said bluntly. "That's not a normal preg
The morning after Rhyker's announcement, Korra woke to find the entire pack house buzzing with the news. She'd barely made it to the breakfast hall before the whispers started. "Pregnant already?" one of the older she-wolves muttered. "How convenient. Locks in her position before anyone can question it.""The prophecy child," another whispered, his eyes wide with a mixture of awe and fear. "What if it's true? What if the baby really does bring destruction?"Korra kept her head high, her hand instinctively moving to her still-flat stomach. Kael walked beside her, his presence a wall of protection, but even he couldn't shield her from every barbed comment, every suspicious glance.Mara appeared at her elbow with a plate of food. "Ignore them," she said firmly. "They are just scared of change.""Or scared of me," Korra murmured, sitting at one of the tables. The smell of eggs made her stomach turn, and she pushed the plate away."You need to eat," Thalia said, joining them. She had been
Korra found Kael in their chambers, studying the maps of Eastern Ridge territory. He looked up when she entered, his expression softening immediately."There you are. I was starting to worry." He crossed to her, pulling her into his arms. "Are you feeling better? You looked pale during the meeting.""I'm fine," she said, then caught herself. "Actually, that's not true, I'm not fine. I'm terrified and overwhelmed, and I have something I need to tell you."Concern flooded his face. "What's wrong? Is it the curse? Did something…""I'm pregnant."The words came out in a rush, barely coherent. Kael froze, his hands still on her shoulders, his eyes wide."You're... what?""Pregnant. With your child, our child. The prophecy child, probably, given the timing and the way Thalia's test reacted." She was babbling now, the words tumbling out faster than she could organize them. "I know the timing is terrible, with the summit and my father and everything else, but I thought you should know, and I
PRESENT DAY"I should have killed him," Rhyker said, slamming his fist on the table. "The moment he attacked our territory, the moment he tried to sell his own daughter. I should have ended him then and there.""Why didn't you?" Korra asked quietly.Rhyker looked at her, and for the first time, she saw something like regret in his eyes. "Because Kael asked me not to. Because you had already lost so much, and he thought... we both thought maybe you would need closure, need to confront him yourself someday." He shook his head. "I was weak, sentimental, and now he's coming back with an army.""Then we fight," Kael said firmly. "We have beaten him before; we will beat him again.""With two hundred rogues?" Vera challenged. "We are strong, but not that strong. Not if they coordinate properly.""We call for aid from our allies," Seline suggested. "The Northern Peaks, the River Valley packs…""Who are already stretched thin dealing with their own border issues," Rhyker interrupted. "Issues t
Three weeks after Harkin's arrest, peace seemed to have settled over Moonhowl. The cursed mark was gone from Korra's hand, replaced by the silver healer's sigil that gleamed faintly whenever she used her magic. The council had grudgingly accepted her position as Luna candidate, but it was the black feather on the windowsill that haunted her dreams.She had shown it to Rhyker the morning after it appeared. He studied it with grim recognition, then ordered it burned and the ashes scattered. "A calling card," he said. "Someone wants us to know that they are watching.The third conspirator was still out there, and now, three weeks later, a new threat was emerging from an unexpected direction.Korra stood in the war room, studying the map spread across the table. Red markers indicated recent rogue attacks, five in the past two weeks, all coordinated, all targeting Moonhowl's outer territories."They are testing our defenses," Vera said, pointing to the pattern. "Probing for weaknesses.""
"No," Korra breathed. "That's impossible.""Is it?" Lucien's voice was soft. "Harkin was one of the three your mother identified in her journal. One of the original conspirators who started selling healer information to hunters thirty years ago. Castor discovered the connection, confronted Harkin privately, and paid for it with his life."Harkin's face had gone deathly pale. "This is a fabrication, some trick…""The crystal doesn't lie," Lucien said. "And neither does this."He threw another item onto the table, a bloodstained knife with Harkin's personal seal on the hilt."Found in the hidden compartment of your chambers," Lucien said. "Along with payment records, communication crystals linked to known hunter groups, and a very interesting ledger detailing every Silvercrest healer you helped capture over the past three decades."Harkin lunged for the door, but Kael was faster. He slammed the elder against the wall, his hand at the older wolf's throat."You murdered Castor," Kael snar







