Se connecterALICE'S POVMonths went by before I felt the baby move.I was going through some research papers in the sitting room when it happened. The movement was so light that I thought it was just a muscle twitch at first, a tiny ripple low in my belly. I stopped writing and held my breath with one hand resting over the curve under my blouse.It came again. A soft tap, like a fingertip knocking from the inside.I started smiling before I could stop myself. "Hello, little one."Benjamin looked up from his laptop across the room. "What is it?""I think the baby just moved."He stood up before I even finished the sentence, and his laptop almost slid off his knees. "Now?""Just now." I took his hand and pressed it against my stomach. "Hold still. Maybe you will feel it."He kept his warm hand there and did not blink while he waited for the baby to move again.We waited, but nothing happened.He shifted his hand a little to the left. "Maybe here?""Benjamin, the baby does not have a doorbell.""I a
ALICE'S POVThe nausea hit me hard while I was standing at the counter in the clinic going through the morning reports. One moment I was sorting patient notes with my ginger tea steaming next to me, and the next moment the floor felt like it was tilting under my feet. The whole room started spinning, so I grabbed the edge of the counter to keep from falling. I lowered myself down carefully until I was sitting on the floor with my back against the cabinet.Benjamin's footsteps came running across the room right away."Alice?" he said, and his voice changed as soon as he saw me on the floor. He crouched down beside me and all the color left his face. I could feel his fear through the bond. It was sharp and sudden."I'm awake," I told him before he could start shouting for the rest of the pack. "I can hear you and I can answer you. I'm just dizzy. I'm not dying.""Why are you on the floor?" he asked."Because the floor finally stopped moving long enough for me to sit down," I said.He d
BENJAMIN'S POVI knew we were in trouble the second Lucian ran through the front doors.Alice was still standing next to me on the steps with her fingers locked in mine. Our son rushed past the guards and went straight into the main hall, and his voice carried back out through the open doors, loud enough for the whole house to hear."Everybody! My mom has a baby in her belly!"Alice's hand tightened hard around mine. I closed my eyes for a second.We had planned to tell the household together after we had some time to breathe and decide how much we wanted to share. Lucian clearly did not wait for that plan.Inside, there was a short moment of silence before a lot of people started talking and asking questions at the same time.Alice looked at me and tried not to smile. "Well. That was fast.""I'm going to talk to him about sharing family news.""Are you going to tell him not to be happy?""I'm going to tell him to think first before he opens his mouth."She laughed, and I felt some of
ALICE'S POVI woke up with my hand already resting low on my belly.The room was quiet and full of soft morning light. Downstairs a cupboard door banged shut, and Lucian was talking loudly about something. Benjamin's words from last night kept running through my head. He had said "another pup," and those two words stayed with me all night. I pressed down on my stomach, trying to feel if anything was different, but I felt nothing new. I am a doctor. I know there are many reasons a woman can feel sick in the morning, and I know hope can trick you into believing something that might not be true.I pushed the covers off and got out of bed before I could keep thinking in circles.Benjamin stood at the kitchen counter buttering toast. Lucian knelt on a stool next to him, looking at a piece of paper covered in messy handwriting."Should I be worried that you two are having a planning meeting without me?" I asked.Lucian turned so fast he almost fell off the stool. "Mom! We're making a list
ALICE'S POVThe best mornings at Blue Moon were the ones where nothing went wrong, and I had learned not to take any of those mornings for granted.Sunlight was coming through the curtains when I opened my eyes. Benjamin's side of the bed was empty, but I could hear him moving around downstairs. Not long ago, an empty bed would have made me worry that he was hiding something from me. These days I only wondered if he had gone to find Lucian.I got dressed and followed the sound of their voices out to the back garden. I stopped in the doorway and just watched them for a moment.Benjamin was on the grass with Lucian, showing him how to stand for a fight. Our son had his feet planted too wide and his fists raised almost up to his ears."You're leaving your middle open," Benjamin said, and he gently pushed Lucian's elbow down. "If somebody sees that opening, he will use it against you."Lucian frowned. "But you told me to protect my face.""Both things matter. You have to watch the whole f
BENJAMIN'S POVI woke up before the sun came up and felt my wolf moving under my skin. Soft light was coming through the curtains, and Alice was still asleep next to me with her hand under her cheek. She was breathing slowly and evenly. I carefully pushed a piece of hair away from her face so I would not wake her up.There was an eastern patrol report waiting on my desk. Callum had left a message about a council meeting, and I had pack business that needed to be done before noon. The old version of me would already have been getting dressed and heading out the door. But this morning I stayed in bed a little longer and just watched my wife sleep. Then I got dressed quietly and went downstairs before anyone else in the house woke up.The moment I opened the front door, I heard a soccer ball hitting the grass.Lucian was outside on the lawn in his pajamas. His hair was sticking up in every direction. He was kicking the ball toward two goals he had made out of flowerpots, and neither of
Alice’s POV"What?""Is this your new plan? To trap me again?" Benjamin’s voice dripped with contempt. "Did you run out of tricks, Alice? Is faking our son’s terminal illness really the best you could come up with?"I couldn’t breathe. The hospital hallway seemed to close in around me, the walls pr
ALICE’S POVI hadn't slept. I'd counted his breaths instead.It had been four hours since Lucian collapsed at breakfast. Four hours since I’d screamed loud enough to wake every wolf on our floor of the western wing. Now the monitors did the counting for me — soft, steady, mechanical as my son slept
ALICE’S POVI should have taken Lucian home.I should have picked him up, carried him away from this festival of false joy and false hope, and tucked him into bed with a story, a kiss, and a promise that tomorrow would be better.But I didn’t. Because Lucian wanted to see the fireworks. And I could
ALICE’S POVThe Blue Moon Festival was Lucian’s idea of heaven and my four-year plan of endurance.He’d been talking about it for weeks—the lanterns, the fireworks, the honey cakes from the booth near the stage. When he’d asked, he’d pressed both hands together like he was praying, eyes wide, and I







