LENA’S POVThe house was finally quiet.Sonia had been tucked into her cradle, Ivy had collapsed into a well-deserved nap, and Briar, thankfully had gone out for patrol duty. For the first time in what felt like weeks, silence wrapped itself around the walls.I leaned against the window, looking out at the forest bathed in silver moonlight. My hand brushed across my stomach, a gesture I still hadn’t grown used to. The healer’s words echoed in my mind like a drumbeat: you are with child.It both terrified and thrilled me.A low, steady presence stirred behind me, pulling me from my thoughts. Arlo. He never needed to announce himself; I felt him before he even touched me. His warmth pressed against my back, his arms encircling my waist, his chin resting on my shoulder.“You’re awake,” he murmured. His voice was rough, low, threaded with fatigue and something deeper.“I couldn’t sleep,” I admitted softly.“Because of what the healer said?”I hesitated before nodding.Arlo’s lips brushed
LENA’S POVIvy was wrong. She had to be wrong.There was no way I was pregnant. Absolutely no way. Except… why did my chest feel heavy, my stomach unsettled, and why had I suddenly gone off marshmallows? MARSHMALLOWS, of all things.I chased Ivy through the hall, my socks skidding on the polished wood floor as she bolted like she hadn’t just given birth hours ago. “Ivy! You just had a baby, how are you running this fast?” I shouted, breathless.“Mother’s strength!” she yelled back, cackling.Arlo’s voice drifted in from the porch. “What’s going on in there?”“Nothing!” I barked, right as Ivy burst out the back door screaming, “ARLO, LENA’S PREGNANT!”The silence that followed was deafening. Even the crickets outside shut up.Arlo turned slowly, barbecue tongs in hand, staring at me like I’d just sprouted a second head. Briar, beside him, blinked once, twice, before his lips curved into a wolfish grin.“Oh, this is going to be fun,” Briar muttered.“Ivy, you traitor!” I lunged, grabbin
LENA'S POV It was the moment we'd all been waiting for, one that had been long anticipated, but still filled us with anxiety. Briar wouldn't stop pacing around, twice he almost broke into the room to stop the process when he couldn't bear the fact that Ivy was in so much pain.“She'll be fine Briar, i promise” I whispered, caressing his hands gently.Arlo couldn't make it as a result of countless pack engagements, but he did send letters. Every hour.At some point i began feeling more anxious than Briar was. The delivery was taking longer than it ought to.One mid wife soon appeared. We both rushed to her, hoping there'd be news, good news.“Why is it taking so long?” I asked, almost not breathing.“We're not sure yet, but did she perhaps get into an accident?” She asked.“Yes, but that was a long time ago. Is that why it's taking so long?” I asked again.The mid wife sighed. “Well that might that reason, let's hope they both make it” “Wait…”I didn't finish before she disappeared
LENA'S POV The pack hall was filled for the first time, with wolves of the Croft pack, now divided as the Moonridge pack, rogues and even slaves for other pack.It turns out i wasn't the only one who suffered after my parents demise, they did too. For too long, our pack had been fractured, shadows of old lies cutting them apart, blood spilled between kin who should have stood together. Torben’s family manipulation had sown distrust, their whispers twisting bonds into knots of suspicion. Families had been torn in half, brothers turned against brothers.But now the truth had finally emerged. The deceit had been exposed. His family's hand behind the fractures made visible for all to see. And with it, the pack found themselves staring not at enemies, but at one another, at kin, at familiar eyes they had once trusted.At the center stood Arlo, broad-shouldered, his presence steady as the earth beneath them. I stood beside him, hand linked with his, her eyes unafraid. I was now his L
LENA'S POV The day stretched longer than expected, i let out a sigh gazing at the sun setting from the balcony of the eastern tower of Lunaris.The city layed quietly beneath me, street lights glowing faintly as the day grew darker.I felt at ease for the first time in my whole life, i was haunted by nightmares or guilt. I was finally able to breathe.But despite all of this, i still felt a bit restless, and i knew why.Since my parents death, I'd chosen to live the human world for good, it was the only way i could hide from Torben and save myself alot of troubles.I had spent all my life trying to blend in, to deny the bitter truth of who i really was. Nyla too had been starved of land, of her pack and purpose.But now, with Megan gone, everyone was looking up to me. The weight of leadership was slowly settling in, it made me realise just how much i had missed my roots.“I've done as you asked” Lucan walked into the office, wearing a smile.“Seems like everything is set then” I wal
LENA'S POV I stared into Arlo's eyes as we both stood under the full moon, not saying anything, but letting our eyes do all the talking instead.“You know i love you, don't you” he asked, hands wrapped firmly around my waist.I smiled when he said this, ofcourse i did, but still i longed to hear him say it again. It felt different each time it did.“You do?” I asked, biting my lower lip.He smirked. “You're acting coy again, aren't you?” I shook my head. “I wouldn't stoop so low, i just can't recall you saying anything to me”“Since when do you have a short memory?” He laughed. “If you want to hear me say just how much i love you then ask, you don't have to be so sly”“Who says I'm being sly?” I hissed, my face turning red from the fact that I'd been caught.“You're not?” He arched a brow. “How come it's written all over your face?”I instinctively reached for my face when he said this, like i could confirm what he said by simply touching it.“Stop messing around” I hit his chest, t