Chapter 2: One Hundred Days, Another Woman Chosen

Serena

"I accept the Covenant."

The courtyard erupts. Relief and excitement ripple through the crowd like something released after years of holding its breath.

*He said yes, just like that?*

I don't move. I can't. Somewhere behind me, people are celebrating as though Kael has just saved them from something instead of handing me over to it.

"Serena." Mira's hand finds mine, and I realize I've stopped breathing properly.

"I'm fine," I whisper. A lie so obvious even I don't believe it.

Kael turns immediately to the council, already trying to contain what he's just agreed to. "Serena remains Luna," he says, his voice carrying over the noise. "No Blood Consort will hold authority over her. The woman chosen will have no emotional, marital, or political claim over me beyond what the Covenant strictly requires."

*Is he negotiating terms? He said yes, and now he's negotiating terms, like this is a treaty and not our marriage.*

"Understood, Alpha," Elder Corwin says, and something in the way he says it makes my stomach turn.

I think about telling them right now. Standing here in front of the entire pack and saying *wait, there might already be a child, none of this needs to happen.*

But I only have the one test, and if I announce a pregnancy that turns out to be nothing in front of people already looking for a reason not to believe me….

I close my mouth before a single word comes out.

“The Consort must meet certain requirements,” Corwin announces, unfolding a scrap of parchment like he’s been carrying it for weeks. “A strong, fully awakened wolf. A respected bloodline. A body capable of carrying a powerful Alpha’s heir.”

*They came prepared for this. They planned it before I even walked up to that stone.*

"Lyra Arden."

Something inside me goes still.

I don’t need to turn around. I already know.

She steps out from the crowd, unhurried, like she’s been waiting for her name the whole time. She stops in front of me and bends her head, slow and deliberate.

“Luna.” Her voice is pitched just loud enough to carry. “I’m honored that Blackthorn considers me worthy of this.”

“Are you?” It isn’t a question, and I don’t try to make it sound like one.

Her mouth curves slightly. “I only want what’s best for the pack, Luna. The same as you.”

*The same.* My nails press into my palm.

"The Covenant lasts one hundred days," Corwin cuts in. "If the Consort conceives within that time, the arrangement concludes immediately. If not, Blackthorn will need to reconsider the succession crisis further."

Kael reaches for my hand. I pull mine away before his fingers close around it.

He looks at me, but I can’t bring myself to look back.

...

He follows me back to the residence, and the moment the door shuts behind us, he starts talking fast, like the right words said quickly enough might undo what’s already been decided.

“Serena, I don’t want her. A hundred days buys me time, that’s all it is. Time to stabilize the council, find another way through this before anything happens between us.”

“Before anything happens.” I turn to face him. “Say what that means, Kael. Say it plainly.”

He hesitates.

That hesitation tells me everything before he opens his mouth again.

“If no other solution is found, I’ll be required to try to conceive with her.”

For a moment, I can’t breath.

"And you expect me to what…stand beside you while you do that? Smile for the pack?"

"There will be no affection in it. No relationship. No mate bond. Nothing that touches what we have."

"Do you hear yourself? That doesn't make it easier, Kael. It makes it worse. You're describing it like it's some business transaction and expecting me to be grateful you kept the receipts clean."

His jaw tightens. "I have spent six years fighting my own council for you. Six years defending you to my family, refusing every suggestion that you be replaced. You know that."

*He doesn't say the rest of it. He doesn't have to.*

"And what happens to her? Afterward? Once she's given Blackthorn its heir.”

"You remain Luna. That never changes."

“Does she disappear from our lives?"

He doesn't answer right away, and that silence is louder than anything he's said so far.

"The mother of an Alpha's heir remains under Blackthorn's protection," he says finally, carefully. "She stays connected to the household."

"So this was never a hundred days." My voice comes out flatter than I mean it to. "This is forever, and you just didn't say it out loud until I made you."

"Serena—"

"Don't." I hold up a hand. "Just — don't, right now."

"I still love only you." He reaches for me again. "I need you to trust me. Be patient. Let me handle this. Just be reasonable."

*Reasonable.*

My hand drifts toward the hidden pocket in my dress.

*The secret I was so desperate to share this morning now feels impossible to give him.

Do I tell him right now?*

A knock cuts through the room, sharp and unapologetic.

"Alpha." A guard's voice, muffled through the door. "Forgive the intrusion. Lyra Arden requests to be shown to her chambers before the household staff retire for the night. She says it's tradition for the Consort to be settled before the first evening ends."

Kael exhales through his nose. "Tell her I'll send someone."

"She's asking for you specifically, Alpha. She says it should be the Luna's household that receives her, out of respect."

*Of course. Of course just the first night and she’s already requesting him.*

My nails bite deeper into my palm.

Kael looks at me, torn. "Serena, this will only take—"

"Go." The word comes out before I can decide whether I mean it kindly. "Go settle your Consort, Kael."

He hesitates at the door, then thinks better of whatever he was going to say and leaves.

I wait until his footsteps fade down the corridor, then reach into my dress and pull out the test, staring at those two faint lines under the lamplight.

*Maybe I'm not supposed to tell him yet.*