Chapter 2

The next morning, Julian returned from the hunt.

He thought I was still asleep and moved quietly to the bedside.

He was cold all over, carrying the dampness of deep forest air and the faint scent of iron—an unmistakable trace left after a long pursuit.

"My dear," he whispered beside my ear, his voice hoarse with fatigue and a hint of barely contained excitement, "wake up. Look what I brought you."

I opened my eyes and saw him carefully pulling something from his hunting bag.

It was a small, rare spirit beast—still writhing in his hands. A Moonshadow Mink.

It lived only on the most treacherous cliff faces, its fur shifting color under moonlight.

"I just secured the East Valley," he said softly, a boyish pride slipping into his tone as he placed the struggling creature beside my pillow. "The hunting grounds there are unbelievably rich—streams full of fat fish. I'm planning to build a nursery for our future pups there. We'll call it the New Moon Cradle."

My blood turned to ice.

The Moonshadow Mink's cold little paws clawed at my cheek, sending a nauseating itch across my skin.

Our pups.

He was still acting.

He knew the healer said I couldn't have pups. He knew it perfectly well.

Tears spilled down my face without control. Not from sorrow, but from instinctive revulsion and suffocation.

His hand brushed my cheek, his fingers catching my tears.

"I'm sorry, Amanda. I didn't mean to say that."

He panicked.

Julian Blackwood—the Alpha who had once torn apart a silver-armored bear with his bare hands, who had faced rebel blades without a flicker of emotion—was now utterly at a loss because of my tears.

"I just thought… maybe in the future we could adopt a few pups. I thought having pups might be important to you."

I understood. Beneath his certainty, beneath that natural-sounding tenderness, he was simply probing my limits.

Once the timing was right, he would bring his twin pups home as adopted ones.

I shook my head and pulled away from his arms, sitting up.

"It's fine. I've arranged lunch with some of my friends. You should go patrol the borders."

He hesitated, then smiled faintly. "I can stay with you today."

When we entered the warm stone hall, it was already filled with laughter and the aroma of roasted meat.

"I knew it!" one of my friends teased. "As long as Amanda shows up, Julian always follows. He never lets her out of his sight."

Julian smiled—relaxed, charming, nothing like the feared Alpha of the borderlands. He removed his bloodstained cloak and hung it aside, then gestured for a servant to bring in a large wooden chest.

When the lid opened, the room filled with gasps.

Inside were northern snow fox pelts, obsidian-polished jewelry, and several rare luminous gemstones.

"My goodness, complete snow fox pelts! The fur is so pure!"

"Julian, you spoil us every time! We're only this lucky thanks to Amanda!"

They were right. Julian spared no expense to win the favor of my friends. He understood all too well how to use feminine vanity as a tool of charm.

I had no doubt—winning over Celeste Wilder, that beautiful Omega, to bear his pups would require very little effort at all.

At that moment, the heavy wooden doors were pushed open.

Celeste had arrived. She wore an extravagant silver fox cloak, the fur around her neck meticulously groomed. Her neckline dipped low, revealing a fresh bite mark on her collarbone—the place where an Alpha's claim was sealed.

"Oh? You've started?"

She smiled softly as she spoke, her gaze sweeping across the room before landing on Julian for only a moment—then shifting to me.

She walked straight to the stone seat opposite me and glanced casually at the chest on the table.

"Northern snow fox pelts," she said lightly, her tone carrying a faint, condescending pity. "Nice quality. Though I suppose most of you don't know—I have one exactly like it."

Then she looked directly at me.

"My mate conquered the Northern Snow Ridge two years ago. That's how these pelts came to be."

Her gaze cut through the room like a blade, slicing apart the carefully constructed illusion Julian had built.