I woke with a jolt, my eyes flying open to a ceiling I didn’t immediately recognize. Sunlight streamed through partially drawn curtains, casting golden patterns across unfamiliar walls. For a moment, I blinked in confusion, trying to plece together how much time had passed since the blood transfusion.
The last thing I remembered was Alpha explaining why he’d changed his mind about me – something about the genuine mate mark, the Sterling heir I carried, and how Dominic had never defied him for anyone before. I recalled Dr. Winters mentioning the treatment pla transfusions three times a week, special vitamins, high–protein meals. At some polat after that first rush of Dominic’s blood entering my system, I must have drifted off to sleep,
What struck me immediately wasn’t just my unfamiliar surroundings, but how differently I was perceiving them. The patterns in the ceiling woodwork were crisp and detailed in ways I’d never noticed before. I could distinguish individual dust motes dancing in the sunbeams with perfect clarity.
1 raised my arm, noting the small bandage in the crook of my elbow where the IV had been. The treatment had clearly continued while I slept Dominic’s blood was inside me now. The thought was both intimate and strange.
[ strength. 1
Carefully, I attempted to sit up, expecting the same weakness I’d felt yesterday. Instead, my body responded with surprising s swung my legs over the side of the bed with ease, feeling oddly energized despite everything that had happened.
That’s when I noticed the sounds.
A bird chirped outside the window – not just any chirp, but a complex series of notes that seemed to carry meaning, as if I could almost understand the message it was conveying to its mate. I could hear the soft padding of footsteps in the hallway too light to be Dominic’s, probably a woman’s. The sound of fabric brushing against skin. Even breathing,
I inhaled deeply, and another shock awaited me. Scents flooded my senses – the freshly laundered sheets, the lemon–based polish on the wooden furniture, the faint trace of Dominic’s distinctive pine and amber scent lingering on the pillow next to mine. And something else
a floral perfume mixed with something earthy. Someone was standing outside my door,
My hand instinctively went to my neck, fingers tracing the mark Dominic had left there. As I touched it, a strange warmth spread through me, almost like a gentle current. And with that warmth came a sensation I couldn’t explain – a pull, a tug of awareness telling me that Dominic was somewhere in the house, moving closer.
A soft knock Interrupted my thoughts.
“Come in,” I called, surprised at how steady
ady my voice sounded,
The door opened to reveal a woman
man I recognized – Emily, the Delta
a who had once pretended to be me to trap Dylan.
“Good morning, Luna,” she said, bowing her head slightly. “Alpha asked me to check on you and inform you that in two months time, alter the marking ceremony, you will officially become Luna of the Silver Shadow Moon Pack.”
I stared at her, thrown by both the title and her respectful tone. “Luna?”
“Yes,” Emily nodded, her eyes never quite meeting mine. “It is the title for the Alpha’s mate the female leader of the pack. Alpha Sterling has acknowledged you as his future Luna.”
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I swallowed, trying to process this. Yesterday, I’d been “the human girl.” “Today, I was “Luna.”
“Thank you, Emily,” I managed. “Could you tell me what happened after L… fell axdrep?”
Emily stepped fully into the room, closing the door behind her. “Dr. Winters completed the initial transfusion using Alpha’s blood. You’ve heen asleep for nearly eighteen hours while your body adjusted. She hesitated. “The treatment appears to have been… unusually
ellective.”
That caught my attention. “What do you mean by unusually effective‘?”
Instead of answering directly. Emily gestured to the bathroom. “Perhaps you should see for yourself, Luna.”
Curious and slightly unnerved, I made my
vod. I made my way to the bathroom. The moment
I caught my reflection in the mirror, I froze.
till looked like myself, but with subtle, unmistakable differences. My skin had a healthy glow that hadn’t been there before, smoother and more radiant. But it was my eyes that truly startled me as I watched, flecks of gold seemed to shimmer briefly in my gray–green Irises before fading away again. I leaned closer to the mirror, fascinated and terrified at once.
–
“What’s happening to me?” I whispered, more to myself than to Emily.
“Alpha’s blood is changing you,” Emily replied from the doorway. “Dr. Winters predicted some adaptation, but nothing quite so… pronounced.”
I turned from the mirror, suddenly determined to find Dominic. “I
I need to talk to him. Now.”
Emily stepped in front of the door, blocking my exit. “I’m sorry, Luna, but Alpha has given strict instructions that you remain in this room to rest and recover.”
A flash of irritation surged through me understand what’s happening to my body”
stronger and more primal than I was used to feeling. I feel fine. Better than fine. And I need to
Emily’s posture remained firm. “My orders are to monitor your condition and ensure the blood transfusion stabilizes. Not to satisfy your curiosity.
Something shifted inside me then a strange, foreign sensation of authority that bubbled up from somewhere deep. When I spoke again, my voice carried a resonance I’d never heard from myself before.
“As the future Luna of this pack, I am ordering you to let me pass.”
Emily’s eyes widened, genuine surprise crossing her features. She seemed torn between her standing orders and the unexpected command in my voice. “Only Alpha can command me,” she finally said, though her stance had weakened slightly.
Before I could respond, the door swung open behind her. Dominic stood there, tall and imposing, his eyes quickly taking in the standoff between us. I felt his presence before I even saw him that strange new awareness again.
–
“Emily, leave us,” he said, his tone allowing no
g no argument.
She immediately stepped back, bowing her head. “Yes, Mr. Sterling.” With one last glance at me part confusion, part new respect = she departed, closing the door behind her,
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Dominic crossed the room to me in three long strides, his hands coming up to cup my face as he breathed, his thumbs gently stroking my cheeks. “How do you feel?”
y face as his eyes searched mine Intently. “Rebecca,”
“Different,” I admitted, leaning into his touch. “Everything is… sharper. Clearer. I can hear things I shouldn’t be able to hear, smell things I’ve never noticed before. And just now, with Emily…” I trailed off, unsure how to explain.
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