Chapter 6
Claire’s POV
I wake up to the scent of smoke and lavender.
BE Be yourtines
The ceiling above me is unfamiliar. Smooth wooden beams, warm candlelight flickering across the high arches. The bedding beneath me is soft, impossibly so, like it’s meant for someone important.
For a second, I wonder if I’ve died and this is heaven. But then I feel the pain in my ribs and the ache in my lower stomach. Nope, still alive.
I try to sit up, but a wave of nausea hits me. My head feels heavy and hollow at the same time. I push through it until I’m upright. The room spins slightly.
A tall window shows thick mist hiding tall mountain peaks off in the distance. Wherever I am, it’s far from Silver Crescent. How far did I run?
And then the memories hit me all at once. Daphne, the rogues, me rushing to the manor house.
My wolf.
Panic rises, sharp and fast. I press my hand to my chest, willing her to stir, but there’s nothing. No hum of power. No primal presence. Just silence.
A woman steps into the room, distracting me from spiraling further. Her uniform crisp, her eyes kind. She carries a tray, but she sets it down quickly once she sees I’m awake. The maid from the clearing.
“You’re up.” A comforting smile blooms across her face. “That’s good. You had us all worried.”
“Where am I?” My voice is hoarse and low. “What is this place?”
“You’re safe,” she says gently. “My name is Emma. You are located in the Night Mountain territory.”
Night Mountain?
I blink. “As in the Night Mountain Pack?”
Emma nods once.
That makes no sense.
Night Mountain is the territory of Alpha Prince Ivan, the brother of the current Alpha King.
Prince Ivan is known to be brilliant but ruthless and untouchable. And his territory, Night Mountain, is notorious for being isolated and unwelcoming to outsiders. Only the prince and his few servants are allowed to walk around in there. No one crosses his border unless they’re looking for a death wish.
“Wait, wait, wait,” I whisper, my thoughts coming a thousand miles per minute. “Who brought me here?”
Emma tilts her head. “Prince Ivan found you.”
“P–p–prince Ivan saved me?” I stutter.
“He did.”
“That can’t be right,” I murmur. “He doesn’t help people. He hates outsiders.”
15:26 Thu, Dec 25R G
Chapter 6
She shrugs. “He is not as cruel as he would like you to think.”
The door creaks again. I look up, and my eyes lock on his.
The Alpha Prince.
He’s taller than I imagined, with a wide, muscled frame. Dressed in black, his coat tailored, dark hair combed out of his face.
His gray eyes are the color of steel. Or raging storm clouds. Sharp, cool, and unreadable. He doesn’t move with arrogance, but with precision, like a man who’s used to having the final word.
Ivan.
I try not to shrink beneath his gaze, but I fail.
“Emma, please do not try to soften my image,” he says, voice like stone. “Especially not to strangers who cross into my lands without permission.”
I swallow. “But you took me inside.”
Ivan cuts me off sharply. “I confused you for someone else.”
He says it flatly, as if it explains everything. Then for a brief moment, I could tell that he was lost in his thoughts, looking almost like he was greiving for something.
Even though I have a hundred questions in my mind, I know it’s not a good time to ask them.
“And…I’m not comfortable leaving a pregnant woman alone in the woods,” he suddenly continued.
Emma stands, “Sir, this might not be the best time-”
“She needs to know,” Ivan says.
“Know what?” I ask.
Emma meets my eyes with determination. “You had a daughter. Your distress induced labor in the night. Do you remember?”
I freeze. “What are you talking about? I only have a son. I gave birth to him two days ago.”
Emma goes to the room next door and walks back in, placing a bundle carefully into my arms.
“Well, now you also have a daughter.”
I move the blanket from the baby’s face so I can see her properly.
She’s…she’s beautiful.
“How…” My eyes well with tears. “How is this possible?”
Emma clears her throat. “I have seen this once before. When a woman is carrying an Alpha baby, it can sometimes overpower any other baby in the womb. You wouldn’t have been able to see her in the ultrasound around your son. When he was born, she needed a few more days to develop in order to live.”
Emma nods. “I’m glad she did, because she is strong. Healthy. Quiet too. Slept throughout the night.”
The hole in my heart that Gideon had carved when he took Leo from my arms begins to heal partially.
She’s perfect. Red hair. Pale skin. Her nose is a mirror of Leo’s.
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Chapter 6
My chest cracks open.
“I didn’t even know you were here,” I whisper. “I’m so sorry, my girl. But now that you are here I will never let anyone take you from me.”
Tears fall freely now. She stirs in my arms, but doesn’t wake.
Ivan leans in the doorway, watching.
“Who is the father?” he asks finally.
I bite my lip. “Why does that matter? He doesn’t want me.”
“Because I don’t want to bring trouble to my doorstep” he says plainly. “If someone’s coming for you, I need to know who.”
I level my eyes with his and sigh.
I hold
my daughter tighter, then start from the beginning.
“My name is Claire Hallow. I was the Luna of Silver Crescent Pack. Gideon Hallow is my… he was my mate. He said I would be officially crowned as his Luna after I gave birth to our kid. But he took our son and rejected me yesterday. His ex- Well, I guess girlfriend now, injected wolfsbane in me and left me to die in the forest.“”
Ivan says nothing.
I continue, voice cracking.
“But I didn’t. I think I…” I stop the words that I’m too ashamed to say. “I survived the forest to get back to my child. I had no idea she was with me, too. I thought I’d already lost everything. Now I have her. And I’m not going back. Not to him. Not to any of them.”
The room is quiet when I finish.
“Monstrous,” Emma says, disgust in her tone. “That a bonded mate would cast aside the mother of his child. His children.” She growls the last word.
Emma grunts in agreement.
Ivan watches me from his place by the door. His handsome face softening just barely. The crease on his forehead smooths.
“What pack did you say you were from, my dear?” Emma asked.
“Silver Crescent,” She inhales sharply, pulling out a crisp parchment envelope. “This came just now for you, my lord” he says. “From Silver Crescent.”
Ivan takes it, breaks the seal with one flick of his thumb, and scans the contents.
When he speaks, his voice is cold.
“An invitation,” he says. “From Alpha Gideon Hallow.”
Even though Alpha Ivan barely attends any parties or celebrations, people send him invitations every time out of respect
and custom.
I clutch my baby closer to my chest. “What kind of invitation?”
“A celebration.” Ivan’s fingers pinch the letter harshly. “For the birth of his heir.”
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Chapter 7
