Chloe POV:
I froze, Jackson's fingers a hard circlet around my wrist.
He thrust a small brown paper bag into my hand. The scent rose unmistakable: moon-herbs, a tincture used to channel divine strength to an unborn pup.
Before I could react, the Former Luna's voice carried from the living room. "Jackson? Is that you, darling?" Her footsteps grew closer.
Jackson snatched the bag back, concealing it behind his back.
His mother appeared in the doorway, her gaze falling to his lapel. A small, intricately carved wolf-tooth badge was fastened there.
"Oh, what a stunning piece!" she exclaimed.
Jackson's chest swelled. He met my eyes with deliberate challenge. "It's a gift from Michelle. She is an elite warrior of the aviation guard."
A cold knot formed in my stomach. I thought of the simple, hand-braided leather amulet I had purchased with six months of an Omega's meager savings. He had never worn it. Not once.
The Former Luna clapped her hands. "You really should spend the upcoming full moon night with Michelle."
Jackson tilted his head, a mocking smirk on his lips. Chloe, what do you think? Don't you agree we make a powerful pair? His voice was not a sound but a pressure inside my skull—a trespass of the Mind-Link.
A wave of revulsion rose in my throat. I threw up my mental barriers—a sudden slamming weight of stone and iron—cutting off his voice.
"Your bloodlines are a perfect match. Congratulations," I said aloud, the words tasting of ash.
My adoptive mother bustled over. "Chloe, go fetch the Moonflower gift box we prepared for the Luna!"
As the older women turned toward the living room, Jackson blocked my path. He bent down, reaching for my ankle in a clumsy gesture of appeasement. His fingers brushed my healthy leg, missing by a hand's breadth the one that bore the scar from the Rogue's trap.
He did not even remember which limb had been torn.
A cold, sharp impulse shot through me. I shoved my palm against his shoulder, the unexpected force making him stagger back.
"Practicing your gentle touch for your new role as a father?" I sneered.
Jackson's eyes narrowed. Before he could form a reply, a specialized, staccato howl erupted from his pocket. The custom ringtone he had set for Michelle—and only for her.
*Something cold and ancient stirred in my chest again, stronger this time. A flicker of power I did not recognize. It vanished as quickly as it came, leaving me shivering. I pushed it down, too numb to wonder.
Chloe POV:
"You'd better answer that," I said, my tone cool. "It sounds urgent."
Jackson glared at me, annoyed at my failure to show jealousy. He pulled out his phone and deliberately pressed speaker.
"Jackson!" Michelle's voice pitched to a theatrical whine. "I'm so exhausted from training. Take me to the VIP Pack bar tonight?"
I folded my arms and leaned against the doorframe, observing the scene as one might watch a poorly rehearsed play.
Jackson saw his crude stratagem had failed. He ended the call and stepped closer, his voice dropping to a low growl. "Don't push your luck, Chloe. An Omega like you should be on your knees thanking the Goddess I even look your way."
I did not grant him a reply. I turned my back and walked deeper into the apartment.
Later, in my small bedroom, I let last month's full moon festival rise unbidden.
The festival had been a riot of firelight and sound. Jackson had insisted I sit on the far side of the square, a chasm of public space separating us. He was terrified that some stray glance might betray the bond that tied the future Alpha to a creature of no standing.
While I remained in the shadows, Michelle had approached him with the easy confidence of her station. She let her pheromones drift toward him as she pressed her arm against his. They laughed together, discussing pack expansion as if they were already its joint sovereigns. The pack elders beamed at the prospect of their union.
I had screamed at him through our Mind-Link. Jackson, tell them the truth! Tell them you have a Mate!
Cease this melodrama, Chloe. It is a matter of politics. Do not ruin this for me.
Unable to watch any longer, I had fled the firelight, running toward the dark fringe of the forest. I kept looking back over my shoulder, my eyes fixed on the sight of his hand brushing a stray lock of hair from Michelle's face.
My gaze was fixed behind me. So I did not see the disturbance in the earth. The ground simply gave way, and I fell into a steep, rock-strewn ravine. My ankle twisted with a sound like green wood snapping.
I lay in the damp soil, screaming his name until my lungs burned.
I saw him at the lip of the ravine—a dark silhouette against the fire-lit sky, looking down at me. But instead of leaping down, he hesitated. He glanced back toward the bonfire, a flicker of panic in his posture at the thought of Michelle or the elders seeing him aid an Omega.
He took one step back from the edge. Then turned and walked back toward the celebration.
It was Sophie, my fellow Omega, who heard my cries and scrambled down to drag me from the mud. She rushed me to the pack hospital in her rattling car. I sat in the passenger seat, my body wracked with silent shudders. I looked at her through a blur of tears and confessed the secret I had carried for weeks.
I told her I had just discovered I was pregnant with the Alpha's pup.
*As I whispered those words, a single tear slid down my cheek—and froze into a fleck of ice before it hit my hand. Sophie didn't see. I stared at the tiny crystal melting on my skin. Something deep inside me was waking up.
