I yanked the bedroom door open and stormed out. The moment I reached the main hall of the den, one of the house wolves hurried over, her head lowered, eyes averted. "Luna Ironmaw, you're awake! The second Luna went into labor suddenly. Alpha Ironmaw took her to the Healing Hall!"
I stopped dead. My wolf, who had been coiled tight and restless beneath my ribs since the moment I'd seen that group chat, went utterly still.
"'Second Luna'?" The words came out quiet. Dangerously quiet. "Who told you to call her that?"
I grabbed the ceremonial stone vase beside me and hurled it to the floor. It shattered across the slate, fragments spinning into the walls. The sound cracked through the den like a bone breaking. My chest heaved. The house wolf flinched so hard she nearly dropped to her knees, her wolf's submission rolling off her in waves.
"It was Ms. Thornveil's instructions," she whispered, throat bared. "She said Alpha Ironmaw agreed that she's also the lady of the den. You're the first Luna, and she's the second..."
She was still talking when I snatched my keys and drove to the Healing Hall.
By the time I arrived, Corvina had already delivered.
The scent hit me before I reached the room. Scorched iron and dry cedar bark, Theron's scent, threaded so tightly with that cloying honeysuckle-and-vanilla sweetness that they'd become almost indistinguishable. My stomach turned. My wolf pressed against the inside of my chest, not growling, not whimpering. Just pressing. Like she was trying to brace me for what came next.
The room was packed. Nearly all of Theron's inner circle had crowded inside, laughing and talking over each other like it was a celebration. Their combined scents filled the corridor, warm and boisterous, the smell of pack wolves at ease. As if this were a bonding ceremony. As if this were something to honor.
"Theron, does your mate even know Corvina's had the pup?"
"Don't bring her up." Theron was leaning over the bassinet, teasing the sleeping newborn with one finger. The pup smelled of milk and new wool and a faint trace of pine, clean and innocent and entirely unaware of the wreckage his arrival had caused. A soft, doting smile tugged at the corner of Theron's mouth. "This pup's gorgeous."
"Seriously, Theron. If you look closely, he even looks a little like you!"
"Keep it down. If Seraphina hears that kind of talk, she'll overthink everything."