Whispers traveled faster than wind in Blackthorn territory.
At dawn, the chill air carried murmurs that twisted into rumors, and rumors twisted into something sharper—fear. Wolves moved in tense clusters, ears perked, tails stiff. Omegas scurried between chores with strained faces, exchanging uneasy glances.
Something had happened.
Something impossible.
Something forbidden.
Julia woke to the sound of hushed voices just outside her door.
"She didn't hide it well this time—she nearly fainted twice."
"The doctor said he smelled a second heartbeat—"
"But how? She isn't marked."
"An unmarked pregnancy? The Moon Goddess forbids it—"
"No wolf can conceive without the mark! This breaks every law."
Julia's blood ran cold.
They knew.
And if they knew…
Alan would know soon.
Elara, her wolf, pressed against her consciousness.Hold steady, Julia. We cannot show fear. They will smell it.
Julia inhaled sharply, bracing herself. She stepped outside.
Every wolf in the hallway went rigid.
Some stared.Some backed away.Some bowed, confused—she was the Alpha's mate, after all.Some… recoiled in disgust.
One Omega looked at her with wide eyes. "Luna, is it true? Are you… with child?"
Julia swallowed. "I don't know."
That much was true. She did know, deep in her soul—but she hadn't confirmed it. Not officially.
Not medically.
Not aloud.
The Omega sucked in a breath as if slapped. "The Alpha will—"
Footsteps thundered through the corridor.
A door slammed.
And suddenly…
Alan stood at the far end of the hall.
His eyes—normally sharp and controlled—were wild. Unfocused. Hungry. Amber light flickered painfully bright in them. Wolves around him shrank back, their heads bowing instinctively.
He was beyond furious.
Beyond reason.
Beyond anything Julia had ever seen.
"Everyone. Out."
His voice shook the walls.
Wolves scattered instantly, scrambling like terrified shadows.
In seconds, the entire hallway emptied.
Julia felt her chest tighten as Alan stalked toward her, every step radiating a wrath most wolves never lived long enough to witness.
When he stopped in front of her, his breathing was ragged.
His wolf pushed violently through the bond.
"You're pregnant."
It wasn't a question.It wasn't an accusation.
It was a raw, primal roar of disbelief and fury and… something else.
A flicker of fear.
Julia lifted her chin. "I didn't tell anyone."
"You didn't have to." His voice broke like crushed stone. "The entire pack can smell it."
Her heart sank.
Wolves could smell life.They could smell the energy of conception.Even at barely a few weeks, Alpha sensitivity was unparalleled.
Alan's chest heaved. "Unmarked. You're unmarked."
She nodded.
The world seemed to tilt around him.
"That's impossible," he whispered. "Impossible—unless—"
His mind spun. She felt it through the bond.
He thought she'd been with someone else.
Julia's heart squeezed painfully.
"No," she said firmly. "There is no one else."
His head snapped up, eyes blazing. "Then how—?"
She didn't break eye contact."Ask the Moon Goddess."
Alan staggered back as if struck.
Not understanding.Not believing.Not accepting.
Because without the mate mark, wolves could not physically conceive.
Yet Julia had.
His wolf snarled inside him, torn between rage and a desperate, mindless need to protect what was his.
But Alan's voice dropped to a whisper that hurt to hear:
"This child… shouldn't exist."
Julia flinched.
And Alan realized too late what he'd said.
Outside, wolves gathered in clusters again, forming a semicircle around the main courtyard.
They weren't cheering.
They weren't celebrating.
They were watching her like she was a living curse.
Unmarked pregnancies were taboo. They were rare, dangerous, and whispered to be omens—blessings or catastrophes, depending on the pack.
"That pup is unnatural."
"It's cursed."
"It's a sign the Alpha's line is unfit."
"No… it's her. She provoked the laws."
"She bewitched him."
Julia heard it all.Each word cut deeper.
Elara growled inside her.Let them talk. A true Luna is not made by their approval, but by her strength.
But Julia's hands trembled.
Fear clawed at her throat.
Because she knew too well—In many packs, unmarked pregnancies were punishable.
Sometimes by death.
And Alan…Alan was still staring at her with the expression of a wolf whose world had just split in half.
Of course, out of all wolves, Olivia arrived next.
She sashayed through the crowd with a triumphant smile—until she saw Alan pale with shock and Julia standing defiantly before him.
Her eyes widened.
"Julia… you?" Olivia laughed sharply. "This is a joke. A whore's trick."
Alan snapped.
His head whipped toward her with such murderous fury that Olivia stumbled backwards.
"Say another word," he growled, voice shaking the earth beneath their feet, "and I will rip your tongue out."
The crowd gasped.
Olivia's face lost all color.
For the first time, Julia saw raw fear in the mistress's eyes.
Olivia tried to recover, lifting her chin. "But Alpha… how can she be pregnant? You never—"
Alan cut her off with a roar."Enough!"
His wolf surged so violently that every wolf bowed instinctively.
All except Julia.
She alone stood tall.
Breathing. Shaking. Alive.
Olivia's lips twisted."She's unmarked. Pregnant without a mark. That makes her a—"
Alan's growl deepened. "Finish that sentence."
Olivia swallowed hard and retreated into the crowd.
But Julia knew.
Olivia would not give up.
She would get her revenge.
Alan turned back to Julia, shoulders rigid.
"This wasn't supposed to happen," he said, voice barely steady. " You weren't supposed to—"
He tore his gaze away, jaw clenching.
"I told you I didn't want—"
Julia flinched again. He saw it.
Pain flickered across his face, too fast to hide.
"Julia… I didn't mean—"
She shook her head. "You always say you don't mean it."
He froze.
"I didn't choose this," she whispered, hand gently covering her abdomen. "But I won't apologize for it."
Alan's nostrils flared.
"You're mine," he growled.
"I'm your prisoner," she corrected coldly.
He staggered back a step.
Her words sliced through his chest with the finality of a blade.
But then…
The bond pulsed.
Alan's wolf surged with an instinct so primal it terrified him.
Protect the mate.Protect the pup.Protect. Protect. Protect.
Alan lifted a trembling hand toward her stomach — but stopped inches away, as if touching her would shatter him.
"You should have told me," he whispered.
Julia's eyes hardened. "So you could hurt me more?"
His entire body tensed.He couldn't deny it.Not with how he had treated her.
Julia stepped back from him—something she had never done before.
The Alpha of Blackthorn looked at her as if his world had tilted off its axis.
"Julia…" His voice broke. "Tell me what you want me to do."
"Nothing," she said softly. "You already did enough."
The pack watched.
Alpha and unmarked Luna.A forbidden child between them.A bond fractured beyond repair.
Alan opened his mouth, but words failed him.
So instead—
He bowed his head.
The crowd gasped.
An Alpha bowing to his mate.
To the woman he had broken.
To the woman carrying his forbidden child.
Julia's eyes widened in shock.
Alan's voice trembled.
"I… will not harm you. Or the pup."
Julia didn't answer. She didn't trust him.
Yet the entire pack felt the shift.
A silent declaration.
Blackthorn's future had changed.
The Alpha had bowed.
But the Luna?
She walked away.
Leaving him kneeling in the dust.