The night after the declaration did not feel ceremonial.
It felt ordinary.
That was what surprised Lila most.
No thunder cracked the sky. No strange dreams visited her sleep. The forest did not howl in protest or approval. Life simply… continued, as if the pack had decided that choosing a future was not a single dramatic step, but a thousand small ones.
She woke before dawn with her hand already curved over her stomach, the baby shifting lazily as though greeting her first.
“Good morning to you too,” she whispered, smiling into the dim.
Caleb lay on his back beside her, one arm thrown above his head, dark lashes resting against his cheeks. He looked younger when he slept, less like an Alpha carrying a territory on his shoulders and more like the man she had first scented beneath the
