The first time Lila stepped fully onto the Alpha floor as Luna, the pack felt it.
It wasn’t announced.
No horns. No ceremony.
Just a quiet shift in the air, like the forest leaning in to listen.
She moved slowly that morning, deliberately. The new quarters still felt unfamiliar, but not hostile. The nursery door stood open now, sunlight spilling across the threshold, illuminating the space that had been prepared not as a promise of destiny, but as a commitment to protection.
Lila paused there, one hand resting on the doorframe, the other unconsciously settling at her stomach.
Still warm.
Still steady.
She inhaled deeply.
Behind her, Caleb watched without interrupting. He had learned, in the hardest way possible, that rushing Lila forward only taught her how to retreat. So he waite
