The Injured Luna

Baby Bash

Chapter 26 – The Moon Blessing Bash

The night of the Moon Blessing Bash arrived with velvet skies and stars that burned brighter than memory. A soft wind swept over the territory, carrying the scent of jasmine, wild thyme, and the distant echo of drums.

The courtyard had been transformed into something out of a fairytale.

Glowing lanterns floated above in slow circles, their silver-blue light casting ethereal patterns across the mossy stones. Spell-threads shimmered between trees like cobwebs spun from moonlight. At the center, a raised dais of stone and soft pelts waited beneath the ancient tree—its twisted branches now blooming with white blossoms that hadn't opened in generations.

Anna stood in the center of it all.

She wore a flowing gown spun from enchanted silk the color of midnight. Her belly, round and radiant, was painted with runes and symbols in sparkling gold and silver—crafted by Candace’s gentle hands while Lacy sang lullabies in the Old Tongue.

The pack gathered in a wide circle, dressed in sky tones and bare feet, their eyes full of reverence. Children clung to their parents. Warriors stood beside healers. Even the forest seemed to lean in, as if the land itself bore witness.

“Are you ready?” Richard whispered from behind her, voice low at her ear.

Anna nodded, her hand settling over her belly. “Let’s do this.”

Candace stepped forward, hands raised. “We gather under the full moon, under her gaze, to bless the vessel of new life,” she called out, voice clear and ringing. “To honor our Luna. Our sister. Our Queen.”

The pack howled in unison—one long, layered note of celebration, reverence, and raw joy.

Music began, soft and haunting. Drums pulsed. Wind flutes wept. Dancers spun across the clearing, trailing ribbons and feathers, blessing the earth with their bare feet.

Anna closed her eyes as energy flowed through her—pure, vibrant, almost electric. The baby kicked once, then settled.

Something deep in her soul stirred.

A ripple.

She frowned slightly. The drums shifted. The wind stilled.

A shadow at the edge of the trees.

Richard felt it too. His hand found her back, his stance tightening.

“I saw something,” Anna murmured.

A crack of branches.

The music faltered.

And then—

A figure emerged from the woods. Tall, robed, silver-eyed. His presence silenced everything.

Even the moonlight dimmed.

“Anna of the Silver Bloodline,” he intoned. “The old pact has been broken. The child you carry has awakened something ancient.”

Gasps. Whispers. A hiss of magical tension surged through the crowd.

Richard stepped in front of Anna, growling low.

But she held her ground, voice steady. “Who are you?”

The figure smiled. “A guardian. A warning. And a key.”

And then he vanished into mist.

The drums did not resume.

The silence left behind was thick with questions.

And Anna knew—this was only the beginning.

The mist where the robed figure had stood clung to the earth like fog refusing to rise.

No one moved.

Not even the wind dared.

Anna’s heart thundered in her chest. Her hand rested protectively on her belly, the child within calm—but alert. She could feel it. As if the baby had been listening too.

“He was a Shadow Messenger,” Lacy whispered, stepping up beside her. “Old magic. Pre-wolf.”

Candace’s face had gone pale. “They only appear before wars… or births that change everything.”

Richard’s jaw was tight. “Get the elders. Now.”

The crowd slowly began to disperse under Beta Johnny’s firm direction. Children were ushered to their dens. Warriors spread out, taking positions along the perimeter. Charlie melted into the trees to scout, eyes blazing.

But Anna couldn’t move.

The roots of the ancient tree behind her seemed to hum, her feet bound by unseen threads. She turned slowly to its trunk—symbols she had never noticed now glowing faintly along the bark. Runes in the same pattern as the ones on her painted belly.

“They match,” she whispered.

Richard followed her gaze. His breath hitched. “That wasn’t just a warning. It was an activation.”

Anna reached forward and pressed her palm to the bark. Light surged up her arm, her eyes going wide and white as a vision consumed her:

Fire and moonlight. A child born in blood and storm. A circle of wolves howling over water. A crown of bone and crystal. And shadows... always shadows, reaching.

She staggered back, caught by Candace and Richard both.

“I saw…” Her lips trembled. “I saw the end of something. And the beginning of something else.”

Lacy looked between them. “This party just got cursed.”

Richard growled. “Then we fight fate.”

Anna steadied herself, standing taller, her aura flaring around her like a silver corona. “No. We fulfill it.”