Chapter 3
The pack doctor caught me at the gates.
"Luna — wait. Please."
Dr. Miriam was the only person in this pack who'd ever treated me with genuine kindness. She ran toward me now, breathless, her white coat flapping behind her.
"I saw your bloodwork from this morning." Her voice dropped. "Selene, you're pregnant. Does Alpha Alaric know?"
I shook my head.
Her face crumpled with concern. "You have to tell him. A bonded pregnancy — the child will carry the Thornfield healer gene. It could be the most powerful—"
"No."
The word came out harder than I intended. I softened my voice. "He doesn't deserve to know."
"But the baby—"
"Will be fine. With me. Away from here."
Miriam grabbed my arm, her eyes glistening. "Selene, I've watched you suffer in silence for five years. I've patched up your broken heart more times than I can count. But this — if you leave while carrying his child, and he finds out later..."
"Then he'll feel exactly what I felt last night." I gently pulled free of her grip. "One fraction of it."
She didn't stop me again.
The border was a three-hour drive from the packhouse. I took nothing but a single bag, my documents, and the confirmation of the life growing inside me.
Every mile felt like shedding skin.
My phone rang twice. Both times, it was the pack Beta — not Alaric himself. Never Alaric himself.
The third call was from Vanessa's number. I silenced it.
The fourth was my father.
"Selene." His voice was gravel and authority. "Dominic's convoy is already en route. They'll meet you at the Ashford-Blackwood neutral line at sundown."
"I understand."
A pause. Then, quieter: "Are you alright?"
I watched the road blur through the windshield. My hand rested on my stomach.
"I'm done crying over him, Dad. That's close enough to alright."
"Good." The warmth in his voice lasted only a moment before the lord commander returned. "Dominic is... not what you expect. But he will honor you. I made certain of it."
"You mean you made a deal."
"I made an alliance. One that benefits everyone — especially you."
I didn't argue. I'd spent my idealism on Alaric. There was none left.
"One more thing," my father said. "Alaric's people will come after you once they realize what you're carrying. The Thornfield healer gene, bonded with Blackwood Alpha blood — that child will be hunted."
My blood went cold. "Then I need to be under Dominic's protection before they find out."
"Which is why you're not just going to be his ally, Selene."
I gripped the wheel tighter.
"You're going to be his wife."
The sun was already dipping low when I reached the neutral zone — a stretch of unclaimed forest between the two territories. I pulled over, turned off the engine, and sat in the silence.
In a few minutes, I would meet the man my father had chosen.
Dominic Ashford. The Southern Alpha King. The wolf they called the "Crimson Sovereign" for the blood of his enemies.
I'd seen him once, years ago, at the same Summit Ball where I'd met Alaric. He'd been across the hall — tall, dark-haired, watching the crowd with eyes that missed nothing.
I remembered thinking: *that man is dangerous.*
Now I was about to marry him.
A convoy of black vehicles emerged from the tree line. Six cars. Tinted windows. Moving in perfect formation.
The lead car stopped twenty feet away.
The door opened.
And Dominic Ashford stepped out.
"Luna — wait. Please."
Dr. Miriam was the only person in this pack who'd ever treated me with genuine kindness. She ran toward me now, breathless, her white coat flapping behind her.
"I saw your bloodwork from this morning." Her voice dropped. "Selene, you're pregnant. Does Alpha Alaric know?"
I shook my head.
Her face crumpled with concern. "You have to tell him. A bonded pregnancy — the child will carry the Thornfield healer gene. It could be the most powerful—"
"No."
The word came out harder than I intended. I softened my voice. "He doesn't deserve to know."
"But the baby—"
"Will be fine. With me. Away from here."
Miriam grabbed my arm, her eyes glistening. "Selene, I've watched you suffer in silence for five years. I've patched up your broken heart more times than I can count. But this — if you leave while carrying his child, and he finds out later..."
"Then he'll feel exactly what I felt last night." I gently pulled free of her grip. "One fraction of it."
She didn't stop me again.
The border was a three-hour drive from the packhouse. I took nothing but a single bag, my documents, and the confirmation of the life growing inside me.
Every mile felt like shedding skin.
My phone rang twice. Both times, it was the pack Beta — not Alaric himself. Never Alaric himself.
The third call was from Vanessa's number. I silenced it.
The fourth was my father.
"Selene." His voice was gravel and authority. "Dominic's convoy is already en route. They'll meet you at the Ashford-Blackwood neutral line at sundown."
"I understand."
A pause. Then, quieter: "Are you alright?"
I watched the road blur through the windshield. My hand rested on my stomach.
"I'm done crying over him, Dad. That's close enough to alright."
"Good." The warmth in his voice lasted only a moment before the lord commander returned. "Dominic is... not what you expect. But he will honor you. I made certain of it."
"You mean you made a deal."
"I made an alliance. One that benefits everyone — especially you."
I didn't argue. I'd spent my idealism on Alaric. There was none left.
"One more thing," my father said. "Alaric's people will come after you once they realize what you're carrying. The Thornfield healer gene, bonded with Blackwood Alpha blood — that child will be hunted."
My blood went cold. "Then I need to be under Dominic's protection before they find out."
"Which is why you're not just going to be his ally, Selene."
I gripped the wheel tighter.
"You're going to be his wife."
The sun was already dipping low when I reached the neutral zone — a stretch of unclaimed forest between the two territories. I pulled over, turned off the engine, and sat in the silence.
In a few minutes, I would meet the man my father had chosen.
Dominic Ashford. The Southern Alpha King. The wolf they called the "Crimson Sovereign" for the blood of his enemies.
I'd seen him once, years ago, at the same Summit Ball where I'd met Alaric. He'd been across the hall — tall, dark-haired, watching the crowd with eyes that missed nothing.
I remembered thinking: *that man is dangerous.*
Now I was about to marry him.
A convoy of black vehicles emerged from the tree line. Six cars. Tinted windows. Moving in perfect formation.
The lead car stopped twenty feet away.
The door opened.
And Dominic Ashford stepped out.