Page 45 of The Wolf Moon

“I knew it,” Cate said devilishly, sitting up further. “You didn’t complete the ceremony. I knew you’d play hard to get.”

I was entirely red at this point. “I’m not playing hard to get! I didn’t even know about this ceremony hunt thing. I thought he was just messing with my head to get me to change my mind about being Queen Luna!”

“The King Alpha must be showing stubborn restraint. How do you plan to seduce him?”

I gaped at Cate, standing up sharply from my seat. “I never have and I never will… seduce that man,” I whispered the last few words in embarrassment. “I am… a virgin, okay? Can I not be Queen Luna, the King Alpha’s mate, without keeping my virtue?”

“Ohhhh, come on. It’s natural. And you’re well past breeding age.” Cate was taking way too much joy from this conversation. I felt my horror only growing.

“Breeding?! Beasts! You’re all beasts,” I declared in offense before turning to flee from her.

“Have you heard their hopes? That you will bring back the pups?” Cate called from behind me. I froze in my step. Around me, the dusty desks remained silent relics. How many children had filled these rooms? How did it feel to have this place here? A reminder every day of what they no longer had.

“I have sacrificed everything,” I said quietly, an anger and frustration within me. “I won’t sacrifice that just in the hope that it will break a curse. If I… if I gave up my virtue, I would want it to be out of love, not duty.” I continued towards the opened window, determined to hide away forever at this point.

“Queen Luna,” Cate’s voice echoed across the empty room. I looked back at her to see her watching me with her hands folded under her chin politely. “What do you think of the King Alpha now?”

I stared at her for a moment, frowning unhappily, before huffing and climbing out the window determinedly without a response. My mind was spinning with thought after thought, pulsing through my brain in a way that left me uncoordinated and distracted. I stomped around the school building and behind another before finding myself stopped in my tracks.

It was the same archery range I’d found Diana practicing after being marked by Roman. Instead of Diana standing with a bow in hand, Roman was there. He had already shot at the target, his arrow hitting it in the center with so much force that it was half buried in the post. I hadn’t noticed I was walking towards him while in my entirely frustrated state, that evil beast inside of me probably seeking him out without my permission.

I glanced around to see Beta Caleb was no longer with him. I considered making another run for it, but then Roman equipped another arrow, standing tall and aiming at a target further away. In just that moment, I remembered a similar sight; one of Roman in the far past, hunting just as I had hunted, without the scars or rage on his face. He was an Alta back then; a Maiden’s wolf. Even though the visions had been so long ago, I could still remember the fondness the Goddess had of him, to bless him with her own powers, and to watch over him through his good and terrible days.

The arrow hit the target with a loud snap, jolting me from my thoughts. I was certain Roman knew I was there, but he didn’t turn to acknowledge me. So I quickly turned away and made my escape without being stopped yet again.

That night, like many nights before it, was yet another where I struggled to sleep. I stayed in the guest room with Caleb and Diana, as it was probably the only place I felt familiar enough to stay. When I did fall asleep, my dreams were filled with feelings of anxiety, heat that felt more feverish than enjoyable, and flashes of his face.

“Mila,” A voice whispered loudly to me in the night. My entire body felt heavy, like the dirt of my future grave had already been packed down over me, but the voice persisted despite my resistance. “Mila, wake up! Mila!” Hands shook my arm annoyingly. I groaned, but turned to face the demon that was bothering me.

Diana was a glowing angel in the night. I rubbed my eyes, but her smile still was lit up like some otherworldly creature. I wanted to be suspicious, but her overall mood seemed to light up the world with her. I found a smile beginning to creep along my own lips and lifted my head inquisitively.

“What is it?” I asked her curiously.

“It worked,” She told me quickly, climbing onto my bed and moving closer to me. I sat up quickly, not yet comfortable with even the wolves that were never cruel to me. I preferred fighting as a bonding technique. But Diana didn’t notice my distrust. “It’s a miracle. She listened! It worked!”

“What worked?” I pressed, now confused.

“The ceremony,” Diana whispered, looking at me pointedly. I stared at her a moment, but then recalled that strange night when her and several other wolves were praying to the Goddesses in front of the lake. I remembered their voices chanting in the darkness, the pulsing of that strange power, and my hand on Diana’s stomach. But I never had found out what that was all about. It happened and then no one spoke of it further.

“Okay. What does that mean?” I continued, frowning now.

“It means the Triple Goddesses are returning. They’ve lifted all the curses. We’re not doomed, Mila. We’re going to be okay,” Diana was ranting at this point, a happiness bubbling up within her that was quelled only by her desire to tell me this news in a whisper. I stared at her blankly, trying to understand what it was she was telling me.

“All the curses? You mean?” I was struck by a sudden realization. “Someone is pregnant?!”

Diana shushed me, lifting her hand to cover my mouth quickly.

“Not just someone. Me,” Diana said to me quietly, a desperation rising in her tone as she admitted this to me. I widened my eyes in surprise. “When the Mate curse was lifted and I knew Caleb was my true mate, we finished the marks and our ceremony. Then I asked for the Goddesses to give me fertility and they listened, Mila.” Diana released her hand from my mouth slowly, hesitantly, but I understood for whatever reason she really didn’t want this to be something other people knew about.

“How do you know?” I asked her, looking from her face to her stomach openly. She didn’t look any different to me. Diana reached for me, grabbing my hand and pulling it until my palm was on her stomach.

“Listen. Listen closely,” She insisted firmly. I hesitated, but then took a breath and closed my eyes to focus. I couldn’t feel anything, but then it probably was way too soon to feel any movement from the little thing. I remembered resting my head on my mother’s stomach as a young child when she was with my little brother. Back then, I could hear the pulse of my mother’s body, the heartbeat that rushed blood through her, the shifting of muscles and other odd sounds, and the baby running its hand along the surface of her stomach so that I could feel him.

Now, as I focused, I heard even more. I heard Diana’s heart racing with her own excitement as she held me still. I could hear the rush of air entering and leaving her lungs. I could hear the blood flowing throughout her. And underneath everything, I could hear a smaller rhythm. The beating was faster than Diana’s heart and separate from the rest of her body’s rhythm. But it was strong. It was a new life.

I opened my eyes wide with surprise.

“I can hear it,” I said, stunned. Diana’s smile widened even further and she released her grip on me before lunging forward to hug me.

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