Page 124 of King Luna

Placing my free hand on his abdomen, I cover his skin in light, fluttering taps with my fingertips. Noah’s grin widens.

“Oh,Aliya, that’s—” His eyes close as he holds my stomach. “I can’t believe how beautiful your excitement feels in our bond.”

My heart twirls, bringing joyous tears to my eyes.

But Markus coos in my arms, wriggling. When I look to Annika for her response, I’m surprised to find her overflowing with smiling tears. “Goddess, that was so, so sweet. Let me take him so you can continue to enjoy the moment.”

Annika scoops her slim hands beneath Markus’s bundled body. But Markus releases a shrill cry, refusing to return to his mother—snuggling back up to me with tight grips of my dress instead.

Annika’s eyes widen with a touch of hurt. “He’s never—”

But as our pup stirs in my belly once more, I blink, still in disbelief.

Except when Markus lets out another pleased coo, I’m stunned further; his timing fell almost perfectly in line with Little Wolf’s fluttering.

I cup Markus’s sweet head, my heart flipping. “Wait, Luna... Do you think Markus can sense I’m carrying another little wolf?”

Annika breaks into the widest grin I’ve seen on her yet. “Oh, my goodness, wait, you’re right! It’s on the verge of a fairytale, but I’ve heard stories of pups sensing other pups in the womb, especially if they’re destined to know each other. Do you think that may be the case with our little ones?”

My stomach flips. But meeting Noah’s eyes, I sputter out a laugh; he’s speechless, his stare darting between my belly and the baby in my arms.

Not ready for that,Noah mindlinks.

All I can do is laugh, shaking my head. “I have no idea, Anni. This is all so surreal.”

Shaking, I skate my nose across Markus’s squishy cheek, allowing myself to rub soothing pheromones over the pup’s head. Could I be holding a special pup to Little Wolf?

My heart flips. Noah’s right; that’s thinking way too far ahead of ourselves. Only Little Wolf can tell us the answer, once they grow up.

Markus gives me a satisfied, sleepy coo, and my lip wobbles with fresh tears at how innocent his happy scent smells. He’s so pure, existing simply to love, and be loved. Is this what Little Wolf will smell like too?

I gasp, tilting my chin to the sky. “Oh, no— My tears are going to drip on him—”

Noah’s sleeve comes to the rescue. His breathy chuckle stirs warmth in my heart. When I look up at him blotting my tears, I melt at his red, weepy eyes.

This is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen in my life. I can only imagine what you’ll look like, holding our pup.

“Oh, Noah—” I laugh. “You’re making it harder to stop crying.”

Noah lets out a wet laugh, swiping his tears away.

Annika rubs my arm, beaming at us. “Look at you, mama. You’re definitely part Omega.”

Before I can respond, she releases a rush of sweet, delicious scent that makes my eyelids flutter. My shoulders relax, tension falling away with every inhale.

“There you go. That’s some Omega scent to soothe your Alpha self too.” Annika giggles as I purr uncontrollably, smashing my head into my mate’s chest. “You feel good now, don’t you?”

I bite back a smile, stroking Markus’s fuzzy, dark brown curls as he nuzzles against me. “Yes. Enough to distract me from what’s scaring me shitless all morning.”

Annika laughs, rubbing my arm. “Trust me, I understand. Let’s go find our lovely Waimarie and sit on the sidelines together.”

I sigh. “Okay.”

At the edge of the field, Noah separates from me with a kiss. “I'm keeping this short because I want it to be a ‘be right back’ for you and not a goodbye. That's all it is, okay?”

Swallowing hard, I nod. “Okay. I love you.”

“I love you too, gorgeous Luna. You look so cute with that pup in your arms.”

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