Page 19 of King Luna

“Not exactly,” Noah whispers against my lips. Placing a soft kiss there, he flutters my eyelids. “You’ve been restless in your sleep. I don’t know if it’s mainly pregnancy stress dreams like you’ve mentioned, but my wolf is on high alert now that you’re carrying our pup, and...”

“He thinks it’s more on the side of PTSD nightmares,” I mutter the quiet part out loud. With Noah’s wince in confirmation, I nod, even though my heart drops. “I trust his judgment. Thank you for letting me know.”

Noah’s hands cup my cheeks. “I know you’ve got your own treatment covered, so I’m not meaning to tell you what to work on, or what not to.”

“I know, my sweet Alpha. You don’t have to worry about that.” I close my eyes, nuzzling into his palm’s comforting scent.

“Maybe I do, though. Because I know you haven’t said anything directly to me about it, but I’m pretty sure not being able to tell Jenny about Lycans existing makes getting proper treatment really fucking hard. Especially if you’ll have to use Prolonged Exposure. I hate to put you in that place.”

My eyelids snap open, but no words form in response.

Noah has stumped me. I don’t know how to solve this problem either, and it’s a huge one—especially when Mason antagonized me not only as a stalker, but also as a hulking beast, intensifying the major trigger he provided.

But with humans involved, the truth often comes with a fatal price. My stomach sinks at the thought of our fathers’ deaths. If disclosing the existence of Lycans risks losing Noah, or any of our pack members, it’s not worth it. I know firsthand nothing can replace a life.

So as Noah’s guilt threatens to bend our pack’s rules for my sake, I shake my head. “I can continue to work around it. I’ll bring up the incident to her today, just explaining he’s been watching us lately and freaked me out.”

Noah frowns. I kiss him, but his lips aren’t as urgent to kiss me back; my mate is too deep in thought.

“I mean it. I can’t risk your safety either. All of our safety, rather. Our pack is too precious,” I say.

Noah finally softens. “Yeah, that’s how I feel about all of you too. But it’s not black and white; you don’t necessarily have to expose everything in order to talk about it... And I finally thought of an excuse that might work.” My eyes widen as Noah breaks into a mischievous smile, his wolf coming out to play with a flash of his fangs. “Wearein the Pacific Northwest, you know. If you told her you witnessed some supernatural, crazy shit, even as specific as shapeshifters, she might actually agree with you that there’s more out there.”

I sputter out a laugh, pulling back with flushing cheeks as he gives my tiny belly a soft pat. “You can’t be serious. What if she thinks I’m hallucinating or something?”

He shrugs, his incisors enticing my wolf into nuzzling him in our bond. “Maybe she will. Or maybe you could lean into that white lie, and it’ll be fine, as far as I’m concerned—as long as you can get the support you need. I trust you to be safe about it.”

I suck in a breath to speak, but all I can do is stare in awe. Knowing how deeply Ritchie’s death torments Noah, I’m stunned to receive his trust on such a tender issue. Maybe he wants me to take care of myself, but I don’t want to bend our rules for my sake. His permission to do so has the opposite effect, tempting me to keep our Lycan secret even closer to my heart instead, protecting sweet Noah for life.

Hugging Noah’s palm to my belly, I beam at my mate. “You’re so smart. But still, I’ll see what I can say without disclosing much of anything.”

Noah nods, glancing at the dashboard’s clock once more. “Shit, sorry. You only have a minute to take the elevator up.”

As his smile fades, I can tell he’s also eager to leave—someone must be mindlinking him for backup. Stressful mindlinks seem to be endless for Noah these days, and I hate it. My stomach twists beneath his hand, hating to lift his warm palm off our baby. Kissing his knuckles to make up for it, I smile the best I can, not wanting to make him feel even worse.

“Stay safe, my shy Alpha. I’ll see you after my appointment.”

I open the passenger door, but I’m caught by my elbow. The second I turn my head back to Noah, he smushes a heavy kiss against my cheek, sending me into giggles. My wolf’s fur stands on end, delighted by her mate’s sneak attack. When I meet Noah’s eyes, I’m relieved to find them more relaxed than they’ve been all morning.

He grins. “See you soon, gorgeous Luna.”

No matter how many days we’ve lived together now, my wolf still slumps in disappointment to part ways with Noah. I laugh, hurrying to the office doors for all of our sakes. Well, at least, Itryto make it easier on us. I can’t resist one last glance over my shoulder to wave goodbye.

But I freeze in the open doorway, surprised to see Noah has thrown his SUV into park. He hops out, ripping off his jacket—eyeing the treeline like he’s desperate to shift into his wolf. Did I keep him too long?

Noah’s forehead creases—a millisecond before he whips his half-shifted eyes in my direction. I let out a squeak, scurrying into the building.

Spying on me, huh?Noah’s wolf wags his tail, softening his urgency I feel in our bond to dash into the forest.It’s all okay,Luna. Let me be the one to deal with the usual bullshit today. You can just focus on holding the baby for me.

Biting my lip, I overflow with fuzzy warmth as I step into the elevator.I love you.

I love you too. I’ll see you before you know it.

I want to relax, to ease Noah’s concerns rather than feed into them, but in the end, I can’t control my pacing wolf. She’s restless lately, hesitant to part ways with the goofy Alpha giving her a chance to carry her first pup. But I know that’s not the only reason why. Ever since Mason gathered 250 Alphas to leave Greenfield behind, I’ve been unable to shake the paranoia that it’s not truly over. What if his mindset poisoned pack members beyond the Alphas who left alongside him, and the rest are waiting their turn to hunt us down at our next vulnerability? What if they're spying on us to tell Mason everything he’s missing? What if it’s not just Mason’s pack, but something far more sinister—a global super pack, like our international allies suggested?

Noah has too much to focus on. We both do. Especially when we’re leaving our pack behind for two weeks at the Alpha Summit—the perfect opening to strike.

My pregnant wolf is all instinct—nearly impossible to ignore, as if someone dialed up the volume to her thoughts in my mind. Rushing my feet down the hall, she changes her mind about chasing after our mate, instead demanding I huddle up safely indoors and stop distracting him.

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