Page 75 of King Luna

“Ah, right—thank you.” Turning to the room’s corner, I swing my long hair over one shoulder, pretending I’m finishing combing out my hair. As I rub the blocker into my scent glands, my torso slackens in relief. But the second I turn around, an unfamiliar Luna locks eyes with me.

When this Luna strides straight for us, Waimarie’s torso tenses. She steps in front of me, blocking me from the stranger Luna’s view. “Hey, Luna, how are—”

“Hello! Sorry, I have a question for Luna Aliya.” She nuzzles into Waimarie in greeting, and my wolf’s defensive walls go up. The unfamiliar Luna is all smiles as she leans over Waimarie’s shoulder, locking eyes with me to whisper-shout. “You’re pregnant too, aren’t you?”

Oh God. Without Noah’s musk masking my scent, and with how stressed I am, did my pregnancy scent leak through the blockers again? Did I reapply it too late? Or is my bump just that obvious now, even beneath my thick jacket?

I’d be fine with everyone knowing I'm pregnant—if I didn’t remember what Noah said about Mason’s Alpha pack possibly wanting to kill us before we produce an heir. Some of his top allies are present. How do I know this Luna isn’t fishing for details too?

I shrink, crossing my arms over my belly. “Why are you asking me this?”

The Luna waves her hands, her eyebrows arching. “No, no, wait, I’m sorry! I wanted to relate with you, if so—see?” Smoothing her high-waisted skirt down to show me her barely-there bump, the Luna beams. “I’ve got a little one on the way too!”

The fear in my chest evaporates, replaced by relief; this Luna is the embodiment of an excited puppy, not the conspiratorial enemy I feared. Waimarie and Annika relax alongside me, sighing in unison.

I take the stranger Luna’s hand, drawing her closer in the hopes she’ll mimic my hushed tone. “Oh, my goodness, sweet Luna, how exciting! How far along—”

Another Luna whispers from about ten feet away. “Did Talia just confirm the Greenfield Luna is pregnant?”

My blood runs cold. It wasn’t just her;everyoneheard this unfamiliar Luna, Talia, declare our pregnancies.

Waimarie’s voice remains gentle but serious as it lowers. “Dear Luna, you don’t just ask people sensitive questions like these.”

Talia gasps, following my glare over her shoulder. “S-sorry! I wasn’t thinking, I’m so sorry—”

Far more wolves have turned their focus our way. No, they’re coming straight for us, racing faster the second they see others attempting to beat them to it.

Annika grips my arm hard, her voice wavering as she lets out an uneasy cry. “Wait, wait, wait—”

Before Noah, Tane, or Viktor can even turn around, wolves swarm the event hall’s doorway to view my pregnant body up close. They cram against one another, pushing back in irritation until not a single wolf can fit through the hall’s mouth. The Lunas and I scramble backward, terrified by the sight of flailing limbs ready to pounce.

“Oi, get a hold of yourselves!” Waimarie’s voice quivers as she grips Annika and me tight, pulling us back until our backs hit the furthest wall.

Talia scurries behind us, her shoulders raised to her ears as her scent omits a sour, stinging fear. “Sorry! I’m so sorry!”

“You okay, Anni?” Viktor shouts from deep inside the event hall.

“Stay back!” Annika’s voice quivers. “Don’t be tempted to shift!”

Annika’s right: if anyone shifts into their wolf while the collective energy is already this aggressive, all hell will break loose. I pull Annika and Waimarie closer, my eyes darting to the porch doors for an escape route. The porch is wide, but not wide enough for shifted wolves. There’s always a staircase we could run down to the porch’s right, but wolves love to chase.

We’re stuck here. Forced to see what happens when they all come barreling for us.

“Settle down. Hold still,” I shout, knowing from my preschoolers that I can’t say “stop shoving.” All their instinctual brains will hear is the word “shove.”

And their primal side has truly unlocked; everyone squirms against one another, desperate to both be freed and to beat everyone else to us.

“Back up,” Noah shouts.

A few wolves peel off the doorway pile-up, likely due to Noah, Tane, and Viktor yanking them away, only for them to scramble right back; our Alphas’ desperation to reach us is riling up everyother Alpha with their agitated pheromones. As Alphas break into fights, growling and snarls echo through the lobby loudly enough to force us to yell just to hear one another.

Waimarie clutches me tighter. “Oh, Lunas, I think it’s best we leave.Now.”

My breath catches: one wolf in the front is ready to wriggle their arm through, turning to their side. Following Waimarie’s advice, I grip as many petrified Lunas around me as I can, scurrying toward the porch doors with them as I watch it all happen in slow motion.

But it doesn’t happen how I expect. One wolf squeezes through, and the rest come scrambling over one another—until Noah barrels his way past them. I’m tempted to stay put and wait for Noah, but as irritation rises between the Alphas shoving one another, they grapple, crashing into other wolves. Those wolves grow frustrated, hitting back, and so on, until they form a writhing mass of angry bodies, brawling on the floor.

We’re forced to run from the incoming stampede, the Lunas obeying my ushering arms with unblinking, terrified eyes. Waimarie races ahead to the nearest glass door, fumbling with the doorknob until she frees us onto the porch. Noah, Viktor, and Tane try to catch up to us with shouts over the brawling wolves, but releasing themselves from the doorway jam didn’t bring them close enough; wolves stream onto the porch from every door in the lobby, trapping not only Annika, Waimarie, Talia, and me, but multiple other Lunas who dashed to our side in fear—pressing us tight against the railing as Alphas scramble over each other.

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