The Alpha's Shattered Moon

Clara

Something was wrong.

Okay, honestly everything felt wrong lately. I leaned back in my uncomfortable office chair and glanced over at the empty desk beside me. Jason should have been there, and my heart ached as I stared at his vacant chair.

Yes, meeting Elias and unlocking my wolf filled in lots of holes in my life. I had a real husband now, one who loved and respected me. I had a family, a huge one, that looked up to me as their matriarch. But I’d also lost not only Jason, but my sense of who I was.

And suddenly, I was about to lose something else. I leapt out of my chair and sprinted to the bathroom, my hand clamped firmly over my mouth. I made it just in time to revisit my lunch into the toilet rather than the tile floor. The janitor would surely be grateful for that. This was the third time this week I’d been sick out of absolute nowhere, and he hadn’t been so lucky the first two.

As I wiped my mouth and stared at myself in the mirror, I had a terrifying thought. When had I last bled? I’d had three major article deadlines on top of dealing with learning how to be a freaking werewolf leader, so my cycle had been the last thing on my mind. I squinted for a moment, going over the last handful of months in my mind.

Well, shit. It had been at least two months since I could last remember having one.

I returned to the office and grabbed my purse. There was no way I’d be getting any work done with a question like “am I pregnant?” hanging over my head, so an early lunch it was.

Perkins stuck his head out of his office as I passed and gestured me over. “Parks, come in here for a minute.”

My shoulders slumped, but I changed course and stepped into the office. “It’s Mrs. Franke now, Perkins. You know that.” In a subtle act of revenge, I sat on the corner of his desk and folded my arms over my chest. “What can I do for you?”

“There’s a lunar eclipse coming up this fall. I want you to write something up for the quarterly kids’ edition. Make it middle school friendly.” Perkins waved his hand at me to get off the desk.

I wanted to outright reject him and argue that he should leave such a ridiculous assignment to the new intern. But it was an easy subject. If I turned it down, what else would he throw at me instead? “Got it, boss. If you’ll excuse me, I have an important errand to run.”

Without waiting for permission, I evacuated the office and rushed to the drug store down the street. My stupid hands shook as I grabbed the cheapest pregnancy test on the shelf. I couldn’t look the cashier in the eye as she scanned it, but I could feel her eyebrows judging me…even if they weren’t.

Next thing I knew, I was locked in the bathroom on the lobby level because it was single occupancy. The test lay flat on the edge of the sink, taunting me to look at it. Instead, I stared at myself in the mirror. My eyes were filled with fear as I gripped the sink with both hands, knuckles white. “I know we thought we were infertile, but this could be good news. And Elias will support us. This isn’t anything like our last marriage.”

With that thought, I glanced down and saw two little blue lines peeking back at me.

I thought I might faint. But I didn’t. Then I thought I might throw up. But I didn’t. I tucked the little bit of plastic into my purse and took the elevator back up to the office, my hand resting on my stomach.

Perkins was opening the door to leave for lunch when I drifted down the hall like a ghost. He took one look at me and shook his head. “Nope, you look like someone dipped you in flour. You’re finished for the day. Go home.”

I wasn’t about to argue with that. I turned around and got back into the elevator, my mind racing with how to tell Elias about our new family status. I climbed into the spare Jeep (okay, my Jeep, because I was the only one who drove it) and headed toward the woods that I now called home.

Unlike the first few times I traveled the dirt road that led to the cabin in the clearing, the pines seemed to welcome me as I passed them. I saw occasional glimpses of my packmates, who poked their heads around trees and wagged their tails at me. I waved back, catching a smile on my face. It was strange having a large family now, but nice. And nice not feeling like I was being chased through the trees by rabid monster wolves intent on tearing me apart.

Well, most of the time.

Elias was standing in the front yard when I rolled out of the woods and into the clearing. The bare muscles of his chest and shoulders rippled as he chopped wood for the fireplace. He looked up, curiosity written all over his face. I didn’t have time to open the door before he was outside, pulling the handle to open it for me.

“You’re home early.” His heavy eyebrows lowered in concern when he looked at me. “Are you sick?” I started to shake my head, but nodded instead. That would result in fewer questions. His lips pursed and he lifted me out of the car. “Bed.”

Again I started to argue, but his strong arms tucked me into his chest. Even after almost a year of being mates, he still didn’t let me walk anywhere when he could get away with carrying me. His skin was hot against mine and slightly damp from swinging the axe.

He brought me upstairs to the bed we shared and gently placed me in the center of it. Without another word, he disappeared downstairs and I heard the sound of water filling the teapot.

That was my Elias. Gruff and a man of few words, but putty when it came to me. I settled in against the pillows with a half-smile on my face. If he was putty in my hands, he was going to be tissue paper to our children. Our children. The thought made me feel both hot and cold at the same time. I’d long-since given up on being a mother, but I guess Elias was right. My stupid ex had been the problem.

The thought turned my half-smile into a full grin.

Elias returned five minutes later with a steaming mug. It smelled of Christmas, minty and full of spices. He sat on the edge of the bed and placed the cup on the night stand. “That needs to steep. What’s wrong?” Before I could answer, a snarl drifted in through the bedroom window and a voice appeared in our minds.

Alpha. There’s another fight.

Elias sighed and grabbed my hand. “You rest. I’ll handle it and be right back.” He dropped his pants and shifted, his silver fur shimmering in the sunlight. I’m on my way.

He leapt right out the window and I watched him disappear into the edge of the trees. Then I dropped back against the pillows and scowled at nothing in particular. “Every day! Why can’t these people just get along?! It’s not that hard.” I picked up the mug and began swirling the tea bag in little circles.

Apparently it was harder than I thought to integrate two packs. The first few weeks were really bad as everyone mourned the lives lost in the war. After that it had been a slow, painful process of building and rebuilding. I hoped at the year mark things would be starting to find an equilibrium, and I suppose it was.

But that didn’t mean everyone was getting along. My father’s old pack still struggled to accept Elias as their Alpha, and adjust to life without war on the horizon. You’d think that would be a relief, right? But no. So many wolves from both sides felt like the end of the war had left them without a purpose. They’d never known a life outside of training and preparing.

I didn’t feel like listening to the fight today, so I tuned out the communication channel and instead focused on cute ways to tell Elias about our little light. How extra should I be? He wasn’t really one for dramatics, but I had a sneaking suspicion that was going to be very excited about this news.

So I wanted it to be special. I slipped out of the bed and pulled the little test out of my pocket. The two blue lines were as vibrant as before and my stomach flip-flopped. I needed some air…

Ah, that was it! I removed my clothes and placed the test in a pouch around my neck. Then I focused on calling out my wolf form. It was still difficult, even after this long. Then again, I didn’t shift very often. Elias assured me I’d get used to it someday, but I wasn’t so sure.

Eventually, I stood stiff and sore on all fours. I stretched and padded my way downstairs to find Elias returning. I could smell his frustration (another oddity I wasn’t sure I’d ever get used to), but he smiled when he saw me. “Did you want to go for a run?”

I nodded and nuzzled his cheek. “Yeah. Why don’t we go out to the rock and relax for a little while? We haven’t gone out there recently.”

“I thought you were sick?”

“Just need some air, I think.”

His large, golden eyes searched me for any sign of defect. I felt the soft brush of his consciousness against mine, then he shrugged. With that, we trotted across the yard and into the treeline. Their shaded shelter and soft shuffle of life were calming as we walked side-by-side along familiar trails. The stiff frustration in Elias’s body faded with every step.

When we reached the clearing with the large, flat rock, we jumped onto the warm surface and lay down. I rolled onto my back, allowing the heat from the rock to soak into my fur while the sun warmed my belly. Elias casually lay on his stomach, watching me. “So did you fake ill to come home early?”

“Not exactly. But I do have something to tell you, and I thought this would be the perfect place.”

His head tilted slightly and I withdrew my wolf so I could access the little pouch. I pulled it from my neck and offered it to Elias, who sniffed it once and shifted back as well. He accepted the little piece of fabric, opened the top, and withdrew the test.

He stared at it for a moment, then his eyes grew wide. “Is this…?”

“Yes. I’m pregnant.”