Chapter One
Tyson
The moon had answered our mate.
Nightward answered next.
The silence inside the clearing broke beneath hundreds of voices, howls, and connections opening at once.
Annika flinched against me.
Her hand tightened in my shirt as the pack’s excitement flooded toward the completed bond.
“Too many.”
Konan moved before I could.
He wrapped himself around her presence, shielding her from the worst of the pack connection without closing it completely.
Stay with us.
Annika sucked in a breath.
“I hear you.”
Konan went still.
She had heard him moments ago.
That did not make the second time less important.
Mate hears.
“Yes,” she whispered.
The wonder in her voice nearly destroyed him.
I kept one arm around her waist while the silver light beneath her skin slowly faded. The mark remained brighter than an ordinary claiming bite, glowing faintly where Konan’s teeth had sealed the bond.
Maia stood directly in front of us.
“I need to examine her.”
Konan tightened around Annika.
Mate safe.
“You don’t know that,” Maia said.
Annika looked between us. “She heard him?”
“No. She knows him.”
“That is becoming insulting,” I said.
Maia held out her hand.
Annika touched it before Konan could object again.
“I’m okay.”
“You healed half the clearing without meaning to.”
“Not half.”
Maia stared at her.
“Enough.”
Canyon stood nearby, still touching the throat where the final damage had disappeared. Boulder’s connection carried strength Konan had not felt from him since the attack.
Axel rotated his shoulder with a stunned expression.
Several wolves farther back were removing old braces or touching injuries that no longer hurt.
None of them had asked Annika for anything.
The moon had simply found every awakened wolf within reach.
Konan’s pride flowed through the bond.
Strong mate.
Annika closed her eyes briefly.
“You are very loud.”
He became offended.
Not loud.
“You are.”
“He is,” I confirmed.
Tyson worse.
Annika’s mouth softened.
The pack had witnessed something impossible, but the first argument inside our completed bond was apparently about volume.
That felt strangely right.
A crutch struck stone behind us.
I turned immediately.
Luka had moved away from Canyon and was attempting to navigate the uneven ground without help.
Canyon reached for his arm.
Luka pulled away.
“I’m fine.”
“You nearly slipped,” Canyon said.
“I stepped on a rock.”
“The clearing contains many rocks.”
“I noticed.”
Maia’s attention shifted from Annika to him.
“Sit down.”
“I’ve been sitting through the whole ceremony.”
“Then you are well practised.”
Luka planted both crutches more firmly.
“My head doesn’t hurt.”
“That is not the only requirement.”
“My leg is in a cast. It can’t get more broken.”
Every person near him reacted.
Luka looked around.
“Stop doing that.”
“Doing what?” Annika asked.
“Looking like I’m about to die.”
The words quieted the closest wolves.
Konan’s fear struck through the bond.
Annika felt it this time.
Her gaze snapped toward me.
“That was both of you.”
“Yes.”
Luka sighed.
“I didn’t die.”
“No,” I said.
“I’m not going to now.”
“You cannot promise that.”
His expression tightened.
Annika’s fingers pressed against mine.
Not stopping me.
Reminding me.
Luka had spent weeks being watched, carried, examined, and asked whether his head hurt. Tonight, he had sat while everyone around him received something his body could not accept yet.
Now the entire clearing stared because he had stepped on a rock.
I released a slow breath.
“You’re right.”
Luka looked suspicious.
“I am?”
“You do not need everyone hovering.”
“Thank you.”
“You still need Canyon beside you.”
His face fell.
“That’s hovering.”
“It is precaution.”
“That’s the same thing with an Alpha word.”
Annika laughed.
The sound spread through the bond, warm enough that Konan forgot to be offended by Luka’s argument.
Canyon stepped back but remained close.
“Better?”
Luka tested the distance.
“Maybe.”
Tatum came running across the clearing before Axel caught her around the middle.
“Luka!”
“I’m right here.”
“Walk.”
“I am walking.”
She looked at his crutches.
“Sticks.”
“Yes.”
“Mine.”
“No.”
Axel carried her away while she explained why everything inside Nightward belonged to her.
The ceremony clearing gradually transformed.
Pack members lit the lanterns along the paths. Tables that had been kept beyond the trees were brought forward, covered with food, drinks, and enough sweet bread to ensure Konan would eventually embarrass us.
Music began near the eastern stones.
Nightward did not allow an Alpha claiming to end in silence.
Even this one.
Especially this one.
Shayne approached after confirming the visiting packs had crossed the border.
“They’re gone.”
“All of them?”
“Starfall and Stormhowl left without incident. Mistveil asked three times about the light around Annika’s mark.”
Konan growled.
Annika felt it.
Her eyes widened slightly before she looked toward my chest.
“He really doesn’t like Mistveil.”
“No.”
“He stares,” Shayne said.
“He observed,” Annika corrected.
“He stared,” Konan and I answered together.
Her eyebrows rose.
“Both voice.”
Luka called from several feet away, “They do that when they’re really annoyed.”
“You are supposed to remain near Canyon,” I said.
“He’s right behind me.”
Canyon lifted one hand.
Still there.
Still hovering.
Shayne’s attention moved toward Annika.
“How much can you feel?”
“The three of us clearly.”
Konan’s happiness surged.
She winced.
“Still loud.”
Shayne almost smiled.
“And the circle?”
Annika looked toward him.
“Blaze feels different from you.”
Shayne became completely still.
Blaze pushed closer instinctively.
Annika’s eyes widened.
“He’s worried.”
“My mate and daughter are at home.”
“He wants to go back.”
“Yes.”
Pup needs Beta, Konan said.
Annika heard him.
“You should go.”
Shayne glanced toward me.
“Nightward—”
“Is celebrating. Go to Gemma and Koniah.”
Blaze’s relief moved through the ranked connection.
Shayne nodded once and left before anyone could give him another responsibility.
Annika watched him disappear between the trees.
“I could feel Blaze.”
“You will feel every wolf connected closely enough to us.”
“What about the entire pack?”
“Not individually unless you reach for them.”
“I don’t know how not to.”
Konan shifted protectively around her.
Teach mate.
“We will.”
She looked toward me.
“You both say that as though either of you understands Moonborn power.”
“We understand bonds.”
“That didn’t go well the first time.”
Fair.
Konan disliked the reminder but did not hide from it.
“We learn carefully,” I said.
“Together?”
“Yes.”
Konan reinforced it.
Always.
Annika smiled.
Before I could kiss her, Luka appeared beside us.
Canyon remained two steps behind.
“I want food.”
“You know where it is.”
“Everyone keeps trying to carry things for me.”
“Because you have crutches.”
“I can carry a plate.”
“With what hand?”
Luka looked down at both hands gripping the crutches.
“That’s not the point.”
Annika touched his shoulder.
“I’ll get you food.”
His face tightened.
“That’s still helping.”
“Yes.”
“I want to do it.”
Konan understood before I did.
Luka had received enough help.
Tonight, he wanted control over something ordinary.
I searched the clearing and found one of the small wheeled carts used to move serving dishes.
“Axel.”
He looked up from where he was preventing Tatum from climbing a ceremonial pillar.
“Bring the empty cart.”
Luka stared at me.
“Why?”
“You can place your food on it and push it between the crutches.”
His expression changed.
Not gratitude.
Interest.
“Can I steer it?”
“It is a cart, not a vehicle.”
“That wasn’t a no.”
Axel brought it over.
Luka tested the handle, then placed one crutch carefully inside the narrow side rail while balancing with the other.
“That will not work,” I said.
“I’m figuring it out.”
Canyon moved closer.
Luka glared.
“I’m not touching you,” Canyon said.
“You’re thinking about it.”
“I am.”
Eventually, Annika showed him how to rest both crutches against the cart while holding the handles. It was not elegant, but he could move slowly and keep his balance.
He grinned.
“See?”
“I see several problems.”
“He’s doing it,” Annika said.
Luka pushed the cart toward the food tables.
Every nearby wolf moved to help him.
He stopped.
“Don’t.”
They froze.
“I can do it.”
The wolves looked toward me.
I forced myself not to interfere.
“Give him space.”
They obeyed.
Not enough space for my comfort.
Enough for his.
Luka reached the first table without falling.
Canyon followed at a distance.
Tatum escaped Axel and began adding food to Luka’s cart without permission.
Within minutes, it contained three cakes, honey bread, two pieces of meat, and something purple no one could identify.
Luka looked happier than he had during the ceremony.
Annika leaned against me.
“They love him.”
“Yes.”
“They’re terrified something will happen again.”
“Yes.”
“So are you.”
“Yes.”
Her hand found the back of my neck.
The mark warmed through our bond.
“And you’re still letting him do it.”
“Barely.”
Konan was monitoring every movement through my eyes.
Annika felt that too.
“You’re both hovering from here.”
“It is more discreet.”
“No, it isn’t.”
The celebration grew around us.
Wolves approached Annika one at a time.
Some thanked her for the healing.
Others welcomed her to Nightward formally.
Several began calling her Luna before she corrected them.
“I accepted the mark,” she told an older patrol wolf. “Not the title.”
The woman lowered her head.
“Then welcome, marked mate of Nightward.”
Annika liked that better.
So did I.
Konan did not.
Luna.
“Not yet.”
Annika heard him and looked at me.
“He’s impatient.”
“He believes recognition should happen immediately.”
“I recognized both of you.”
Pack needs Luna.
“She decides.”
Konan grumbled but remained contained.
By midnight, the clearing had begun to empty.
Luka sat beside Tatum near one of the tables, his injured leg raised on a second chair. The cart remained within reach, covered in empty plates.
Maia checked him twice.
Canyon checked him more.
Axel asked whether he needed help returning home.
Luka finally threw both hands up.
“I am fine!”
One crutch fell.
Every wolf turned.
He closed his eyes.
“No one move.”
No one did.
He leaned carefully, retrieved the crutch himself, and looked around the clearing.
“See?”
Tatum clapped.
“Luka did it.”
“Yes,” he said. “Luka did it.”
The tension broke.
Wolves returned to their conversations.
Luka settled back with visible satisfaction.
Annika rested her head against my shoulder.
“He’s going to be impossible now.”
“He was impossible before the accident.”
“Good.”
I looked at her.
She watched Luka laughing with Tatum beneath the lanterns.
Her mark glowed faintly against her shoulder.
The pack connection settled around her more naturally with every passing hour.
“What?” she asked.
“You’re happy.”
“So are you.”
Konan corrected her.
We have mate.
Annika smiled.
“I heard that.”
He surged with delight again.
She winced.
“Still too loud.”
The celebration continued beneath the full moon.
Luka insisted he needed no one worrying over him.
Nightward ignored him while pretending not to.
Annika stood marked inside our bond, hearing Konan’s voice and feeling the pack that had already begun becoming hers.
