Chapter 81

Lucien’s POV

Girl, how?

Could a female pup truly be the one the Moon Goddess spoke of?

Different thoughts spiraled through my mind, colliding and crashing into each other.

For years, every elder, every prophecy, every whispered hope had been built around a son, a warrior who would save and renew the Mooncroft Pack.

But now, wrapped in a soft blanket, blinking into the dim light of the pack hospital, was a tiny girl.

And I,  Alpha Lucien of the Mooncroft Pack    was holding her in my arms.

The pack doctor hovered nervously beside me, her hands wringing the edges of her coat.

“Alpha…” she said cautiously. “She’s strong. Unusually so.”

I lowered my gaze back to the pup, studying her face.

Her skin was pale but radiant, almost glowing under the weak overhead light.

Soft tufts of silver hair crowned her head, and when her tiny eyes fluttered open,  just for a second   I caught the briefest glimpse of gold.

Not the muddy brown of most newborns.

Pure, burning gold.

A chill ran through me.

Ancient blood. Divine blood.

The kind that legends spoke of in low, fearful tones.

I adjusted her gently in my arms, cradling her closer to my chest.

The moment our skin touched, a jolt shot through me,  a wave of something I couldn’t even name.

Power. Hope. Fear.

Was she the one?

The savior foretold by the Moon Goddess herself?

I didn’t know.

No one could know,  not yet.

But in that moment, deep in my bones, I felt the answer rumble like a distant storm: yes.

I stood there for a moment, frozen, locked in a silent world where only the two of us existed.

Nothing else mattered,  not the pack, not the politics, not the enemies that lurked beyond our walls.

Only her.

The doctor cleared her throat timidly, pulling me back to reality.

“Alpha… the pup’s name? Shall we record it?”

A name.

A lifetime of expectation could be shaped by a single choice of words.

I looked down at her again.

So small.

So new.

Yet somehow, she felt older than all of us put together.

“Aurora,” I said firmly.

The doctor blinked. “Aurora?”

I nodded.

“Aurora,” I repeated, my voice low and certain.

“The dawn. A new beginning.”

For our pack.

For me.

For all of us.

The doctor scribbled it down quickly, a smile twitching at her lips despite the solemnity of the moment.

Behind me, I heard footsteps approach, slow, hesitant.

I didn’t have to turn around to know it was my mother, Luna Celestine.

“Lucien,” she said softly, her voice laced with a tightness I recognized all too well.

I turned slowly.

Her face was calm, composed as always, but her eyes her eyes betrayed her.

There was fear there.

And calculation.

She looked from me to the baby and back again, her jaw tightening slightly.

“A girl,” she murmured.

“The Moon Goddess works in strange ways.”

I said nothing.

The old ways ran deep in her veins.

She had been raised on tales of male heirs, battles won through brute strength, legacies passed from father to son.

But the world was changing.

And so was our fate.

Felicia stirred weakly in the bed behind us, her face pale and drawn.

But when her eyes landed on me holding Aurora, a soft smile curved her lips.

Pride.Relief.Love.

I felt a strange warmth bloom in my chest at the sight.

She had given me a gift beyond measure.

No,  she had given the entire pack a gift beyond comprehension.

I stepped closer to her bedside, crouching down so she could see better.

“She’s beautiful,” Felicia whispered, her voice hoarse but full of awe.

“She’s perfect,” I said, my voice cracking slightly.

Felicia’s eyes glistened with tears.

Tears of joy.

Tears of exhaustion. Tears of something deeper , something sacred.

I reached out and gently brushed a strand of hair from her forehead.

“You did well,” I said.

She gave a small, tired laugh. “We did.”

I nodded once, solemn.

Then the door creaked open again, and Darren entered, flanked by Kael and two guards.

Their faces were grim.

Kael’s hand rested lightly on the hilt of his blade,  a silent message.

The world outside this room was still dangerous.

Still dark.

Still waiting.

“Alpha,” Darren said formally, bowing his head.

“Status?” I asked without rising.

“All is quiet,” Darren said.

“But… tense. The pack is on edge. Rumors are spreading faster than we can contain them.”

“What rumors?” I demanded.

Darren hesitated, casting a glance toward my mother, who stood silently watching everything.

“That the child is… different,” he said carefully.

Different.

The word hung heavy in the air.

I rose to my feet, Aurora cradled firmly in my arms.

“Let them talk,” I said coldly.

“Let them wonder.”

Kael’s mouth twisted into a grim smile.

“They’ll know soon enough,” he said.

Yes, they would.

When they saw her strength.

When they saw the miracles she would bring.

The old ways would crumble.A new era was beginning.

And it would begin with her.

I turned back to Felicia and bent down to kiss her forehead.

“Rest,” I said.

“I’ll protect her. I’ll protect both of you.”

She smiled weakly and closed her eyes, slipping into exhausted sleep.

I stood tall again, facing my mother, Darren, Kael, and the others.

“This child,” I said clearly, so there would be no mistake,

“will be raised as the heir of the Mooncroft Pack.”

There was a long silence.

Then, slowly, Darren nodded.

Kael grinned fiercely.

Even the guards straightened, pride lighting their faces.

But my mother…

She said nothing.

Her face remained an unreadable mask.

I would have to watch her.

Trust would not come easily. Not even with family. Especially not with family.

Just as I was about to issue new orders, a loud commotion broke out in the hallway,  heavy boots thudding against the floor, shouts echoing from every direction.

My instincts flared instantly to life.

Kael drew his blade halfway.

A moment later, a young guard burst through the door, panting, his eyes wide with alarm.

“Alpha!” he gasped.

“Alpha Silas has arrived at the gates!”

I froze.

Silas,

Finally.

Relief flooded me , but only for a second.

The guard wasn’t finished.

“He’s injured,” the guard said breathlessly.

“And… he’s not alone.”

Not alone?

I straightened fully, every muscle in my body tensed.

“Who’s with him?” I demanded.

The guard hesitated, swallowing hard.

“A… a wolf,” he said.

“A wolf none of us recognize.”

A stranger.

An unknown wolf at our gates.

With Silas.

Alarm bells rang loudly in my mind.

Kael stepped forward, his face darkening. “Trap?”

“Possibly,” Darren said grimly.

I passed Aurora back to the pack doctor, my hands lingering a moment longer than necessary.

“Guard her with your life,” I said softly.

The doctor nodded, clutching the baby close.