Chapter 32 The Pregnancy Revealed (Ember's POV)
I knew the moment the scent changed.
It was subtle, something only another wolf could detect. A shift in my natural scent, adding layers that hadn't been there before. Sweet and earthy and unmistakably pregnant.
The first wolf to notice was Sarah.
She stopped mid-sentence during our morning pack meeting, her head tilting slightly as she breathed in. Her eyes widened, and I watched understanding dawn across her face.
"Em." Her voice was careful, quiet. "Is there something you need to tell us?"
"Tell us what?" Derek looked between us, confused.
"Just..." Sarah kept her eyes on me. "Something important. About your... condition."
Trey tensed beside me. He knew what she meant. Knew that our secret—the one we'd been protecting for less than a week—was about to become very public.
"I don't know what you're talking about." The lie felt obvious even to me.
"Your scent changed." Sarah said it gently, like delivering bad news. "Probably sometime in the last twenty-four hours. Every wolf with working senses is going to notice."
"Notice what?" Derek was getting frustrated. "Someone explain what's happening."
"She's pregnant." Another voice from the back of the tent. James, the Shadowpaw wolf who'd been first to pledge allegiance. "The Silver Wolf is carrying cubs."
The tent went deathly silent.
Then it erupted.
"The prophecy twins!"
"Born under the Crimson Moon..."
"This changes everything..."
"Quiet!" Trey's Alpha command cut through the chaos. The pack fell silent, but I could feel their energy—excitement, fear, awe, all mixing together.
"Is it true?" Derek stepped forward. "Are you pregnant?"
I looked at Trey, who nodded slightly. No point denying what every wolf could smell.
"Yes." The admission felt like stepping off a cliff. "I'm pregnant. With twins."
The tent exploded again, this time with questions coming from all directions.
"How far along?"
"Do you know the gender?"
"Have you told the Silvermoon elders?"
"Does Ravencrest know?"
"What about Grimm's rogues?"
"Everyone stop!" I stood, and my own dominance rolled out, forcing silence. "Yes, I'm pregnant. No, I haven't told anyone outside this tent. And yes, I'm aware of what this means for the prophecy. But right now, I need everyone to calm down and give me space to process this."
"With respect, Alpha," James spoke up, "you don't get space. Not anymore. The moment the supernatural community learns you're carrying the prophesied twins, every faction will make moves. You need to prepare for that."
"He's right." Ms. Silvermoon appeared at the tent entrance. Of course she'd heard. "The Silvermoon Pack will want to claim the children as heirs to our bloodline. Ravencrest will want them destroyed or controlled. And Grimm..." She trailed off meaningfully.
"Grimm will want to claim them as his own." Trey's voice was grim. "He made that clear when he offered Ember a place in his pack."
"This is insane." I sank back into my chair. "I'm seventeen. I should be worried about college applications and prom, not supernatural factions fighting over my unborn children."
"You're the Silver Wolf carrying prophesied twins conceived under the Crimson Moon cycle." Ms. Silvermoon moved closer. "Your pregnancy is the most significant supernatural event in three centuries. Privacy isn't an option."
"Then what is?" My voice cracked. "Because I can't—I won't—let everyone treat my children like weapons before they're even born."
"You protect them." Sarah's voice was firm. "That's what pack is for. We shield you and the cubs from threats. We make it clear that anyone who wants to harm them goes through all of us first."
"And how do we do that when we're a pack of forty-seven against centuries-old factions with hundreds of members?" I gestured around the tent. "We're strong, but we're not invincible."
"We're enough." Trey's hand found mine. "We held off Silvermoon challenges. We've established dominance at the school. We can protect our children."
"Our children." I repeated the words, feeling their weight. "God, Trey. We're going to be parents."
"I know." He pulled me against his chest, and I heard his heart racing as fast as mine. "Terrifying, right?"
"Completely."
The pack gave us a moment of privacy, wolves turning away or stepping outside to give us space despite the tent being crowded.
"We need to make announcements." Ms. Silvermoon's voice was pragmatic. "Control the narrative before rumors do it for us. The Silvermoon Pack should hear from you directly. So should the other factions."
"What do I even say? 'Hi, I'm pregnant with prophesied twins, please don't kill them'?"
"Something like that, yes." She pulled out her phone. "I'll arrange a gathering. Neutral ground. Tomorrow evening. You'll address the supernatural community and make your position clear."
"What position? I don't have a position. I'm just trying to survive."
"Then your position is survival." She started texting. "You're carrying the next generation. You'll protect them by any means necessary. Anyone who threatens them is declaring war on you and your pack. Make that absolutely clear."
She left to make arrangements, and the pack slowly filtered back into the tent.
"Alpha." A younger wolf—Emily, recently pledged from a neutral pack—stepped forward nervously. "For what it's worth, congratulations. Cubs are a blessing, prophecy or not."
"Thank you." The simple kindness made my throat tight.
"We'll protect them." Another voice. "The whole pack. Whatever comes, we stand together."
One by one, pack members came forward with similar promises. Offers of protection. Pledges of loyalty. Vows that my children would be safe.
It should have been comforting.
Instead, it terrified me.
Because their promises meant they were willing to die for babies that didn't even exist yet. To go to war over a prophecy none of us fully understood.
And I had no idea how to stop it.
By evening, the news had spread.
I didn't know how—maybe a wolf from our pack told someone, maybe the scent change was just that obvious—but by dinnertime, every supernatural at Thornfield knew I was pregnant.
The stares were different now. More intense. More calculating.
Some wolves dropped to one knee as I passed, showing respect not just to me but to the children I carried.
Others looked at me with barely concealed hunger. Like my pregnancy was an opportunity they were already planning to exploit.
"This is wrong." I grabbed Trey's arm as we walked across campus. "They're looking at me like I'm an incubator. Like my value is only in the children I'm carrying."
"I know." His jaw was tight. "And anyone who treats you that way answers to me."
"You can't fight everyone."
"Watch me."
We made it back to the cabin as the sun set. Wolves from our pack had taken positions around the perimeter—guards, though no one had asked them to do it. They'd just assumed protecting their pregnant alpha required extra security.
"I need to shower." I dropped my bag by the door. "And then maybe sleep for a week."
"I'll make dinner." Trey kissed my forehead. "Something with protein. You're eating for three now."
The reminder made my hand move to my still-flat stomach. Three. Me and two babies who would either unite the supernatural world or burn it to ash.
No pressure.
I was toweling off my hair when Trey knocked on the bathroom door.
"Em? There's something here. A message."
"What kind of message?"
"The bad kind. You need to see this."
I pulled on clothes and emerged to find Trey holding an envelope. Black paper, silver seal with a wolf's head emblem I didn't recognize.
"It was on the porch." He handed it to me. "No one saw who delivered it."
I broke the seal and pulled out a card. Expensive paper, elegant handwriting.
Congratulations on your pregnancy, Silver Wolf. Such wonderful news. The prophesied twins—children who will reshape our world. I look forward to discussing their future.
Meet me at Whispering Pines Cemetery tomorrow at midnight. Come alone.
If you refuse, or if you bring your pack, I'll start killing your new members one by one until you comply. I'd hate to spill innocent blood, but I will if you force my hand.
We have much to discuss about the future of your children.
—Grimm
The card slipped from my numb fingers.
"He knows." My voice came out strangled. "How does he already know?"
"Supernatural grapevine moves fast." Trey picked up the card, his expression darkening as he read. "He's threatening the pack. Trying to force you into meeting him alone."
"Which I'm obviously not doing."
"Obviously." He pulled out his phone. "I'm calling an emergency pack meeting. We need to address this threat immediately."
"Wait." I caught his hand. "What if he's serious? What if refusing means he kills our pack members?"
"Then we kill him first." Trey's voice was cold. "He doesn't get to threaten you or our children and walk away."
"He has dozens of rogues. We have forty-seven wolves, most of them young and inexperienced." I took the card back, reading it again. "Maybe I should meet him. Hear what he wants."
"Absolutely not." Trey grabbed my shoulders. "Em, he's a predator. He wants to claim you and your children. Meeting him alone is suicide."
"But if I don't—"
"We find another way." He pulled me close. "We always find another way. But I'm not letting you walk into a trap because he's threatening our pack."
Sarah appeared in the doorway. "Everyone's gathering outside. Word about the pregnancy spread. We need to address the pack before rumors get worse."
"And this." Trey handed her Grimm's message.
She read it, her expression hardening. "He's declaring war."
"He's issuing an ultimatum." I corrected. "There's a difference."
"Not really." She handed the card back. "Either way, we need to respond. And we need to do it carefully, or wolves die."
We gathered the pack outside the cabin. Forty-seven faces, all turned toward me with varying degrees of concern and determination.
"You've all heard I'm pregnant." No point in preamble. "The rumors are true. I'm carrying twins. The prophecy twins, if the old stories are accurate."
Murmurs rippled through the crowd, but no one seemed surprised.
"This complicates things." I held up Grimm's message. "Grimm Ashworth has demanded I meet him tomorrow at midnight. Alone. If I refuse, he's threatened to kill pack members until I comply."