KIERAN POV
"Try me first," I said, stepping forward. "I'll try the bond connection."
Thessaly screamed again, doubling over in Caspian's arms. Blood started seeping through her dress.
The baby was killing her.
"How do we do this?" Caspian demanded, his voice breaking. "How do we bond with the baby?"
Thaddeus knelt beside Thessaly, completely calm while she was dying. "Skin to skin contact. The father places his hand on her stomach. If he's the right one, the baby will recognize him and stabilize."
"And if he's wrong?" Lucien asked.
"Then you've wasted precious seconds, and she dies faster." Thaddeus smiled coldly. "Choose wisely."
I didn't wait for permission. I ripped open Thessaly's dress—sorry, but modesty wasn't important when she was DYING—and pressed my hand against her bare stomach.
Please, I begged silently. Please let it be me. Let me save her.
Nothing happened.
Thessaly's scream got worse. More blood.
"Not you," Thaddeus said flatly. "Next."
Dax shoved me aside and pressed his hand to Thessaly's stomach. His eyes squeezed shut. "Come on. Please. PLEASE."
Nothing.
"Next," Thaddeus said.
Lucien tried. His hand shook as he touched Thessaly's skin. For a moment, I thought I saw a flicker of light—
But then Thessaly convulsed violently, and Lucien jerked back.
"Wrong," Thaddeus confirmed.
That left Caspian. Or Thaddeus himself.
"It has to be you," I told Caspian desperately. "You're the Alpha heir. The strongest—"
"Strength doesn't determine fatherhood," Thaddeus interrupted. "Only the bond does."
Caspian looked terrified. "What if it's not me? What if it's—"
"Then I save her," Thaddeus said quietly. "And she comes with me. Forever. That's the deal with royal pregnancies. The father claims both mother and child."
"No," Caspian growled. "She's OURS."
"Then prove it." Thaddeus gestured to Thessaly, who was barely conscious now. "You have thirty seconds before she bleeds out."
Caspian pressed his hand to Thessaly's stomach.
For a horrible moment, nothing happened.
Then white light exploded from where Caspian's hand touched her skin.
The bond FLARED to life, so powerful I felt it even though it wasn't mine. Thessaly gasped. The bleeding stopped. Her eyes fluttered open.
"Caspian?" she whispered, confused.
"I've got you," he breathed. "I've got both of you."
The baby—OUR baby, Caspian's baby—settled. I could FEEL it through the pack bonds. The tiny life inside Thessaly stabilizing, recognizing its father, calming down.
Caspian started crying. Actual tears streaming down his face as he held his hand against Thessaly's stomach. "Thank the Moon Goddess. Thank you, thank you—"
"Well," Thaddeus said, standing up and brushing off his pants. "Looks like the Alpha heir wins this round. Congratulations."
He didn't sound congratulatory. He sounded furious.
"You KNEW," Lucien snarled at him. "You knew which one of us was the father, and you made us play this sick game—"
"I knew nothing," Thaddeus interrupted coldly. "Royal bonds are impossible to read until they activate. But I DID know that watching you four panic would be entertaining." He smiled. "And I was right."
I wanted to RIP his throat out.
But Thessaly was safe. The baby was safe. That was all that mattered.
"Get out," Caspian said quietly, still holding Thessaly. "Leave our territory, Thaddeus. Now."
"Oh, I'm not going anywhere." Thaddeus's silver eyes glowed. "That baby is half Lunaris. Which means it's MY responsibility to ensure it's raised properly. I'll be staying in Silvercrest. Permanently."
"Like hell—" Dax started.
"Unless you want me to petition the Wolf Council to remove the child from an unsuitable environment?" Thaddeus raised an eyebrow. "Because I can make a VERY compelling case that four males who spent seventeen years abusing the mother aren't fit parents."
Silence.
He had us trapped, and he knew it.
"I'll take a room in the guest wing," Thaddeus said pleasantly. "Try not to bore me, children."
He walked away, whistling.
"I hate him," Lucien muttered.
"Get in line," I agreed.
Caspian carefully lifted Thessaly into his arms. She was so pale, so fragile. "We need to get her to bed. She needs rest."
"I'm fine," Thessaly protested weakly. "Just... tired."
"You almost DIED," Caspian said, his voice shaking. "You are not fine."
For once, Thessaly didn't argue. She just closed her eyes and let Caspian carry her.
We followed them to her room—the new one, far from the burned wing. Caspian laid her down gently, his hand never leaving her stomach.
"The baby," Thessaly whispered. "Is it okay?"
"Perfect," Caspian said, his voice thick with emotion. "Our baby is perfect."
OUR baby. The words hit me like a punch.
Caspian was going to be a father. And the rest of us... what? Uncles? Packmates? Nothing?
My wolf howled with grief.
"You should all leave," Senna said quietly from the doorway. "Let her rest."
"I'm not leaving her," Caspian said immediately.
Thessaly's eyes opened. "Yes, you are. I need space. I need—" She stopped, wincing. "Please. Just go."
It killed him. I could see it killing him. But Caspian nodded and slowly pulled his hand away from her stomach.
The moment he broke contact, Thessaly gasped in pain.
"What—" Caspian pressed his hand back immediately. The pain stopped. "I can't leave. The baby needs the father's touch to stay stable."
"For how long?" Thessaly asked, horror dawning on her face.
"Until the bond fully forms," a new voice said.
We all turned.
An old woman stood in the doorway. Ancient, with white hair and eyes that had seen everything. She radiated power that made even Thaddeus's magic feel weak.
"Who—" Lucien started.
"Elder Mira," Alpha Thorne said, appearing behind the old woman. His voice was filled with respect and fear. "You honor us with your presence."
"I felt the royal birth bond activate," Elder Mira said, walking into the room with a cane that looked older than the pack itself. "Came to make sure the child survives." She peered at Thessaly. "You're the White Wolf. The Lunaris girl."
"Yes," Thessaly said quietly.
Elder Mira studied her for a long moment. Then she looked at Caspian, still touching Thessaly's stomach. "The father must maintain physical contact with the mother for three months. Until the baby's soul fully bonds to both parents. Break contact for more than ten minutes, and the baby dies."
Three MONTHS?
"That's impossible," Thessaly breathed. "We can't— He can't just TOUCH me for three months straight!"
"Royal pregnancies are complicated," Elder Mira said simply. "You should have thought of that before creating life through a mate bond."
"I didn't CREATE anything!" Thessaly protested. "This just HAPPENED!"
"Royal magic doesn't 'just happen.'" Elder Mira's eyes narrowed. "You and the father completed a soul bond. Probably during a moment of intense emotion. That's what created the child."
I tried to remember. When had Caspian and Thessaly—
Oh. The hallway. When she was crying after dinner, and Caspian held her, and she finally let him comfort her.
That moment. That single moment of connection had created a BABY.
"So what do we do?" Caspian asked desperately. "How do I—"
"You stay within ten feet of her at all times," Elder Mira said. "You sleep beside her. You eat with her. You don't leave her side. For three months."
Thessaly looked like she might cry. "I can't. I can't spend three months with him attached to me. I'll go insane."
"Then the baby dies," Elder Mira said bluntly. "Your choice."
Silence.
Thessaly stared at Caspian, raw panic in her eyes.
"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm so sorry. If I'd known—"
"Just stop talking," Thessaly said, her voice breaking. "Everyone OUT. I need to think."
We all filed out reluctantly. Even Caspian, though he stopped at exactly ten feet from the bed—the maximum distance he could go without hurting the baby.
Elder Mira was the last to leave. She paused in the doorway.
"One more thing, White Wolf," she said. "The baby isn't just Lunaris. It's also Alpha heir. Which means every wolf in this territory and beyond will want it. To control it. To use it. To kill it before it becomes too powerful."
Thessaly's face went white.
"You have three months before birth," Elder Mira continued. "Three months to prepare. Because the moment that child is born, war is coming."
She left.
And I stood in the hallway, watching through the cracked door as Thessaly pressed her hands to her stomach and started crying.
She was pregnant with the most powerful wolf baby in centuries.
She was bound to Caspian for three months.
And someone out there was already planning to kill them both.
"We need to protect her," I said quietly to Lucien and Dax. "All of us. Whatever it takes."
"Agreed," they both said.
Inside the room, Thessaly's crying got worse.
And I knew—without a doubt—that the next three months were going to destroy all of us.
Or make us into the mates she actually deserved.