Chapter Three

Vanessa began redecorating on her first day in the main house.

“This black leather makes the room so gloomy.” She trailed her hand over a chair that had belonged to Ronan's mother. “What about furniture woven from moonlight vine? It would suit an Alpha much better.”

Ronan turned to the Beta steward. “Give Vanessa whatever she needs.”

I watched from the upstairs landing as two warriors carried out the blanket I'd woven to celebrate the twins' first trial six months earlier. I'd worked snow-wolf fur into it and embroidered the edges with luminous moss.

Chloe pointed at the starflower cushions.

“Those too, Vanessa. Mother's things are ugly.”

“And scratchy,” Caleb added.

“We'll change everything.” Vanessa smoothed their hair while the warriors gathered the cushions.

My hands tightened on the railing.

Those cushions were older than the blanket. I'd begun sewing for the twins while I was pregnant, working healing energy into each piece despite the discomfort of the new bond. When they were born sensitive to ordinary fillings, I used snow-rabbit down and calming moonflower seeds instead. I knew which seams bothered Caleb and which cushion Chloe would reach for when she couldn't sleep.

Now they watched it all go out with the trash.

I loosened my grip and stepped away from the stairs.

Over the next few days, Vanessa's sweet scent spread through rooms I barely recognized. The children followed her everywhere. Ronan made sure she had nothing unpleasant to do.

When she bent to pick up something in the sitting room, he caught her wrist.

“You shouldn't be doing this. Your hands are for rare herbs and the cubs. Let the staff handle that.”

Caleb hurried to take a basket of moonberries from her.

“I'll carry it, Vanessa.”

I'd carried baskets with a child on each hip, and no one had worried about my hands.

The steward brought Vanessa snow-fox slippers. “Please rest, miss. You'll want to save your strength for what's ahead. We'll take care of the house.”

She accepted them with a smile. Nothing she did seemed to be taken for granted.

In the corridors, I caught scraps of the Omegas' talk through the pack link. My Luna senses hadn't faded yet.

“He's so gentle with her. I never saw him look at Elara that way.”

“And the cubs adore her. I guess we'll have a real Luna soon.”

I kept packing my personal things. Arguing with them would not change what I could see for myself. All I needed was to get through the days until the full moon.

One afternoon, my phone began vibrating on the bed. Vanessa was posting photos and videos from the children's training camp to the pack's group chat.

I opened one.

Caleb and Chloe stood beside her, surrounded by other cubs. She had a hand on each of their shoulders.

“This is Vanessa. She's our new mom,” Caleb announced.

Chloe nodded eagerly. “She's really powerful.”

The other children crowded closer, exclaiming over Vanessa's face, her scent, and how lucky the twins were to have her.

“Your father's an Alpha, and your new mom's so pretty,” one girl said.

A boy from an affiliated pack looked confused. “Then who's the woman who gets your food ready? The one who gives you your herbal baths at the main house?”

The twins went still. For a moment, neither answered.

“Oh, her,” Caleb said at last. “She's just an Omega who takes care of us.”

“She's nobody important,” Chloe added.

My hand jerked. Tea spilled over the rim of my cup and splashed across the floor.

On the screen, the conversation continued. Neither child corrected what they'd said. Vanessa kept smiling beside them.

I set the cup down before I dropped it and crouched beside the spill. The herbs lay in wet clumps on the floorboards. I'd brewed the tea to steady myself, and now I couldn't stop my fingers from shaking.

Their mother was too embarrassing to acknowledge. The work was useful, though. They still knew exactly who fed and bathed them.

I turned the video off.

Their new mom could do it from now on.