It seemed that word got around that I now had both brothers under my thrall. I had expected plenty of mudslinging and dirty looks since I was technically the reason for Damon losing his wolf, but to my surprise, I only had to deal with a few discontented grumblings.

Somehow, the pack had readily accepted me as one of them, a potential Luna candidate. More than half the pack was now deferring to me regarding decisions on pack welfare, and they greeted me cordially, if not with respect.

It was so surprising that I couldn’t help but speak with Kyle regarding this turn of events, wondering if he had anything to do with it. I went to look for him in the infirmary.

"Hi Harper," Kyle said, his arm hooked up to another vial. "What’s the matter?"

"Can’t I just see how you’re doing?" I asked, casually looking him over. He didn’t seem to be showing any signs of pain or illness, which was a relief.

Nicole’s cure was still in the testing phase, which meant that Kyle spent more time inside the infirmary than he did out of it, willingly subjecting himself to all sorts of strange tests in the name of scientific development. He refused to let Damon be a test subject, claiming that he would take on the bulk of the burden himself.

Now that Damon wasn’t an alpha, he could not order Kyle to move aside― and Blaise wouldn’t stop Kyle, for he wanted to keep Damon safe too.

Thankfully, Nicole’s treatments hadn’t given Kyle anything worse than a nasty rash, even though his wolf was nowhere to be found. Small mercies.

"Of course you can, but I doubt that’s all you’re here for," Kyle said frankly. His expression darkened slightly. "Are the other wolves still giving you trouble?"

"No, which is strange," I said. "I expected more unhappiness. Did you have anything to do with it?"

Kyle could only shrug bemusedly. "I only told them what happened with your mother back in her city. You might have been a hunter’s daughter, but you’ve also proven that you would choose your mates over her. Hell, you even helped slay her and destroy everything she built!"

Kyle pointed out delightedly before he realized the subject of the conversation probably required more gravitas. His face paled and he gave me a careful glance. "Sorry Harper, that was insensitive of me. I shouldn’t have said it so cavalierly."

I sighed. "No, it’s fine. I’ve... accepted her death and my part to play in the entire debacle." Sometimes my mom haunted my dreams, demanding to know why I let her down. In my dreams, I could not find the right words to answer her. Guilt and grief would threaten to swallow me whole.

But then I would wake up, enveloped by the arms of both of my mates. With Damon and Blaise by my side, there was no burden that was impossible to bear.

"Still. It was insensitive," Kyle winced, before moving on to the next point. "Other than that, I also suspect that because Blaise is now Alpha, they’re more open to you as their next Luna. They’ve known you to be his mate for a longer time after all. Of course they wouldn’t expect Blaise to suddenly change his mate just because he became an Alpha."

"That makes sense," I nodded in agreement. "Thanks, Kyle."

"You’re welcome," Kyle said, sinking back into his pillows.

Nicole popped her head from behind the curtain, smiling when she caught sight of me. Clearly, she had been busy with her research and was now back to check on Kyle and his possible side effects.

"Harper! What do I owe this pleasure? Shouldn’t you be busy with the ceremony?"

"Hi Nicole, I’m just visiting Kyle here. And what ceremony are you talking about?" I asked curiously.

Nicole let out an awkward laugh. "Oh dear. That was a slip of the tongue. Pretend, for my sake, that you didn’t hear anything okay? Your darling mates would never let me hear the end of it if you heard it from them and not me."

"Alright then," I said bemusedly. "But only because I like you."

Gears turned in my head as I tried to figure out what ceremony Nicole could be referring to. There were a few different options, but only one struck me as possible.

My ceremony for my coronation as Luna. It was going to happen eventually, but I personally thought it would happen a year later. I still didn’t feel as though I was completely ready for the job. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

But perhaps I was overthinking things. It could be referring to another ceremony, such as the one-month naming ceremony for new pups. Now that some measure of peace had finally returned to Fangborne, more and more she-wolves were pregnant, and there was no shortage of possible ceremonies as the pack jumped to celebrate any new development.

"How is the rehabilitation treatment coming along?" I asked, and I was rewarded with Nicole’s grateful smile as she eagerly segued into an explanation of her research.

"Currently, the treatment is not working as fast as I hoped, but at least there aren’t any negative side effects either. Kyle and Darach both reported that they’ve been dreaming more from the point of view of a wolf, so I’m hoping that this is a sign of a mending link. Hopefully, we’ll see progress by the end of next year, slow as it may be."

"I did feel a slight tingling in my toes though, does that count as a side effect?" Kyle asked hopefully. "Maybe my toes are transforming first. I’d be a human with paw pads."

"That’s highly improbable. It’s more likely because you’ve been sitting for hours in the same position," Nicole said apologetically.

"Oh. Right," Kyle said. "Darn it."

I let out a soft chuckle, then I heard Blaise’s voice echoing in my head through our mate bond.

’Harper, are you free now? Damon and I have something we want to ask you.’

’Yeah, I have time,’ I replied, and I got up.

"Leaving already?" Nicole asked, disappointment coloring her voice.

"Sorry, but Blaise and Damon want to see me for something."

"Oh, do they now?" Nicole clapped her hands excitedly, a twinkle in her eye. "In that case, you shouldn’t keep them waiting. Shoo shoo!"

I shook my head, bemused by her change in behavior. This must be something to do with the ceremony Nicole had accidentally mentioned earlier. My earlier suspicion was getting stronger.

I caught Damon and Blaise in my office, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out something was up when they both shot me nervous grins.

"What’s the matter? Are we going to fight another pack?" I asked teasingly. "You’re rarely so jumpy."

"No, of course not, nothing like that," Blaise said. "We just have something we wanted to ask you."

"And you couldn’t do it over the pack link?" I asked, a teasing smile on my lips.

"Don’t make life difficult for Blaise," Damon said as if he wasn’t the one who made life difficult for his twin for fun. "This is important."

"I’m sure. Now what is it about?"

The brothers exchanged a glance before they spoke in unison.

"Harper, please be our Luna!"