Luna Reclaims Her Throne

Pain ripped through my body like a hurricane, each contraction more violent than the last. I gripped the edges of the clinic bed, my knuckles white against the sheets as another wave crashed over me.

"It's coming," I whispered to myself, my voice trembling. "The baby's coming."

Outside, thunder crashed across the night sky, lightning illuminating the Silver Moon Pack clinic in harsh, fleeting flashes. The storm matched my internal chaos perfectly—nature itself seemed to be screaming with me.

"Rhett," I called out through our mate bond, reaching desperately for that sacred connection that had sustained me for three years. "Rhett, please. I need you."

Silence answered me. Not the comforting warmth of his presence, not even the cold distance I'd grown accustomed to. Just... nothing.

Another contraction seized me, and I couldn't suppress the cry that tore from my throat. Three years of being the perfect Luna—obedient, supportive, invisible—and now, when I needed him most, my Alpha was nowhere to be found.

"Please," I whispered again, tears streaming down my face. "Our pup is coming."

I tried to reach for the call button, but another contraction left me gasping. The pack healer had stepped out just minutes before, promising to return quickly. Now I was alone with the storm and my pain.

The clinic door burst open with a bang that made me flinch. Relief flooded through me so intensely that I nearly sobbed.

"Rhett," I called out, my voice breaking. "I'm here."

But the footsteps rushed past my room without slowing. I heard the door to the adjacent delivery room fly open, followed by Rhett's voice—not calm and controlled as I'd expect from an Alpha, but panicked.

"Christina! Thank the Moon Goddess I found you."

Christina? My mind struggled to process what I was hearing. Why would Rhett be looking for Christina Ward in the delivery room?

"Rhett," I called again, louder this time. "I'm in labor. Your pup is coming."

The silence that followed was deafening. Then came the sound of hurried footsteps, but not toward my room. Instead, I heard Rhett's voice, low and urgent, speaking to someone outside my door.

"Elena! Thank the Goddess you're here. Christina needs you immediately."

"But Alpha," came our pack healer's confused response, "Luna Diana is already in active labor. I was just about to—"

"I don't care what you were about to do," Rhett's voice hardened with the unmistakable edge of his Alpha tone. "Christina needs you now. That's an order."

"Alpha, please," Elena protested weakly. "Luna Diana is in distress. Her water has broken, and she's progressing rapidly. I can't just leave her."

"You will obey your Alpha," Rhett commanded, his voice dropping to that dangerous octave that no pack member could resist. "Go to Christina. Now."

I felt the pressure of his Alpha command like a physical weight on my chest. Even though it wasn't directed at me, the mere proximity of it stole my breath.

"Luna Diana," Elena's voice was strained as she fought against the