"I think we get good reactions to the flowers."

"I agree; it's a nice touch."

"And when Tamara showed her daughter the teddy bear we added to their basket, my heart just melted."

"That was very sweet." Maude peers up from our ideas and notes about our latest deliveries. With our work done for the day, we lounge at the kitchen table and review.

"So do you think we should make any changes?" I ask, stretching to peep at the pad of paper. "I feel like we're close to a routine gift."

"I say we fill out the flower bouquets a bit more, and we're all set."

"Sounds—"

The front door down the hall opens, and with it arrives two heated voices tangling together.

"He got hurt because he's still recovering from a dislocated shoulder. He shouldn't have been tested against two wolves."

"Have you been hurt and confronted with two or more wolves in battle?"

"That's not the point. We shouldn't be taking down our own men on the training field; it's a waste."

"His shoulder was cleared by Rosa—he told me himself."

Maude and I instinctively listen to Theo and Corbin; their noise is unavoidable.

"He said that because you're staring at him wanting him to," Corbin accuses.

"Oh for Goddess' sake, what am I supposed to do? Read their minds? Nurture them and fill their pockets with gold for completing the bare minimum? Frankly, I've seen our youngest do better."

"Bottom line, you're still pushing too hard."

Their voices quiet. They're heading for the study. I lift out of my chair and creep to the kitchen archway while Maude plays it safe and stays put. I stick my head out into the hall, but when that doesn't clear up their wall-muffled argument, I sneak toward the foyer until I can make out their words.

"...be better if we're going to finish Belrose quickly. Our number advantage isn't what it used to be," Theo says.

"It's not going to end quick. We're looking at at least five more successful attacks on our part, and then you take into account how many we can afford to lose. And who's to say Barsk or another Old Blood won't keep replenishing Belrose's men? If you don't want them on our side, they're going to take his."

"My sister's mate already took his side; his support was supposed to be a sure thing. We can't trust any of them."

"Alpha Silva—"

"Bryan is as good as dead, I'm telling you," Theo interrupts.

I grab the archway to the smaller living room and lean on it.

"You do anything and Alexa will kill you," Corbin warns.

"Celeste's sister was mated again, who's to say Alexa can't be?"

"Theo. We can't handle any more enemies right now, I'm serious. Leave Silva alone, at least to keep Alexa out of this."

I wince, fearful they're still far from reconciling.

"Bryan backs up Belrose again and all promises are off the table; he knows he's under threats. Lonell will stay in the fucking mountains where he belongs, so Barsk is the only one that we should worry about repeatedly helping Belrose."

Corbin does not respond. I wait out their pause, hopeful it's a good break and not an indicator that one of them has begun strangling the other.

"I know you blame me for starting the war—you didn't want a part in any of it," Theo says suddenly, quieter; I almost miss it.

"Dan believed in you. It was two against one."

"I don't need you to forgive me or even like me. I just need you to do your duty."

I tilt into the living room, trying to listen closer.

"I told him to wait, but he charged right towards the border with the first men. He was supposed to let the border guards and the first wave of warriors take the brunt of it, but he wouldn't listen. He wanted to be honorable," Corbin says, sounding as though he's trying to keep his voice even. "He said over and over that we just have to hold them off until Theo gets back."

And then I hear it—something I thought Theo would swallow down and let eat him alive. He concaves. His voice tears, his breath strains, and the grief surges out. Our mate bond grapples with me to charge in there and comfort him, but I restrain myself. Right now, he needs Corbin, and Corbin needs him.

I bargain with our bond, promising it I'll step in when Theo's ready for me.

And I do. Later in the evening, I lie on our bed, and Theo joins me when he comes in the room. Elise is downstairs prepping dinner, but there's still plenty of time to relax together.

I let Theo use me as he needs. He holds me at first and asks about my day, so I tell him about the deliveries. He finger-combs and strokes my hair, kisses me gently and sporadically on my temple and cheek and jaw, and then he touches my stomach. Again, such rubbing makes me scrutinize how un-pregnant I feel, but I keep my thoughts to myself as to not disturb him.

Instead, I snuggle closer and talk about things I know he finds alleviating.

"Maude mentioned looking through the heirloom furniture and picking things out for the nursery. I'm not sure how I want it to be or how it should be, but I'm curious to see what's there. We'll have to choose a guest room to transform as well."

"The one closest to us," he says deeply. A few more minutes of this, and he might fall asleep.

"That'll be good. It has nice windows, good light."

"Mmm."

"She said it's all in the attic. Said it's stuffed with old furniture up there. I thought maybe I might find some other things I like—will be a hassle getting it all down, though."

"I'll carry it down."

"Well, we'll need a crib and a changing table—that I know. Oh, and a nursing chair; a nice squishy one."

"A dresser for the baby's clothes," he adds.

"Oh no," I smile, "the little clothes, of course. The baby will have too many, I'm sure, but those tiny baby shoes... How could you have too many tiny shoes? They fit right in the palm of your hand."

Theo opens my hand and thumbs my palm.

"If it's a boy, we should name him after Dan."

Theo becomes still. I worry I've said the wrong thing, but after another moment, he says, "Daniel."

The sadness in his tone pulls on our bond. I glance up at his face and see a tear welling and then spilling from the corner of his eye. I catch it, carefully wipe it, and resume as though it never fell.

"That's a very noble name, isn't it? Perfect for a future leader."

Theo cups my farther cheek and leaves a kiss on my other.

"I saw in Pack Center there's a shop where they make the most beautiful things out of wood, and there was a baby rattle on display. I want to get one and, after the birth, have the baby's name carved onto the handle," I continue.

Theo and I are late to head downstairs for dinner, but Elise doesn't seem to mind. We eat leisurely while suggesting possible names for a baby girl—none of which sound right—and once we're finished, Theo doesn't go to the study. We sit at the table a while longer, and when I head upstairs to use my new pregnancy goods from Rosa, Theo watches.

It hasn't been easy for him to open up to me since we were mated—I don't think anyone besides me, Corbin, and Dan has seen him unguarded in a long time—but I'm almost certain our tiny pea inside of me is changing that.

My mother always said giving a man a child changes him.

***

In the morning, I'm met with pinkish spots of blood in my underwear. Theo is out of the house by now as usual, so I share my findings with Maude after getting dressed and lining a clean pair of underwear with toilet paper.

"Sounds like implantation bleeding to me," she says while folding bedsheets in the laundry room.

I stand in the doorway. "Have you read a book on pregnancy?"

"No. My mother was pregnant when I was sixteen; I learned a lot."

"So you have a sibling?" I ask, intrigued. "You never mentioned a—"

"Neither he nor my mother live at Draven. We aren't very close—I rarely see them."

Her advice about chosen families surfaces from my memory—something learned from personal experience, I suppose. I assume Maude has built her own family here at Draven for a sensitive reason, so I leave it at that.

"Well, I'm going to start on the new list of warriors. Although, we are running low on baskets."

"Maybe we should switch to something we can get a lot of at Pack Center," she says. "I'm sure by now the Gardens are wondering if they're missing some baskets."

"Hm. I'm sure I can think of something."

While Maude finishes her housekeeping duties, I compile lists of items for every grievance gift. I try to customize each one the best I can for the fallen warriors' families using the binder of household information from Theo's office. I also jot down possible replacements for the baskets, but the only solution I can come up with is to use gift boxes. While they aren't as decorative, they'll protect the goods inside, and we can always add ribbons. The flowers will have to be wrapped and placed on top, but at least the Gardens won't run out of baskets.

Maude joins me and finds my solution reasonable—plus, the deconstructed boxes are easier to store—so we move on to planning my get-together for the high-standing women. Maude presents a list of invitees—and their titles if applicable—just as she said she would:

Tamra Goodman (Head of Messengers)
Taylor Dela Cruz (Head of Women's Training)
Lavanya Gruber (Lead Border Guard: Southwest Post)
Patty Melnik (Lead Border Guard: Northwest Post)
Anika Tomilson
Zola Fredricks
Heather Brown
Kim Teller
May Lamb
Adelita Warren
Jared Ali

Tamra and Taylor are names I recall from the leadership meetings about our wars; considering their titles, I'm not surprised.

"And of course Lily and Kalilah as well," Maude adds. "The names you might not recognize are women mated to men in Leadership who are therefore high-standing through matehood. Also, on the invitations, we should encourage everyone to invite their mothers and sisters. If we do that, we should have a pretty good turnout."

I breathe in. "Sounds good. I'll tell Lily about the lunch myself, and I'll write Kalilah a personal message—I need to invite her and her kids over for dinner, so I'll tell her about it then."

"So the rest of the invitations I can write up?"

"Yes, thank you."

"Okay, I'll do that now so they can be sent out by the end of the day. I'll summarize it as a lunch with the Luna and discussion about your first project to help the families of fallen warriors," she circles her hand, "your need for volunteers, it's all about supporting one another in these difficult times, et cetera. Scheduled for three days from now at noon."

"And Elise is still set for the food prep?" I ask.

"Yes. I will be helping her."

Before Maude leaves for the day with the invites, I'm able to give her the message for Kalilah to send out as well. If all goes to plan, she, Corbin, and their kids will be coming for dinner tomorrow.

Theo comes home while I'm about to bring the hefty household information binder back into his study. We catch one another while I'm passing the stairs and as he's stepping through the doorway.

"Hi," I say with a small smile, holding the binder to my chest. "Done for the day?"

He shuts the front door and comes to me. "Just about."

"I bled this morning like Rosa said I might."

"Bled?" Theo pales. "Did you see her? Are you alright?"

He grabs my elbow and glances down my body as though blood is streaming down my legs.

"Not the bad amount of bleeding—spotting," I quickly elaborate.

"Goddess," he sighs, relieved and letting go.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

"No, I know. It's fine. You're fine, aren't you?"

I nod.

"You're sure?"

"I'm sure. I even asked Maude, and she thought it was normal too. Other than that, I had a slight headache, but it's almost gone. Nothing else to report pregnancy-wise. How was your day? Are things better with Corbin?"

Theo runs his fingers through his hair, still a tad startled. "A lot better, actually."

"Good. Kalilah should be getting my dinner invite tonight, so hopefully they'll be over tomorrow. I was just putting this back," I say, jostling the binder.

He gestures for me to walk with him, so we head for the study together.

"I was also thinking—about Maude—about everything she does here."

"And?"

"And I think she's outgrown her household duties. I want her to be my...my advisor of sorts."

"You want to title her?" He clarifies.

"Y-yes."

"Advisor to the Luna?"

"Yes."

Theo opens one of the study doors and holds it for me. "Alright. Her first task can be finding a new housekeeper, then."

"Okay, great, thank you," I say, suddenly teeming with energy. I step into the study but immediately turn back to him. "I'll let her know tomorrow."

Theo goes right to the desk and picks up a small stack of messages; someone arrives with a note for him every hour or so while he's handling things around the pack. He shuffles through them as I slide the binder back into its place on a lower bookshelf behind him.

"Looks like there's a message here for you."

I straighten. "Really?"

Theo hands it over, so I take the folded paper and open it. The message is a decent length; I read it in full, and, just as I reach the last line, Theo turns to me.

"Who is it from?"

I look up, excited to tell him.