Mom hurried over and opened the door, to my surprise Jeremiah walked in and not Ryland. He was wearing a black tux that was tight against his arms.

"Hello ladies." He bowed his head slightly until his eyes met mine and widened. "You all look beautiful."

"I'm here for my Luna." He spoke walking towards me with a slight smile.

"You two are welcome to head down whenever your ready. I believe the others are in the living room." He told them before sticking his arm out for me. I looped my arm with his as we made our way out.

"You honestly don't look terrible." He laughed at me earning a punch to the arm.

"Where are we going? I was expecting Ryland." I asked him as we made our way down the hallway.

"Im escorting you, to your grumpy ass mate. He's finalizing something in his office before we make an appearance at the ball." I just rolled my eyes at him. As much as they antagonize each other, I knew deep down they loved each other like brothers.

"Where is the ball?" I asked him realizing I never saw any ballroom or open party space on the pack grounds.

"You will see." He smiled mischievously.

"You suck sometimes, you know that?" I groaned. He just rolled his eyes at me as we kept walking. Once we finally made it to Rylands office, we heard talking so we decided to wait. Now was my chance.

"I'll be right back, I think I left something in the the exam room." I told him earning a confused look. I quickly opened the door and walked towards the bathroom.

"What did you forget?" Jeremiah asked entering the room as well. I quickly picked up the test and looked at it. There were two lines. I swear my heart stopped beating for a second.

"Octavia?" I heard Ryland call out from the office. Shit.

"What is that?" Jeremiah asked now standing in the bathroom door frame.

"Nothing." I blurted out hiding it behind myself.

"What is it? We're friends you don't have to lie." Suddenly I heard a door slam causing me to jump and clumsily drop the test. It rattled on the floor and my eyes widened in terror.

"Is that? Are you?" Jeremiah asked wide eyed.

"Don't tell Ryland." I pleaded. "I just.."

"Don't tell me what?" My heart nearly leapt out of my chest at my mates voice coming from the exam room. I quickly kicked the pregnancy test under the counter. Before walking past Jeremiah and into the exam room.

"She's tired and didn't want me to say anything." He lied quickly his face void of any emotion.

Ryland was staring at me in shock. I'm not sure if he even heard what Jeremiah said. His eyes trailed down my body pausing at the slit in my gown.

"You look perfect." He breathed before his now red eyes stared deep into mine.

"Have the others enter the dining hall. We will join you shortly." Ryland said to Jeremiah, his eyes never leaving mine. Jeremiah just nodded and gave me a sympathetic look.

Once Ryland heard the click of the door he shoved his lips hard against mine. He backed me up against the wall as his kisses began trailing down my jawline and neck. He rested his forehead against mine closing his eyes and breathing deeply.

"I want to rip this off of you, so fucking badly." He growled. "But it would be a shame for anyone to not see you in this dress." I stared at him my face completely flushed and my breathing was uneven.

"Ryland." I breathed. "I..I need to tell you something." My heart beat was rapid and wild in my chest.

"Breathe." He growled cupping my face in his hands. His eyes were rapidly scanning over me for anything wrong. I closed my eyes for a second breathing in slowly.

"I-I'm p-pregnant." I whispered with a shaky voice. His eyes never left mine but they widened considerably.

"Are you sure?" He asked in shock.

I just nodded leading him into the bathroom and carefully picking up the pregnancy test from the floor. I handed it to him with shaky hands as he took in what this meant. He led me out of the bathroom and back into the room, his eyes still wide with shock. He brought his hands back up to cup my face as he watched me.

"We're going to be parents?" He asked dropping one of his hands down to lay gently on my stomach.

"That's why you were sick this morning wasn't it?" He growled.

"I thought it was cause of the wine." Wait. I had wine, oh goddess. I had wine. Ryland could feel my panic through the bond and immediately pulled me into a hug.

"Everything's fine don't worry." He breathed into my hair, holding me tight to his chest. I focused on the sound of his accelerated heart beat and tried to calm my self down.

"I'm so scared." I murmured into his chest. "I want to have a family with you so bad, but with the war coming, I'm just so, so scared Ryland." I felt tears start spilling from my eyes.

"We will get through this, I don't want anyone touching you besides me tonight. You're going to be at my side all night as well." He told me his eyes flickering between red and green. "Promise me?" He added wiping away my tears with his thumbs.

"I promise." I whispered, wanting to be with him anyways.

"We're going to be parents." I breathed. When I looked up at him, his eyes were still hard and uncertain but a smile crept its way onto his face. Before I could react he lifted me up and spun me around before I crashed down gently against his chest.

"We're going to be parents." He smiled before gently kissing my lips.

——————————————————————

We walked hand in hand down the hallway after a few minutes of being in each others embrace. Ryland gently squeezed my hand as we continued walking.

"I've never been over here before." I whispered wide eyed staring at the large picture frames of Ryland as a child as well as his late sister and mother. I noticed not a single one of his fathers remained up and for good reason. How have I never noticed this part of our house?

Your stay here has been relatively chaotic. Her voice echoing in my head.

Suddenly, we were standing in front of large wooden doors with intricate white detailing. Ryland turned to me bending down to press his lips gently against mine.

"Ready?" He asked pulling me impossibly closer to his side. I just nodded in response as he pulled the large doors open. I couldn't help the shock that washed over me at the sight.

"This is crazy." I breathed refusing to tear my eyes from the sight. The ceiling was made up of all glass, revealing the beautiful star-filled night sky. This room was decorated as if it was outside. Intricately carved wooden tables filled the large, open space. The floors were made up of beautifully detailed stone. The room was decorated and lit up with hundreds of various candles.

I brought my eyes back to Ryland, a smirk was etched across his beautiful face.

"This whole area room was enchanted by an ancestor, to not bring any unwanted attention." He smiled at my reaction.

"Is that why I never thought to explore over here?" I asked him. He just shrugged.

"I have no doubt that you would've found this place if you had more time to explore." He kissed my head before walking into the room, my fingers interlocked with his. That's when I realized we were being watched by hundreds of pack members. My face immediately reddened in embarrassment. I was so distracted by the room I didn't take into account that people were in the room.

Everyone was either wearing a suit or stunning gowns.

"This feels like a fairytale." I laughed quietly to him. He just smiled in return staring at me with heated eyes.

"You look pretty." I was taken out of my thoughts by James as he pulled me into a hug.

Then dad made his way over to me, his hand entertained with moms.

"You look beautiful, sweetheart." Dad smiled pulling me into a hug as well.

"You look old." Jake snapped looking at my dress. Rylands grip on my arm tightened.

"Jake I'm going to beat you up in two seconds you piece of—" He immediately raised his hands in defense as he backed away from mom. I couldn't help the laugh that escaped my mouth at the sight of them.

"I'm just teasing." He chuckled. "You look beautiful." He spoke kissing me on the head.

I looked around the room for Lydia and Kolton and my heart practically melted. Her arms were wrapped around his neck as they slowly swayed to the music that filled this large space. I could see how much love Kolton had for Lydia already, simply by the way his eyes never left hers. I mean who wouldn't love her.

"Alpha. Luna." An older man I didn't recognize bowed his head before walking over with an older woman. Ryland and the couple spoke about various topics which I might have accidentally zoned out during. They kept talking and I felt a squeeze on my hand knocking me out of my trance. Ryland gave me a soft smile.

"Go have fun." He told me. Disregarding his original plan to keep me at his side all night. I stepped up on to my tippy toes and pressed a quick kiss to his lips before looking around for my family or Jeremiah, well I guess he is family now too. That's when I noticed Jeremiah with a drink in his hand leaning against a wall by himself. I quickly made my way over to where he was. My heels tapping against the stone ground as I walked. When I finally reached him he didn't even see me.

I waved in front of his face snapping him back to reality. He looked defensive before he realized it was just me.

"What's wrong?" I immediately asked.

"Nothing." He snapped.

"What happened to the whole we're friends, you don't have to lie mentality." I joked softly but he didn't find it amusing.

He just growled at me before returning his attention back to the party.

"Why are you grumpy?" I groaned poking his side earning a sharp glare.

"I need a break from you. Don't come to training for a while." He snapped. I unintentionally raised a hand to my chest, but quickly dropped it back to my side.

"What happened?" I snapped at him. "Tell me now. We can figure it out."

"Just get the hell away from me. Or I'm going to leave." He snarled at me. I couldn't stop the tears that threatened to spill but I quickly blinked them away. Suddenly feeling hangry. I flipped him off, earning yet another growl before walking towards the large entrance doors Ryland and I entered in. I headed down the long hallway and towards the kitchen.

I quickly scanned through the fridge when I remembered Dr. Mae's recommendation. Pickles and honey. My stomach grumbled at the thought. I laughed to myself before grabbing a stool from the counter and bringing it over to the absurdly high counter. I opened the fridge first pulling out the pickle jar and leaving it on the counter. I quickly stood on the barstool before stepping onto the counter. I opened the cabinet and dug through to look for honey.

Something isn't right. She spoke.

"What do you mean?" I asked looking around the kitchen, nearly falling off the counter. Maybe wearing heels while doing this wasn't the brightest idea.

Go back to the party now. Something is wrong.

"Can you ever just tell me?" I groaned when I couldn't find the honey. I quickly sat down and scooted off. I grabbed the pickle jar and quickly pulled one out, munching on it while hurrying down the hallway. I carefully opened the doors looking around. Everything seemed normal. Wait where was Ryland? I scanned through everyone not seeing him.

I could feel him but he was no where to be seen. I pushed past people scanning through the people with worried eyes.

I quickly spotted Lydia and Kolton sitting at a table. I rushed over meeting their worried eyes. Kolton quickly stood up.

"Where is Ryland?" I asked frantically.

"He was just here, I thought he was looking for you." He spoke looking at me for injuries. "What happened?"

"I don't know. Somethings just wrong." I told him. Lydia quickly rushed over to me looking at my hands for any sign of a vision.

"I'm fine." I snapped at both of them. "I just need to know Ryland is."

Koltons eyes went hazy, meaning he was mind-linking. I looked behind myself to see Jeremiah staring me down with an expression I couldn't quite read.

"He's not responding." He growled.

I closed my eyes and breathed focusing on our bond. I didn't even think as I let my legs hurry towards where I felt the pull. I walked down towards the main entrance, that leads outside before slamming the doors open. Lydia and Kolton right behind me, I also saw Jeremiah heading towards us.

The sight in front of me almost made me fall over. Cade stood there with his arm raised. He was covered in bruises and his eyes almost looked lifeless. His arm was outstretched as he held Ryland suspended in the air. I felt myself shift into my subconscious at the sight.

I sprinted towards them.

"Let him go." I snarled. Cade just shook his head.

"I need you to come with me willingly. Or I snap his neck and I don't think the gods will let him return with you again."

"You piece of shit, get away from my mate." Ryland snarled but this time he was staring straight at Jeremiah. I didn't have time to react when I felt a pinch in my arm and I looked up into Jeremiah's sad eyes.

"Jeremiah?" I breathed as the world got hazy.

"I'm so, so sorry." For the first time ever I could make out tears running down his face. "I'll find you, I swear on my life." He sobbed falling to his knees. I heard screams before darkness filled my vision.