The contractions ripped through me as Selene led me deeper into the forest. Each step was agony, but stopping meant death. Behind us, I could hear the distant howls of hunting parties. The moonsbane was wearing off.
"Just a little further," Selene murmured, her ancient strength supporting most of my weight. "There's a sacred grove ahead. They won't dare follow us there."
"Why?" I gasped between waves of pain.
"Because it's where the first wolves were born. Where the Moon Goddess walked among us." Her golden eyes held secrets older than memory. "And where broken things become whole."
The grove appeared like a dream—silver moonlight filtering through ancient trees, a clear pool at the center reflecting stars I couldn't see through the canopy. The moment we crossed the boundary, the howling stopped. Cut off, like a door slamming shut.
"They can't enter," Selene confirmed, helping me to the pool's edge. "Old magic. Older than packs, older than Alphas. Here, you're safe."
Another contraction hit, and I screamed. The baby was coming now, ready or not. Blood mixed with the sacred water as Selene helped me into position.
"I can't," I sobbed. "It's too early. She's too small—"
"She's exactly when she needs to be." Selene's hands were gentle but firm. "Your daughter chooses her moment, just as you chose yours. Now push."
Hours blended into eternity. Pain beyond description, fear that my baby would be born wrong, damaged by the rejection. But through it all, I felt her—my daughter's emotions like a steady flame. Determined. Powerful. Unafraid.
"I see her," Selene breathed. "One more push, little mother. Bring her into the world."
With a final scream that shook the ancient trees, my daughter was born.
Silence.
Then—a cry that wasn't quite human, wasn't quite wolf. Something new. Something more.
Selene placed her on my chest, and I saw my child for the first time. Perfect fingers and toes. A shock of silver hair like mine. But her eyes—her eyes held swirling gold and violet, like galaxies being born.
"Luna," I whispered. "Your name is Luna. My moon child."
She stopped crying instantly, those impossible eyes focusing on mine with awareness no newborn should possess. Through our bond—not pack bond, not mate bond, but something entirely new—I felt her mind touch mine.
Mother. Safe. Together.
"Impossible," Selene breathed. "She's... she's speaking. Newborns can't—"
Luna's tiny hand reached up, touching my face. The moment her skin met mine, power exploded outward. Every emotion within a hundred miles slammed into me, but instead of drowning, I channeled it. Through me, into her, back out into the world changed.
Somewhere in the distance, I felt Marcus collapse as our daughter's first cry reached him through the severed bond. Felt his agony as he realized what he'd thrown away. Felt the pack's terror as they understood the magnitude of their mistake.
"She's not just an empath," Selene said, awe coloring her voice. "She's something new. The first of her kind in a thousand years. A True Empath—one who doesn't just feel, but transforms."
"Will she be okay?" Maternal terror gripped me. "Is she—"
"She's perfect." Selene smiled, ancient and knowing. "And she'll change everything. But first, you both need to rest. To heal. To grow strong."
As exhaustion pulled me under, I held my daughter close. We'd lost everything—pack, mate, home. But in this sacred grove, under stars older than civilization, we'd found something better.
We'd found ourselves.
"Sleep, little mother," Selene whispered. "When you wake, your true training begins. Three years, I think. Three years to become what you were meant to be."
My last coherent thought before darkness claimed me was of Marcus, alone in his Alpha's chamber, feeling the ghost of what he'd rejected. Good. Let him suffer.
Luna cooed against my chest, content and powerful and mine.
We were exiles. We were broken.
We were free.