Kian's POV

I stood patiently on the porch of the pack house for something to happen. Patience isn't an easy thing for me so anyone who saw me would know something is up right away.

I'm gonna be an uncle. The pack will have an heir. My mother won't die in her own tears.

Lacey's baby would save us all!

Holly is gonna be so excited when she finds out.

Why not just go tell her?

Lacey should fb the one to announce it. Its her kid after all.

Its your mate.

Still. Not my news.

I want a baby, Kian. Mate and you should have a baby.

We've had this discussion, we are too young and y-

I was interrupted by the argument with my wolf by the distinct sound of a branch breaking and the smerl of blood hitting my nose.

Then the Luna came out of the woods with a small blood clot in her hand and her dress hanging on her frame by threads.

---

"What happened to you?"

She didnt look up from her spot on the ledge of the bathtub. Since she got back she hasn't said a word, only stared off. She did panic, however, when I asked her if she wanted me to tell my mother or get help.

"Where is your driver?"

She looked up at the blood clot on the counter and gulped harshly. I felt my blood boil inside me at the thought of such a thing.

"Did he do that to you? I'll have him kil-"

"No," she got out in a meek, strangled voice," No, it wasn't him."

"What happened then? Who took your pup?"

It was amazing in a tragic sort of way. I've seen things break people before- Holly when she gave herself for Nova, Nova when she had her prophecy, my mother when dad died- but this is the first real time it all happened in front of me.

I watched Lacey break.

And Huntress, she tried to hold it together.

Her face contorted into pure pain and she brought a hand up to cover her mouth as a sob left her lips. Tears slid freely down her cheeks faster than I could stop them. I tried to help, I did. She was too far gone for me to fix, though.

I held her as she sobbed in the bathroom to her bedroom she shared with Mike. Mike, brother dearest, where the fuck are you she your mate is out here balling in my arms?

Oh, yeah. Fighting for the pack.

Awesome.

"I... I t.. tried to tell them to stop.. they d.. didn't l.. l... listen to me."

I shushed her and pulled her head to rest on my shoulder.

"M... my baby... My baby... You're ki... killing.. g my bab... by.."

"Who did this? Let me help you get back at whoever hurt your pup."

"It's done. My baby is gone."

"Bu-"

Suddenly she sat up and grabbed my shirt. Her amber eyes looked wild at my black ones and for a second I thought she was going to go insane.

"Mike can't know. I didnt tell him about the baby in the first place. He can't know I lost it."

My lip popped into my mouth and I chewed on it a little. Mike is my brother. Sure, I've kept secrets from him before, but this is his family. How can I not tell him?

"You need to take a shower," I decided to say," You can tell Mike when he gets home if you want but for now everyone can smell the blood on you."

"What about...," her eyes trailed to the blood clot on the counter. I put my hand on her shoulder before standing and wrapping it in a towel.

"I'll take care of it."

She nodded slowly and I made my way out of the room. Poor girl.

Poor, poor girl.

---

Dirt smudged my cheek as I wiped the sweat from my forehead. No one would be digging around here any time soon. Death makes people stay away. The perfect place for my nephew to rest.

"Only a few weeks old," I thought out loud as I placed the little towel into the hole in the ground," You could have been my Alpha, little buddy."

He's a clot of blood, genius.

Wolfy, wolf in my brain. Who's the snarkiest to tame?

Shut up.

I snickered to myself and started to push the dirt back over the little towel until it was completely covered. The hole was roughly 4, maybe 5 feet deep. Not quite the respectful 8 but any deeper and people would get curious.

"Sorry, pup."

I could almost hear it whimpering as I pulled a large rock to sit on top of the filled hole as a marker for when the grass grows over. Lacey will still be able to find him.

"Keep your grandpa company, will ya?"

That was a little too far. I started to choke up at the thought of my dad finding his grandpup running up to him, fluffy tail wagging at the old dog and yips escaping his little throat in the forest. They'd run together.

I considered running back to the pack house and grabbing a pack of seeds to hide the grave more but changed my mind when I imagined the roots growing longer and longer until the strangled the little wolf.

No, that won't do.

I chewed on my lower lip while thinking of another thing I could do to hide it. Lacey doesn't want anyone to know, but she'll want to see it, right?

My wolf perked up again, almost in apology for his earlier comment and offered an idea.

Claws formated from my finger tips and he nodded at the tree. I slashed at the tree, leaving 4 perfect lines in the bark. I turned to leave but whispered on last thing.

"Tell him I said I miss him."

With that I was racing away with nothing more than the leaves whirling about to say I was ever there.