The Great Hall doors are heavier than I remember. I push them open quietly, careful not to let the ancient wood groan and announce my arrival. Three days early. Kieran will be stunned when he sees me standing here, when I tell him the treaty negotiations in the Northern Territories collapsed faster than expected and I rushed home because I couldn't bear to spend our anniversary apart. Three years. Three years since he claimed me under the full moon, since the pack howled our names together, since he whispered against my throat that I was his forever. The hall is full. I freeze in the doorway, my travel bag slipping from my shoulder to the stone floor with a muted thud that no one hears. Hundreds of pack members line the walls, their attention fixed on the raised dais at the far end where the ceremonial altar stands draped in silver silk. Candles burn in the ancient sconces, casting everything in flickering gold. This isn't right. Ceremonies require weeks of preparation. Announcements. Formal invitations sent to allied packs. I would have known—I'm the Luna, I oversee every major— Then I see him. Kieran stands at the altar in full ceremonial dress, the black leather and silver clasps of the Alpha's bonding regalia catching the candlelight. His dark hair is pulled back the way it was on our mating day, and his expression is solemn, reverent. He's not alone. A woman stands beside him in a white silk gown, her blonde hair cascading down her back in waves I'd recognize anywhere. My stomach drops so fast I forget how to breathe. Ivy. My sister. "By the authority granted to me as Head Elder," Thorne's voice booms through the hall, ancient and absolute, "I seal this bond under the eyes of the Moon Mother. Kieran Ashford, Alpha of the Silverpine Pack, do you claim this woman as your Second Luna, bound by blood and blessed by the old laws?" Second Luna. The words don't make sense. There's no such thing. One Alpha, one Luna. That's the foundation of pack law, the sacred order that— "I do." Kieran's voice carries across the hall, steady and sure. No hesitation. No doubt. Thorne turns to Ivy, and she's glowing—actually glowing with joy, her blue eyes bright with tears as she gazes up at Kieran like he's the answer to every prayer she's ever whispered. "Ivy Morwen, do you accept this bond, this place at the Alpha's side, this duty to the pack?" "I do." Her voice breaks on the words, overwhelmed with emotion. I should move. Should scream. Should do something other than stand here like a ghost watching my life splinter apart. Thorne raises his hands, and the pack falls into reverent silence. "Then by the power of the ancient rites, I bind you. What the Moon Mother has joined, let no wolf tear asunder." Kieran reaches for something on the altar, and my heart stops. It's a collar. Not just any collar—the moonstone collar, the one that belonged to my mother, the ancestral piece that marks the true Luna of Silverpine. The collar Kieran told me was lost two years ago during a raid on the treasury. The collar I mourned because it was the last piece of her I had left. He never lost it. He was saving it. For her. Kieran fastens the collar around Ivy's throat with practiced gentleness, his fingers lingering against her skin. The moonstones catch the light and throw rainbow fractals across the walls, across their faces, across the pack members who are starting to howl their approval. Ivy turns her face up to Kieran's, and he cups her cheek with the tenderness I thought belonged only to me. When he kisses her, the hall erupts. Cheering. Howling. Celebration. I am watching my husband claim my sister as his Luna while wearing my mother's collar, and everyone in this room knew before I did. The bag at my feet contains the gift I spent two months searching for—a first edition of the poetry collection Kieran quoted on our mating night. I was going to give it to him tonight, in our chambers, just the two of us. I was going to tell him I'd scheduled another appointment with the pack healer, that I was ready to try the fertility treatments again even though the last round made me so sick I couldn't shift for a month. I was going to tell him I was sorry for failing him. Someone finally notices me. A young wolf near the door turns, and her expression shifts from joy to horror in the space of a heartbeat. She touches the shoulder of the man beside her, whispers something, and like a ripple spreading across water, the celebration begins to die. Heads turn. Voices quiet. The howling fades to uncomfortable silence. Kieran and Ivy break apart, and he follows the pack's collective gaze to where I stand in the doorway. For one terrible moment, something that might be guilt flashes across his face. Then it's gone, replaced by the cool composure of an Alpha who's made a decision and won't apologize for it. "Sera." He says my name the way he'd acknowledge any pack member. Polite. Distant. "You're back early."