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The cries of the baby filled the room as everyone gathered around to stare at the beautiful angel. As Vienna had just given birth to a daughter.

For the years that Rygan had known his best friend, he had seen him cry only a handful of times, and on most occasions, he had brushed them off with a laugh.

But this time, T** eyes were filled with tears until his cheek was wet from crying. The new parents both watched as Elise helped clean up the baby, wrapping her in a soft blanket before handing her over to Vienna, who cried the moment she felt her baby coo and cry.

It was such an extraordinary moment that brought tears to everyone’s faces. Taz broke down immediately, feeling his daughter’s hand wrapped around his index finger. He then gave a kiss to his mate and child’s foreheads.

“My darling Valarie,” he muttered, holding onto his child’s hands delicately. Elise’s heart melted at the sight, but she saw this as the right time to leave the room and let the parents process and bask in the peaceful moment with their new child.

She went out to see Rygan waiting for her with open arms that she easily slid into. She let out a sigh of relief as he let her fatigue give in. “I’m so proud of you,” he muttered to Elise as he hugged her tighter.

Rygan then lowered them both onto a chair, with his mate perched comfortably on his lap while both their hands were wrapped around each other.

For a moment, Elise wondered what he meant. She felt his warm lips drop a kiss to her forehead. “I know you tell me to try to forget the past, and I should be happy that I have an amazing relationship with you and Ethan, but… I still feel the regret looming sometimes,” he muttered.

“And yet you were so strong, doing that on your own, giving birth even though every memory with me must have hurt. I’m eternally grateful for you being so strong, my love,” he called to Elise. She felt the back of her throat sting, but she didn’t want to cry; she only felt a sense of relief at being in his arms.

“At first, I despised the thought of you for a while; I hated that I was doing that all alone, but I had a pretty good foundation of friends, and I had Hayden.” Elise couldn’t help but feel a pang in her heart as she recalled he was no longer here.

She felt his hold on her tighten as he dropped another kiss to her nape and cheeks. Elise then slightly pulled away from him, just until their faces were inches apart. She then raised her hands to caress his cheeks. “But it’s not like that now; I am with you and I love you, and yes, it might have taken years for you and Ethan to reunite, but you are a good father.”

Those words meant so much to Rygan. He joined their foreheads together until they were inches apart and their breaths mingled. “I love you,” he muttered with a kiss to her lips. The kiss felt like a drug to Elise; she felt drops and a dream state from his touch.

Rygan could see how sleepy she was. She leaned her head on his shoulders before he sent a quick message to them: *El needs to rest, so I’ll be taking her home. Congratulations again to you both.* He called before he swept up his mate in a bridal style and took her home.

She barely shifted while in his arms, and with the alpha walking with her, he knew she’s been putting her heart into rebuilding the pack after they’d all been merged; the people loved her, and all the four packs respected her as Luna, while most of them were still apprehensive of him because of the stories they’ve heard of him being a ruthless beast, but they were all coming around, and soon enough, their goals and dreams for the werewolf realm would soon be fulfilled.

Rygan takes her to their chambers, gently laying her on the bed. When Elise shook out from sleep, her drowsy eyelids slightly opened as their eyes met. “W-what?” She drew out.

“I’m here, my love,” he muttered as he took off her clothes. Since she was still wearing clothes fresh from her travels, which he took off, quickly running her a warm bath where he smoothly cleaned her body before he carried her back to the chambers, replacing her towel with one of his shirts that Elise had permanently stolen to be hers.

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He heard her let out a groan, noting she was too tired as he laid her down. “Sorry, love,” he muttered again with another kiss before he laid her on the bed. Elise instinctively reached for him as they wrapped their limbs around each other.

He thenpushed his nose, to her nape, taking a whiff of her calming, sweet scent that always put him at ease and, for a reason, felt different, and in no time, Rygan was pulled to sleep.

Rygan woke up a few minutes after sunrise, reaching his hand blindly for his mate, only to find her side of the sheets empty. His eyes fully opened as he shot up from the bed.

“El?..” There was no response, so he combed his hair from his eyes. “F**k,” he muttered, a part of him agitated not finding her in bed from how hard she’d been working for weeks now. He wanted to pamper his mate, to kiss and make love to her all morning.

He got out of bed, washed up quickly, and headed out of the room, going to see her in the study. The maid had told him they saw their Luna head out to the clinic earlier, so he headed there for the day.

To his surprise, he saw Elise attending and treating the sick patients and people who were there for a visit. Rygan watched at the door, half annoyed yet so proud of her resilience. He watched as her next patient left, and Elise sighed out as her body sagged from fatigue.

“Next patient, please,” she requested, but Rygan had already locked the door and leaned on it, watching the small frame of his mate’s back.

“You are not taking anyone else,” he muttered with a dark tone filled with finality, tweaked with annoyance; it caused Elise to turn, shocked to see her mate.

“Rygan, what the hell?” But Rygan wasn’t happy, especially when he saw the heavy, dark bags under her eyes and how weak

she looked.

“I’m supposed to be asking you that; just look at you, El; you can barely stand.”

“Vienna had a lot of people to check up on before her baby came earlier than we expected, so I decided to come help at the clinic; it’s not a big deal.”

“Normally it won’t be, but you’ve barely slept, my love. I’m worried,” he called. Elise then stood up from her seat to walk towards him.

“Look, I’m fine. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but,” she paused in her steps as she felt a sick sensation and the room spun in her gaze, one that her mate noticed, “Rygan? I don’t feel so good, ugh,” she muttered as she s**d back. Her mate watched in horror as he quickly reached for her the moment her body slumped and her body gave out. Elise had just fainted.

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The moment she opened her eyes, she knew she was in a trance when she saw her wolf. This time she sat daintily on the grass with her large head perched on Elise’s legs. “Good to see you again,” Elise muttered.

*You need to take care of yourself; the princess will be mad at you.*

“What do you mean?”

*You will understand soon enough; I’ve kept you here long enough, and your mate already feels agitated, till we meet again.* She called with a lick to Elise’s face, and Elise’s eyes shot open instantly.

She felt the heavy pang of pain in her head as she opened her eyes to see Rygan right beside her, holding her hand. “Rygan?” She muttered to her mate, who fully sat up, placing a deep kiss on her forehead as he let out a sigh of relief.

“Thank the moons,” he muttered before the door opened and a familiar junior healer, Mae, came in, giving a short greeting before she carefully checked Elise’s pulse.

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“I don’t understand. What happened?” She asked Mae, “Is it because I s**d breakfast? I was feeling sick after I smelled the seafood stew, so I didn’t just have an appetite to eat it. It’s nothing wrong, right?” She asked nervously, looking back at Mae and then to her alpha, who squeezed her hand.

“It’s something unexpected.” Mae said, her lips splitting into a grin, “Congratulations, Luna Elise.” She muttered to the pair with a beaming smile on her face.

“You’re pregnant.”