this isn't normal

Moonlight filtered through the gauzy curtains of the penthouse bedroom, casting elongated shadows across the polished hardwood floor.

Clara Wilson lay on her side, one hand tucked beneath her pillow, the other resting protectively over the gentle swell of her abdomen. The digital clock on the nightstand cast a faint blue glow across her features—3:27 AM.

She'd finally managed to fall asleep after hours of tossing and turning, the weight of her position as the Black Thorn Covenant's youngest female Alpha leader pressing down on her even in slumber.

The council meeting earlier that day had been particularly contentious, with Victor's thinly veiled challenges to her authority growing bolder by the week.

A sudden flutter from within jolted Clara awake. Not the gentle movements she'd grown accustomed to over the past months, but something sharper—almost frantic.

"What's wrong, little one?" she whispered, her ice-blue vertical pupils dilating in the darkness as she gently pressed her palm against the spot where she'd felt the movement.

Another jolt, stronger this time, followed by what felt like a tremor. Clara inhaled sharply, her nostrils flaring as she detected a subtle shift in the air—the scent of fear, but not her own.

Beside her, Noah Smith's brow furrowed in his sleep, his lips parting slightly as a small whimper escaped him. His fingers twitched against the sheets, and his breathing quickened.

Despite being an Omega—the lowest rank in their strict hierarchy—there was something undeniably powerful about him even in vulnerability, something that had drawn Clara to him from the moment their paths crossed again as adults.

"No..." Noah murmured, his voice thick with sleep and distress. "Don't... please..."

Clara reached out to touch his shoulder, concerned. "Noah?"

His eyes flew open instantly, glowing with an unnatural amber light that quickly faded to his usual warm brown. For a moment, he seemed disoriented, his gaze darting around the room before settling on Clara's face.

"What's happening?" Noah asked, his voice hoarse. "Something's wrong. I can feel it."

Clara tilted her head, surprised. "How did you know? I just woke up because—"

"The baby," Noah interrupted, sitting up suddenly. Without asking permission, he reached across and placed his hand directly on Clara's abdomen, an intimacy that would have been unthinkable in public between an Alpha and an Omega. "He's upset about something."

Clara's eyes widened. "You can sense that? But that's impossible. Even between Alpha pairs, emotional sharing with an unborn pup is rare, let alone between..."

"I know," Noah said softly, his focus entirely on the movement beneath his palm. "But I can feel him, Clara. He's... frightened."

The air between them began to change, growing thick with their mingling scents. Noah's usually subtle cedar and iron-tinged scent intensified, manifesting as wisps of silvery mist that seemed to rise from his skin.

Simultaneously, Clara's crisp winter pine scent crystallized into tiny blue ice particles that hovered in the space between them.

"Noah," Clara whispered, her voice tinged with awe. "Look at our pheromones."

Noah glanced up, his eyes widening as he observed the unprecedented phenomenon. "They're... dancing together."

The silver mist swirled around the blue crystals, neither dominating the other, creating a delicate, shimmering cloud above Clara's abdomen.

"This isn't normal," Clara said, her analytical mind racing despite the wonder of the moment.

Clara's hand moved to cover Noah's where it still rested on her stomach. "The baby's calming down," she observed. "Whatever was frightening him, it's passing."

"He feels safe now," Noah confirmed, his voice certain. "But Clara, how can I know this? I shouldn't be able to connect with him at all, let alone sense his emotions."

Clara shook her head, her ice-blue vertical pupils contracting slightly as she studied Noah's face. "I don't know. This goes against everything we've been taught about the separation between ranks."

"Do you think it has something to do with the blood moon mark?" Noah asked, unconsciously rubbing his palm where the crimson lunar symbol had appeared during their bonding.

"Possibly," Clara replied, her scientific mind already formulating theories. "Or perhaps it's connected to your bloodline—the Ancient Blood Moon Wolf God heritage you've been suppressing all these years."

Noah's expression darkened. "A heritage that's brought me nothing but pain and isolation."

"Until now," Clara reminded him gently, guiding his hand to a spot where the baby was now moving more calmly. "Feel that? That's not pain or isolation. That's connection, Noah. Something the Black Thorn Covenant has tried to deny Omegas for generations."

Noah's expression softened as he felt the gentle movement. "He's strong," he murmured. "Like his mother."

"And intuitive," Clara added, "like his father."

The silver mist and blue crystals continued their dance above them, gradually expanding to envelop both figures in a protective cocoon of shared essence.

"Clara," Noah said suddenly, his voice dropping to a whisper. "What if Victor finds out about this connection? If the Elders learn that an Omega can form this kind of bond..."

Clara's jaw tightened. "Then we keep it secret, for now. The council is already looking for any excuse to challenge my leadership. If they discovered I'm carrying the child of an Omega—even one with your hidden lineage—they'd use it to strip me of my position immediately."

"And what about the baby?" Noah asked, genuine fear creeping into his voice. "What if he's born with both of our traits? Neither fully Alpha nor Omega?"

"Then he'll be the first of his kind," Clara said with quiet determination. "The living proof that their entire system is built on lies."

Noah fell silent, his thumb tracing gentle circles on Clara's skin. After a moment, he spoke again. "I had a dream just now. About your former leader, Carlos."

Clara stiffened instantly. "What about him?"

"He was trying to tell me something about the dual ice core inside you," Noah continued. 

"Something about how it wasn't just a mutation from your refusal to consume his heart crystal. He said it was waiting... preparing."

"Preparing for what?" Clara asked, her voice barely audible.

"For us," Noah replied simply. "For this." He gestured to their entwined hands resting on their unborn child.

A sudden sharp pain lanced through Clara's abdomen, causing her to gasp and curl forward. Noah's hand tightened on hers instinctively.

"Clara! What's wrong?"

"I don't know," she panted, her free hand clutching at her stomach. "It feels like... ice spreading through my veins."

Noah's eyes widened as he noticed a faint blue glow emanating from beneath Clara's nightgown, right where her heart would be. "Your ice core—it's reacting to something."

Clara gritted her teeth against the sensation. "This happened once before, when I was near the ancient ruins in the northern territory. The elders said those stones were once part of the Blood Moon Wolf God's temple."

Noah's expression changed to one of realization. "The temple where my ancestors were supposedly blessed—or cursed, depending on who you ask."

The pain subsided as quickly as it had come, leaving Clara breathless but otherwise unharmed. The glow faded from her chest, and the pheromone mist around them began to dissipate.

"We need to understand what's happening," Clara said firmly, pushing herself up against the headboard. "These aren't coincidences, Noah. The connected sensations, the merging pheromones, my ice core reacting... it's all linked somehow."

Noah's expression softened."What about the council? You have the monthly ceremony tomorrow. Won't they notice if something's different about you?"

Clara's lips curved into a rare smile, one that transformed her usually stern features into something almost predatory. "Let them look. I've spent my entire life hiding my true nature to appease their expectations. Perhaps it's time they remembered what a real Alpha feels like."

Noah leaned forward, his forehead touching hers in an intimate gesture. "You're changing, Clara. We both are."

"For the better?" she whispered, a rare moment of vulnerability from the otherwise formidable leader.

Noah replied, his hand sliding back to her stomach. "For him."

As if responding to his father's voice, the baby moved again, a gentle roll that both parents felt. The silver mist and blue crystals briefly flared once more before fading entirely, leaving the room in peaceful darkness.

"Rest now," Noah murmured, easing Clara back down onto the pillows. "Whatever's happening, whatever this means for us and for the Covenant, we'll face it together."

Clara relaxed against him, her ice-blue eyes gradually drifting closed. "Together," she repeated softly, the word itself a revolution against everything the Black Thorn Covenant stood for.

Above them, through the skylight window, the moon emerged from behind a cloud, bathing the room in silvery light that seemed to linger longest on Noah's exposed palm, where the faint outline of a blood moon symbol pulsed once before fading back into his skin.