Chapter 409

[ 939 words ]

Talia’s POV

On my birthday morning, I put on the dress Nolan picked out weeks ago and hid from me until now. It was a deep blue, simple but cool, with just a bit of shine when the light hit it. The neckline was both classic and a little daring as it revealed more cleavage that I was normally comfortable with.

Nolan emerged from the closet in a charcoal gray suit that fit him perfectly. He looked so good, I nearly forgot I was supposed to be annoyed at him for keeping tonight’s plans a secret.

‘We have time for a quickie,’ my wolf said and I blushed, shutting her out, but I could hear laughing in my mind.

“You’re really not going to tell me where we’re going.”

“Not a chance.” He offered his arm, entirely too pleased with himself. “I planned everything myself. You’re not ruining my surprise an hour before it happens.”

We drove out toward the southern border, and when the car finally stopped at the edge of a wide meadow, I understood why he’d been so smug about it. The whole field had been transformed, string lights woven between poles that hadn’t been there a week ago, long tables set with more care than I’d seen outside a formal court dinner, the grass underfoot still soft and green in the fading light, the whole thing glowing gold in the late afternoon.

Della and Clara were already at the food and drink tables, busy setting things up and playfully arguing about where to put the trays. Off to the side, Annie was fighting with a huge bunch of balloons that kept pulling her across the grass. A few early guests spotted us right away and hurried over with gifts before I even made it into the meadow.

“Della,” I called, “can you help me collect all of this before it becomes an avalanche? I can’t hold gifts and hug people at the same time.”

She jogged over, already laughing, waving off the guest she’d been talking to. “You’re going to want to see this one first, before anything else.” She pointed off toward the tree line, where an enormous children’s swing stood half-assembled.

“Did you get this for me?” I asked.

“It’s from Solon and Leslie. They even sent thornless rose vines from your mother’s garden to wrap around the wood as a reminder of home,” Della replied.

I stared at it for a long moment, thinking of the roses back at Silverfang and the ones I’d planted here at Bloodmoon in my parents’ memory. Now I actually had Silverfang roses. I fought back the tears and reached through the mind line, ‘Solon, Leslie, thank you so much.’

‘You are more than welcome, sis,’ Solon responded. ‘Enjoy your night.’

“Have Marco help you move it closer to Talia’s rose garden later,” Nolan told Della. “Somewhere it’ll actually get used once it’s needed, not just sitting out here in a

field.”

“Of course,” Della said, and went off to find him, already calling his name across the meadow.

“Thank you,” I told Nolan. “This is perfect. I genuinely don’t know how you managed any of this without me noticing.”

“I had help. A lot of help, honestly.” He looked pleased with himself in the way he only got when a plan had actually worked. “And I picked this spot on purpose. It’s close enough that packs from every direction could make the trip without it being a whole ordeal for anyone.” He checked the time on his phone. “The ceremony starts at five. I’m announcing the twins during it, if that’s still all right with you.”

“More than all right.”

More guests kept arriving as the sky shifted from gold to orange as the sun began to set. Marco and Walden were deep in some conversation that broke off the moment they saw us.

“Happy Birthday, Luna!” they told us.

“We already delivered your gifts to your room,” Marco said.

“Thank you both,” I said.

Colin arrived with a gift wrapped badly enough that I suspected he’d done it himself, then Landon, then Henry, each of them finding us in turn with gifts and warm words.

When five o’clock came, Nolan led me up onto the small stage at the center of the meadow, his hand warm around mine, and the crowd quieted on its own before either of us said a word, faces turning toward us in the golden light.

“Thank you all for coming,” I said, my voice carrying further than I expected across the open field. “Please, eat, drink, dance, enjoy yourselves properly. And if anyone drinks a little too much in the process, we’ve got guest rooms ready, so there’s no excuse at all not to let loose tonight.”

That got a laugh, and a cheer.

Before we cut the cake, Nolan pulled me against him, his arm looping around my waist, and I could feel the excitement running through him like a current.

“One more thing, before the cake,” he said, raising his voice over the crowd, and the meadow settled again, sensing something was coming. “Bloodmoon is going to have an heir.”

The cheer that went up was enormous, warm and immediate, rolling across the whole field.

“Twins,” Nolan added, and the noise that followed made the first cheer sound small by comparison, applause and blessings rolling over us from every direction at once, warriors pounding each other on the back, someone starting up a cheer that spread. I was laughing, a little overwhelmed by the noise and the joy of it, cutting the first slice of cake and starting to hand pieces out to the closest guests, still catching my breath, when a voice I recognized cut easily through the crowd, unmistakable even from a distance.

“Sorry, my queen. I’m late.”

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