The world seemed to stop. Ryker stared at him.
“What?”
Kylian swallowed.
“Mira said Luna Julia is at the pack hospital.”
Ryker's face drained of color.
“Why?”
Kylian stared at him for one second longer. Then he said the words that changed everything.
“She's in labor.”
Silence. Absolute silence. Ryker didn't move. Didn't breathe. For perhaps half a second, his mind simply stopped working.
Labor?
Julia. His mate. Their pup. Today? She had been in pain. That was what he had seen that morning. That was what she had hidden from him.
“PUP!”
Orin's roar exploded through Ryker's mind. Ryker barely had time to process it.
“Wait—”
Too late. Orin surged forward with such force that Ryker lost control instantly. Bones cracked. Muscles shifted. Clothes tore.
Within seconds, Ryker's massi
