The Crown's Entrapment

Xenia couldn’t help but feel excited as the visage of the Grant Manor peeked out from the forest in front of them. Barring a few delays due to her constant whims and the occasional overreactions from Darius, they eventually arrived at their destination without much of a fuss.

Granted, she was starting to feel bad with how much food her body seemed to want her to put away, but her husband managed to provide for her without leaving their caravan bereft of their food supply… which was kind of a miracle considering that she almost managed to eat an entire table full of food that one time.

“We’re finally here,” Darius smiled beside her inside the carriage they were now using. “It’s been too long since I’ve been here.”

“Is that so?” she curiously asked.

“The last time I was here in any non-official capacity was back when Father was still alive,” Darius reminisced. “The Grant Manor has always been more of a vacation home than a political hub, but that doesn’t mean that its importance isn’t negligible in the grand scheme of things.”

That was right. Based on what Darius had taught her, each manor within each of the packs’ territories functioned as a base of operations for all of the families ruling over them. Just like Gideon and Bartos had their respective mansions and manors, Darius had his own in the Moonlight Pack in the form of the Grant Manor. And just like the rest of the massive mansions she had been, it was as massive and imposing as they’ve all been barring a few differences in both decorations and aesthetics.

Xenia couldn’t help but feel excited as their carriage entered the manor, the servants quickly moving to help her down and get settled as soon as they were inside.

[My love, we’ll have to announce your pregnancy alongside your formal introduction to the pack,] Darius reminded her through their Bond. [Tonight will have to do, as I’m sure that tomorrow would be a day that Mother would like to reserve for a full celebration once she hears about it.]

[Tonight, huh… That can work,] she giggled. [Though that would mean that only the officers would be the ones to know, right?]

[Along with Mother, yes,] Darius remarked. [For a full celebration to take place, all of them have to know so that they can properly prepare. I can only imagine the carnage that will take place if the news came out and we weren’t prepared to handle it.]

Xenia frowned as she reached the room she was going to share with Darius. Her husband was still overseeing the servants and possibly speaking with her mother-in-law, leaving her alone to rest even if she wasn’t really feeling that tired.

[You know I could have gone with you,] she pouted through the Bond.

[Trust me, Xen, you’d like to have all the rest you can get,] Darius insisted. [I know my pack well, and the kind of news we bear will have some… interesting consequences.]

Xenia could only sigh at her husband’s vague warning. [I think you’re just over-exaggerating, but I’ll take your word for it.]

She could tell that he was being earnest with his words, so he let him win this time around. Letting her body fall to the bed, she closed her eyes and got a short nap for the day. If Darius wanted her well-rested, then who was she to deny the chance for another round of decent sleep?

***

As much as it pained her at the moment to say it, Xenia would have to agree that Darius was right in his assessment. As soon as dinner came and all of the Moonlight Pack’s officers came to join them for what seemed to be more of a briefing rather than an announcement, she was already preparing herself for a bit of excitement based on her husband’s earlier warnings.

Unfortunately, it would seem that she underestimated just how loud things could get in this place.

“The Queen is pregnant?!”

Her ears almost rang as all of her husband’s highest officers shouted out their astonishment and excitement from across the dinner table. What was surprising to her, however, was seeing Darius looking to encourage his men’s behavior.

“Indeed!” Darius triumphantly laughed, a crate of wine already being brought to the table as if expecting this exact thing to happen in the first place.

“This calls for a celebration!” one of his men boldly declared. “Both for our new Luna and for her pregnancy!”

From there, the drinking started, and Xenia could only shake her head in mirth at how happy everyone is for her. Beside her, the Queen Mother simply sighed before holding her hand, a look of resignation adorning her face as she chuckled.

“You’ll… have to get used to them soon, Dear,” her mother-in-law chuckled in exasperation. “The Moonlight Pack have always been notorious for being an excitable sort, and learning that their new Luna is pregnant with their Alpha’s child will throw this entire manor into absolute chaos.”

Xenia simply chuckled. “And here I thought Darius was over-exaggerating on that…”

“Far from it,” the Queen Mother wistfully reminisced. “His father had been the one to even start and cultivate this kind of behavior in the pack. It was a good way to keep up morale, he said, even if I told him that throwing parties and feasts with reckless abandon would be bad for the pack’s expenses.”

“I can only imagine,” Xenia smiled as the small party forming in front of her materialized with Darius practically leading the charge. “And this isn’t even the whole pack, isn’t it?”

“Tomorrow will be a whirlwind of nonstop celebration, Dear,” the Queen Mother jokingly warned her. “I suggest you prepare yourself… As did I when I first went through it…”

Xenia almost felt her eyes widen upon seeing the older woman shiver in her seat from her memories. It was surreal… The Queen Mother, her ever-patient and regal mother-in-law, just let off a strange look of excitement and foreboding for what was about to come tomorrow.

Knowing this, a chill of anticipation washed over Xenia’s back. Whether it was out of fear or excitement, she didn’t know. But what she did know was that tomorrow would be very interesting indeed.