A Luna's Consent

The crowd parted as an elderly wolf in gray healer's robes stepped into the corridor. His silver hair was neatly tied back, his shoulders slightly stooped with age. The leather satchel hanging from his side was one Nia knew all too well.

Physician Aldren.

He had tended to every miscarriage she had suffered. He had checked her pulse with careful fingers. He had mixed her herbs in silence. He had promised her the Moon Goddess had not abandoned her.

He stopped several paces from Kieran and bowed. "My Alpha."

Kieran inclined his head. "Thank you for coming."

Then he turned toward the gathered elders and visiting Alphas. "My wife has accused me of deceiving her for years. I believe everyone present deserves to hear the truth from the healer himself."

A murmur echoed through the crowd.

Nia did not look away from Aldren. He could not meet her eyes.

Kieran folded his hands behind his back. "Aldren. Tell them. After Luna Nia's second miscarriage, what did you discover?"

The old healer swallowed. "Her body had become... weakened."

"Weakened how?"

"Another pregnancy too soon could have endangered her life."

Several people gasped quietly.

Kieran nodded once. "What treatment did you prescribe?"

Aldren hesitated only briefly. "Fertility-suppressing herbs."

Whispers erupted throughout the corridor.

Nia remained perfectly still.

Kieran continued before anyone else could speak. "For what purpose?"

"To prevent another pregnancy until the Luna's body recovered."

"So the herbs were medicine."

"They were."

"I approved that treatment."

"Yes, my Alpha."

The whispers shifted.

"He was protecting her..."

"I thought he poisoned her."

"If the healer prescribed them..."

One elder sighed heavily. "He carried that burden alone."

Kieran lowered his eyes, looking every bit the grieving husband. "I could not bear losing her as well."

More sympathetic murmurs followed.

Nia watched the crowd turn. It happened so quickly. Five years of silence had become one noble sacrifice. She took a step forward. "Physician."

Aldren finally looked at her. "My Luna..."

"I only have three questions."

The corridor quieted again.

She held his gaze. "When you prescribed those herbs... did you explain to me what they truly were?"

His lips parted. Then closed again. Finally he answered. "No."

Nia nodded once. "My second question." She clasped her hands together to stop them trembling. "Did you ask for my consent before giving them to me?"

Aldren looked ashamed. "No."

Someone shifted uneasily among the gathered elders.

Nia asked her final question. "Did anyone tell me I had the right to refuse them?"

The old healer's shoulders slumped. "No."

No one spoke. Not Kieran. Not the elders. Not the warriors lining the walls.

Nia looked around at every face watching her. "For five years," she said quietly, "everyone made decisions about my body except me. Not once did anyone ask what I wanted.”

Kieran finally stepped forward. "Nia, listen—"

"No." She did not raise her voice. "You believed you were protecting me."

"Because I was."

"You believed you knew what was best. And that I couldn't handle the truth."

His jaw tightened. "I believed you deserved to live."

"And I believed I deserved the truth."

Neither of them moved. Physician Aldren bowed his head. "My Luna... I truly believed the treatment would save your life."

"I don't doubt that." His eyes lifted in surprise. "I doubt something else." She looked toward Kieran. "I doubt anyone believed my choice mattered."

A voice spoke from farther down the corridor. "It should have."

Every head turned.

A tall Alpha stepped away from the line of visiting rulers. His cloak bore the silver wolf mark of Moonhaven, fastened with a clasp at his shoulder. Though older than Riven, there was nothing frail about him.

His presence alone quieted the whispers.

Elder Osric inclined his head. "Alpha Cedric."

Cedric's sharp gray eyes rested first on Nia, then on Kieran. "The physician may have acted correctly." He paused. "The Alpha may even have acted from genuine concern. But neither question is the one before us."

Several elders exchanged puzzled looks.

Cedric spoke calmly. "No Luna may be given prolonged medicinal treatment without informed consent."

The corridor became utterly still.

One elder frowned. "Even if the treatment preserves her life?"

"Especially then," Cedric answered. "A choice made for someone is not the same as a choice made by someone."

No one interrupted him.

He continued. "If Luna Nia was never informed of the treatment... never told its purpose... and never allowed to accept or refuse it..." His gaze shifted toward the Council. "...then this matter concerns pack law, not merely marriage."

The mood changed instantly. Nia felt it. Moments ago, everyone had been deciding whether Kieran had been cruel. Now they were questioning whether her rights had been taken from her.

Elder Osric slowly exhaled. "This matter has become larger than reconciliation."

Another elder nodded reluctantly. "It touches the laws governing every Luna."

Kieran remained composed. "If the Council believes the law should be examined, I welcome it."

Nia looked at him sharply. He did not even blink.

Osric stepped into the middle of the corridor. “The Council of Nine will hear this petition,” he announced, his voice echoing through the hall. “In fourteen days, judgment will be given before the gathered packs.”

No one objected.

Riven finally stepped forward. He stopped beside Nia without crowding her and calmly said, "I will represent Lady Nia's petition."

Lady Nia. Not his mate. A quiet sense of relief settled in her chest. It was only a title, yet it reminded her that she still belonged to herself.

Osric gave a slow nod.

Kieran studied Riven for several long moments. Then he smiled pleasantly. "I accept."

Confused murmurs spread through the corridor. 

"He accepts?" 

"Why?"

"I expected him to object."

Even Garrick frowned. Nia's heartbeat thumped wildly. She knew that smile. She had seen it across negotiation tables and during territorial disputes. It was the smile Kieran wore when he already knew something no one else did.

A chill crept through her.

Fourteen days suddenly felt far too close.