Second Chance for the Barren Luna (Talia and Jason) novel Chapter 410

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 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.”