Exchanging Vows: The Swapped Wife Is a Top Shaman

Chapter 123: Chapter 125

Ivy’s Point of View

The wails of the newborn princess had finally softened into a gentle, rhythmic breathing against the clean sheets. Inside the inner delivery chamber. Alpha Alaric stood tall beside the bed, he carefully carried his newborn daughter into the room. He laid the tiny bundle into the carved cradle next to the mattress, his hand gently tracing her soft cheek.

Luna Helena’s eyes fluttered, her face completely pale with an exhaustion after the traumatic birthing process. Within minutes, she fell completely asleep from sheer physical fatigue.

Alaric drew himself up to his full height, his wolf eyes burning with an intense, unyielding protective instinct as he turned his gaze onto me.

”Watch over her, Ivy,” he rumbled softly. ”The high judges of the Ministry are still combing the outer boundaries, but they have found nothing. I have left the words ’the full moon will return’ for the elders. I am taking Bastian and our elite warriors to launch an aggressive investigation all over the shifter kingdoms and packs.”

”Be careful, Father,” I warned him. ”The thief knows our vault layouts. They are already hours ahead of your warriors.”

”They won’t escape my blades, Ivy,” Alpha Alaric hissed through his clenching jaw, he slipped through the gallery hatch without a single backwards glance.

The next morning, the bright winter sun cracked against the frost-covered window panes. Luna Helena woke up with a sudden, tense start, her hand instinctively sweeping across the empty space on the mattress beside her. She snapped her head toward my chair.

”Ivy... where is Alaric? Why is he completely missing from the pavilion?”

I set my tea tray down onto the side table with a light click, realizing that keeping the supreme Luna blind would only fracture her alignment meridians. I walked over to the bedpost, looking straight into her searching eyes.

”Mother, I am directly confessing the truth to you right now. The ancient iron box containing our founding ancestor’s combination device has been stolen. The Alpha King has deployed his executioners, and Father has already left the capital palace to track the thief across the borders.”

To my absolute, profound surprise, Luna Helena remained exceptionally calm after learning about this catastrophic breach. She didn’t scream or thrash against the pillows; instead, a cold, weary smile touched her lips.

”Do not look so terrified, Ivy,” Helena assured, her tone flat and chillingly steady at the same time. ”The ancestral iron box has actually been targeted and stolen many times before throughout our pack’s history. The combination disc holds the winning combination of our founding ancestors, a war secret capable of winning a whole sovereign country.”

“A certain foreign country across the Great Rift has long coveted that iron box for generations. They want to bypass the Alpha King entirely and seize the ultimate upper hand over our shifter kingdoms. This is an old debt, my clever girl.”

One Month Later:

Time flies with a swift precision when the palace is under a silent military lockdown. Just as Luna’s newborn daughter, little Princess Sita, is about to turn exactly one month old, the high throne remained wrapped in an eerie, freezing suspense.

Throughout the grueling four weeks of his absence, Luna Helena only received two brief, encrypted letters from Alpha Alaric reporting his safety, but the physical whereabouts of the ancient iron box and the identity of the thief remained entirely unknown.

Despite the shadow of treason hanging over our borders, this past month became a sanctuary of unexpected warmth. Every single day, I brought my own twin children, Ethan and Selena, to accompany Luna Helena and my little sister, Princess Sita, creating a lively, joyful nursery.

”Drink this, Mother,” I instructed carefully, handing her a steaming bowl of my premium white-lily and sun-dried ginger resin. ”Your reproductive meridians are still slightly congested from the shock of the imperial search, but your core energy is stabilizing beautifully.”

”Your hands carry the blessing of the ancestors, Ivy,” Helena laughed softly, her cheeks flushing with a healthy, pink warmth as she sipped the medicinal soup.

I helped Luna thoroughly adjust her body’s alignment, utilizing my shamanic fire to flush out the lingering postpartum weakness.

The room was constantly filled with the sweet, musical sound of babies babbling, the atmosphere turning exceptionally lively, warm, and secure. Luna recovered incredibly well under my daily care, her poise returning with every sunrise. 𝑓𝑟ℯℴ𝓂

By the afternoon, we sat together near the open hearth sipping tea, our conversation naturally talked about the missing iron box once more.

”People are whispering that the King is growing impatient, Ivy,” Luna Helena said. ”If Alaric doesn’t produce the silver patina disc, the high council will vote to strip our funding.”

”Mother, I advises you to completely let go of your anxiety and not worry about the men’s messy affairs,” I responded smoothly, offering a calm, reassuring smile as I swaddled little Sita. ”Dominic has already deployed his secret guards around the perimeter, and his own legs are fully functional to block any sudden legal frames. Alpha Alaric is a seasoned commander; he knows how to hunt a thief.”

Just as the final winter sun dropped beneath the horizon on the day before the little Princess Sita’s highly anticipated full moon banquet, a sudden, thunderous commotion broke out.

The gates flew wide, and a frantic, echoing cry of ”Alpha is back! The King has returned!” erupted from the throat of the gate guards.

The doors of the nursery were unlatched from the outside without a single formal knock. Alpha Alpha who had obviously not been groomed or bathed for many days walked straight into the space.

I froze near the cradle, my eyes widening in shock. Alpha Alaric looked entirely savage—his robes were torn, caked in dried mud and blood, and he carried a wild, unkempt beard that was almost half an inch long across his jaw.

Luna Helena and I looked at each other in total, breathless silence, our eyes charting the raw brutality written across his body. But Alpha Alaric only had Luna Helena in his burning eyes. He didn’t look at the cribs, and he treated me and the rest of the staff as completely invisible as he marched straight toward his Luna Helena.