I feel like I’m about to pass out from excitement and nervousness as my mother picks at the various layers of my dress.

“Are you ready?” she asks me and I lay my hands on my belly, taking a deep breath.

“Not really.”

My pups seem to be happily calm, and I think back to Giorgio’s and Diana’s coronation ceremony. “Oh, she was right. I’m so nervous.”

“Just take another deep breath, my love,” my mother says, caressing a strand of hair from my face. “It will all be alright.”

I’m still enraged about the fact that they made Ramona stand in the crowd with her mate instead of letting...