The great hall glowed with gold and silver light as the Summit resumed—only this time, it was quiet.
Too quiet.
The usual ceremony, filled with regal boasts and pack declarations, had turned into a funeral march for what the Alphas used to believe was order. After Selene's defiance, fear sat like a ghost at every table.
Selene stood at the center again, cloaked in black and silver, the moonstone at her throat pulsing gently under her skin.
She hadn't slept. She didn't need to. Something in her had awakened last night—fierce, ancient, unstoppable.
She felt it now.
A presence just behind her heartbeat, a whisper like the wind through ancient trees. Her wolf was stirring. Fully. Not just the spirit of her bloodline—this was older. A Luna power passed down in silence.
The Goddess had not abandoned her. She had only waited.
Across the chamber, Daxon stood in formal black, his crest sewn into his jacket like a battle mark. Cian wore silver, his posture royal but tense.
They hadn't spoken that morning, not properly. No words were needed. Their eyes said it all:
We're with you.
Vaughn approached the podium, cane tapping rhythmically as he raised his hand.
"The final ceremony shall begin," he said, voice echoing across the marble.
Selene stepped forward.
No fear. No hesitation.
"Luna Selene Laurent," Vaughn said, "you have not declared a chosen mate, despite prophecy and council warning. By law, the Summit demands an answer."
Selene raised her chin. "You want a mate? A bond? A side?"
She paused, letting the silence sink in.
"You will get none of those things."
A gasp swept the room. The old wolves whispered, scandalized. Others narrowed their eyes, ready to pounce.
"I stand here not to choose between two Alphas," she continued, voice rising. "I stand as Luna reborn. A daughter of prophecy. I am the storm."
And then—like it had been waiting for this exact moment—the moonstone at her neck flared.
Blinding light burst from it, silencing the crowd.
Selene's breath caught as a wave of power swept through her. Her wolf surged forward, not shifting her body—but revealing its spirit.
A glowing white wolf with violet eyes stood beside her, half within her body, half without.
An astral projection.
A mark of divine Luna power.
The Alphas fell into stunned silence.
Even Daxon and Cian stiffened, their wolves rising instinctively in awe.
Selene took a step forward. The spirit-wolf moved with her.
"Your laws were built to control us," she said. "But I am not yours to rule."
Then her eyes darkened.
"And I know who tried to kill me."
Gasps rippled again. Alpha Garet stood abruptly. "This is a circus! An illusion!"
Selene turned to him. "Then why are you shaking?"
He did. Just slightly. Enough for her to notice. Enough to confirm everything Vaughn suspected.
She pulled a scroll from her belt—Bram's final investigation, now marked with council crests and false signatures.
"You hired the traitor who poisoned my guard," she said to Garet. "You paid him in blackstone coin—currency used only by rogue mercenaries from the Burning Hills."
"You lie—"
"No," Daxon cut in. "We have your signature on the contract."
He held up the sealed parchment. Garet lunged—
But Cian was faster.
In the blink of an eye, he was across the floor, gripping Garet by the throat and slamming him into the marble pillar.
"Try it again," Cian growled, his wolf leaking through his voice.
Vaughn stepped forward. "Garet of Crimson Thorne, you are stripped of title and protection. Stand down or be executed under Luna's law."
The old Alpha bared his teeth. "She has no law. She rejected the Goddess—"
"No," Selene said, her voice cutting like wind. "The Goddess chose me."
She raised her hand, and the moonstone pulsed again. The light scorched the air, burning a mark into the stone floor: a triple-moon symbol—Luna's crest.
Everyone saw it.
Everyone felt it.
Garet tried to run.
Daxon struck first.
His claws extended, body half-shifted in a breath, and with one clean swipe—he ended the traitor.
The hall fell silent as the body slumped to the floor.
Selene didn't flinch.
She turned to the council.
"How many more must die before you listen?"
No one spoke.
Not even Vaughn.
Then a low voice from the back spoke: "You've proven your power. But what of your loyalty?"
A tall figure stepped forward—a visiting Alpha from the Frostfangs, known for his indifference. His eyes were like chips of ice.
"If you will not choose between the rivals, then what assurance do we have you won't turn this Keep into your own empire?"
Selene stepped down from the dais.
Her power dimmed slightly, the spirit wolf fading into her skin.
"Because I don't want power over you," she said. "I want it over myself. And if you can't accept that… I'm not your Luna. I'm your reckoning."
Silence.
Then Daxon crossed the floor to her side.
"As far as I'm concerned," he said, "she already rules."
Cian followed. "She's not mine. Not his. She's herself. And that makes her the strongest Luna I've ever seen."
The moment held.
And then… slowly, a ripple.
Several younger Alphas nodded. A few bowed their heads.
The tide was turning.
Vaughn finally spoke again. "Let it be known, Selene Laurent has claimed her Luna birthright. The prophecy lives. And war is delayed… for now."
Selene closed her eyes.
Victory. Not peace. Not yet. But momentum.
That night, the halls of the Keep buzzed with gossip. Some celebrated. Some plotted. But Selene stayed in her chamber, moonlight pouring through her window, painting silver paths across her floor.
She stared at her reflection—eyes glowing faintly. The moonstone still pulsed, but softer now. Not warning. Guiding.
A knock.
Daxon entered first. "We should talk."
She nodded.
Cian followed. "The council's planning a closed vote. Some still want you exiled."
"Let them try," Selene murmured. "I'm done hiding."
The two men exchanged a glance, then looked at her with the same expression: devotion… and sorrow.
"There's something else," Daxon said quietly. "The attack—it wasn't just Garet. There's still someone else."
"Another traitor?"
Cian nodded. "We think it's someone close to Vaughn. A Beta he trusts."
Selene's lips parted. "He warned me. He's the one who gave me the list."
"He gave you five names," Daxon said. "But there were six."
Her stomach dropped.
Cian continued. "Someone erased it from the original copy. Someone magical."
Selene's hand drifted to the moonstone.
"We need to find them," she whispered. "Before they find me."
Daxon's voice was a promise now. "We will."
Cian nodded. "But until then… we guard you. Night and day."
Selene gave a shaky smile.
For the first time, she wasn't torn between the Alphas.
She was surrounded.
Protected.
Loved.
And yet, the storm hadn't passed.
It had only changed form.