Chapter 33: Chapter 33

SELENE

Kora was ~furious~.

I felt her rage curling beneath my skin, felt the sheer indignation rippling through our bond as the pack snarled, as the growls rose, as our people turned their fangs toward us.

Toward ~their luna~.

It was insulting. It was unacceptable.

A rock had been ~thrown~ at me and a challenge had been issued, not in words, but in violence, and Kora wasn’t having it.

Neither was I.

The moment Lux stepped in front of me, the moment the crowd began to press in, I felt the shift ~rip~ through me.

It wasn’t slow.

It wasn’t controlled.

It was instantaneous—a surge of raw, unrelenting power tearing through my bones, bursting out of me before I had even consciously called for it.

I heard someone gasp—just before my massive paws slammed against the stone, my claws scraping as the transformation completed in mere seconds.

I didn’t hesitate.

Didn’t wait.

I lunged forward, snapping my jaws inches from the nearest warrior who had dared step toward me.

He yelped and stumbled back.

The crowd recoiled, and then—silence.

The weight of my presence hit them all at once.

I stood before them, seething, my chest heaving, my golden eyes burning with the absolute promise of violence if any of them made another move.

And I saw it. The realization that rippled through them as they looked at me, as they saw me for what I truly was.

~Bigger~ than their warriors. Not as large as their alpha, but close. I was a force. A power. A luna ~in full~.

I took a single, measured step forward, and they shrank away.

Good.

Kora growled low, ears flat against our skull. “~How dare they~?” she snarled into my mind. “~How dare they defy their luna~?”

“~They don’t see me as theirs~,” I answered, my voice just as sharp.

Her growl turned lethal. “~Then they will learn~.”

I bared my teeth, my snarl rolling through the courtyard like a storm breaking over the horizon.

The pack flinched but I wasn’t finished. I turned my head slowly, my gaze sweeping across them, my chest still rising and falling with fury.

And then—I roared.

The sound split the night, a deafening, undeniable command that sent every single wolf in that courtyard to their knees.

Some resisted for only a second, but they folded.

One by one, they bowed.

Not just my pack.

The leaders of the other visiting packs, those who had come to bear witness to our gathering, to discuss alliances and borders, hesitated—only for a breath. But then, with careful deliberation, they, too, lowered their heads in respect.

A show of honor. A recognition.

This was my land. My rule. My union.

They understood that now.

Because I had made it clear that I was not weak. That I was not to be questioned. That I was their luna.

And that I would not allow the mortals of this pack to be treated as lesser any longer.

Kora huffed, satisfied, tail flicking as I turned my gaze toward Lux, who stood beside me, silent but proud.

His wolf, Fen, prowled just beneath his skin, watching, assessing, but not intervening. Because he knew it, too.

This was my moment.

Mine alone.

I took a final step forward, my voice growling through the mind-link, loud and unyielding.

“~You will bow to me~.”

I let my power roll outward, pressing into them like an unshakable force.

“~You will respect me~.”

Another ripple of subjugation, pushing them down, forcing their heads lower.

“~And you will never—never—treat the mortals of this pack as less again~.”

The air crackled, the weight of my words ~finally~ sinking into them, and then, the last wolf lowered his head.

I exhaled, steadying myself, letting my rage cool just enough.

Stillness.

The courtyard was silent, every wolf bowed before me, the weight of my dominance crushing them.

Kora was satisfied.

But I—I was still burning.

The remnants of my fury curled through my chest, electric and raw, but I forced myself to breathe. To calm. To control.

Because I had already won.

They had bent.

They had submitted.

And now, they knew.

I let my golden eyes sweep over them once more, ensuring they remained where they belonged—on their knees.

Then, slowly, I turned.

Lux was still standing where he had been, watching me.

Still in his human form, still clothed in his ceremonial black and silver, but his expression—~gods~.

He was smirking.

His arms were crossed over his chest, his stormy blue eyes fixed on me with something dark, something hungry.

I huffed, shaking out my fur, the last threads of my anger settling into something else. Something satisfied.

Then, he lifted a hand.

My crown sat between his fingers.

I blinked.

A slow chuckle rumbled from his chest. “You ruined your dress.”

I let out a sharp exhale through my nose, not quite a laugh, but close.

Then, with an almost mocking reverence, Lux placed my crown on my wolf’s head, adjusting it slightly before stepping back, his smirk widening.

The weight of it settled over my ears.

Ridiculous.

I gave a sharp shake, sending the circlet tumbling off, landing somewhere in the dirt behind me.

Lux’s brow lifted. “~Unimpressed, little wolf~?”

I met his gaze and linked to him immediately.

“~Thank you~.”

His expression softened just slightly, though his amusement remained. “~For what~?”

“~For letting me handle it~.”

For trusting me with it.

For standing beside me and letting me take my place.

Fen rumbled through the bond, pressing against my own, pleased and proud.

“~You didn’t need me to handle it~,” Lux said simply. “~You never have~.”

And gods—he meant it.

I could feel the truth in his words.

I took a slow, steadying breath, feeling Kora settle now that the challenge had passed. The pack knew their luna now.

The heat of the shift burned out of my bones in a slow, steady ripple. My claws retracted, my limbs reshaped, my body snapping back into its human form with an ease I had never known before.

I stood tall, bare beneath the moonlight, my breath still even, my body still humming with the power of what had just happened.

Of what I had done.

Just then—soft hands pressed something into my arms.

A robe.

I turned, meeting the warm, wide eyes of a young girl. She couldn’t be more than twelve, her expression uncertain but reverent.

One of the mortals.

One of mine.

I took the robe gently, wrapping it around myself. “Thank you.”

The girl swallowed, her small hands clutching at the edges of her own tunic. “Of course, Luna.”

I exhaled, something deep settling in my chest.

I ~knew~ her.

I had worked beside her, shared meals with her, suffered under the same unspoken rules of this pack. She had once been frail—too thin, too hungry, too overworked.

But now…now, there was color in her cheeks. Her frame had filled out, her skin wasn’t stretched so tight over bone. She had weight to her now.

She had ~life~.

A lump formed in my throat, and I pulled her into a hug once I secured the garment around myself. She stiffened for a moment before melting into it, her hands clutching at my back, her breath shaky.

I didn’t let go right away because I knew what this meant. To both of us.

When I pulled back, her lips trembled, but she smiled. “I’ll get you something better to wear,” she murmured before slipping away, disappearing into the crowd.

I turned back to face the pack.

They were still on their knees.

Heads bowed.

Waiting.

A slow, satisfied breath left my lungs.

They knew me now.

They had seen me.

And they understood.

Lux was beside me in an instant, his body a steady, grounding presence. His fingers brushed against mine, subtle, silent.

I looked up at him, my heart still thudding, my body still alive with the energy of the moment.

His stormy blue eyes flickered with something unreadable.

But his voice, when it reached my mind, was soft.

“~You did well, little wolf. I’m proud of you~.”

I smiled.

For the first time—I felt like I belonged.

The tension in the courtyard shifted, but it didn’t dissipate. It changed into something else. Something electric. Something alive.

Drums began to echo through the night.

Deep, rhythmic beats that vibrated in my chest.

At first, I thought it was the pack’s heartbeats synchronizing—until I saw them step forward.

The warriors of Nightshade.

Not with weapons. Not with fangs bared.

But with their bodies poised, their movements precise as they began a performance older than time itself.

I watched, breathless, as the wolves danced.

It wasn’t the careful, practiced movements of human grace. It was raw. It was primal. It was ~ours~.

They shifted effortlessly, their forms flowing between human and wolf, their movements telling the story of war, of loss, of unity.

Then—the children joined them.

The mortals.

And the story changed.

They performed a play. A tale of an ancient luna who had been rejected by her people, cast out, yet rose again, stronger than before.

I swallowed hard as I watched them.

They had planned this for me.

For ~us~.

For all those who had been cast aside.

And when the performance ended, the courtyard erupted—not in howls, not in cheers, but in something ~deeper~.

A solemn, powerful silence.

Lux turned toward me.

His fingers found mine.

The music shifted again, slower, softer.

He said nothing aloud.

But through the bond, his voice was velvet.

“~Dance with me, little wolf.”~

I exhaled sharply, my pulse hammering.

“~I don’t know how.”~

A slow, teasing hum. “~You don’t have to”.~

He pulled me close.

The moment his hands settled on my waist, the moment his warmth pressed against me, I ~melted~.

The wolves danced around us, but we were in our own world.

The music faded.

The night faded.

It was just us.

His fingers traced the curve of my spine, slow, reverent. “~You are magnificent.”~

I let my hands wander over his shoulders, over the firm planes of his chest, feeling the way his muscles tightened under my touch. “~And you are mine.”~

His head dipped lower, his lips ghosting over my jaw. “~Always.”~

I tilted my head back, my breath shuddering as his nose brushed the sensitive spot beneath my ear.

Gods.

I could have stayed there forever.

Wrapped in his arms, in our bond, in this night that belonged to ~us~.

The alpha and luna of the Nightshade Pack.

Dancing beneath the moonlight.

Whispering through the bond.

Existing in a world where only ~we~ mattered.

And in that moment, I knew—

This was just the start for us.