Chapter 160 Before The Moon Bears Witness

Chapter 160 Before The Moon Bears Witness
(Lyra)
By the time the last of the lanterns are lit, the clearing looks almost unreal. Moonlight spills silver over the grass while the lanterns throw warm gold between it, softening the shadows, catching on glass jars and polished cutlery and the pale ribbons tied around the backs of chairs. The benches have all been set into neat rows facing the centre of the clearing. Flowers spill low across the aisle in little bursts of white and deep red. Beyond it all, the lake glimmers dark and still, the moon stretched broken across its surface. Red Moon looks beautiful tonight, despite all of the events today. People move in clusters, talking softly, taking their seats when Mum points them there, and moving over when she tells them to. She moves through it all like she was built for this sort of chaos, crown and all, one hand lifting to gesture here, the other catching someone by the elbow there, ushering them into place before they can even think to stand around awkwardly. Even after everything, Mum can still turn a room, or a clearing, or an entire damn kingdom, into something beautifully organised.
I’m standing off to the side watching her direct three wolves toward the second row when a familiar warmth comes up behind me. Umbros’s hand slides around my arm first, then down to my wrist, gentle and possessive all at once. I turn before he can say anything and step straight into him. His arms come around me, one across my back, the other settling at my waist as he pulls me in against his chest. I press my face into the front of his shirt and breathe him in. Smoke. Night. Something dark and clean that always smells like him. It knocks the edge off me so fast I almost sag. His lips touch my forehead. “How are you doing?” he asks quietly. The laugh that leaves me is soft and tired. “I just want to crawl into our bed together.” His arms tighten. “But I’m okay,” I murmur against him. “It’s just been a very, very long day.” He leans back enough to look at me, his hand sliding up to cradle the side of my face. Moonlight catches in his eyes. There’s something soft in them that gets me every single time. “I know, starlight”, he says. Then he kisses me, slow and gentle. Nothing is demanding in it, nothing rushed, just his mouth on mine and the warmth of him holding me together for one quiet second while the clearing keeps moving around us. When he pulls back, he doesn’t let me go. He just tucks me in against his chest again, his chin settling lightly against the top of my head.
I let myself stand there with his arms around me, and the noise of Red Moon softened by distance and fabric and breath. “Alright,” Mum calls as she approaches, her tone carrying even before she reaches us. “As much as I’d love to let the two of you stand there making everyone else jealous, it’s time to get into place.” I lift my head with a sigh, and Umbros huffs a quiet laugh against my hair and loosens his hold enough for me to step back. His hand stays wrapped around mine as we follow Mum toward the front. The ceremonial space has been left open in the centre of the clearing, the chairs and benches set in a wide half-circle around it. Kieran and Dorian are already there, both of them dressed in black formal wear, shoulders straight, faces set. 
Umbros starts to turn toward the seating, but I tighten my grip on his hand and keep walking. He glances over at me, but I don’t let go. Mum’s mouth twitches before she jerks her chin toward the open space off to the side of Kieran and Dorian. “There,” she says. “I want you both standing there.” Umbros looks between her and me. “Me?” Mum nods like this is obvious. “It’s good luck to be blessed by the Moon Goddess and her mate on your ascension day.” She winks at me. I roll my eyes even as a smile tugs at my mouth. “They’d be lucky for me to bless them after all the shit they pulled when we were growing up.” Kieran snorts despite himself, and Mum’s gaze flicks between both of my brothers, then past them. “Where’s Felix?” The two of them look around, and Kieran frowns. “He was here a second ago.” Dorian’s brows draw together. His head tilts slightly, the way it always does when he reaches for the mindlink. Then his frown deepens. “He shut it off.” Mum’s head snaps toward him. “He what?” Dorian shrugs once, tension already creeping into the line of his shoulders. “He shut off the mindlink.” 
“Well, someone find him,” Mum says sharply, looking out over the clearing, at the gathered pack, the lit lanterns, the open aisle waiting to be walked down. “Everything is ready.”
For a moment, all I can see is the three of them younger. Kieran was always first into a fight. Dorian was always right behind him, quieter but meaner when pushed. Felix hung back just enough to watch before he moved, always a little stiller than the other two, always carrying more than he said. I drifted to him more than the others back then, maybe because he didn’t fill the silence just to fill it. Maybe because when things got too loud and too much, he felt it too. We understood each other without needing to explain it. We might be quadruplets, but if it came down to pairs, Felix was always my partner. My fingers loosen from Umbros’s hand, and he looks down at me. “I’ll be back in a second,” I say, already knowing exactly where I’m going. Umbros nods once. No question, no hesitation. I give Mum a quick look. “I’ll get him.” Then I turn and head off toward the one place no one else would think to look.