Chapter 161 A Moment To Breathe

Chapter 161 A Moment To Breathe
(Felix)
I sit on the deck of our old treehouse and stare out over Red Moon like I haven’t just run from my own ascension. I haven’t been up here in years. The wood creaks under my weight the same way it always did, old and familiar and just unstable enough that Mum used to threaten to drag us down from it herself if she caught us climbing up here after dark. Kieran and Dorian always said it was lame, too small, too far from everything. Too much splintered wood and childish nonsense. But I liked it. I always liked it. It was quiet up here. No adults. No pack business. No lessons. No expectations. Just old boards, open sky, and a place where responsibilities weren’t allowed to follow. I brace my forearms on my knees and look out over the yard. Lantern light glows through the trees and spills in warm patches across the clearing. From up here, I can see the shape of it all coming together. Chairs set out in careful rows. Flowers catching in the breeze. People are moving back and forth purposefully. By tomorrow, we’ll be Alphas. The thought still doesn’t sit right in my chest. Not because I don’t want this life or want her. Scarlett. A slow breath leaves me as I tip my head back against the tree trunk behind me. The most beautiful, kind-hearted, sweetest Luna Red Moon could ever ask for, and somehow fate tied her to all three of us like it knew exactly what it was doing. Kieran will handle this just fine. Dorian will too. They’ll step into it and make it look easy, even if it isn’t. They’ve always had that in them. That steadiness. That sharp edge. That thing that makes people look at them and think, “ Yep, that’s a leader,” before either of them has even opened their mouth. I’m not like them.
Maybe I have the same face in pieces. The same blood. The same training. But I know I’m different. What if I can’t lead Red Moon right? What if I can’t care for our people, for our Luna, the way an Alpha is supposed to? I worried about it when we first found out Scarlett was ours. Back when the whole thing still felt too strange to touch head-on. I remember standing there with my brothers, heart hammering, and feeling my wolf shove hard against the inside of my ribs like he was offended by my hesitation. She’ll accept us, too, he’d told me, and she had. That part had gone better than I ever could have hoped. She was careful with me from the very start, like she knew I needed the reassurance that I was enough for her. But a mate is one thing. A pack is another. Will Red Moon accept me? Will they look at me and see one of their Alphas, or just the quieter brother standing beside the two stronger ones? Mum and our fathers are some of the greatest leaders the world has ever known. That isn’t me being dramatic. It’s just true. They built this life. Protected it. Held it together through blood and war and impossible odds. How the hell am I supposed to live up to that? Movement catches my eye below.
I look down just in time to see Lyra crossing the yard. She doesn’t call up to me. Doesn’t wave. She heads straight for the tree, knowing exactly where I am. She always did know where to find me when things got too loud. A second later, I hear the ladder creak. Then the soft thud of her stepping up onto the deck. She doesn’t say anything. She comes over and lowers herself beside me. She sits close enough that our shoulders press together, and looks out over the clearing like we have the time to do that. After a second, she leans her head against my shoulder and threads her fingers through mine. We sit like that for a few minutes. No pressure. No questions. No speech about duty or fate or stepping up. Just the two of us in the old treehouse while the night pauses for a moment. It helps more than I want it to. “You’re going to be a great Alpha, Felix,” she whispers eventually, and my throat tightens a little. She says it like she already knows. Like, there’s no point arguing with it. “And an even better mate.” A laugh almost slips out of me at that, but it catches somewhere in the middle. Because of course she knows. She always knows what’s sitting in my head before I say a word. I squeeze her hand. “But,” she adds, lifting her head just enough to glance at me, “if we don’t get out there soon, Mum might kick your ass.” That does make me laugh.“I just needed a moment.”
“I know.” She whispers, and we fall quiet again.
From where we’re sitting, we can see the back doors of the packhouse open. White curtains have been hung near the rear path, shielding part of the walkway from the main clearing so Scarlett can be brought out without the whole pack staring too soon—a figure steps through behind them. Even from up here, even through the half-hidden view and the distance and the lantern glow, I know it’s her. She moves into place behind the white fabric, a beautiful silver dress catching the moonlight, and every thought in my head… stops. Lyra follows my line of sight. “She looks beautiful,” she says softly. I nod once, because I don’t trust my voice yet. Scarlett turns slightly, just enough for the light to find her properly, and I swear my whole chest caves in at the sight of her. “She’s everything,” I whisper. Lyra nudges my shoulder with hers. “Better get down there then.” I look at her, then out at the clearing, then back at the girl waiting behind white curtains with moonlight in her hair and my whole future written in the shape of her. Then I let out a slow breath and push myself to my feet. Yeah. Time to go.