Chapter 163 Moon Blessed

Chapter 163 Moon Blessed
(Dorian)
The bond settles like a stone dropping into deep water. It moves through me in a slow, undeniable pull, sinking into bone and blood and every place inside me that knows Red Moon by instinct. The clearing is still in front of us. The pack stands waiting. The lanterns sway softly in the night breeze. Smoke still curls up from the ceremonial bowl in thin dark ribbons, catching silver where the moonlight hits it. But none of it feels the same. The pack is ours now. Mine. Kieran’s. Felix’s. Scarlett’s. I can feel it in the way Red Moon hums against my skin. In the weight that settles across my shoulders without crushing me. In the threads running through the clearing, no longer anchored where they were a few breaths ago, now wound through the four of us with a strength that feels old and living and real.
I look up at Lyra. She stands just off to the side with Umbros near her, moonlight catching in her hair, silvering the edges of her dress, and for one brief second, I see both things at once—my sister, and my goddess. I don’t care that we share blood. It doesn’t lessen what she is. Doesn’t make this any less sacred. We were raised to believe in the Moon Goddess as something vast and holy. Something worthy of prayer, reverence, and trust. I spent my whole childhood hearing stories about her power, her mercy, her strength. Now she stands in front of me at my ascension, and she is every bit as magical, every bit as powerful, as the goddess we were raised to believe in. Maybe even more, because I know the sound of her laugh. I know the way she used to steal food off our plates. I know how hard she fought to become what she is. I know the blood and grief and love it took to carve this path into her bones.
I let go of Scarlett’s hand, step forward, and stop in front of Lyra. Then I kneel. I lower my head to my Moon Goddess. “Moon Goddess. Will you do us the honour of blessing this ceremony? Will you bless our pack with good fortune and protection, for the chance to thrive under our rule?” I lift my head enough to see that Lyra is staring at me like I’ve caught her off guard. Surprise moves across her face, along with something that looks dangerously like pride. “Stand,” she says quietly. I do, and she comes to the centre of us then, moonlight seeming to gather around her. Kieran straightens, Felix shifts closer, and Scarlett’s shoulders pull back. Lyra lifts her hands, and the clearing stills. The lake goes quiet. The lantern flames bend. Even the wind seems to pause to listen. “I bless this pack,” she says, and her voice is no longer just my sister’s. “I bless Red Moon with strength enough to endure, with mercy enough to remain whole, and with wisdom enough to choose what is right over what is easy.” The moonlight brightens and spills over Kieran, sliding across his shoulders like silver armour. Then Felix, softening nothing, only making him clearer somehow. Then me. The light hits my chest and sinks straight through. Then Scarlett. When it touches her, it turns gentler. Lyra’s gaze moves between all four of us. “I bless your leadership. May your strength never turn cruel. May your hearts never harden against your people. May your bond hold fast through fear, through blood, and through all that waits beyond this night.”
The power in the clearing thickens. I can feel it curling through the pack bond, brushing every thread, touching every person gathered here. Lyra steps to Kieran first and presses her palm briefly to the centre of his chest. “Lead with steadiness.” To Felix, she cups the back of his neck for the briefest moment. “Lead with heart.” Then she reaches me. Her hand settles over mine, still warm from where I held Scarlett’s. “Lead with truth,” she says. Then she turns to Scarlett. Lyra presses both hands to Scarlett’s cheeks, smiling in a way that almost breaks the whole solemn thing apart. “Lead with all that softness you pretend isn’t strength,” she murmurs. Scarlett’s eyes widen, and Lyra leans in just slightly and adds, too quiet for most of the pack to hear but not quiet enough to miss if you’re standing where I am, “You’ve got this, bestie.” She winks. A tiny, startled laugh slips out of Scarlett, and she beams with unshed tears and happiness. I don’t think Lyra realises how much that one stupid word does. Or maybe she does. She steps back then, the moonlight easing with her, the blessing settled into us and the pack alike.
I look out at the pack. My pack. Our pack. Rows of faces stare back at us, waiting to hear what sort of leaders we’re going to be. Kieran’s voice comes low and steady across the clearing. “Thank you for standing with us tonight for trusting us. We won’t take this lightly. Red Moon was built by leaders who gave everything they had to protect it. We swear to do the same. We will stand for this pack, protect this pack, and carry it forward with everything we are.” Then he steps back, and Felix goes next, rubbing one hand once over the back of his neck before dropping it. “We’re probably going to screw some things up,” he says, and a ripple of laughter moves through the pack immediately, easing the last of the tension from the clearing. “Not tonight,” he adds quickly. “Hopefully. But I’m saying, if Kieran gets too serious and Dorian starts glaring at everybody, I’m here to keep things balanced.” The pack laughs again, and Felix smiles, “But truly… thank you. We love this pack. We always will. And we’ll do everything we can to be leaders worthy of it.” Then he steps back, too, and that leaves me. “We stand here because this pack raised us, protected us, taught us what loyalty looks like and what home is meant to feel like.” My gaze finds Mum, my fathers, Elliot and Macey in the crowd and then Lyra. Then I look back at the pack. “We promise strength where strength is needed. Honesty where honesty is owed. Protection where protection is asked for. We promise that Red Moon will remain exactly what it has always been. Home.” Scarlett steps up beside me, silver bright under the lantern light, and when she speaks, her voice is softer than ours but no less clear. “And we promise that this pack will always be led with love.” Kieran looks out over the rows of waiting faces and lifts a hand. “So,” he says, and now there’s the smallest edge of a grin at his mouth, “you heard your Luna.” The crowd laughs again, and Felix continues, “Eat. Dance. Drink. Not too much,” he adds, looking pointedly toward the younger wolves. “Too late,” someone calls from the back. Kieran shakes his head. “The night is yours,” he says. “Celebrate with us.”