Chapter 63 Chapter 63
Zane
Tiana’s eyes flicked to me for a brief moment, her jaw parting slightly in surprise. Then she looked away just as quickly, as if afraid to hold my gaze for too long.
The conversation around the fire gradually returned to where it had been, wolves chatting about minor things as the flames burned lower.
But I couldn’t stop thinking about the confidence in Tiana’s voice.
Bonding with me had elevated her to Luna, yes—but the blood running through her veins was still that of an omega. An omega should not possess that level of authority. That clarity. That precision.
The thought refused to leave me.
Different analyses tangled with one another, my wolf circling the same conclusions again and again until my chest felt tight with it.
An hour later, I rose to my feet.
“I’m going to check the perimeter,” I announced.
“Want company, Alpha?” Rowan asked.
“No. Stay with the camp.”
I walked away before anyone could object, passing beyond the ward line and into the deeper woods.
The sounds of camp faded behind me, replaced by the quiet rhythm of the forest. Crickets chirred softly. An owl called somewhere in the distance. Water moved over stone, I did not see it, but it was constant. Leaves rustled beneath small, hidden creatures.
My feet carried me without conscious thought to the cliff I had discovered years ago during a border patrol.
It was a natural outcropping of rock that jutted over a steep drop, offering a clear view of the valley below. There was something about the place—something steadying—that always quieted the unrest in my chest.
I pulled my phone from my pocket, remembering the call I’d tried to make to Ezra earlier, before dinner. I wanted to check on the pack. To reassure myself that everything was still standing in my absence.
No signal.
The lack of it made me feel strangely cut off, the way our ancestors must have felt when they crossed borders with nothing but instinct to guide them.
Maybe that was why I liked border patrols so much—the isolation. The silence. The brief disconnection from everything that demanded something from me.
I sat on the edge of the cliff, my legs dangling over the drop. The moon hung low and full, bathing the valley in silver-white light.
I stayed there for a long time, eyes closed, until a familiar voice drifted through my thoughts.
Look who finally came to me after pretending I did not exist.
I opened my eyes, already knowing I would see no one, and sat up.
“Let’s not pretend you didn’t give me a reason to feel that way,” I replied.
Care to explain?
I exhaled sharply at the false innocence.
“Why?” I asked, directing the question to the only being who might have answers. “Why did you do this to me?”
There was no response.
So I kept talking.
“I have done everything you asked of me,” I said aloud. “I rebuilt the pack after my father’s reign nearly destroyed it. I protected my wolves. I preserved our alliances.”
The wind stirred through the trees below.
“Why would you curse me with the same fate as him?”
My hands clenched into fists.
“You made it impossible for me to have an heir through any other means. You chose the only she-wolf capable of bearing one for me—and forced the bond—knowing I never wanted a mate.”
I swallowed hard.
“Still, I accepted your choice.”
The words tasted bitter.
“And now I can see the threads you’re pulling. Making me care. Making me react. Making me lose control just because she stands too close to my nephew—when I know he would never threaten this pack.”
My voice dropped.
“You think I don’t see it? You think I don’t recognize manipulation when I feel it?”
The wind shifted, brushing against my skin like a whisper.
I opened a door, the Moon Goddess finally replied. You chose how to walk through it.
My jaw tightened.
“This is a curse,” I said flatly. “You know that. This bond. This entire situation.”
Is it?
“Yes,” I snapped. “You turned my mother into my father’s weakness and destroyed everything because of it. And now you’re doing the same to me.”
Silence stretched.
“Sometimes I wonder if you hate my bloodline,” I continued. “If one of my ancestors committed some unforgivable sin.”
I laughed without humor.
“And the Luna you chose? An omega. No political ties. No powerful lineage. Nothing that makes sense strategically. You made me a laughing stock among other Alphas.”
At last, the Moon Goddess spoke again, her voice distant and infuriatingly calm.
There is a reason for everything.
I scoffed, rolling my eyes.
“I don’t know what you want from me,” I muttered. “You could make this easier by telling me.”
Time passed. No answer came.
Only the sound of the trees rustling in the wind was audible to me.
I let out a breath, bitter and tired.
“Leave me confused again,” I said quietly. “As always.”