31

The battlefield was silent.

Selene stood at the center of the ruins, the wind carrying the faintest remnants of what had just transpired. The air still hummed with residual power, but the presence of the gods—the suffocating, ever-present weight of their rule—was gone.

The war was over.

She had won.

And yet—

She felt empty.

The earth was cracked beneath her feet, scorched with remnants of divine fire, but none of it seemed real. The bodies of fallen warriors—her wolves, her people—were scattered in the distance, and even the sky itself looked different.

As if the world was holding its breath.

Kael stood nearby, his storm-gray eyes scanning the devastation with something like awe and exhaustion mixed together. He let out a low whistle, his voice rough.

“Well. That was… dramatic.”

Lucian, ever the quiet one, stood beside him, his emerald gaze locked on Selene. He hadn’t spoken since the final blow, since she had broken divinity itself. His posture was tense, unreadable.

Selene barely heard them.

Her fingers curled into fists at her sides, the reality of it all settling in.

The gods were gone.

But Alec—

Her breath hitched.

Alec wasn’t here.

He should have been. He should have been beside her, standing at her side, telling her how reckless she had been, flashing that infuriating grin as if this had been just another impossible battle they had survived together.

But he was gone.

And she had no idea if she could ever bring him back.

Kael’s voice softened. “Selene.”

She flinched slightly but didn’t look at him.

Because if she did—

She might break.

Lucian exhaled, stepping closer. “You did it.”

The words felt hollow.

She had done what no one believed was possible. She had shattered an empire that had ruled for centuries, had broken the chains that bound her kind, had rewritten fate itself.

And yet—

She felt like she had lost everything.

Kael shifted on his feet, his usual smirk nowhere to be found. “So… what now?”

Selene inhaled slowly, forcing herself to breathe.

Because the war was over, but the world—

The world was forever changed.

There was no going back.

She turned to them, her silver eyes still burning, even as exhaustion settled into her bones.

“We rebuild.”

Lucian studied her for a long moment. “And after that?”

Selene’s breath trembled.

After that…

She would find a way to bring Alec back.

Because she refused—refused—to believe this was how it ended.

Not for him.

Not for them.

Kael exhaled, rubbing the back of his neck. “Alright, Queen. Lead the way.”

Selene lifted her chin, the weight of the future pressing down on her shoulders.

This was just the beginning.