Chapter 139 Children Of The Moon
The children’s area is louder than anywhere else on the grounds.
Small bodies weaving between adults. Laughter that breaks the careful quiet the rest of the pack is trying to hold onto. Bare feet against packed earth. The smell of charcoal and crushed herbs as older wolves kneel to prepare pigments.
I stop just at the edge of it, watching for a moment.
This part of the ceremony wasn’t explained in detail.
Just a passing mention from Mara,the young are marked first, so they remember what they belong to before they learn to fear losing it.
I step forward.
Immediately, a small girl runs straight into me.
Not literally,she stops just short, eyes wide, cheeks flushed, a streak of silver paint already smeared across her forehead like she got impatient halfway through.
“You’re the Luna,” she says, not asking.
I blink.
“Apparently.”
She beams like that’s the correct answer.
“You may sit, Luna,” an older omega calls to me gently, gesturing toward a low wooden stool.
I hesitate.
Then I sit.
That seems to be the cue.
Children gather around curiously.They come like I’m part of the space now.
One boy plops down cross-legged at my feet, staring up at me like he’s trying to memorize my face.Another leans against my knee like it’s the most natural thing in the world.
I stiffen for half a second.
Then force myself to relax.
They’re not afraid.
Why should I be?
“What do the markings mean?” I ask, watching as one of the omegas dips her fingers into a shallow bowl of pale gray paste.
“Protection,” she replies. “Connection. Memory.”
She gestures to the girl beside me.
“Each child gets the mark of their family line.”
The girl lifts her chin proudly as the omega draws a curved line across her cheek.
“And if they don’t have one?” I ask before I can stop myself.
The omega pauses.
Just for a moment.
Then she meets my eyes.
“Then we give them one.”
Something tight in my chest loosens.
“Here,” the omega says softly, handing me a small bowl.
My first instinct is to refuse.
Second is to ask if I’m allowed.
Third,
Is to just take it.
“Like this,” she says, guiding my hand.
I lean forward toward the boy sitting in front of me.
He doesn’t flinch.
Doesn’t move.
Just watches me with complete trust.
My fingers hover near his warm skin. I draw a simple line across his cheek.
Then another.
He grins immediately, like I just gave him something valuable.
“You’re good at that,” he declares.
“I just drew two lines.”
“Still counts.”
I huff a quiet laugh.
More children move closer.
I don’t realize how much time passes.
Faces blur together in soft, bright colors,silver, bone, ash. Small hands tugging at my sleeves, asking questions I don’t always have answers for.
“Do you shift into a wolf or something else?”
“Both.”
“That’s cool.”
“Sometimes.”
“Can you beat my brother in a race?”
“Probably.”
“Can you stay for the whole night?”
That one stops me.
It’s a smaller child this time.
Hair uneven like it was cut in a hurry. Markings slightly smudged because they couldn’t sit still.
Their fingers tug at my sleeve.
I look down at them.
Their eyes are hopeful.
Expectant.
Like the answer matters more than it should.
I don’t think.
“Of course I will,” I say.
The word leaves my mouth before I can question it.
“Yes.”
The child smiles like I just promised them something important.
And only after the moment passes do I realize,
That surprised me.
Not the child.
Me.
Because for the first time,
Staying didn’t feel like a decision I had to force.
It felt… natural.
I glance up.
Darius stands at the edge of the space, just beyond the circle of children, with a space smile on his lips.
By the time the last child is marked, the light has begun to fade.
The sky shifts from pale gold to deep blue.
Torches are lit one by one along the edge of the clearing, their flames catching the silver dust laid across the Moon Path.
It glows now.
Not bright.
But enough to see.
A line stretching from the Alpha House to the central clearing.
And beyond that,
To the lake.
The pack begins to gather Quietly. The laughter fades. The movement slows. The children are guided back to their families. And the space reshapes itself.
I stand slowly, brushing my hands together.
The last traces of ash fall away.
My heart starts to beat faster.
This is it.
The Moon Walk.
I don’t have to look to know when Darius moves toward me.
I feel it.
The shift in the air.
The steadiness at my side.
His hand finds mine without hesitation.
This time, there’s no question.
No pause.
I lace my fingers with his.
We walk together toward the beginning of the path.
The crowd parts.
Not dramatically.
Not ceremonially.
Just… naturally.
Like water moving around stone.
Every step feels louder than it should.
Every breath sharper.
The silver dust glints beneath the torchlight.
The ceremonial stone waits at the start.
I slow.
Just slightly.
Darius notices.
Of course he does.
He tightens his grip just enough to ground me.
“You’ll do great,” he murmurs under his breath.
Easy for him to say.
He steps forward first.
Then stops.
Turning slightly toward me.
Not leading.
Inviting.
I step up beside him.
Together.
We reach the stone.
It’s larger than I remembered.
Smoother.
Worn by time and feet and ceremony.
I slip off my shoes.
The air is cool against my skin.
My toes curl slightly as I lower my foot onto the cold stone.
Darius’s hand steadies at my back as I step fully onto it.
The moment my weight settles,
The drums begin, Low, Deep, Slow. They echo through the clearing like a heartbeat.
One beat.
Then another.
The sound travels through the ground, up my legs, into my chest.
The pack falls silent.
Completely.
I don’t speak.
I don’t move.
I just… stand.
The stone beneath my feet.
The air against my skin.
The weight of hundreds of eyes,not judging, but waiting, I close my eyes.
Just for a second.
And for the first time.
I don’t feel like I have to perform.
I don’t feel like I have to prove anything.
I just feel…Here.
The drums continue.
Steady.
Calling.
And somewhere in that sound—
I hear it.
Not words.
Not voices.
Something deeper.
The land.
The pack.
The history I didn’t grow up with but somehow stand inside now.
When I open my eyes again, the world feels… clearer.
Darius is still beside me.
His hand still steady at my back.
Not pushing.
Not guiding.
Just there.
The path stretches out in front of us.
Silver.
Waiting.
I take the first step.
And the pack follows.