Chapter 48 CHAPTER 48
In a single day, Cindy felt as though she had been rewritten.
Her name, her scent, her reflection - everything had changed.
The girl Silverpine had once called a slave now walked in sunlight as Lisa of Mooncrest.
She could still feel her mother’s scent clinging faintly to the fabric she wore — soft, clean, and ancient as the moonlight itself. The training clothes fit as if they remembered her shape. Every stitch whispered stories she didn’t yet know, but somehow belonged to.
Beside her, Ethan’s steps matched hers in quiet pride. He didn’t say much, but his presence was steady, protective - a warmth that anchored her trembling heart.
Cindy – now Lisa, the princess of Mooncrest lycan court - felt something stir inside her, something that wasn’t quite fear, nor excitement. It was the feeling of being seen for the first time.
The afternoon sun stretched over Mooncrest Court, painting its stone walls in a wash of gold and soft shadows. The palace gardens glowed with light, and beyond them, the faint clang of steel echoed from the training grounds.
Ethan glanced at her, a faint smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “How do you feel? Nervous?”
She smiled shyly. “I feel like I’m about to trip over my own boots.”
He chuckled softly, resting a hand on her shoulder as they approached the open arch that led to the training yard. “You’ll be fine. This place may look intimidating, but every warrior here knows who you are. You belong here, Lisa.”
The moment they stepped into the field, conversation stilled. The trainees, mid-practice, lowered their weapons and bowed slightly. The air hummed with respect - not forced, but instinctive.
Liam was the first to straighten. His training shirt clung to him with sweat, his hair pushed back carelessly from his forehead. “Your Highness,” he greeted with a grin that softened the formality. “Welcome to the less glamorous side of royalty.”
Cindy laughed, the sound easing her nerves. “Looks exhausting already.”
“You get used to it,” he said. “Eventually.”
Ethan motioned toward the sparring circle. “I thought she could start observing today. Maybe test a few things later. Nothing heavy.”
Liam nodded, then looked at her with genuine curiosity. “Have you ever trained before?”
Cindy shook her head. “Not really.”
“What about your shift?” he asked, his tone gentle. “When was your first?”
Her smile faded slightly. She looked down at her hands. “I… haven’t really shifted the way others do.”
Ethan turned toward her, listening carefully.
Cindy hesitated, then said quietly, “The first time it happened, I was alone. I didn’t even know what was happening. I heard her voice – Lisa… I mean Celia’s voice - for the first time. She wanted to come out, but I told her not to. I was afraid. I thought if anyone found out I could hear my wolf, they’d… treat me worse. Having something good or different from the rest in Silverpine would have earned me a punishment, or worse being banished.”
Her voice trembled slightly, the memories flickering behind her eyes. “So I kept her hidden. And the next time it happened… it wasn’t by choice. I was angry and hurt after being rejected publicly and humiliated at the same time. My adopted parents took sides with my mate and even beat me for not accepting the rejection on the spot. They said I embarrassed them in front of the whole pack and sent me away. In a way, even after keeping Lisa…. Celia hidden for years all my fears came to pass that night. Everything I’d buried just broke loose, and she came through, she was just so angry too and I couldn’t control her.”
For a long heartbeat, no one spoke. The training field held its breath.
Ethan’s expression darkened, the warmth in his eyes hardening to steel. His fists clenched at his sides, knuckles whitening.
“They beat you?” His voice came low, dangerous. “They dared to lay a hand on you - for that?”
Cindy’s gaze dropped, guilt and memory flickering across her face. “It doesn’t matter now…”
“It matters,” Ethan snapped, his tone sharp enough to slice through the air. “You were a child, terrified, hearing your wolf for the first time. That should have been celebrated. The whole kingdom would have gathered to honour you - your first shift, your first connection. The bells of Mooncrest would have rung through the night, Lisa!” His breath came heavy now, fury trembling through restraint.
He turned away for a moment, his jaw tight, eyes bright with rage. “I don’t understand how the priestess Celestine could ask me to leave them be. She made me promise not to bring vengeance down on Silverpine after we found you. But hearing this…” He exhaled, voice breaking on the edges. “Hearing this makes that promise feel like poison.”
Liam stepped closer, resting a steady hand on Ethan’s shoulder. “Ethan, the goddess knows why she stayed your hand. You said it yourself - Celestine’s wisdom runs deeper than ours. If she asked you to wait, it’s because Silver pine’s judgment will come by divine hands, not ours.”
Ethan’s chest rose and fell, each breath a battle. “Then the goddess better move fast,” he said quietly. “Because I swear, Liam, I’ve never wanted to burn a place to the ground more than I do right now.”
Liam gave a soft, grim smile. “You’re a king, Ethan. You protect. You don’t destroy. And right now, the best way to avenge her is to help her heal.”
The words hung between them until Ethan’s anger ebbed into silence. He turned back to his sister, his expression softening, regret and love interwoven. “I’m sorry, Lisa. For all of it. For not finding you sooner. For letting them take your light from you. But that ends now.”
Cindy blinked back tears. “It’s okay,” she whispered. “You found me in time.”
Liam nodded. “And tonight, you’ll take back what was stolen. You’ll shift not from fear, but from freedom.”
Ethan reached for her hand, squeezing gently. “And this time, the whole kingdom will know their princess stands tall.”
Liam stepped closer. “Then we start there. You don’t need to fight yet. What you need is to learn how to shift by choice - not by pain, not by fear.”
Ethan nodded approvingly. “Exactly. Our mother used to say that a wolf born of rage will never find peace. But a wolf called by calm will never lose herself.”
Cindy lifted her gaze, her eyes glistening. “I don’t even know if I can do it. What if I can’t?”
“You can,” Ethan said simply. “You just haven’t been shown how.”
Liam gave her a small, reassuring smile. “The first shift you choose for yourself - that’s the real beginning. The one that matters.”
Lisa inhaled deeply, trying to steady the swirl of emotion inside her. She could feel Celia, silent but alert, listening from within.
Then Liam added, “It’s not just about you, Lisa. When a wolf finally answers her call, the pack feels it. The land feels it. Even the moon listens.”
Ethan’s voice softened, his tone shifting to something deeper. “And Rex…” He smiled faintly. “He’s been restless since you returned. He wants to meet her - his sister.”
Cindy froze for a moment, her chest tightening at the thought. Inside, Celia stirred, her presence brushing against Cindy’s thoughts like a warm breeze.
“Rex,” Celia whispered, her voice low, steady. “I can feel him. It’s been so long.”
Lisa blinked back the sudden wave of emotion. “She says… she can feel him too.”
Ethan’s eyes softened. “Then maybe tonight is the right time. We’ll go to the forest - just us. Me, Liam, and you. No crowd, no noise. Just the moon and the two of you. Isabel can come too if she is scared of it all. I know you would want her there.”
Lisa smiled faintly. “Yes. But I’m a bit scared – you make it sound so easy.”
“It’s not,” Ethan admitted. “But it’s worth it.”
Liam stepped forward, brushing his gloves against his palms. “I’ll be there too - to make sure everything’s safe. Celia doesn’t have to be afraid. Neither do you.”
Cindy nodded, her fingers curling around the pendant at her throat - her mother’s necklace, the one Ethan had given her earlier that day. “She’s not afraid,” she murmured. “I think… she’s excited.”
Ethan grinned. “Good. Rex will be too.”
Cindy laughed quietly. “Then I guess we shouldn’t keep them waiting.”
The tension on the field eased. Liam signalled the trainees to resume their drills, and the clang of blades once again filled the air. Cindy and Ethan moved to the side, watching the rhythm of motion -steel flashing, bodies pivoting in perfect unison.
Liam glanced at her. “One day, you’ll be in there with them.”
“One day,” she echoed, a faint smile playing on her lips.
Ethan folded his arms. “When that day comes, I expect to see you surpass them.”
She gave him a mock glare. “No pressure, then.”
He laughed. “Pressure makes diamonds, little sister.”
As the sun began to lower over the horizon, the golden light caught on the silver threads of her mother’s training gear. Cindy lifted her gaze toward the distant treetops where the forest began — dark, wild, ancient.
She could feel Celia stirring beneath her skin, restless, curious.
“Tonight,” Celia whispered. “We meet them. We remember who we are.”
Cindy smiled softly, her heart both heavy and light.
That night, under the rising moon, she would stand beneath the stars with her brother and her friends, and she would face the part of herself she had spent a lifetime hiding.
The girl once called Cindy was gone.
But Lisa - Princess of Mooncrest, daughter of the lost queen, sister to the King - was ready to be found.