Chapter 74

Chapter Seventy Four

Selene’s POV

It had been three days since we returned to the pack lands.

Three days since the mountain released its last pulse of light behind us and fell silent.

Three days since Kai almost died in my arms.

I tried not to think about the way his eyes had rolled back, or how his blood stained my hands, or how the pack warriors had looked at me like I was the one who broke him. I tried not to think about how close I came to losing him again.

But the problem with trying was that it never worked.

The pack compound was busier than ever. Wolves moved through the training field with renewed focus, rebuilding the defenses that had collapsed during the chaos. Healers carried herbs and glowing stones. Warriors sharpened blades and prepared for an attack no one could describe but everyone felt.

And everywhere I went, eyes followed me.

Some looked with awe.

Some with fear.

Some with both.

I felt it in the air, the unspoken truth that the mountain was no longer our greatest threat. The danger had followed us home, wrapped in silence and the unsteady rhythm of Kai’s heartbeat and the strange new power pulsing in my veins.

I found Kai in the Alpha wing, leaning heavily against the railing on the balcony that overlooked the training grounds. He had wrapped his ribs too tightly again. I could see it in the way he winced whenever he breathed.

“You should be lying down,” I said as I walked closer.

He did not look away from the warriors below. “I have rested enough.”

“You could still tear something,” I insisted.

He turned toward me finally. His eyes, usually warm amber when he was calm, were a darker shade today. Determined. Guarded.

“Every day that I stay in bed,” he said, “the pack remembers how close they came to losing their Alpha.”

I stepped beside him. “You nearly died, Kai. That is not weakness. That is the truth.”

He breathed in slowly, careful to hide the pain from his face. “The truth is that our people saw you pull power from the Core that should have killed you. They saw a mountain wake because of you. They saw me bleed. They need balance. They need to see their Alpha standing.”

“And what about me,” I whispered.

He looked at me then, really looked. “You are standing too.”

I wanted to believe that. I wanted to believe I had strength left in me. But the tremors that came at night, the dreams of the First Queen, the marks that flickered under my skin when I touched the earth, all told a different story.

Kai must have sensed my silence. His expression softened, though he kept his posture firm. “Selene. Sit with me.”

We sank onto the bench carved out of dark oak. A breeze moved through the courtyard below, carrying the scent of pine and damp earth. It should have been calming. Instead, it made my skin prickle.

Kai reached for my hand, tracing his thumb over the faint silver veins that still stained my wrist. “You have been quiet since we returned.”

“I am trying to understand what is happening to me,” I admitted.

“You are adjusting. That is all.”

“I feel like something is growing inside me,” I whispered. “Not something alive. Something ancient.”

His grip tightened. “You are not the mountain, Selene. You are not the throne. You are you.”

I met his eyes. “Then why does it feel like the mountain followed me home.”

Before he could answer, a sharp howl broke through the air. Both of us rose instantly. A warrior sprinted across the courtyard, his face pale.

“Alpha,” he said breathlessly. “You need to come. Now.”

Kai did not hesitate. I followed at his heels.

The warriors led us to the medical hall. The scent hit me first, sharp and metallic. Blood. Magic. Fear. Inside, healers swarmed around a young wolf whose skin glowed faintly silver, cracks of light crawling up his arms like roots.

“What happened to him,” Kai demanded.

“He touched the ground near the boundary,” the healer said. “Just placed his hand on it. Then his veins lit up.”

My chest tightened. “Move.”

The healers stepped aside reluctantly. I knelt beside the boy, palms hovering over his skin. The silver was the same shade as mine. The same pattern. The same pulse.

“The mountain,” I whispered. “It is reaching through the land.”

Kai knelt beside me. “Then it is reacting to you.”

“No,” I said. “It is reacting to anything that carries wolf blood. He is sensitive to it, that is all.”

The boy gasped as the light spread across his chest. His heart stuttered.

“Selene,” Kai said sharply. “Can you help him.”

I wanted to say no. I wanted to say I did not know how. But something inside me stirred, the same instinct that had awakened in the Core chamber, the same force that tightened when Kai was in danger.

I placed my hand on the boy’s sternum.

The silver threads beneath my skin brightened.

A soft hum vibrated through the air, the same one that had once echoed through the mountain. The healers flinched. The boy arched off the bed as if pulled by invisible strings, then fell still.

Then the light seeped back into his veins. His breathing steadied. His heartbeat evened.

The room fell silent.

Kai watched me with a mixture of relief and something darker, something protective and afraid.

“What did you do,” he asked quietly.

“I connected to it,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady. “Whatever the mountain awakened in me, it recognizes its own energy.”

“That means it can use you,” he said.

“Or I can use it,” I replied.

Neither of us liked the way that sounded.

We left the medical hall in tense silence. Outside, the sun had begun to set, painting the sky orange and gold. The pack gathered near the training grounds, whispering as we passed. Their eyes followed me with the same mixture of fear and reverence that had shadowed me since the throne shattered.

Kai walked beside me, his hand brushing mine but not quite holding it.

When we reached the Alpha quarters, he finally exhaled.

“You should rest,” he said.

“So should you.”

He leaned against the wall, finally letting the pain show in his features. “I will, after I make sure you are settled.”

“I am not a fragile thing to be put away in a room.”

“No,” he said. “You are the most dangerous thing in this pack. That is why I will not leave you alone until I know you are safe.”

I stepped toward him, closing the space between us. “What are you afraid I am going to do.”

His voice dropped. “Break.”

My breath caught.

He cupped my face gently, careful of every movement. His fingers were warm against my skin. “You carry something inside you that no one understands. That is why I am afraid. Not of you. For you.”

My throat tightened. “And what about you. You almost died because of me.”

“I survived because of you,” he corrected. “Do not twist that.”

He pressed his forehead to mine. “Selene, I do not care what the mountain wants or what the past queens demand. You are mine. And I am yours. The world can shake around us. I will not let you fall.”

I closed my eyes, letting his warmth sink into me. For the first time since we returned, the tremor inside my chest softened.

He brushed a soft kiss against my jaw, then another against the corner of my mouth. His hand slid to the back of my neck, pulling me closer.

I kissed him back.

Slow at first. Uncertain. Then deeper, desperate, as if both of us were trying to forget the dark that waited just beyond the walls. His fingers tangled in my hair, pulling me closer. My hands slid up his chest, careful of his ribs, feeling his heart beat steady and real beneath my palms.

He broke the kiss only when our breaths tangled. “Come inside,” he whispered.

But before either of us could move, a howl split the air. Sharp. Urgent. Terrified.

Kai stiffened immediately.

“That is the northern patrol,” he said. “They would not call for us unless something is breaking.”

My stomach tightened.

“What now.”

Kai’s eyes darkened. “We find out.”

He shifted into Alpha mode instantly, his energy snapping into sharp focus. The warmth between us vanished into the night air.

But as we sprinted across the courtyard, I felt something else moving beneath the ground.

A pulse.

A call.

Not to me this time.

To all of us.

The mountain had not followed me home.

It was awakening across the entire territory.

And this time, it was not whispering.

It was rising.