36

The world was waiting.

Selene could feel it—the weight of every gaze, every whispered question that had yet to be answered. The war was over. The gods had fallen. But the world had not collapsed into ruin.

It had simply… paused.

As if holding its breath, waiting for her next move.

And Selene—the girl who had never wanted a throne, who had only ever fought to be free—stood on the precipice of a choice that would shape the future forever.

Alec leaned against the stone railing beside her, golden eyes watching the horizon. “You know they’re expecting an answer.”

Selene exhaled. “I know.”

Lucian, standing just behind her, spoke quietly. “And do you have one?”

That was the question, wasn’t it?

She had spent her life fighting against fate. Against the gods, against the bonds that had tried to define her.

But now, she had become the thing she once resisted.

The gods were gone, but their power—their legacy—still lingered in her blood. She had become something more than wolf, more than mortal.

And now, she had to decide what to do with it.

Kael would have had something snarky to say about it.

The thought twisted inside her, sharp as a blade.

She had won the war. She had saved the world. But she had lost him.

And she wasn’t sure if she could ever forgive herself for that.

Alec nudged her shoulder lightly. “So?”

Selene turned to face them. “So?” she repeated, arching a brow.

Alec smirked. “Are you going to rule from the heavens, or are you staying down here with the rest of us?”

Lucian crossed his arms. “You don’t have to choose between them, you know.”

Selene frowned. “That’s exactly what I have to do.”

Lucian’s emerald eyes flickered with something unreadable. “Why?”

She exhaled, pressing a hand against her temple. “Because power demands control. The gods ruled because they believed no one else could. If I take their place, if I wield what’s left of them, I’ll become the same thing I spent my life fighting against.”

Alec’s voice was quiet. “You’re not them, Selene.”

She looked at him. “Not yet.”

Alec’s gaze didn’t waver. “And you won’t be.”

Selene turned away, staring back at the valley below. The wolves who had survived the war were rebuilding, piecing together a new world from the ashes of the old.

She could stand above them.

Or she could stand with them.

Lucian’s voice was softer now. “You once told me you wanted to be free.”

Selene closed her eyes. “I did.”

Lucian exhaled. “Then choose that.”

Selene’s throat tightened. “It’s not that simple.”

Alec moved closer, his warmth steady beside her. “Yes, it is.”

Selene let out a slow breath.

And for the first time in her life, she let herself believe that it could be.

She had been born into a world that told her what she had to be.

She had fought wars to rewrite her fate.

And now, standing on the edge of a decision that could shape the future forever—

Selene finally knew who she was.

Not a goddess.

Not a ruler of heavens.

A Queen.

A wolf.

A leader who would fight beside her people, not above them.

She turned to Alec and Lucian, her silver eyes steady.

“I’m staying.”

Alec grinned. “Took you long enough.”

Lucian smirked. “And here I thought you’d enjoy smiting people from above.”

Selene laughed, the sound light despite the weight of what she had just decided.

Because for the first time in a long time—

She was free.

And that was the only fate she had ever wanted.