39

The wind howled across the valley, rustling the banners that lined the ancient stone walls of the Forgotten Pack’s stronghold. The ruins that had once been a graveyard for lost wolves had been rebuilt—not as a monument to the past, but as a declaration of the future.

Selene stood at the edge of the balcony, looking down at the thousands of wolves gathered below. They had come from every pack, every hidden corner of the world, all to witness what had once been impossible.

She had fought the gods and won.

She had rewritten the rules that had once bound them all.

And now, they were here to see what came next.

Alec stood at her right, golden-eyed and steady, the mark of his return still lingering in the sharpness of his gaze, in the power that curled just beneath his skin. He was no longer just the warrior she had once loved—he was something more, something reborn.

Lucian was at her left, his emerald eyes calm, unreadable. He had once been a shadow, a man burdened by the weight of a past that wasn’t his own. Now, he stood tall, not just as her advisor, not just as a leader—but as a wolf who had finally chosen his own fate.

And Selene—

She was no longer just the girl who had been cast aside.

No longer the rogue, the outcast, the lost heir of a forgotten bloodline.

She was the Queen of Wolves.

The crowd waited, their eyes fixed on her, waiting for the first words of a new era.

Selene inhaled slowly, the weight of everything pressing against her ribs. She was not just speaking for herself. She was speaking for Kael, for the fallen, for the ones who had given everything so this moment could exist.

She stepped forward, her silver eyes blazing.

“This world has been ruled by fear for too long.”

The words rang out across the crowd, settling over them like a storm rolling in from the horizon.

“The gods demanded our loyalty. They demanded our obedience. They told us we were not strong enough to stand on our own.” Selene’s voice was steady, but unshaken. “They were wrong.”

A murmur spread through the wolves below, something shifting in the air.

“They believed we would always kneel.” Her gaze swept over them, her voice like iron wrapped in fire. “That we would never rise.”

She lifted her chin.

“But we are here.”

The murmur turned into a roar.

Selene’s fingers curled into fists.

“We do not need gods to rule us.” She exhaled sharply. “We will never bow again.”

The wolves howled, the sound rising into the night, echoing through the mountains.

Alec smirked slightly. “I think they like it.”

Lucian exhaled, his lips curling at the edges. “They should.”

Selene turned back to face them, something warm settling into her chest.

This was their world now.

And she was ready to lead it.