Chapter 54: The Ghost of My Luna

Chapter 54: The Ghost of My Luna


Kael’s POV

The night air was colder beyond the Shadow Pack camp, sharp against my skin as I stalked through the trees. But no amount of cold could cool the fire raging inside me.

Fianna.

Her name wouldn’t stop echoing, pounding against my skull with every heartbeat.

Fianna.

The woman who had betrayed me. The woman I had condemned. The woman who had died in my hands, her blood on the floor of the dungeon, her silver eyes dimming while I turned away.

And now

Now she stood there. Alive. Wearing another face. Another name. Elena.

But I’d know those eyes anywhere. The same fire. The same defiance. The same way my wolf had howled when I first met her in these lands, begging me to claim what I thought was gone forever.

I slammed my fist into a tree, the bark splintering beneath the force. Pain jolted up my arm, grounding me for a moment, but it wasn’t enough. Nothing could match the storm inside me.

She lied.

That truth cut deepest of all.

She had looked me in the eyes—again and again—pretending to be someone else. Pretending she was dead. Pretending that we were dead. And I had fallen for it. My wolf had fallen for it. I had felt the bond, clawing at me, and I had convinced myself I was going mad.

But no. It was her. It was always her.

Fianna.

My Luna.

And she had chosen to stand with Derek.

My chest tightened, rage and something far uglier twisting together. Betrayal. That cursed word again. My entire life had been carved open by betrayal. My first love had sold me out. Fianna had poisoned my trust and cost me my parents. And now… now she had been living as another man’s weapon while I bled for ghosts.

“Damn you,” I whispered into the night, my voice raw.

My wolf roared inside me, clawing, desperate. He didn’t want to damn her. He wanted to run back, to tear Derek’s throat out, to drag her into our arms and never let go again. He wanted her. He needed her.

But me?

I didn’t know if I could forgive her.

I sank to my knees, fists digging into the cold dirt. Images blurred together—Fianna’s silver eyes staring up at me as she died. Elena’s silver eyes burning at me across the tavern, refusing to bow. Fianna whispering promises of loyalty. Elena snapping that she was no one’s.

Two women. One soul.

And I couldn’t decide if I wanted to kill her for what she’d done… or fall to my knees and beg her never to leave again.

Branches cracked behind me. I stiffened instantly, head snapping up. My wolf surged forward, ready to spill blood.

But it wasn’t Derek’s men. It wasn’t danger.

It was Rowan. My beta. My brother in all but blood.

He stepped into the clearing, his expression cautious but steady. “Kael.”

I growled, low and dangerous. “Not now.”

He didn’t move. Didn’t flinch. “You can tear the forest apart if you want, but it won’t change what you saw.”

My nails dug deeper into the dirt, claws threatening to tear free. “Don’t say her name.”

Rowan’s gaze hardened. “Why not? It’s hers, isn’t it? Fianna. You know it. I know it. The whole damned Shadow Pack knows it by now. Pretending won’t erase her.”

The sound that tore from my throat was closer to a snarl than words. My wolf wanted to shift, to run, to fight.

But Rowan didn’t back down.

“You’ve waited years to have her back,” he said quietly. “And now you do. She’s not the same, but she’s here. Alive. Stronger.”

“Stronger?” I spat the word like venom, shoving to my feet. “She stood with him. With Derek. Do you understand what that means? She’s letting herself be his pawn.”

Rowan’s eyes narrowed. “Or maybe she’s trying to survive.”

I froze.

The words cut through me sharper than claws.

Survive.

That had always been Fianna’s way, hadn’t it? The girl who had grown up small, underestimated, weak in the eyes of everyone else. The woman who had carried a pack too fragile to last. The Luna who had married me because she had no other way to save her people.

Survival had been her cage.

And I… I had been the one to break her in it.

My chest burned, guilt clawing up my throat until I could barely breathe.

“She lied to me,” I whispered. “She let me believe she was gone.”

Rowan stepped closer, his voice steady. “Maybe she had no choice. Or maybe she thought you’d never forgive her. Can you, Kael?”

The question hit harder than any blade.

Could I?

The truth was—I didn’t know.

All I knew was this: I couldn’t stay away.

Whether I hated her or loved her, whether she was Fianna or Elena, she was mine. My wolf wouldn’t let her go. My blood wouldn’t let her go.

And if Derek thought he could claim her—if he thought he could twist her into his weapon—then war was already here.

I lifted my head, my jaw tightening, my voice a vow carved in steel.

“She can call herself Elena. She can run. She can hate me. But she is mine. And I’ll burn Derek’s pack to ash before I let him keep her.”

The forest shuddered as my wolf surged against me, a howl ripp
ing through the night, carrying my fury into the skies.

The world would hear it.
And Fianna would hear it too.