Chapter 177 The Garden

Chapter 177 The Garden

Soren

Six months into my life as Luna, the garden had become my sanctuary. The roses bloomed along the fence, the vegetables thrived in the raised beds Felix had built with his own hands, and the small patch of lavender beside the bench filled the air with a sweetness that made me close my eyes and breathe deeply every time I walked past it.

Hope sat on a blanket at my feet, surrounded by toys she had no interest in. She was more interested in the grass—how it felt between her chubby fingers, how it tickled her palms when she grabbed fistfuls of it and pulled. I watched her discover the world with that kind of wonder only babies possess, and I wondered what she saw when she looked up at the sky, at the clouds, at her father’s face when he came home from pack business.

Felix found us there one Saturday afternoon, still wearing the formal jacket he had put on for the meeting with the elders. He loosened his tie and sat down in the grass beside Hope, and she immediately reached for his face with sticky fingers.

“Dada,” she said, or something close to it. She had been practicing the word for weeks, and every time she said it, Felix looked like he might cry.

“Hello, my little girl.” He lifted her into his arms and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Have you been helping Mama in the garden?”

Hope babbled something that might have been a yes, and Felix laughed, and I felt something warm spread through my chest.

“How was the meeting?” I asked.

“The elders want to hold a celebration. A formal Luna ceremony. They want the whole pack to see you crowned.”

“I thought the pack had already accepted me.”

“They have. But Morrison thinks it would be good for morale. A celebration. Something to remind everyone that the hard times are over.”

I looked at my garden—at the lavender and the roses and the vegetables that were finally starting to produce. I thought of the woman who had stood in the river with sunlight on her face, the woman from my dream who had welcomed me home.

“What do you think?” I asked.

“I think you should do whatever makes you happy. If you want a ceremony, we’ll have one. If you want to stay in the garden, we’ll stay in the garden.”

“I want both.”

Felix smiled, handed Hope back to me, and stood up, brushing the grass from his pants.

“Then we’ll have the ceremony in the garden.”

\---

The garden transformed over the next two weeks. Pack members came to help, bringing flowers and decorations and tables and chairs. Jazz took over the food, Indie handled the invitations, and Marcus somehow ended up in charge of the music, which meant the ceremony would be accompanied by a playlist that included at least three songs that made Felix grimace.

On the morning of the ceremony I stood in front of the bedroom mirror trying to decide what to wear. Not the formal dress the Council had wanted, not the white dress Rebecca had worn for her near-wedding. Something simpler. Something that felt like me.

Felix stepped up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist.

“You look beautiful.”

“I’m not even dressed yet.”

“You still look beautiful.”

I laughed and leaned back against his chest.

“I’m nervous.”

“Why?”

“Because everyone will be watching. The whole pack. The Council. Everyone who ever doubted me.”

“And they’ll see a woman who survived everything they threw at her. A woman who became Luna on her own terms. A woman who belongs here.”

I turned in his arms and looked up at him—the man who had never given up on me.

“I love you.”

“I love you too. Now put on the dress so we can be the power couple this pack deserves.”

\---

The garden was full when we stepped outside, full of wolves who had come to witness the ceremony. Some of them had been my enemies once, had voted against me, had whispered behind their hands when they thought I couldn’t hear. But they were here now, and they were smiling, and that was enough for me.

Morrison stood at the front of the crowd and read the words that had been written for the occasion. Words about loyalty and strength and the bond between Alpha and Luna. Words that felt both ancient and new.

I held Felix’s hand and looked out at the faces of the pack, and I thought of everything that had led me to this moment. The wedding where I had first seen Felix, the bond that had formed between us, the attacks and the hospital and the river that had almost taken my life. Hope was in Jazz’s arms at the edge of the crowd, watching with wide eyes, too young to understand what was happening but old enough to know that something important was taking place.

Morrison turned to me.

“Soren White, do you accept the role of Luna of the Elsbridge Pack? Do you promise to stand beside your Alpha, to protect the pack, and to lead with compassion and strength?”

I looked at Felix and thought of all the promises we had already made to each other, all the ones we had broken and remade.

“Yes.”

Morrison placed a small silver circlet on my head, light and cool in my hair.

“Then by the power vested in me by the Council and the Moon Goddess, I name you Luna. May you lead with wisdom. May you love with courage. May you never forget that you belong here.”

The pack cheered, and Felix kissed me, and Hope started to cry because it was too loud and she wanted her mother.

I laughed, went to Jazz to take my daughter, and held her against my chest, feeling her small heart beat against mine.

The celebration lasted until sunset, with music and dancing and more food than we could eat. Felix stayed by my side, and Hope stayed in my arms, and the pack celebrated the way packs had for generations.

When the last guests had gone and the garden was empty and only the lanterns in the trees still gave light, Felix and I sat on the bench by the lavender and watched the stars come out.

“Did you ever think we’d make it?” I asked.

“Every day.” He put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me closer. “Even when I didn’t believe it, I hoped.”

“That’s why I named her Hope.”

“I know.”

Hope was asleep in the nursery, exhausted from being passed from arm to arm and kissed by wolves who had fallen in love with her little face. The house was quiet, the garden still, and the world felt like it was holding its breath.

“Felix,” I said. “What happens now?”

He was silent for a moment, and when he spoke his voice was soft.

“I don’t know. But I know we’ll get through it together.”

I rested my head against his shoulder and closed my eyes.