Claiming Her Throne

Claiming Her Throne
If looks could kill, Nicole would already be dead.

The elders glared at her with so much anger that several of their faces had turned bright red. In the past, their disapproval would have made her nervous enough to lower her head and apologize.

Now, she found it amusing.

One of the elders finally pointed a trembling finger at her.

“What on earth are you saying, Nicole? Do you dare go against the elders?”

Nicole tilted her head.

“Would you dare go against the Moonborn?”

Silence.

The elder’s mouth opened, but no words came out.

Nicole calmly looked around the table.

“You raise your voices at me and then expect me to obey you. Have you forgotten who you're speaking to?”

Several elders looked ready to explode.

Nicole almost laughed again.

These people had never been kind to her.

In her previous life, they had helped make her existence miserable while hiding their cruelty behind tradition and wisdom. When Alicia claimed that Nicole had stolen her white wolf, the elders believed her without question and demanded that Nicole be thrown into the dungeon.

Back then, Nicole hadn’t fought them.

She had accepted the punishment simply because they were elders.

Zirah had been so furious with her that she refused to speak to Nicole for days.

This time was different.

Everyone had witnessed Nicole transform.

No one could claim the white wolf belonged to Alicia anymore.

Still, Nicole knew her sister well enough to understand that Alicia wouldn’t give up. If one lie no longer worked, she would simply find another way to make herself look innocent while turning Nicole into the villain.

And these fools would probably believe her again.

“That’s enough!”

One of the elders slammed his palm against the table.

“Guards! Seize her and take her to the dungeon! Perhaps a few days in the dark will teach her to respect her elders.”

Nicole immediately noticed the satisfied smile on her stepmother’s face.

Her father said nothing.

He simply sat there while other people decided what should happen to his own daughter.

Alicia remained quiet too, but unlike the others, she wasn’t smiling.

She was studying Nicole carefully.

Trying to understand what had changed.

The guards stepped forward.

Before they could reach Nicole, a deep growl filled the room.

The sound vibrated through the walls.

Zirah.

Every guard froze.

Nicole felt Zirah’s power rise inside her, filling the room with the white wolf’s overwhelming presence.

“Step back.”

The guards obeyed immediately.

They lowered their heads and retreated, unwilling to challenge the wolf they had all witnessed only a week earlier.

Nicole looked at the terrified faces around her.

“I already warned you. Don’t raise your voice at the Moonborn.”

This time, no one argued.

For the first time in Nicole’s life, the elders looked afraid of her.

Some lowered their eyes. Others clenched their hands in their laps, clearly furious but no longer brave enough to challenge her directly.

Even her stepmother stayed quiet.

Nicole smiled.

So this was the language they understood.

Power.

They had mistaken her past obedience for weakness. They believed that even after awakening the white wolf, she would remain too afraid to use the authority that came with it.

They were wrong.

“Anyway, I didn’t come here to fight with a group of old people.”

Several faces darkened again, but no one interrupted.

“I came here to make something clear. Whatever you’re planning for me, stop. You can discuss my life all day if that entertains you, but I won’t obey your decisions.”

Nicole slowly looked around the table.

“And from now on, I won’t tolerate disrespect from anyone, especially the servants. I carry the white wolf. I am the true Moonborn. Whether you like me or hate me changes nothing.”

Her gaze settled on Alicia.

“So everyone should start remembering that.”

Alicia held her gaze for a moment before looking away.

Nicole noticed.

Her sister was being careful.

That was fine.

Nicole wasn’t foolish enough to believe Alicia had surrendered. She was probably already thinking about her next move.

But Nicole had other things to deal with first.

Revenge could wait.

Then Nicole looked at her father.

“There’s one more thing.”

His expression immediately tightened.

“According to tradition, when I turn twenty, I have the right to become head of the temple.”

Her father’s face froze.

Nicole smiled.

“That means you have two years left.”

The entire room became tense.

“In two years, you’ll step down and hand the position to me.”

One of the elders shot to his feet.

“You...!”

Another elder immediately grabbed his sleeve and whispered something to him.

The man reluctantly fell silent.

Nicole’s father still said nothing, but his clenched fists told her everything she needed to know.

He was furious.

And he also knew she was right.

The position had never truly belonged to him.

It had belonged to Nicole’s mother.

After her death, Nicole’s father took control of the temple. In Nicole’s past lives, she had never challenged him for it. He remained in power for decades before eventually leaving the position to Alicia.

Nicole remembered what happened afterward.

Under Alicia’s rule, the temple fell into ruin.

She would not allow history to repeat itself.

Nicole didn’t even care about sitting on some grand throne.

But her mother had loved the temple.

And more importantly, Nicole needed power of her own.

She couldn’t depend on becoming Luna of the Golden Shine Pack.

She didn’t want her future to depend on Zandro at all.

If she wasn’t going to stand beside him, then she needed to build a position strong enough that she would never have to stand beneath him either.

And if Alicia eventually ended up with Zandro, Nicole refused to let the two of them hold enough power to destroy her again.

The temple gave her another path.

One that belonged to her.

Nicole looked around the room one last time.

“That’s all I came to say. You can go back to whatever nonsense you were discussing before.”

She casually waved a hand toward the table.

“Continue.”

Then she turned and walked out.

No one tried to stop her.

Outside, the servants immediately lowered their heads.

Even Hannah and Rhea bowed as Nicole passed.

Their respect was forced.

Nicole knew that.

She simply didn’t care.

For now, fear would do.

As she continued down the corridor, she noticed someone leaning against the wall.

Arthur.

Bruises from Silas’s beating still covered his face.

Resentment flashed in his eyes when he saw Nicole, but it disappeared almost immediately.

Arthur lowered his head.

Nicole smiled.

Good.

He had finally learned something.

Perhaps next time, he would think twice before putting his hands on someone under her protection.

Nicole walked past him without another word.

Her confrontation with the elders was finished.

Her claim to the temple had been made.

Now she could finally deal with the thing that had been waiting beneath her bed.

The box.

And after waiting this long, Nicole was more than ready to discover what was inside.