Chapter 80

Chapter 80
Sera POV

When I woke again, the air felt thick and heavy in my lungs. The room was filled with distant noise, drums, laughter, footsteps, and the kind of careless happiness that always comes before a celebration. I lay still for a while, staring up at the wooden ceiling, letting the sound press against my ears.

My body still felt weak from everything that happened, but there was no time for rest. Today… was the festival.

The ancient fire festival.

A day the pack loved. A day they would celebrate strength, unity, bloodline, and power. A day for stories and flames and songs that echoed like war cries into the night.

And one day they would get to look at me openly, fully, with no walls, no distance, and no shadows to hide behind.

I rose slowly, steadying myself on the edge of the bed. My legs trembled, but I forced them to move. The air smelt of smoke already, hot, clinging to my skin as soon as I stepped outside.

I could hear the drums clearly now, strong and rhythmic, vibrating the ground. The entire pack was gathered near the great fire circle.

I walked toward the sound, my steps small but determined. Each one felt like I was walking into something I couldn’t escape.

When I reached the festival grounds, they were all there.

Warriors. Elders. New wolves. Old wolves. The entire pack. The fire pit sat at the centre, flames already rising, dancing in the open air. The sky above was bright, but the fire made everything feel darker… heavier… watching.

Their eyes found me before I even fully entered the circle.

Dozens of them.

They were cold, hard and disgusted.

Whispers followed me like shadows:

“There she is.”

“The outsider.”

“The witch.”

“Look at her mark… she thinks she’s Luna.”

“She doesn’t belong here. Not with us.”

My chest tightened. My hands trembled. I tried to breathe slowly, quietly, without drawing more attention. I wanted to disappear, but disappearing was impossible now. Not with the bite on my neck. Not with Jade’s claim burning on my skin.

I kept walking.

I stood where they wanted me to stand, near the fire, where the flames glowed bright enough to make every expression around me clearer. The heat licked my skin, warm and sticky, but it did nothing to chase the cold sinking deep into my bones.

A group of warriors passed by, laughing louder than they needed to, making sure I heard.

“She’ll bring nothing but ruin.”

“The Alpha has lost sense.”

“If she were gone, everything would return to normal.”

Their words felt like invisible claws, scraping and tearing slowly.

But I didn’t look away. I didn’t cry. I kept my back straight, even though my body wanted to fold in on itself.

Then…

His presence swept over the field like the air itself recognised him, the Alpha, the storm, the force that held the entire pack together. Jade stepped forward, his eyes already searching for me. And when he found me, his whole expression changed, softened, sharpened, and darkened all at once.

He came to me, without hesitation. The crowd parted for him, though some of them didn’t want to. He stopped beside me, close enough that I could feel the warmth of him at my side. And even though I didn’t touch him… I felt protected.

But I also felt exposed.

The firelight flickered over his silver eyes as he looked at me, and he took one slow breath as if grounding himself.

I tried to look calm. I tried to look strong. But I knew he saw the fear in me.

He always sees.

He leaned in slightly, his voice low enough that only I could hear.

“Don’t look away from any of them,” he murmured. “You stand beside me. Always.”

My throat tightened, and I swallowed. I didn’t trust my voice, so I only nodded.

The chanting changed.

I didn’t notice at first. I was too focused on breathing through the heat of the flames and the weight of so many eyes. But slowly, the rhythm deepened. The drums grew lower, heavier, like the heartbeat of something ancient beneath the earth.

The fire at the centre of the circle crackled louder.

A breeze swept through the clearing, though there was no wind.

And then the flames rose unnaturally.

They surged upward all at once, like something had inhaled deep beneath the ground and exhaled fire into the sky. Gasps rippled through the crowd. Someone stumbled back. Someone else dropped to their knees.

Heat washed over me – too hot, too bright – and instinctively, I stepped back.

But the fire followed.

The flames bent and bent toward me. Like they recognised me.

No, it was like they wanted me.

A whisper, half-human, half-something older, echoed through the clearing:

“She carries the fire.”

My heart stopped.

I looked to Jade, confused and afraid, searching for an anchor.

But he wasn’t looking at me.

He was staring at the fire… expression unreadable.

The flames surged again, towering and spiralling, casting golden light across the entire pack. Shadows writhed. The ground glowed red beneath our feet. The air tasted like burning metal.

Someone screamed.

Then another.

And then, one by one, wolves dropped to their knees in terror.

The pack bowed to the fire. Bowed to me?

My breath caught in my throat. I tried to step away to break whatever was happening, but my legs locked in place. My body trembled. The fire coiled around me like a living thing, dancing along my arms without burning, warming my skin from the inside out.

I could feel it.

It was inside me.

The healer’s words whispered back through my memory:

You carry the goddess’s fire.

Be careful.

Power like that is never given without a price.

My pulse hammered.

But all the fear I felt, every trembling piece of me, froze when I saw her.

Lady Moreen was standing far behind the crowd.

She wasn’t kneeling; her eyes burnt brighter than the flames themselves. They were sharp, fierce, and full of an old, poisonous hatred that made the air feel colder despite the fire.

Her lips curved slowly into a smile that wasn’t a smile at all.

I knew she hated me so much.