Chapter 128 the names remembered
The eastern hall had grown quieter as the sun climbed higher, the morning light now spilling across the long floor like pale gold. Dust motes floated lazily through the beams, drifting between the carved pillars and the long wooden tables that had been pushed aside for ceremony preparations.
My legs were starting to ache from standing, but Mara showed no signs of slowing down.
If anything, she looked energized.
I, on the other hand, felt like my brain had been stuffed with a thousand years of wolf traditions that I was expected to remember perfectly.
Fasting.
Moon water.
Barefoot walks.
Sacred fire.
Moon baths.
I rubbed my eyes.
“Please tell me we’re almost done.”
Mara gave me a look that suggested my optimism was adorable but misplaced.
“There are only two rites left to discuss.”
“Only two,” I muttered.
She turned a page in the thick ceremonial book she carried and looked up at me again.
“This one is important.”
I straightened slightly.
“They all seem important.”
“This one is personal.”
That word caught my attention.
“Personal how?”
Mara closed the book slowly and set it on the table beside her.
“This part of the ceremony is called Light for the Lost.”
The name alone made something tighten in my chest.
“What does that mean?”
She walked toward the tall windows overlooking the forest. Her voice softened as she spoke.
“Silverbound Night is not only about renewal.”
She gestured toward the trees outside.
“It is also about remembrance.”
I leaned against the edge of the table, listening more carefully now.
“During this rite,” she continued, “the pack gathers near the lake before the main ceremony begins.”
“Okay.”
“Lanterns are prepared earlier in the day.”
“Lanterns?”
“Yes.”
I pictured glowing lights floating in the dark.
“Each pack member writes the names of their lost loved ones.”
My throat tightened.
“They write them… on the lanterns?”
“Yes.”
“And then what?”
“They release them onto the lake.”
I imagined it.
Hundreds of small lights drifting across black water.
The image was strangely beautiful.
“They float until the wind carries them across the surface,” Mara said quietly. “The belief is that the Moon Goddess sees every name written there.”
I swallowed.
“That’s… actually really nice.”
“It is called Light for the Lost,” she repeated softly.
She turned to face me again.
“As Luna, your role is different.”
Of course it was.
“What do I do?”
“You will light the first lantern.”
“Okay.”
“But the name you write will not be personal.”
“What name then?”
Mara’s voice became formal again.
“You will write the names of all former Alpha Kings and Lunas.”
I blinked.
“All of them?”
“Yes.”
“That must be a lot.”
“It is.”
“And they all go on one lantern?”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“There will be many.”
That sounded exhausting.
“You are honoring the line of leadership before you.”
I nodded slowly.
“That makes sense.”
But Mara hadn’t finished.
“There is one more thing.”
“What?”
“You are allowed to add names not on the official record.”
I frowned slightly.
“Why would names not be on the record?”
“Because history is written by those in power.”
I looked at her carefully.
“And sometimes people are forgotten.”
“Yes.”
The hall grew quiet.
Something in her words settled heavily inside my chest.
“You may add any name you believe deserves remembrance,” she said gently.
I stared down at the wooden floor for a long moment. Then a thought hit me. My breath caught.
“Any name?”
“Yes.”
My heart started beating faster. Because there was something sitting in my room upstairs. Something I had carried for weeks.
A list.The names of wolves.Test subjects.Victims of my father’s Experiments.
Those wolves hadn’t been warriors. They hadn’t been criminals. They had been ordinary pack members. Taken.
Some had died screaming. Some had never been found.
Their names had disappeared from pack records because acknowledging them meant acknowledging what had happened.
My father’s work.
My creation.
My throat tightened painfully.
“And my sister,” I whispered.
Mara’s voice softened.
“You would honor her.”
I nodded slowly.
“She deserves that much.”
Silence stretched between us for several seconds. Then Mara spoke again.
“This is why the rite exists.”
I looked up at her.
“To give voice to the forgotten.”
A strange mix of grief and determination spread through me. “I’m going to need a lot of lanterns.”
Mara didn’t hesitate. “We will prepare them.”
For a moment neither of us spoke. Then Mara picked up the ceremonial book again.“There is one final lesson.”
I sighed.
“Please tell me this one doesn’t involve freezing water.”
“No.”
“Good.”
She turned another page. “The final rite is called The Howl of Continuance.”
I blinked.“That sounds… dramatic.”
“It is.”
“What happens?”
“The Blood Guard leads the pack.”
I straightened slightly.
“Vincent and the others?”
“Yes.”
“Do they all participate?”
“Only a few.”
“Why?”
“They are chosen.”
“For what?”
“To begin the howl.”
I frowned slightly.
“Don’t wolves just… howl naturally?”
Mara almost smiled.
“This is different.”
She walked toward the center of the hall as she spoke.“When the ceremony reaches its peak, the pack gathers beneath the full moon.”
“Okay.”
“The Blood Guard shifts first.”
“All of them?”
“No.”
“Just a few?”
“Yes.”
“They are the ones who start the call.”
I imagined it.
Massive wolves stepping forward under moonlight.
Their voices rising into the night.
“And then the rest of the pack joins?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“Why them first?”
“They represent the pack’s strength.”
“And protection.”
“Yes.”
I nodded slowly.
“That actually sounds pretty powerful.”
“It is meant to be.”
She closed the book again.
“The howl carries across the entire territory.”
“Like a signal.”
“Exactly.”
“For what?”
“For survival.”
I tilted my head.
“I’m not sure I understand.”
Mara looked at me carefully before answering.
“The howl is not about dominance.”
“Then what is it about?”
Her voice grew quiet but firm.
“The howl is permission.”
I frowned slightly.
“Permission?”
“To exist loudly in nature.”
The words hung in the air between us.
Something about them made my chest tighten again.
“All wolves know how to howl,” she continued. “But not all wolves feel safe doing it.”
I thought about rogues. Outcasts.Hybrids.
Creatures hated by both sides.
“Silverbound Night reminds the pack that they are not alone.”
The image formed in my mind. Hundreds of wolves under the moon. Voices rising together.
No fear.
No hiding.
Just existence.
Loud and undeniable.
“And the Alpha and Luna?” I asked quietly.
“What about them?”
“Do we howl too?”
Mara nodded once.
“Yes.”
I exhaled slowly.
“I’ve never howled with a pack before.”
Her expression softened slightly.
“You will on that night.”
A strange nervous excitement stirred in my chest.
“Good,” I said quietly.
“Why?”
Because for the first time in my life…
I wouldn’t be the only monster making noise in the dark. I looked out the window toward the forest again.
The lake shimmered faintly through the trees. Soon the lanterns would float there. Names written in ink and memory.
My sister.The wolves whose lives my father destroyed.
All the forgotten.
And later the pack would howl beneath the moon.
And for the first time since Mara started explaining these traditions…
I understood why the ceremony mattered.