Chapter 183

Chapter 183
{Ronan’s POV}

The morning of our coronation felt like the dawn of a new day. All our enemies were defeated. All the ghosts of our past gone. The road ahead was clear for the first time in ages…

I had barely gotten used to the new power that came with being King of Alphas. And the weight of the crown I had yet to wear pressed against me all the same. I stood before the mirror, adjusting the collar of my suit, my reflection staring back with a gaze that was just as elated.

“Stop fighting with it,” Lisa’s voice drifted from behind me. She crossed the room with an ease that made the nerves in my gut calm, at least for a moment. She reached up and tugged at my tie, her fingers deft where mine had been clumsy. “You’re about to be crowned Alpha King and you’re losing to a strip of fabric.”

I caught her wrist, kissed her knuckles, then leaned down to claim her lips. For a breath, everything went still, the scent of her grounding me, her presence reminding me that none of this meant anything without her beside me.

“You fought for this,” she said quietly, smoothing the tie against my chest. “I don’t know anyone who deserves it more.”

Her words should have lifted me, but I caught the shadow in her eyes. I pulled back enough to study her. “Something’s on your mind. Is it about your parents?”

She hesitated, then shook her head. “No. I can’t change the fact that the rogues are dead. I have to learn to let go too.”

Her voice wavered on the last word, but before I could speak she went on.

“It’s about Damon.”

The name hardened my spine. I turned away, reaching for my cufflinks. “I don’t want to talk about him.”

“You don’t want to, but you need to,” she countered. Her tone was gentle, but it left no room for me to dodge. “I know everything he’s done. And yes, he made terrible choices, but Lucien was his brother. When family calls, it’s normal to answer.”

“Normal?” I turned back. “He's the reason Lucien was so close to winni—”

“And yet,” Lisa interrupted, laying a hand against my chest, “when it mattered most, he stepped in. He gave you exactly what you needed to bring Lucien down. You can’t deny that.”

Her eyes held mine until I exhaled slowly, defeated by her calm reason.

“We’re starting a new chapter. Don’t carry old grudges into it. You’re about to be crowned king. Lead with more than anger.”

Her words followed me long after we left for the coronation.

The venue was alive with noise and light. Camera flashes burst in our faces, the crowd pressing close in celebration and awe. Heri and Anya walked between us, the small anchors that kept Lisa and me tethered to something small in the grand chaos of everything else.

Anya clutched my hand tightly, her small palm damp with nerves. I looked down at her, at the wide fear in her eyes, and something stirred in me. An instinct to protect her, as fiercely as I would protect Heri or Lisa. She was not mine by blood, but in that moment she might as well have been.

And that thought dragged me back to Damon.

As if summoned, I saw him. He lingered at the edge of the crowd, his gaze flicking between me and Lisa.

He did not move closer, did not dare. But Lisa noticed him, and so did the girls.

“Heri,” Lisa said warmly, tugging her forward.

They went to greet him, Heri with her usual shy brightness, Anya with bolder steps. Lisa smiled at him, soft but firm, her forgiveness plain in her eyes.

I stayed where I was. My feet would not move, my pride keeping me rooted, though I watched every second of their exchange.

The moment ended as the Elders’ voices carried over the crowd.

“Alpha Ronan Stormrider,” Elder Elric called. “Step forward.”

The air thickened as the ceremony began. I walked to the stage, Lisa at my side, Heri and Anya just behind us. Every step felt like walking into a new role that came with its own problems, yet I held my head high.

The ritual words rolled over me, the Elders invoking old rites, the Council bore witness. Even some witches came for the ceremony.

“You have proven yourself  time and time again.” Elder Elric rehearsed as a crown of gold and pulsing minerals was lifted, then placed upon my head. The cheers thundered.

“From this day forward,” Elric declared, “you are Alpha King of all wolves.”

I turned to Lisa, and the Elder’s assistant crowned her next. “And you, Lisa Hart Stormrider, are Luna Queen.”

The applause doubled, feet stomping, voices crying out. Lisa squeezed my hand, her smile radiant despite the tension I knew lingered in her heart.

The celebration surged, but a commotion at the entrance drew my eye. ‘Oh…’

Mistress Arlena strode in, her spine straight as ever, and behind her came a cluster of wolves. 

Lisa stiffened.

I leaned in. “Surprise.”

She stared in shock as I continued. “They are your pack. The Saint Crest... Consider it my gift to you, my queen.”

Her gasp was small, but her hand flew to her mouth, eyes brimming. She turned to me with such raw gratitude that I almost faltered under it.

▪︎▪︎▪︎

{Lisa’s POV}

When Elric gestured for Ronan to speak, he stepped forward, his voice carrying across the hall.

“Today is not only a day for a crown. It is a day for change. We will usher in a new era, one of justice, one of alliances rebuilt, one of bonds healed. No wolf, no pack, no bloodline will be abandoned again.”

The crowd erupted, but he lifted a hand for silence.

“And as my first act as official Alpha King, I call forth Damon Blackfang.”

The name sent murmurs rippling through the hall. Damon froze where he stood in the crowd, disbelief plain on his face. Slowly, hesitantly, he moved forward until he reached the base of the stage.

Ronan held his gaze. I was sure the anger and betrayal still coiled inside him, but beneath it was everything else.

“Damon. You are no longer Beta of Bloodmoon… That bond was severed.”

He paused. Just to be dramatic, then added. “Instead, I name you Alpha of the Blackfang pack, to take command in Lucien’s place. If you are willing.”

Damon's mouth opened, then closed, his chest rising fast. His eyes gleamed as he blinked furiously. Fighting the tears threatening to fall.

“I… I accept,” he said hoarsely.

The hall roared, wolves clapping shoulders, voices rising.

Ronan stepped down, gripped Damon’s shoulders, and pulled him into a fierce embrace. For the first time in what felt like forever, he called him what he had almost lost the right to.

“Congratulations, brother.”

His arms tightened around Damon, and the crowd’s cheers rose to a fever pitch.

In that moment, with me crowned at his side and Damon reclaimed as our kin, I felt the promise of the new era Ronan had spoken of.

It wasn’t perfect, it was not without scars, but it was strong enough to build something lasting. The war for succession began with blood… and practically ended with blood. 

But that was in the past now. And we all carried a new hope for the future.