Chapter 75 - The Moon Lady

Chapter 75 - The Moon Lady
The sun that morning felt like a blessing. After days of snow and wind, finally the golden light filtered through the treetops, creating warm beams over the damp trail. Cassie walked slowly, feeling her lungs expand with pleasure.

The trail that led to the waterfall was the only one she knew by heart. Hendrick and the others always insisted she shouldn’t venture out alone, to avoid getting lost or stumbling upon some wild animal, but Cassie felt suffocated indoors. She needed to breathe. She needed space to organize what was happening in her mind — and in her heart.

As she moved forward, the sound of the river in the distance mixed with the snap of branches under her feet. That’s when a brown shadow emerged between the trees. Cassie stopped, her heart racing, until she recognized the green eyes shining in the lupine face.

“Uriel...” she murmured, relaxing.

The large brown wolf slowed down and, in front of her, shifted. The human body replaced the animal in the blink of an eye, leaving him naked, only covered in sweat and dark hair clinging to his forehead. There was something impressive about how solid, unchangeable Uriel seemed, even after so many years.

He smiled slightly. “Alone, Cassie?”

“I know the way,” she answered, defensively, as if caught in mischief.

The brunette noticed his nudity and tried to focus her gaze only on his face, but judging by the green color in his irises, it was noticeable that Uriel’s wolf was amused by her embarrassment.

The armorer moved behind a tree and returned dressed, covering the strong body from years of work and fighting.

“Even so, the forests don’t forgive distractions.” He ran a hand through his damp hair, his breathing still heavy from the run. “But since we’ve met, I’ll take you to a place you need to know.”

Cassie raised an eyebrow. “Where?”

“The Lady’s temple.”

Her heart accelerated. She had heard talk of it, but no one had taken her there. A small sanctuary, built in the woods, where the shifters’ faith took form.

Matt and she had even decorated the pillars of the temple’s outdoor area for Christmas without actually entering the place.

“I’ve never been there,” she confessed.

“Then today is the day.” Uriel signaled with his head and began to walk.

Cassie hesitated for only an instant before following him.

The temple was hidden among ancient trees, with trunks so thick they looked like natural columns. The construction was simple, made of light stone and wood, aged by time, but still firm. The roof opened into a circle, allowing sunlight to descend directly onto the central altar.

In the center, a silver sculpture: an imposing wolf with its muzzle raised to the sky, as if howling at the moon itself.

Cassie stopped at the entrance, unable to advance immediately. A shiver ran across her skin, as if something invisible was calling her.

“It’s beautiful...” she murmured.

Uriel approached the sculpture with calm steps, his eyes reflecting the light. “The Moon Lady. Creator of the shifters. Mistress of magic. Guardian of every generation. Without her, none of us would exist.”

Cassie advanced slowly, feeling her feet heavy as if entering sacred territory. “Do you really believe that she... watches over you?”

Uriel looked at her sideways, serious. “We don’t believe. We know.”

She bit her lip, trying to understand. “How can you be so sure?”

“Because she has always been there.” He ran his fingers over the cold stone of the sculpture, as if stroking a living being. “It was under the moon that we survived when humans tried to hunt us. It was under the moon that we found refuge in the forests. The Lady doesn’t speak as we speak, but her presence is as real as the wind that cuts through this mountain.”

Cassie was silent. She felt a strange energy in the air, something she couldn’t explain.

Uriel continued: “A pack only exists because the Lady made us this way. The alpha leads. The beta sustains him. Without this balance, there is no survival. Hendrick carries the weight of the alpha. Mason carries the weight of the beta. And I...” his eyes gleamed with irony, “I’ve been here a lot longer than you can imagine.”

Cassie looked at him, surprised. “You talk as if you were hundreds of years old.”

Uriel’s smile was slow. “Because I am.”

She gasped. “What?”

“I have about three hundred winters, Cassie.” He said this naturally, like someone commenting on the weather. “Just like Hendrick. He looks young, but he has seen entire generations of humans born and die. And Kallias... ah, Kallias carries the same marks of time.”

Cassie’s eyes widened. “But you... don’t look it.”

“That is the gift and the curse of our people.” Uriel sighed. “We live longer, but we also carry more. More memories, more losses, more battles.”

She hugged her own arms, feeling the immensity of it. Three centuries. She couldn’t even imagine living that long.

Uriel observed her, patient. “You needed to know this. You need to understand what each of them carries.”

“And Kallias?” Cassie asked, hesitant.

Uriel’s green eyes darkened. “Kallias was not born among us. He came from the north.”

Cassie frowned. “The north?”

“Long before you were born, there were two lineages of wolves.” His voice sounded like a professor narrating an ancient legend. “The wolves of the south, of the forests, who always lived in balance between the human and lupine forms. And the white wolves of the north. They were different... more primitive, they spent most of their lives as animals, hunting on the frozen plains, living in caves and snow.”

Cassie held her breath, fascinated.

“But humans arrived.” Uriel continued, his tone solemn. “They colonized the frozen lands. They saw the wolves as monsters and began to hunt them. One by one, they were massacred. Entire families killed. The ice stained with blood.”

His eyes were lost in the memory, and Cassie felt the implied pain.

“No one else survived. Kallias was the only one. He saw his own family die. As an alpha, he blames himself for failing to protect them. He watched his world crumble. And since then... he carries it. The loneliness of being the last of an almost extinct lineage.”

Cassie swallowed hard. A stubborn tear stung her eyes. “So he... never stopped being alone.”

“Never.” Uriel nodded. “When he came here, he tried to adapt. But he never stopped being an outsider. Neither Hendrick nor I could erase that. The loss of his wife here was a hard blow; he was just getting back on his feet.”

Cassie approached the sculpture, gently touching the paw of the silver wolf. “Now I understand why he fights so much. Why he always seems to be at war.”

Uriel observed her, his eyes piercing. “Now you also understand why Hendrick feels threatened. It’s not just jealousy, Cassie. It’s instinct. Two alphas don’t easily coexist. For Hendrick, accepting Kallias by his side is already an act of courage. For Kallias, accepting Hendrick as leader is almost impossible, like denying himself.”

The silence lingered, filled by the singing of birds and the wind through the trees.

Cassie sighed, weary. “I didn’t want to be the reason for a war.”

Uriel smiled faintly. “You are not war, Cassie. You are change, a new beginning. And change never comes without pain.”

She closed her eyes for an instant, letting the light filtering through the circular roof envelop her. She felt small in the face of all that, but also... a part of it.

“Do you think the Moon Lady really cares about who I am?” she murmured.

Uriel approached slowly, stopping beside her. “The Lady chooses whom to touch.” His voice lowered, almost a whisper. “And, Cassie... it’s no accident that you are here, at this time, among us.”

A shiver ran down her spine.

“You talk as if I were important.”

“You are.” His green eyes shone. “To Hendrick, to Kallias, to the pack. Perhaps even to the Lady herself. Our salvation and new beginning, a new chance for love.”

Cassie didn’t answer. She just stood there, before the silver wolf, feeling watched not just by Uriel, but by something much greater.

The afternoon fell slowly, tinting the woods golden. Cassie and Uriel left the temple in silence, as if the spoken words still echoed. With every step, she felt that something inside her had changed.

She didn’t have all the answers, but she understood the weight of the choices that were approaching.

And, deep down, she knew that the Moon Lady had heard her.