Chapter 118 RETURN TO BRAZEN PACK
Celestia's Pov
The drive to Brazen Pack felt longer than it actually was. Every mile brought me closer to a place I swore I would never return to and my anxiety kept building despite my best efforts to stay calm.
Lucian noticed my tension and reached over to take my hand.
"We can still turn around. You do not have to do this," Lucian said gently.
"Yes, I do. People are dying and I am the only one who can save them. I will not let my own pain stop me from helping innocent people," I said.
"You are one of the strongest people I know," Lucian said.
We crossed into Brazen Pack territory and I felt the shift in the air. This land still held memories of my old life. Both the good ones from when I was Luna and the terrible ones from my exile.
As we drove through the pack lands I saw pack members going about their daily business. Some of them stopped and stared when they saw our car. Word must have spread that the Lycan King and his mate were coming.
We pulled up to the pack house and Raphael was waiting outside to greet us. He looked even worse than he did on the video call. Exhausted and defeated and barely holding himself together.
"King Lucian, Lady Celestia. Thank you for coming. I know this must be difficult for you Celestia," Raphael said.
"I am not here for you. I am here to cure the sick people in your pack and the other affected territories. Let us keep this professional," I said coldly.
"Of course. Whatever you need just let me know and my people will provide it," Raphael said.
"I need access to the river where the contamination originated. And I need accommodations for myself, my mate, and my guard for the next week," I said.
"We have prepared guest quarters for you in the pack house. And I can take you to the river immediately if you want to examine it," Raphael offered.
"That would be good. I need to see the source before I can begin the healing ritual," I said.
Raphael led us to the cars and we drove to the river. As we traveled through the parched lands I was flooded with memories. I saw the park where I used to walk. The shops where I used to buy things. The streets I used to know so well.
Pack members we passed stared at me with various expressions. Some looked guilty like they regretted how they treated me during my exile. Others looked curious like they wanted to know what I had become. A few looked hostile like they still believed I was a criminal.
I kept my face calm and dignified. I would not let them see how much this affected me. I was no longer the broken exiled Luna. I was the Queen Luna of PhoenixClaw and mate to the Lycan King. I had power now and I carried myself accordingly.
We arrived at the river and I got out of the car to examine it. The water looked normal at first glance but when I got closer I could see a strange shimmer on the surface. That was the curse manifesting.
I knelt by the water's edge and extended my senses the way I had learned to do with my blessed wolf. Immediately I felt the wrongness. The water was contaminated with dark magic that twisted and corrupted everything it touched.
"This is definitely a curse. And a powerful one. Someone with significant magical ability placed this here," I said.
"Can you break it?" Raphael asked.
"Yes. But it will take time. At least three days of ritual work. Maybe longer depending on how deeply rooted the curse is," I said.
"Whatever you need. Just tell us," Raphael said.
I walked along the riverbank, examining the curse from different angles and trying to determine where it was strongest. The air felt wrong—too still, too heavy, like the land itself was holding its breath. About a quarter mile upstream, the pressure intensified, a low hum vibrating beneath my skin.
That was when I found the epicenter.
This was where the curse had been placed.
The stones along the bank were darkened, etched with faint symbols only visible when the light hit them just right. The water here moved sluggishly, swirling in unnatural patterns, as if resisting its own flow. I crouched and reached out, the magic biting back even before I touched it.
This hadn’t been careless.
It was anchored. Reinforced. Meant to last.
And whoever had done this hadn’t just poisoned the river.
They had marked the territory.
"Here. This is where I need to perform the ritual. I will need a clear space on the bank and I will need privacy. No one can interrupt me once I begin the ritual or it will fail," I explained.
"I will have my people set up a perimeter. No one will disturb you," Raphael promised.
We went back to the pack house and Raphael showed us to our guest quarters. The rooms were nice and comfortable but being in this building brought back so many memories. I used to live here as Luna. These hallways used to be mine.
"I know this must be strange for you being back here," Lucian said once we were alone in our room.
"Strange is one word for it. Painful is another. But I am handling it better than I expected. Maybe because I am not the same person I was when I lived here. I am stronger now," I said.
“You are definitely stronger. And everyone can see it. Did you notice how people looked at you when we arrived? They were intimidated. You have an aura of power now that you did not have before,” Lucian said.
I let out a slow breath, considering his words. I had felt the difference—magic responding faster, deeper, as if something inside me had finally awakened and decided to stop holding back. But hearing it reflected in the reactions of others made it real in a way I hadn’t fully accepted.
“I didn’t ask for that,” I said quietly.
Lucian’s gaze softened, though the tension in his posture didn’t ease. “Power rarely waits to be invited,” he replied. “It comes when it’s needed. And right now, the pack needs you.”
I looked back toward the river, toward the unseen threat coiled beneath its surface. If this new strength made me a target, then so be it.
I would learn to carry it.
Because whatever was coming next would require every ounce of power I had—and more.
"Good. Let them be intimidated. Let them see what they lost when they exiled me," I said.
That evening Raphael hosted a dinner for us which I would have preferred to skip but Lucian said it was important for diplomatic reasons. We needed to maintain good relations with Brazen Pack even if I personally hated the place.
At dinner, I saw many familiar faces. Pack elders who had voted for my exile. Council members who had called me a criminal. People who used to be my friends but turned their backs on me when I needed them most.
They all looked uncomfortable seeing me there as the Queen Luna sitting beside the Lycan King. The power dynamics had completely reversed and everyone knew it.
One of the elders approached me during the meal.
"Lady Celestia I want to apologize for what happened five years ago. We believed the evidence against you and we were wrong. I hope you can forgive us," the elder said.
"I do not forgive easily. You destroyed my life based on lies and you did not even bother to investigate properly. But I am not here to rehash the past. I am here to cure your sick pack members. That is all," I said coldly.
The elder nodded and walked away looking ashamed. Good. He should be ashamed.