Chapter 75

Chapter Seventy five

Selene’s POV

The pack grounds felt different after everything we had survived. The walls had been rebuilt, the fires restored, and the scent of pine and wet earth drifted across the settlement. Wolves trained in the distance, their movements sharp and focused. Children played near the stream, their laughter carrying in the breeze.

Everything looked normal.

But nothing felt normal anymore.

Kai walked beside me through the main courtyard. His hand rested lightly at my lower back, a quiet reassurance. The sunlight caught on the gold in his eyes, which had become sharper and more watchful since we returned. It felt as though the entire pack looked to him for answers he did not yet have.

And they looked to me as something they could not name.

A Luna. A survivor. A threat. A promise.

All of it at once.

When a group of pack members bowed their heads in greeting, Kai squeezed my hand. “You do not have to look so tense. They are glad you are here.”

“I wish I felt that certain,” I whispered.

“You will,” he said gently.

We reached the training field where the pack warriors gathered for their morning drills. The scent of sweat and steel hung in the air. Beta Rylan waited there, arms crossed, overseeing the session. When he saw us, he straightened.

“Alpha. Luna,” he greeted.

The title sat strangely on my shoulders. I tried not to flinch.

Kai stepped forward. “Report.”

Rylan inclined his head. “The final patrols returned this morning. No mountain activity. No tremors. No light beneath the surface. Whatever is left there is quiet.”

I exhaled slowly. “Good. The pack needs that.”

Rylan hesitated before speaking again. “There is something else. A group of elders requested to meet you. Today.”

My stomach tightened. “Why?”

“They believe you should complete the Luna rites,” Rylan said. “To seal your place within the pack and reassure everyone that you belong.”

Kai’s expression darkened. “She is not performing any rites until she is ready.”

Rylan cleared his throat. “The pack is uneasy, Alpha. They trust you, but many still fear what happened on the mountain. They fear what it made her.”

I looked away. I could still feel the faint hum beneath my ribs sometimes, a shadow of what once lived there. I had not told Kai how often it whispered late at night when the world was quiet.

He stepped closer, shielding me slightly with his body. “Selene owes no one proof. She earned her place.”

“I know,” Rylan said quietly. “But this could help calm the people.”

Kai turned to me, searching my face. “You do not have to do this.”

“I know,” I said softly. “But maybe I should.”

I was tired of being the reason for whispered conversations and wary stares. I wanted the pack to stop seeing me as something that crawled up from the depths of the earth. I wanted them to see the woman I fought to be.

I wanted to belong.

Kai studied me for a long moment, as if weighing the truth behind my words. Finally, he nodded. “If you choose this, I will stand with you.”

“Always,” I whispered.

His thumb brushed my cheek. “Always.”

Rylan cleared his throat again. “The elders will meet in the Great Hall at sunset.”

I nodded. “I will be there.”

⸻

As the sun dipped behind the trees, Kai and I walked toward the Great Hall. The air was cool, carrying the scent of cedar and smoke. My pulse quickened with each step.

Kai noticed. “We can turn back.”

“No,” I said, though fear curled tight in my chest. “If I run from everything that scares me, I will never stop running.”

He looked proud. “You are stronger than you know.”

Inside the Great Hall, a long fire crackled in the center. The elders stood in a half circle around the flame, their expressions solemn but not unkind. The room was quiet, filled only with the crackle of wood and the low murmur of voices outside.

Kai stayed close to me as we approached.

Elder Marwen, the oldest among them, stepped forward. Her hair was silver, braided down her back, and her eyes held centuries of knowledge.

“Selene,” she said. “You have returned with strength and scars. Both are marks of survival. However, the pack needs certainty. They need to witness your spirit. Not the mountain’s echo.”

I nodded. “I understand.”

She lifted a small bowl carved from ancient oak. “This is not a test of pain. It is a test of truth. Your blood will touch the flame. If the flame rejects you, we will know you do not belong. If it accepts you, the pack will no longer question your place among us.”

Kai stiffened. “Her flame is not something you should provoke.”

Marwen met his gaze calmly. “Then it will show us what she carries.”

I stepped forward before Kai could argue further. “I want this.”

Kai grabbed my wrist gently, pulling me closer. His voice lowered. “If something goes wrong, I will tear this place apart.”

I offered a small smile. “You do not need to rescue me from everything.”

“Let me try anyway,” he whispered.

I pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Later.”

Taking a steady breath, I faced the elders. Marwen offered me the narrow blade. Its edge shimmered in the firelight.

“Your hand,” she instructed.

My palm trembled slightly as I extended it. The blade bit into my skin with a clean sting. A red drop formed and fell into the bowl, mixing with the herbs inside. The scent rose slowly, sweet and sharp.

Marwen stepped to the fire.

The flames shifted, swirling higher as if sensing what approached.

“Selene, daughter of no known line, survivor of the Throne’s echo,” Marwen said. “Let the fire decide your place.”

She tipped the bowl.

My blood fell into the flames.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then the fire roared upward, twisting violently. The room filled with sudden heat. The flames turned silver, blazing brighter than any natural fire. Gasps filled the hall. Some elders stepped back.

Kai moved immediately, half shifting, his growl rumbling low. “Selene.”

I held up a hand. “Wait.”

The fire softened. The silver faded slowly into a warm gold. The flames bent gently toward me, curling like fingers brushing against my aura.

Accepted.

Marwen stared, awe replacing the fear in her eyes. “The fire knows you. It recognizes your spirit.”

I let out a shaky breath I had not realized I was holding. The warmth sank into my bones, steady and soothing. Nothing of the mountain stirred within me. Only me. Only my own heartbeat.

The elders bowed deeply. “Welcome, Luna.”

The words echoed through the hall, soft but powerful.

Kai exhaled, his shoulders relaxing. He turned to me, brushing my cheek with his knuckles. “Told you. You belong here.”

I leaned into him, letting his warmth settle the last of my nerves. “Maybe I needed to hear it from someone else too.”

He smiled faintly. “I will still say it as many times as you want.”

“Say it again,” I whispered.

“You belong with me,” he said softly. “And you belong to this pack.”

The firelight danced between us, throwing shadows across the hall. For the first time since the mountain fell quiet, the world around me felt steady. Whole.

When the elders dismissed us, Kai wrapped an arm around my waist.

“Ready to go back to our quarters?” he asked.

“Not yet.” I reached for his hand. “Walk with me.”

We stepped outside into the cool night. The moon was bright, hanging low above the trees. The pack grounds glowed softly with lantern light. It felt like home in a way it never had before.

Kai tilted his head. “What are you thinking?”

“That I am tired of running from what I want.”

His eyes darkened. “And what do you want?”

“You,” I said simply. “Not as an anchor. Not as a shield. Just you.”

His breath hitched slightly, and then he pulled me close, pressing his forehead to mine. “Selene.”

The word came out as a confession.

I slid my hands along his jaw, drawing him into a kiss that stole the rest of the air from my lungs. His arms wrapped around my waist, holding me firmly, grounding me in the moment. The world faded until there was nothing but the sound of our breathing and the slow rhythm of our hearts.

When he finally pulled away, his voice was low. “Come home with me.”

“I already did,” I whispered.

He smiled, lifting me in his arms and carrying me toward our quarters as the moon climbed higher above the pack.

For the first time in a long while, there was no hum beneath the earth.

Only peace.

And us.