Chapter 255
He didn’t flinch. Just bowed his head and let the droplets fall onto the stone.
Then, slowly, he leaned forward and pressed his forehead to the altar.
The stone accepted him. As it had all who came before.
Then it was Mason’s turn.
+25 BONUS
My brother walked steadily, a ribbon of tension in his shoulders. He was quiet, his jaw tight, but he moved like he understood the weight of the moment. When he knelt, I saw the way his hands trembled before he stilled them.
He repeated the same movements. Cut. Offer. Bow.
His blood landed beside our father’s in a single, sharp splatter.
And then, together, father and son stood and clasped hands above the stone.
For a beat, the air held still.
Then from around the circle, a long, low howl began. One voice. Then another. Then dozens.
Moonstone howled to mark the passing of leadership.
The sound rose like a wave crashing across the mountaintop. I tilted my head back and let the sound rise from my chest, my throat, my soul.
It echoed across the High Ridge, off the cliffs and down into the valley below. I could hear it bouncing through the forest, through the distant hills.
And then–fainter but clear–the answering howls of those who could not be present. Warriors posted at the borders. Scouts in the western ridges. Healers in the birthing dens.
Even from far away, they sang with us.
Aiden howled beside me, his voice high and bright. His little face was turned toward the sky, cheeks flushed, eyes glowing. He looked so proud. So full of purpose.
I looked down and saw him grinning.
And I smiled.
When the last howl faded into the night, the circle began to break.
Conversation bloomed in murmurs. The sacred silence was over, and the pack became itself again–messy, laughing, teasing. The kind of noise that filled the soul.
Aiden pulled on my arm. “Do I get to be the heir someday?”
I smiled faintly. “Maybe.”
“Will I have to cut my hand like that?”
“Yes.”
He frowned. “What if I don’t want to?”
I shrugged. “Then you won’t have to.”
“I’m Silverclaw too,” he pointed out. “Do they do the same thing over there?”
My breath caught. I swallowed.
1/2
Chapter 255
“You’ll have to ask your father,” I said quietly.
That seemed to satisfy him, though his brow furrowed. “Okay.”
+25 BONUS
We walked down the mountain together, hand in hand. The chill right wind tugged at the hem of my dress, and the scent of pine and torch smoke filled my lungs. The something sacred about the silence between us now, even as conversation rippled
around us.
When we returned to the packhouse, the shift in atmosphere was most jarring. Laughter spilled from the kitchen. The scent of roasted meat and fresh bread floated on the air, making Aiden perkup.
“Can I get a snack?” he asked.
“Just a small one,” I said, brushing his hair back. “Then bed.”
I let him have half a sweet roll and some milk before walking him upstairs. He was half–asleep before I’d even tucked the blankets around him, his stuffed wolf curled against his chest. I stood there for a moment, watching him breathe. So innocent. So unaware of the shadows the rest of us carried.
Back in my room, I changed out of my ceremonial clothes and into my favorite oversized sleep shirt. I brushed my hair in the mirror, trying to untangle the knots the wind had made. My mind was quiet, but my heart wasn’t. Mason was Alpha now. My father had stepped down. An era had ended.
I was just settling into bed with a book when there was a knock at the door.
I frowned. It was late.
“Yes?”
One of the maids stood there, holding a brown–wrapped parcel.
“This was just delivered for you, Luna,” she said. “No return address.‘
I took it with a murmured thank–you and shut the door.
The package was heavier than it looked.
I sat on the edge of the bed and unwrapped it carefully. Brown paper. Twine. Inside, resting in a velvet–lined box, was a silver dagger.
I recognized it instantly.
Maggie’s.
The one she’d been arrested with. The one they’d taken from her after the attack at the Summit.
Beneath it, folded neatly, was a note.
