Chapter 97
The stories of me spread faster than any messenger could run..
They weren’t just stories anymore. They were legends passed between lips in hushed awe, repeated in every corner of the territory–from the training grounds to the nursery, to the markets and the campfires. Children whispered them like bedtime tales, and elders spoke of me with reverence reserved for ancient prophecies.
The White Wolf with glowing fur.
The howl that healed wounded warriors.
The Luna who could bend magic to her will.
They said my name with pride. With love. With loyalty.
I wasn’t just a Luna anymore.
I had become something more.
A few days had passed since the battle. The scent of ash still clung to the wind in places, despite the rain that had tried to wash the past away. The ruins of the human university auditorium, where it had all happened, were still being cleared. Rubble by rubble. Brick by broken brick. Reconstruction had begun, but between each hammer strike and broom sweep, whispers filled the silence like wind weaving through trees.
I walked slowly through the healing grounds, my hand tucked safely in Francesco’s. The path beneath our feet was muddy, softened by the drizzle last night, and I could still hear distant construction sounds from the city walls. But all of it felt like background noise compared to what stirred inside me.
“I haven’t heard anything from Angela or Jose,” I said quietly, watching two nurse wolves carry fresh bandages across the corridor. “Last I heard, they returned to their parents‘ home. Lira made them believe it was just an earthquake, and… I’m glad. I’m glad they’re okay.”
Francesco glanced at me. “Lira is clever. Too clever sometimes.”
I nodded absently. “Sometimes I wonder what they’d say if they knew the truth. That I’m not just some foreign student but a she–wolf–no, a White Wolf -with magic.” I gave a faint laugh. “They’d probably run screaming.”
“No,” Francesco said with a soft growl. “They’d kneel.”
I smiled faintly at that, but my heart was elsewhere.
Katrina.
Her name returned like a shard of glass beneath my ribs, cutting deeper each time I tried to forget. The only human friend I had trusted before Angela. A girl who smiled with me, laughed with me, shared pastries after class. And then-
The betrayal. The poison. The lies told to her by rogues hiding in shadows.
And finally… her death.
Killed by the same rogues she trusted.
I sighed, closing my eyes for a moment, it was sad. No, it was painful. Not because I missed her–truth be told, I didn’t know if I did. But because her story ended with her still believing the wrong thing. Still thinking I was the monster.
But life moves on.
It must.
I lifted my head as we reached the temporary infirmary inside our northern territory. The scent of herbs and blood still lingered, but it was less sharp,
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Chapter 97
now. Fewer groans filled the air. Warriors were healing. Some already returned to training. Some, though… some would never return.
The moment I stepped through the doorway, all conversation stopped.
Heads turned. Eyes widened. Murmurs followed like waves.
“My Luna,” someone whispered.
The next moment, a young warrior–barely more than eighteen–stepped forward with bandages still wrapped around his ribs. His amber eyes welled with tears as he reached out, his fingers trembling.
He touched my hand with the gentleness of someone touching a sacred relic. “You saved me,” he said hoarsely. “You healed me. I… I heard your howt and I could feel my pain melt away.”
I blinked rapidly, throat tight.
One by one, the others began to gather. Warriors. Nurses. Elders. They bowed–not just their heads but their hearts. Some touched my hands, others simply whispered thank you over and over.
It overwhelmed me. The reverence. The quiet devotion. The love.
I wasn’t used to this. I never expected this.
I turned to Francesco, who stood beside me silently, his broad frame a wall of strength and silent pride. He didn’t speak. He didn’t need to. His eyes told me everything. He saw them honor me, and his heart swelled with it.
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“They treat me differently now,” I whispered to him once we stepped outside again. “They look at me like I’m something divine. Not just a Luna.”
Francesco chuckled low in his throat. “Because you are.”
I shook my head. “No. I’m still Ellaine. I still doubt myself. Still cry when no one’s looking. Still wake up from nightmares.”
“That’s what makes you their Luna,” he said. “Not the magic. Not the glowing fur. Not even the howl. But your heart.”
I didn’t know what to say to that.
But not everything was bathed in light.
As always, the brighter one glows, the more the shadows want to snuff it out.
The Council had sent a letter regarding me. Francesco received it this morning.
I remembered the way he scoffed, nearly tearing the envelope in half before even finishing it.
“They move fast,” he muttered darkly. “Faster than they ever did when rogues attacked our borders or when treaties were threatened. But the moment they hear the Luna has awakened magic… they send threats disguised as concern.”
He handed the letter to me, and I read it slowly. Each word carefully chosen, each sentence dripping with veiled fear and barely restrained authority.
“Your mate’s sudden awakening of ancestral power must be reviewed.”
“Magic, even of natural origin, is still under Council scrutiny.”
“White Moon myth or not, unchecked magic is a threat to the stability of our kind.”
My grip tightened on the parchment.
I remembered the last time they came.
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Chapter 97
Months ago.
The youngest among them, Alpha Malek, had looked at me with sharp, calculating eyes. His voice was cold, emotionless.
“You are dangerous,” he said, without hatred. Just fact. “A Luna with magic is an unknown. Unknowns disrupt balance. What happens if you lose control?”
And Elder Marsen… his words were heavier, laced with ancient fear. “Magic is forbidden for a reason. The White Moon is a legend. There is no way a creature of light exists within a witch.”
Witch.
His word hurting more to me.
Now, after seeing what I had done–how I had healed, how I had protected my pack–I wondered what they thought of me now.
Were they afraid?
Were they planning something?
Francesco saw the questions in my eyes.
He reached out, his hand strong and steady as he cupped my cheek. “No Council. No rogue. No fear. Nothing will take you away from me, Ellaine.”
There was such raw conviction in his voice that my knees nearly buckled.
His forehead pressed against mine, his voice softer now. “We’ll face them together. Always.‘
A small smile curved my lips as I nodded. “Together.”
The days that followed were full of preparations.
Not for war. But for diplomacy.
Francesco called his Beta, Alfonso, and Gamma Mateo into our strategy room. We sat for hours, going over laws, magic records, ancient scrolls. We consulted our elders and even some witches from the neutral covens. If the Council wanted to challenge my place beside Francesco, they would find not just power—but knowledge–waiting for them.
I trained harder, too.
Not with claws. With my heart. My mind. My magic.
Lira helped me, guiding me in control, in balance. My wolf Mika was more present than ever, her voice clear, her strength feeding mine.
“You are not just born of magic,” Mika whispered one night under the full moon. “You are magic.”
The pack, meanwhile, continued to heal–and thrive. They began to embrace the idea that magic wasn’t a curse. That perhaps, the legends of the White Moon weren’t just fairy tales but prophecies long overdue.
They followed me not because they feared me–but because they believed in me.
And I…
I was learning to believe in myself.
One evening, I stood atop the watchtower overlooking the valley below. The wind tugged at my hair, and moonlight bathed the trees in silver. Francesco stood behind me, arms wrapped around my waist.
“They’ll come soon,” he murmured. “The Council.
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Chapter 97
“I know.”
“And when they do?”
I tilted my head, resting against his chest.
“Then I’ll show them that the White Moon still shines,” I said softly. “And she stands with her Alpha–not above him. Not below. But beside him.”
Francesco smiled against my temple.
And in that moment, I realized:
No matter what darkness tried to rise…
No matter what fear whispered in the corners of the world…
As long as we stood together,
There was nothing we could not face.
