Chapter Twenty-Five

The celebrations began at sunrise, bathing Redstone in crimson and gold, banners rippling in the morning breeze. Excited murmurs filled the courtyard, laughter mingling with the strains of music drifting through the cool air. Yet beneath the surface of joy and festivity lingered an undeniable sorrow, whispered quietly amongst the gathered pack members.

Celeste stood near the edges, nearly invisible amidst the bustling preparations, her presence unnoticed by all. She stared numbly as Blair glided through the crowd, radiant in ceremonial white, pearls woven through her hair. Beside her stood Grayson, every inch the proud Alpha, dressed in his finest regalia. His hand rested comfortably at Blair's waist, openly claiming what had once been promised to another.

What had once been promised to her.

A sharp pang twisted in Celeste’s chest, grief mixing bitterly with betrayal. Lilly, her closest friend, her only anchor, had been lost, sent by Grayson and Blair's decision to battle rogues on the eastern ridge. The warriors hadn’t stood a chance; Lilly among them had fallen, a casualty of decisions made hastily, carelessly, cruelly.

Around her, voices whispered the news, carrying grief even amidst their forced cheer.

“So many good warriors lost…”

“Lilly, too… it's tragic…”

“Is this really the time to celebrate?”

Celeste swallowed hard, her throat tight, eyes burning. She wanted nothing more than to run from this place, but her feet were rooted to the ground, as if compelled to witness the final breaking of the bond that had defined so much of her life.

"I, Grayson Stone, take you, Blair Anderson, as my mate and Luna of Redstone pack," Grayson declared, his voice steady and confident.

My heart splintered further with each word.

"And you, Blair?" the elder prompted gently.

"I, Blair Anderson, take you, Grayson Stone, as my mate and Alpha of Redstone pack," she said, her voice dripping with victorious sweetness. Her eyes slid towards me briefly, a subtle smirk curving her lips, a smirk meant solely for me.

The elder raised his hands. "With the Moon Goddess as our witness, along with all the Alphas, Lunas, and invited guests, I pronounce these two are now fated to one another as mates, becoming your new Alpha and Luna of Redstone pack."

“Your majesty,” Grayson said as he bowed his head as he had walked up to him, “We are greatly appreciated that you have decided to join our occasion.”

“I didn’t have anything in particular that kept me from coming, and plus it’s not every day one choses who their mate is instead of waiting for their fated mate,” the Alpha King said.

“Your majesty,” Blair came to Grayson’s side, and bowed her head, “Although it is a rare thing for wolves to do, it is not unheard of. Sometimes you have to go against destiny if you’ve truly fallen in love,” she took Grayson’s hand and smiled.

“Have you ever felt the mate bond, Luna...?” The Alpha king trailed off.

“Luna Blair Stone, your majesty and no I have not unfortunately, but I cannot doubt what I feel for Grayson is not too far off from what one can feel with the mate bond,” she smiled.

“Even with you two being chosen mates, your bond will not be as pure or strong as a true mate bond. You may enjoy your chosen love, but you will never experience the real thing,” the Alpha King seemed mad at their choices.

“Your majesty, it seems as if there is a problem that Blair and I have decided to choose one another instead of waiting?” Grayson asked. I think everyone could feel the slight hostility in the air.

“Truthfully Alpha Stone, I find it in bad taste that an Alpha can be so impatient to one’s destiny. We are given a fated mate from the Moon Goddess for a reason, and going against what she has set for us has unforeseen outcomes,” the Alpha King explained, “But if she becomes your downfall, you cannot say I didn’t warn you what would happen going against the Moon Goddess.”

He turned to leave, but not before our eyes met.

That moment, the quiet pause where the world seemed to narrow to just us, was unlike anything I'd ever felt.

His gaze wasn’t curious, or cruel, or dismissive like so many others had been since I arrived at Redstone. It was knowing. Sharpened. Heavy with unspoken meaning. It was as if he’d peeled back every layer of me in an instant and seen the truth beneath. The bond I’d never spoken of. The heartbreak I couldn’t voice. The war raging inside my chest.

And then… he looked away

His eyes had stirred something dormant within me, awakening feelings deeper and more powerful than I'd ever known, feelings even Grayson had never ignited.

With Grayson, there had always been hope mixed with fear, love intertwined with uncertainty. But the brief connection with the Alpha King had felt different, more certain, more powerful. It had shaken me with a profound intensity, as though my soul had recognized something within his, something long buried and forgotten, but real and undeniable.

My breathing steadied slowly as realization bloomed quietly inside me. I kept walking, deeper into the garden, beyond the blooms and moonlight. The sound of celebration faded, but the echo of his stare stayed with me, lingering beneath my skin like a shadow I couldn’t shake.

I collapsed onto the stone bench beneath the elder tree, the weight of it all crashing down. Not just the loss of Grayson. Not just Blair’s triumph. But the unbearable ache of something I hadn’t dared to say out loud.

Lilly, my best friend, my only real ally in Redstone… was gone.

They said the warriors had fallen. Most of them. The mission had gone wrong. No details. No explanations. Only names.

And hers had been on the list.

I’d clung to hope for days, praying she’d return. That maybe they had it wrong. That maybe she was just injured, not dead. But I knew better.

She was brave and loyal, more wolf than most in this pack that prided itself on bloodlines and titles. And now she’d died protecting those who wouldn’t even remember her name after tonight.

I wrapped my arms around myself, rocking slightly. The garden, once peaceful, now felt like a grave.

How cruel it all was.

Grayson got everything he wanted. Or rather, Blair did. Power. Recognition. A Luna title she didn’t earn. A mate she’d stolen. And now the pack praised her like she was their savior while the soil still soaked with the blood of warriors who would never come home.

I would never again hear Lilly’s laugh as she teased me after training. Never feel her arm linked through mine as we snuck out under moonlight. She had promised to stand beside me.

And now I had no one left.

My body trembled from the inside out, my grief so vast it made the air hard to breathe. The garden blurred in my vision, and for the first time since I left my birth pack, I felt utterly, profoundly alone.

But that wasn’t true, was it?

Because he had seen me.

The Alpha King. That glance. It had pierced deeper than any wound Grayson had left behind.

He didn’t know me. Yet, somehow, in that one look, he had recognized something in me, something even I was still trying to understand.

I didn’t know what it meant.

I didn’t know why it mattered.

But it did.

And for that single heartbeat of connection, I didn’t feel invisible anymore.

I rose slowly from the bench, wiping my face with the back of my hand, the weight of everything still clinging to me, but no longer paralyzing.

The Celeste who believed in fated love, who waited silently for someone to choose her, who thought loyalty would be enough, that girl had died the moment Grayson kissed Blair.

What remained was quieter, yes. Still grieving. But not broken.

Because grief, I realized, wasn’t weakness.

It was survival.

It was proof I was still here.

And if I was still here… I could still leave.

Not today. Not while they danced and celebrated their lie of a union.

But soon.

I would leave this place and everything it stood for. I would find somewhere beyond these borders, far from Redstone, where I could remember who I was before all this pain.

And maybe, just maybe, I’d find out what that glance from the Alpha King truly meant.

Whatever it was, it felt like a beginning.

Even in the midst of an ending.

**

The room was silent, wrapped in soft shadows and the gentle crackle of a low fire. Outside, the city breathed beneath a pale moon, its light stretching thin across the tall windows. In the Alpha King’s private chamber, everything felt suspended, like the world had paused, waiting.

Then came the smallest shift.

A breath. A flutter of lashes. The faintest movement of fingers against silk sheets.

Celeste stirred.

Her throat was dry. Her chest ached. But what overwhelmed her wasn’t pain, it was the weight of everything she’d just seen in her sleep. Or had it been memory?

Her lips moved, barely forming the word, like it was exhaled from her soul.

“…Lilly…”

A name from a life she no longer had. A friend she could never speak to again. Not family. Not love. Just someone who once stood beside her when no one else would.

Her brow furrowed faintly as her eyes opened, blinking slowly against the soft firelight.

The ceiling was unfamiliar, high, domed, edged in gold and stone. Not Redstone. Not the small, cold room she used to hide in. Her heart thudded uneasily in her chest as her gaze wandered across carved pillars, velvet drapes, and the polished gleam of the floor. Everything about this place was royal. Distant. Quiet.

She was somewhere new

Somewhere she didn’t understand.

And then, she felt it.

That presence.

He didn’t move. He hadn’t made a sound. But she knew he was there, standing just beyond the edge of firelight near the arched window.

She turned her head slowly, instinctively.

And there he was.

The Alpha King.

Their eyes met.

No titles. No roles. No pack names between them.

Just a long, steady look that made something inside her stutter and burn.

His expression was unreadable, but his eyes, those dark, storm-rich eyes, were fixed on hers, no longer cold, no longer distant. He had heard her. He had seen her stir. And now, he was watching her like she was something sacred come back from the dead.

Celeste didn’t speak.

Neither did he.

But for a brief moment, she felt as if they were the only two people in the world. And this, this moment, was nothing like what she had ever felt with Grayson. There was no tension, no need to prove, no sense of not being enough.

There was simply… stillness.

Recognition.

Connection.

And it terrified her just as much as it anchored her.