CHAPTER TWO: The Gathering.

Celeste had barely stepped out into the cool corridor when the pack bell rang . The sound cut through the night like a blade.

Not the frantic, uneven toll of danger. Not the urgent call that sent warriors running toward the gates. This one was slower and formal.

Celeste stopped where she was, the echo of the bell vibrating through the stone walls. For a moment she thought her heart might stop entirely. Her chest still felt tight from the conversation she had just walked away from, and the sound of that bell made a terrible thought settle in her mind.

A soft knock sounded behind her before the door opened. Her mother stood there, framed by the warm light of their small cottage. Maera Ashveil rarely looked frightened, but tonight the color had drained from her face.

“Celeste,” Maera whispered.

“They’re calling everyone,” Maera added, quietly.

Celeste nodded slowly.  If the council had agreed, if Thorne had already made his choice, then the pack deserved to hear it. The future Alpha’s Luna. Only that it wasn’t her anymore.

Neither of them spoke as they walked toward the common ground. The night air was cold, carrying the scent of pine and distant smoke from the torches already burning ahead. The deeper they moved into the clearing, the louder the voices became.

The entire pack was gathering.

Torches blazed in tall iron stands around the open clearing, casting flickering light across dozens of familiar faces. Warriors stood in loose lines near the platform where pack announcements were always made. Elders in long cloaks gathered behind it, their quiet conversations hushed as more wolves arrived.

Celeste’s chest tightened.

These were people she had grown up with.

People she had healed.

Children she had patched up after falls from trees. Warriors whose wounds she had cleaned after border fights. Mothers who had brought sick babies to her door in the middle of the night.

And tonight they were all here to watch her future disappear.

Celeste slipped quietly toward the back of the crowd, lowering her gaze so no one would notice her too closely. Her mother remained beside her, a steady presence that Celeste clung to more than she wanted to admit.

Then Thorne stepped forward. And beside him,

Lysara.

Gasps rippled through the pack. It was quiet at first. Then the whispers started.

Celeste felt every pair of eyes searching the crowd. Looking for her – Warriors who knew her. Women who had once congratulated her on her future. Children who still called her “future Luna” without thinking.

Celeste kept her head down, Please, she thought silently. Just let this end quickly.

Thorne raised his hand for silence.

“I formally dissolved the betrothal arrangement with Celeste Ashveil, daughter of Maera Ashveil, healer of Silvermere. 

The words struck like a physical blow.

“The arrangement is ended by my will and the full agreement of the council. She is released from all claims.” he continued.

The words echoed across the clearing. Murmurs spread instantly.

“What?”

“I heard rumors…”

“The healer’s daughter?”

“She was never strong enough,” someone muttered not far from Celeste.

Another voice answered.

“I heard the Blackridge daughter is ruthless. That’s the kind of Luna we need.”

Celeste’s hands trembled slightly.

Each whisper felt like a small stone being thrown at her chest.

Thorne’s voice carried again.

“The council has approved the new alliance.”

He reached for Lysara’s hand.

“And I will soon take Lysara Blackridge as my Luna.”

Applause broke out. Not everyone clapped. But enough did.

Celeste felt something cold settle deep inside her chest. She was already forgotten. Already replaced. Already erased.

The announcement ended quickly after that. The elders stepped forward, while the crowd began to shift, and slowly the wolves of Silvermere started leaving the clearing in groups, their conversations buzzing softly under the night sky.

But Celeste didn’t move.

She remained exactly where she was.

Watching the platform. Watching Thorne and Lysara speaking with the council. Watching the future she had once imagined for herself being handed to someone else.

“Celeste.”

Her mother’s voice was gentle.

Celeste blinked slowly, realizing the clearing was nearly empty now.

Maera reached for her hand.

“Come home,” she said softly.

Celeste didn’t argue. She let her mother guide her back through the quiet paths of the village, past cottages glowing with warm firelight, past familiar doors and windows that suddenly felt distant and strange.

Their cottage door closed behind them with a soft click.

Maera lit the fire.

She moved quietly around the small kitchen, heating water, preparing tea the way she always did when Celeste had been hurt as a child. The simple routine should have been comforting. But Celeste barely noticed.

Her mother eventually pressed a warm cup into her hands and rested both palms gently on her shoulders.

“I’m sorry,” Maera whispered.

Celeste nodded.

Later, when the cottage was dark, Celeste sat alone in the darkness of her room. She stared at the ceiling for a long time, her mind replaying everything from that night over and over again.Thorne’s calm voice. Lysara’s satisfied smile. The applause.

Her chest tightened.

For a moment the tears finally came. Sliding silently down the sides of her face into her hair. She wiped them away after a while and sat up slowly.

Then she  led down, her hand slid beneath the bed.

Her fingers closed around something cold.

Metal.

She pulled it out slowly.

A silver mask gleamed in the faint firelight.

Moonfall.

A gathering where wolves wore masks and identities vanished. A place where strangers met in the dark. A place where dangerous things happen.

Celeste ran her thumb over the edge of the mask. A slow smile spread across her face.

“One night of being no one”.

She lifted the mask and held it against her face.

“Tomorrow,” she whispered.

And somewhere far beyond  the borders of Silvermere, another Alpha was already on his way to moonfall.