Chapter 6: The Moon’s Verdict

​The dawn didn't break over the Silver Moon Pack; it bled. The sky was a bruised purple, matching the tension that hung over the Grand Square. Thousands of wolves had gathered—warriors in their leather armor, Omegas huddled in the back, and the aristocratic Elders perched on the high stone balconies like vultures.

​I stood on the raised executioner’s platform, but I wasn't the one in chains this time.

​Beside me, Liam stood like a titan. He was dressed in his full Alpha regalia—black fur and silver sigils—but his eyes never left me. It wasn't the gaze of a king watching a guest; it was the look of a wolf who had found his missing half and was ready to tear the world apart to keep her.

​In the center of the square, three cages had been erected. Inside them sat Isabella, the High Priest, and the withered Oracle.

​“People of the Silver Moon!” Liam’s voice boomed, amplified by his Alpha spark. The crowd fell into a deathly silence. “Five years ago, a decree was made. A Luna was exiled based on a prophecy of blood and rot. Today, the Silver Shadow has returned. She has healed our Beta. She has saved our warriors. And she has brought a truth that will either save this pack or burn it to the ash.”

​A murmur rippled through the crowd. I stepped forward, pulling my mask from my face.

​The gasp that went up was deafening. To the older wolves, I was a ghost. To the younger ones, I was a legend they had been taught to hate. My silver hair caught the first rays of the rising sun, shimmering with a brilliance that made Isabella’s artificial beauty look like cheap glass.

​“I am Elena Vance,” I said, my voice steady despite the hammer of my heart. “The Moon Goddess does not speak in riddles of hate. She speaks in life.”

​I signaled to the guards. They dragged the Oracle from her cage and forced her to the center of the platform.

​“Speak,” I commanded, placing my hand on the old woman’s shoulder. I funneled a drop of my Lunar power—the pure, unfiltered essence of the True Bride—into her spirit.

​The Oracle’s body jerked. Her cataracts cleared, replaced by a terrifying, glowing silver. When she spoke, it wasn't her voice. It was a chorus of a thousand spirits.

​“The Silver King cast away his heart for a throne of lies,” the voice vibrated through the stones of the square. “The blood was never cursed. The womb was never barren. The stars were hidden by a veil of red envy.”

​The Oracle pointed a skeletal finger at Isabella.

​“She who wears the stolen crown paid in gold for a false word. The heirs of the Silver Moon walk among you, born of the True Bride and the Blind King. If the False Queen remains, the Rot shall return. If the True Bride is denied, the Moon shall turn her face away forever.”

​The silence that followed was absolute. Then, the chaos erupted.

​“Blasphemy!” an Elder screamed from the balcony. “She’s using witchcraft to control the Oracle!”

​“Look at her hair!” a woman shouted from the crowd, her voice cracking. “That is the Mark of the Goddess! We were lied to!”

​Isabella grabbed the bars of her cage, her knuckles white. “Liam! She’s enchanting you! Can’t you see? She’s a rogue witch! She’s come to destroy us all!”

​Liam didn't look at Isabella. He looked at the High Priest. “Did you take her gold?”

​The High Priest fell to his knees, his spirit breaking under the weight of Liam’s crushing Alpha aura. “She promised... she promised the Church would rule beside her. She said Elena was a weak Omega who would bring us to ruin!”

​Liam’s snarl was a sound of pure, unadulterated slaughter. He stepped toward the cages, his claws extending, his wolf pushing to the surface.

​“Wait,” I said, my hand catching his arm.

​He turned to me, his eyes glowing a feral emerald. “They tried to kill our children, Elena. They stole five years of my life. Let me end this.”

​“Not yet,” I whispered. I turned back to the crowd. “The Oracle spoke of the heirs. I know you want to see them. You want to see if the 'curse' is real.”

​I nodded toward the palace doors. The heavy oak swung open, and two small figures stepped out.

​Aries and Lyra.

​They were dressed in simple white tunics, their little faces solemn. They walked through the path the warriors cleared for them. As they approached the platform, the power in the air became physical. It was the scent of the royal bloodline—so thick and pure it made the older wolves bow instinctively.

​Aries stopped at the base of the stairs. He looked up at the Elders, his golden eyes flashing. He didn't say a word; he simply let out a tiny, sharp puff of his Alpha aura.

​It was a spark, but it was enough. The Elders who had been shouting for my head suddenly went pale. They saw the lineage. They saw the future of the pack.

​“The boy...” someone whispered. “He looks just like the Great Alpha Silas.”

​“And the girl... look at her eyes. She has the Seer’s gaze.”

​I reached down and took their hands, bringing them up to stand between Liam and me. For the first time in five years, the Hamilton family stood together in the light.

​“Isabella Vance,” I said, looking down at the woman who had once been my sister-in-law. “You faked a prophecy. You conspired with the High Priest. You attempted to murder the royal heirs. By the laws of the Silver Moon, the punishment is death by the Silver Stake.”

​Isabella’s face went gray. She looked at Liam, her eyes wide with a desperate, pathetic hope. “Liam... please. I loved you. I did it for you!”

​Liam’s face was a mask of stone. “You didn't love me. You loved the crown. And you tried to kill the only woman who ever saw the man behind it.”

​He turned to the crowd, raising his hand. “The trial is over! The Truth has been spoken! What say you, Silver Moon? Who is your Luna?”

​A single warrior in the front row—a man I had healed just yesterday—dropped to one knee. He bared his neck in the ultimate sign of submission.

​“All hail the Lunar Bride!” he roared.

​“All hail the Queen!” the crowd replied, the sound growing into a thunderous chant that shook the palace walls.

​Isabella let out a scream of pure madness, reaching through the bars of her cage as if she could claw my eyes out. But the guards were already there, dragging her away toward the Black Dungeons. The High Priest was led away in silence, his head hanging in shame.

​I should have felt a sense of triumph. I should have felt the weight lift off my shoulders. But as I looked at Liam, I saw the hunger in his eyes. He didn't just want a Luna for his pack. He wanted me.

​The King’s Debt

​Later that evening, after the children had been tucked into the royal nursery under the heaviest guard in pack history, I stood on the balcony of the Lunar Suite.

​The air was cool, the scent of the pine forest familiar and aching.

​The door behind me opened. I didn't need to turn around to know who it was.

​“The Elders have signed the documents,” Liam said, his voice low. “The annulment is officially void. In the eyes of the law and the Goddess, you never left. You are the only Queen this pack has ever had.”

​“A piece of paper doesn't fix five years of blood, Liam,” I said, staring out at the stars.

​He stepped up behind me, not touching me, but his heat was a physical presence that made my skin tingle. “I know. I’m not asking for your forgiveness tonight. I’m not even asking for your heart. I know I have to earn that, piece by piece.”

​He reached out, his hand hovering over my shoulder before he finally let it rest there. His touch was heavy, possessive, and yet strangely trembling.

​“But I am asking you to stay,” he whispered. “Not for the pack. Not for the children. Stay for me. Because without you, this palace is just a tomb.”

​I turned in his arms, my back against the stone railing. The moon was full, illuminating the sharp lines of his face. He looked like a king, yes, but he also looked like a man who was starving.

​“You said you never mated with her,” I said, my voice barely a whisper.

​“I couldn't,” he said, stepping closer until our chests were brushing. “Every time I tried to touch her, my wolf would snarl. He knew. He was waiting for the silver hair. He was waiting for the scent of rain and cedar.”

​He leaned down, his forehead resting against mine. “I have been half a man for five years, Elena. Give me a chance to be whole again.”

​He didn't wait for an answer. He kissed me.

​It wasn't like the kiss in the infirmary—desperate and angry. This was slow, a deep, soul-searching claim that tasted of apologies and promises. My wolf whined low in my throat, her tail wagging in a way that made me feel like a traitor to my own pain.

​I pulled back, my breathing ragged. “This doesn't change anything, Liam. I still don't trust you. And Isabella has allies. She mentioned other packs. The Crescent Moon and the Blood River packs... they were promised a 'cursed' land to harvest. They won’t be happy to see a True Bride on the throne.”

​Liam’s eyes turned cold and lethal. “Let them come. We are the Silver Moon. And for the first time in a long time, our Moon is full.”

​He took my hand, kissing my knuckles. “But you’re right. We have a war coming. Not just a war of wolves, but a war of politics. They will try to challenge the children's legitimacy.”

​“Let them try,” I said, a dark smile playing on my lips. “I didn't just spend five years hiding, Liam. I spent five years building an army of my own. The outcasts, the rogues, the 'cursed' ones... they all answer to the Silver Shadow.”

​Liam looked at me with a new kind of respect—and a flicker of fear. He realized then that I wasn't the soft Omega he had married. I was a Queen who had been forged in the fire.

​“Then we lead together?” he asked.

​“We lead as partners,” I corrected. “But if you ever doubt me again, Liam... if you ever choose a prophecy over your mate... I won’t run. I’ll take your crown and your head.”

​Liam chuckled, a deep, rich sound that vibrated in his chest. He pulled me back into his arms, burying his face in my neck.

​“I wouldn't expect anything less, my Queen.”

​But as we stood there under the moonlight, a distant howl echoed from the border. It wasn't a howl of greeting. It was a war cry.

​The first of the neighboring Alphas had arrived. And they hadn't come for a trial. They had come for blood.

​