CHAPTER FIVE - THE PATH NO ONE SEES

I didn’t know  when it happened, when affection turned into something deeper.

It is not dramatic nor does it announce itself

I felt uneasy but one thing I know for sure is that my heart beats whenever I am with him.

It grew slowly and quietly, between mornings and nights, between laughters and shared silences.

Dan sat across me at the small table, feeding Aiden my son a mashed fruits, making weird and funny faces until Aiden squeals.

I watched happily, armed folded, my heart filled in a way that scared me.

“You are spoiling him,” I said softly.

Dan grins in joy. “That’s my job”

I stood up and walked towards him, brushing my fingers against his shoulders as I lean down to kiss my baby’s cheek. Aiden smells like peace, happiness and home.

Home.

This word settles strangely in my heart.

Later that night, when the city made low, steady continuous sound outside the windows and my son deep asleep between us, Dan turned to me.

“You’ve been smiling more lately,” he says.

I breathed softly. “Have I?” I said with a smile.

“Yes. Like you are….. Calm, Resilient, jovial and lighter.”

I glanced at the ceiling for a second. Then I turned towards him looking straight into his eyes.

“I think I am,” I admits. “I feel safe here. With you, I have less worries.”

He exhales deeply. As he reached out his hands and held mine softly.

“I love you Leah,” he says quietly. “Not because I expect anything. But because that’s truly how I feel.”

I was silent for a moment not because I was speechless but because I haven’t heard such genuine words for a long time.

“I’m falling in love with you,” I whispered. “And that terrifies me.”

He held my hand more tightly. “I’ll wait for you till when you’ve opened your heart to me.”

For the first time I fled from my past, peace doesn’t feel borrowed. It came willing and genuinely.

Yet even as I relax to sleep, Theresa’s face flashed through my thoughts.

The sharp way she left.

Her last words.

The silence that followed.

A friend who vanished without closure.

Something feels incomplete.

______

Theresa stands at the outer gates of the Alpha’s kingdom, dust clinging to the edge of her garment.

The guards barely notice her.

“I need to speak to the Alpha,” she says.

One guard snorts in disgust. “You and half the continent are here, are you special?”

“It concerns his past,” Theresa presses. “His blood.”

That earns her a shove backward.

“Leave.” The guard said angrily

She does.

But she listens.

She hears whispers carried by servants and soldiers about the King’s failing strength, about the need for succession, about tradition tightening like a noose.

“The Alpha must be crowned Crown Prince.” One of the maidens gathered around gossiping said.

“And he cannot be crowned alone.”

Theresa lingers near the courtyard surroundings, pretending to admire carvings while two maidens gossip nearby.

“They said the selection festival will begin within the moon cycle.”

“The chosen must be untouched by a mate bond.”

“Strong lineage. Composed. Grace.”

Theresa’s pulse quickens.

She doesn’t rush. She confirms. She asks discreet questions.

“What will be expected chosen mate look like?” Theresa asked

“Look over there it’s all written” the other maiden said pointing a finger towards the halls

Theresa reads the requirements posted in the lower halls.

Each word feels deliberate.

As if written for her.

Everything written was all part of her.

She laughs softly to herself.

“So this is how it goes,” she murmurs.

If she cannot reach the Alpha as a messenger—

She will reach him as destiny.

⸻

Back in the city, I smiled as Dan spins me in the kitchen, music playing low.

“You’ll wake him,” I scolds.

Dan smiles. “Worth it.”

I leaned my forehead to his chest, breathing him in.

“I never believed I could have this,” I said. “Not after everything.”

“You deserve it,” he replies.

My smile fades just slightly.

“Theresa still hasn’t answered me.”

Dan stiffens but only briefly. “Maybe she needs time.”

“Or maybe she’s angry,” I murmured. “And I don’t know why.”

I didn’t say the fear out loud.

That Theresa knows the truth.

That silence can be a weapon.

It could destroy her happiness and cause chaos.

⸻

The ceremony day came

The festival grounds glow under torchlight.

Women lined in the hall, adorned in silks and tradition, each waiting to be called.

Theresa stands among them, calm. Calculative.

Names echoed.

Footsteps follow.

Then __

“Theresa of the Eastern Quarter.” The announcer called her in

She steps forward.

Not trembling.

Not smiling.

Just certain.

The elders nod. Silence breaks. The elders murmurs.

“She’s the perfect fit for the prince”

“She walks in authority and greatness”

“Very calm and loving.”

Theresa lifts her chin.

Other women glanced at her in jealousy.

I’m close now, she thinks.

Close enough to whisper truths that will shatter lives.

Close enough to destroy Leah’s peace

And take everything she believes is hers.

But she has a competitor, another charming woman with the armor of protection and her light speaks greatness.

The suspense in the Great Hall was thick enough to choke a rogue. The Elders sat like stone statues, their eyes tracking every movement of the two finalists: Theresa and the elegant high-ranking wolf, Lady Selene.

“The final test of the Luna’s Grace,” Elder Kael announced, his voice booming.

“The Crown Prince requires a mate who can lead the pack when the moon is dark and the blood is hot. Precision. Control. Authority.” Begin.

Servants placed two similar, ornate crystal wine container on a base stand. They were filled with 'Wolf’s Bane Wine' a liquid so volatile it reacted to a shifter's inner aggression.

“I have lived in the shadows of this palace, I read a lot about Palace rules and decency, this is something I’m good at” Theresa said, her voice low enough only for her to hear it.

Theresa look up. Her eyes gazed on the Prince, who sat on the dais, his face like a mask of cold indifference.

The task was to pour the liquid into twelve glasses without a single drop spilling or the wine turning black from their internal rage.

Teresa moved first. Her hands were steady, as result of years watching the palace staff.

Clink.

The glass met the decanter. She poured. The liquid remained clear as water.

“Look at her,” a voice whispered from the crowd.

“The confidence. She moves like she was born for the throne.”

Selene scoffed, stepping up to her base stand. Her movements were graceful, but her eyes were darting to the Prince.

She began to pour

Her voice loud for the Elders to hear. “A true Luna leads with blood and power!”

CRACK.

The hall went silent. Selene had gripped the crystal too hard, her claws nicking the rim. A hairline fracture appeared, and the wine inside began to spin with a dark, thick purple like the  color of an uncontrolled wolf.

Teresa didn't miss a beat, though her heart was hammering against her ribs. She reached for the final glass, but her sleeve caught on the edge of the silver tray.

Shatter.

One glass hit the floor, shards spraying across the marble. It was intentional.

“A mistake!” Selene hissed, a secret triumphant glint in her eyes. Her eyes didn't match her apology

“She lacks the discipline!”

Teresa didn't panic. She knelt, her fingers grazing the glass shards.

“A Luna knows that when things break, she is the one who must pick up the pieces,” she said, her voice ringing clear through the hall.

She stood, holding the largest shard. She used it to slice her thumb, letting a single drop of her blood fall into the spilled wine on the floor.

The wine turned a brilliant, glowing gold the mark of a wolf who had mastered her spirit.

The Elders leaned forward.

The Prince finally stood, his gaze locked on Teresa.

“Teresa has the knowledge of the palace,” Elder Kael whispered to the council.

“But Selene has the lineage. She is a princess. One broke the glass; the other broke the spirit of the wine.”

Teresa stood tall, her chin tilted up. She had done it. She had outshone the high-born wolf. But as the Elders huddled to make their final choice, a cold realization settled in her gut.

“If I am not chosen”, she thought, her eyes flickering toward the Prince, “everything I did to get to Leah was for nothing. If I don't get that crown, I can’t tell the truth about her son. I can’t destroy her happiness and separate her from Dan”.

“The choice is made,” the Prince announced, his voice cutting through the murmurs.

He stepped off the dais, walking slowly between the two women. He stopped right in front of Theresa.

The silence was deafening.

“You have the heart of the palace, Theresa,” he murmured, his eyes searching hers.

“But do you have the heart of the King? And you are not of a royal blood”

Selene smiled in favor as she adjusted her posture moving more closer to the prince.

He turned to the crowd, his hand hovering between the two of them.

“The new Crown Princess is—”

Will Theresa’s gamble pay off if she’s chosen, or has her obsession with destroying Leah led her into a trap she can’t escape?