LOGINI thought I had made peace with my decision.I hadn’t.The realization came several days later when I found myself standing alone in the library, staring at an old history book I had no reason to open.The book was thick, its leather cover cracked with age. I pulled it from the shelf and carried it to the table.The title was simple.The History of the Moon Queen.I almost put it back.Instead, I opened it.The first pages described the ancient bloodline in careful, reverent language. Every Moon Queen had been recorded. Their names. Their reigns. Their victories. The territories they had influenced.Then I reached the section about the Crown.The language changed.It described the Crown as a symbol of authority, protection and divine inheritance.I frowned.That wasn’t what I had learned.The Crown had never been meant to create a ruler.It had been created because someone had once believed that no single person should possess that much authority.Yet history had turned it into someth
Selene’s question stayed with me long after she left.What happens if your children inherit your blood?I had spent years believing blood was something that explained me.Why my wolf had been different.Why the Crown responded to me.Why enemies had hunted me before I even understood why.Why my life had never felt completely like my own.But blood did not have to decide the rest of my life.And it certainly did not have to decide my children’s.The following morning, I found Selene in the eastern garden.She was sitting beneath an old tree with a book resting unopened on her lap.“You’re thinking about it again,” she said without looking up.I sat beside her.“I couldn’t stop.”“Neither could I.”For a moment, neither of us spoke.The garden was quiet except for the sound of leaves moving in the breeze.Then Selene closed the book.“What would you want them to inherit?”I knew immediately who she meant.“Our children?”She nodded.I looked across the garden.“Not power.”She waited.
The thought followed me all the way back to Mooncrest.My children could inherit my blood.The words should have felt distant.I wasn’t even thinking about having children before that moment. There had always been something more urgent waiting for me. Another threat. Another battle. Another secret that needed to be uncovered.But now the future felt different.For the first time, I was thinking about a life beyond survival.A child running through Mooncrest.A child who knew nothing about the Crown.A child who deserved to grow up without being told that their blood had already decided who they were supposed to become.I entered my room and closed the door behind me.The silence felt strange.I sat at the edge of the bed and stared at my hands.There was no silver light.No ancient voice.No Crown calling to me.Just my own thoughts.And somehow, that was enough to frighten me.I had spent so much of my life trying to escape expectations that other people had placed on me.First, I wa
The next morning, Seraphine took me north.She refused to tell me much about the former Moon Guard members before we arrived.“They agreed to speak with you,” she said as we rode through the forest. “Nothing more.”I glanced at her.“Are they dangerous?”“Not in the way you mean.”That answer did little to settle me.The northern territories were quieter than Mooncrest. The trees grew thicker here, their branches forming a canopy that blocked most of the morning sunlight. We eventually left the main road and followed a narrow trail between the hills.There was no fortress waiting for us.No armed guards.No hidden army.Just a small settlement tucked between the trees.Several wolves looked up as we approached, but none reached for weapons.A grey-haired man stepped out from one of the wooden houses.He was older than Seraphine, with a long scar running from his left temple to his jaw.His eyes settled on me.“The Moon Queen,” he said.I stopped a few feet away.“Liana.”His expressio
Eamon’s words stayed in the room long after he finished speaking.They always say that before they take control.No one moved.I could hear the faint crackle of the fire behind me and the soft scrape of someone’s chair against the stone floor. Even Kael remained silent.I looked at Eamon.He wasn’t shouting.That made his accusation more unsettling.He spoke as though he had spent years carrying it.“What did they do?” I asked.Seraphine’s eyes flicked toward me.“Liana—”“I want to know.”Eamon gave a humorless smile.“You really do?”“Yes.”He studied me for several seconds before finally walking toward the council table.“I was young when I joined the Moon Guard,” he said. “Not much older than some of the wolves who serve in our restored order now. I believed exactly what everyone told me to believe.”He touched the silver insignia again.“We were guardians. We protected the descendants of the Moon Queen. We protected the Crown. We protected the packs from the consequences of ancie
The room went quiet after the proposal.A vote.The word seemed to settle over the council table like a weight.I looked around at the gathered Alphas and representatives. Some were watching me carefully, waiting to see which side I would choose. Others had already begun whispering among themselves, clearly prepared to decide the Crown’s future before I had even finished understanding my own.I took a slow breath.“No.”The word came out quietly, but it was enough to stop the murmuring.Garrick’s brow furrowed. “Liana—”“No vote.”I pushed my chair back and stood.The room immediately focused on me.“I understand why you want one,” I continued. “You are afraid of what the Crown could become. Some of you believe it should be destroyed. Others believe it should remain under my protection because I have proven that I won’t use it to control anyone.”I looked from one face to another.“But neither of those positions gives this council the right to decide what I personally do with it.”An







