Chapter 30

Elara's POV

Mira arrived within days of receiving my letter, barely giving herself time to pack before making the journey back to Nightfall Hollow.

The moment she saw the ring on my finger she let out a sound somewhere between a shriek and a laugh that had half the castle staff poking their heads out of doorways to see what the commotion was about.

"You're getting married," she said, grabbing my hands and staring at the ring like she could hardly believe it, though the smile stretching across her face made it clear she believed it plenty.

"Elara Married, To an actual freaking King.

I need you to understand that when we were sixteen and I told you someday you'd find someone who deserved you, I did not mean an ancient Lycan monarch.

But I'll absolutely take credit for the prediction regardless."

I laughed, pulling her into a hug, grateful beyond words to have her here for this.

Someone who'd known me since before any of this began.

Before the mark, before the curse, before I'd ever imagined my life looking anything like it did now. "I need you to stand beside me when it happens. If you're willing."

"Willing?" Mira pulled back, mock offense written across her face. "Elara Ashwood, I would fight actual rogues to stand beside you at your wedding. Try to keep me away."

The days that followed fell into a rhythm sweeter than anything I'd experienced since arriving in Nightfall Hollow.

Mira and Freya worked together despite their very different approaches to wedding planning.

One was all practical court tradition, the other full of opinions about flowers and fabric that made even Nyra laugh more than I'd ever heard from her.

For a while the shadow of the prophecy and the political maneuvering Nyra had warned us about faded into the background, crowded out by the simple, uncomplicated joy of imagining the day itself.

"What about the ceremony structure?" Freya asked one afternoon, spreading several different diagrams across the table in the sitting room where we'd gathered for what had become our regular planning session.

"Nightfall Hollow traditionally follows a moon rite structure, held at dusk with vows exchanged as the first stars appear.

Ashwood custom, if you wanted to honor it, tends toward daylight ceremonies with vows spoken beneath the sun instead."

I thought about it for a long moment, turning the choice over carefully, because it felt like more than simply picking a time of day.

It felt like choosing which parts of my old life I wanted to carry forward into the new one I was building.

"Dusk," I said finally. "I want the moon rite. Ashwood gave me plenty of daylight ceremonies that never actually saw me for who I was. I'd rather start this one under the stars, in a tradition that actually means something to the life I'm choosing now."

Mira squeezed my hand under the table, understanding exactly what I meant without needing further explanation.

Freya nodded and made a note on the parchment in front of her without comment, though something warm flickered across her expression that suggested approval.

"Kael will want to know your choice on the flowers too," Freya continued. "Traditionally, Nightfall Hollow ceremonies favor moonflowers and silverbell.

Both native to the region, both symbolizing new beginnings within Lycan custom."

"Moonflowers sound perfect," I said. Mira immediately launched into an enthusiastic description of how she imagined them woven through my hair, echoing the wildflower crowns she used to make for me as children.

For a little while longer the conversation stayed light and easy, filled with the kind of details that had nothing to do with prophecies or political alliances. Only the simple pleasure of two friends planning something joyful together.

It was Kael who found me later that evening, long after Mira and Freya had retired for the night.

I was sitting alone on the garden bench where he'd proposed, watching the moon climb slowly over the tree line.

He settled beside me without a word, simply taking my hand and letting the quiet stretch comfortably between us.

"You seem happier tonight," he observed eventually. "Lighter than you've seemed since Nyra read us that prophecy."

"Planning the wedding with Mira helped," I admitted. "It's strange how much simpler everything feels when I'm thinking about flowers instead of politics.

For a little while today I almost forgot that any of this carries weight beyond just the two of us."

"I'm glad," Kael said softly. "You deserve those moments, Elara, As many of them as we can manage to carve out, even with everything else pressing in around us."

"Have you given any more thought to the prophecy?" I asked, unable to keep the question fully at bay despite how much I'd enjoyed the day's distraction.

"To what it might actually mean once the wedding happens?"

Kael was quiet for a long moment, considering his answer carefully. "I've thought of little else, honestly, when I'm not actively trying to give you space from it.

I don't believe our marriage has to force anything, Elara, but I think the prophecy describes a choosing, not a command.

I intend for that choosing to happen naturally, through trust earned rather than power seized.

If packs choose to align with Nightfall Hollow because they see something worth aligning with, something better than what they currently have, that's a very different outcome than forcing unification through fear."

"And if some packs choose to rise against it instead? The way the prophecy warned?"

"Then we handle that when it comes just like the same way we handled Mathis.

Carefully, and together, rather than letting fear of what might happen steal the joy of what's happening right now.

" He turned to look at me, moonlight catching the silver in his eyes, and something steady and certain settled into his expression.

"I refuse to let a prophecy written centuries before either of us existed dictate how we experience the months leading up to our wedding, all I know is that we'll face whatever comes, Elara.

But not tonight, Tonight I simply want to sit here with you, under the same moon we're planning to marry beneath, and remember why any of this is worth fighting for in the first place."

I leaned into his shoulder, letting the worry ease back for a little while longer.

The mark on my wrist was warm and steady where our hands remained joined together.

Above us the moon continued its slow climb toward fullness, indifferent to prophecies and politics.

Simply beautiful, simply present, exactly the way I wanted this moment to stay for as long as we could manage to hold onto it.