Returning to her Roots

Selene had built an empire.

She had become a ruler.

She had forged alliances, strengthened warriors, expanded beyond the shadows of her past.

And now?

She was ready to return.

Not as their broken Omega.

Not as their forgotten servant.

She was coming back to take everything they had stolen from her.

But she wasn’t going alone.

She had Darius—her Alpha, her equal, her unwavering pillar in the storm she was about to step into.

And together?

They were about to remind the Bloodmoon Pack exactly what they had created.

The road to Bloodmoon was unchanged—winding through thick forests, cutting through empty terrain, leading toward the towering estate that had once been her prison.

Selene rode beside Darius, their horses moving at a steady pace, the silence stretching between them not from hesitation, but from understanding.

She had told him everything.

The abuse. The rejection. The nights where she had thought survival wasn’t worth the effort.

And he had listened.

Not with pity. Not with empty promises.

But with the quiet, steadfast presence of someone who would stand beside her no matter what awaited them.

Darius adjusted his grip on the reins, glancing at her. “You’re ready for this.”

Selene exhaled, nodding once. “I know.”

The moment she entered their borders, wolves noticed.

She felt their stares—sharp, stunned, whispering amongst themselves, murmuring her name like a ghost had walked into their territory.

Killian was the first to see her.

Her former fated mate.

The wolf who had once looked at her with disgust, who had rejected her without hesitation.

And now?

His breath hitched, confusion flickering across his features as he stared at the woman before him—not a broken Omega, not an abandoned servant.

But a Luna standing beside her Alpha.

“Selene?” Killian murmured, voice hoarse.

She met his gaze, unblinking, unwavering. “Did you think I died?”

Killian swallowed hard. “You disappeared.”

“No,” she corrected smoothly. “I evolved.”

The Alpha of Bloodmoon—Damien—stood at the entrance of the pack’s estate, watching her with unreadable eyes.

Selene felt the weight of her past press against her, felt the ghosts of bruises that had long since faded, felt the memories claw at her mind.

And then?

Darius reached for her hand.

Slow. Unhurried. Undeniably grounding.

She tightened her grip against his, letting his presence become her anchor, letting herself breathe.

Because she wasn’t weak anymore.

She wasn’t alone.

She wasn’t theirs.

She belonged to no one but herself.

And as she stood before Damien, before Killian, before every wolf who had ever doubted her, she knew.

They were about to see exactly what they had created.

The silence stretched like a blade poised for its strike.

Selene stood at the center of the Bloodmoon estate, the place where she had once been nothing, facing the wolves who had broken her, dismissed her, left her to rot in obscurity.

Now, she was something else entirely.

And they had no choice but to see it.

Damien—the Alpha who had once looked down on her as if she were dust beneath his feet—sat rigid at the head of the gathering hall, his gaze unreadable but sharp.

He hadn’t expected her to return.

And he certainly hadn’t expected her to arrive with an Alpha of her own.

Killian lingered nearby, his posture tense, his jaw locked as he absorbed the reality of her presence. His fated mate, the one he had thrown away, stood before him, more powerful than he ever could have imagined.

Selene didn’t flinch.

She didn’t bow.

She simply watched them—measured them, cataloged their reactions, felt the weight of their regret settle into their bones like an illness they couldn’t cure.

Damien exhaled sharply. “You come here alone.”

Selene smirked, tilting her head slightly. “I didn’t need an army for this.”

Darius stood beside her, silent, unwavering, radiating the kind of effortless command that made even seasoned warriors hesitant.

His presence was a statement in itself—she wasn’t just returning. She was standing beside an Alpha who would burn the entire pack to the ground if they so much as thought of hurting her again.

Walking these halls again wasn’t easy.

She felt the echoes of everything she had endured—the bruises, the stolen nights of hunger, the whispers in the dark that reminded her she would never be enough.

And yet, she had returned.

Not as their prisoner.

Not as their Omega.

As the woman who had become greater than all of them.

She hesitated for only a moment—long enough for Darius to notice.

His fingers brushed against the back of her hand, slow, deliberate, grounding.

She didn’t look at him.

She didn’t need to.

His presence was a reminder that she had already won.

The wolves who had once tortured her, the Beta who had struck her down in the woods, the warriors who had sneered at her, they all stood in stunned silence.

Because Selene wasn’t weak anymore.

She wasn’t something they could ignore.

She was a Luna. A ruler. An unstoppable force.

And she wasn’t here for revenge or forgiveness.

She was here to make them see.

See what they had created.

See what their cruelty had shaped.

See the nightmare they had forged through their own arrogance.

And as the tension thickened, Selene smiled slowly.

“I survived you.”