Chapter sixteen

Mariana pov

The library had turned into a battlefield.

Books were scattered across the floor, shelves had been knocked sideways, and the large wooden table that once sat in the center of the room had been pushed against the wall.

I could barely keep track of everything happening around me. My father and Zayan were moving so quickly that all I could see sometimes was the flash of their swords and the blur of their bodies as they clashed. Master Graham was far more skilled with a sword than I had expected, and although Zayan clearly had the upper hand, he wasn’t fighting with his full strength.

It was almost as though he was deliberately holding back, perhaps because this was still my father, perhaps because he wanted answers before he ended everything.

I turned my head for a moment and saw Wren still being held by two of Zayan’s guards. She struggled against them, but there was nowhere for her to go. Her face was twisted with anger as she watched the fight unfold.

I turned back just as Zayan drove his sword against my father’s, forcing him backward. The impact sent Master Graham stumbling until his back slammed against one of the bookshelves. I expected him to groan or fall, but instead, he slowly lifted his head and smiled. The expression was so wrong that even Zayan paused for half a second, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.

Then my father reached into his coat.

He pulled out a dagger unlike anything I had ever seen before. Purple light pulsed from its blade, spreading across the library walls like dark lightning. The air immediately changed. Even from where I stood, I could feel something unnatural coming from it. It wasn’t an ordinary weapon. It had been enchanted. My heart began pounding as my father tightened his grip around it.

“You really thought you could walk into my home and take everything from me?” he snarled, his eyes fixed on Zayan. “I’ll kill you, take the title of Warlord from you, and take Frostcrest for myself. When I’m finished, you will have nothing.”

He charged.

“Zayan!” I screamed.

Everything happened too quickly. My father collided with him, forcing him backward until Zayan’s body struck the bookshelf. The enchanted dagger was raised between them, and Zayan caught my father’s wrist with one hand, struggling to keep the blade away. But the purple light seemed to grow brighter the closer it came to him. My father’s strength was overwhelming, and slowly, painfully, the blade began inching toward Zayan’s neck.

“No!” I cried, running forward,But I was too far away,the blade moved closer.

Closer.

Closer.

And something inside me snapped.

A roar erupted from somewhere deep within my chest.The Golden Phoenix Wolf burst through me again.

Golden light exploded across the library, sending books flying from the shelves and shaking the windows. I didn’t even realize I had shifted until I saw flames curling around my golden paws. My wolf launched forward with a force I couldn’t control.

It slammed directly into my father.

The impact ripped him away from Zayan and sent him crashing across the room.

But the enchanted dagger didn’t fall harmlessly.

It flashed.

A blinding purple radiance burst from the blade as it struck my father’s chest.

Everything went silent.

I shifted back almost instantly, staring at the scene in horror.

“No…” My voice trembled. “No, no, no. What have I done?”

Zayan slowly pushed himself away from the bookshelf and stood. His eyes immediately found me, but I barely noticed. My eyes were fixed on the blood spreading across the floor.

Then I realized it wasn’t coming from Zayan.

It was coming from my father.

Master Graham was on the floor, his body motionless except for the faint rise and fall of his chest. Blood continued to seep through his clothes and pool beneath him. My hands began shaking.

I hadn’t meant to kill him.

I had only wanted to save Zayan.

Wren suddenly screamed from behind the guards. “No! What have you done, you heartless little witch?! They should have killed you with your mother! But father pitied you! He should have made you a slave and been done with you!”

Her words barely registered.

I took a hesitant step toward my father. For years, I had imagined standing in front of him and finally asking why he had treated me the way he did. Why he had allowed my mother to suffer. Why he had treated me like something unwanted. Why Wren had always been worthy of love while I had never been enough.

Now he was dying before I could ask any of it.

I turned briefly toward Zayan, checking that he was safe, then started to move away.

“Mariana…”

I froze.

My father’s voice was barely audible.

I didn’t turn around.

For several seconds, I simply stood there with my back to him, my heart pounding painfully in my chest.

“Mariana…”This time, there was something different in his voice.

I slowly turned.

Master Graham looked at me. His face had lost all its arrogance, and for the first time in my life, he looked small. Weak. Human.

“I… never knew…” he whispered.

He struggled to breathe, his eyes remaining on me. “I never knew you were… this strong.”

I stared at him, waiting for the rest.

Was he going to apologize?

Was he finally going to acknowledge everything he had done to my mother?

Was he going to tell me that he regretted the years of cruelty?

Or was he going to say one last thing to remind me that I had never been enough?

His lips parted.

But before he could finish, his body suddenly jerked.The enchanted dagger had done its work.

He groaned deeply, his head falling backward as the last of his strength left him.

Then he went still.

My father’s lifeless body lay before me.

I couldn’t move.

What had he wanted to say?

I would never know.

A pair of strong arms suddenly wrapped around me.

Zayan pulled me against his chest, holding me tightly. I felt his heartbeat beneath my cheek, steady and warm, and only then did I realize how badly I was shaking.

“I’m here,” he whispered. “You’re safe.”

I closed my eyes and held onto him.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I didn’t mean for that to happen.”

“You saved my life.” His hand moved gently through my hair. “That’s all that matters to me.”

He kissed the top of my head before looking toward Wren.

The softness in his eyes disappeared.

“For every pain you caused my Luna,” he said coldly, “you will pay for it. You will spend the rest of your days in prison.”

Wren’s eyes widened. “No! You can’t do that! I’m Master Graham’s daughter!”

I looked at her, exhausted beyond words.

“Would you stop whining?” I asked quietly. “You’ve always been a spoiled brat. At least you won’t be alone.”

Her face fell.

“You, your mother, and Nicholas can keep each other company. All of you will be imprisoned for treason and betrayal against Frostcrest.”

“No!” Wren screamed.

From somewhere behind her came another voice.

“Mariana!”

Nicholas.

He was being held by two guards, his legs still badly injured from the punishment I had given him. He looked desperate.

“Please! You can’t do this to me!” he begged. “I always loved you. I loved you more than Wren ever did. She was the one forcing herself into my life! I never wanted—”

Wren immediately snapped toward him. “You fool! You were privileged to even be engaged to me! Don’t you dare stand there and pretend I forced myself on you!”

They began arguing, throwing accusations at each other, but their voices quickly became nothing more than noise behind me.

I didn’t turn around.

I had spent too many years listening to them.

I was done.

Zayan took my hand, and together, we walked away.

The carriage ride back to Frostcrest was quiet at first.I had barely settled into my seat before I threw my arms around Zayan.

He caught me immediately.

“I thought I’d never see you again,” I whispered against his chest. “When I was in that dungeon, I thought that was it. I thought I’d never see you again.”

His arms tightened around me.

“You don’t have to be afraid anymore.”He gently lifted my face and wiped the tears from my cheeks with his thumb.

“I will always know you, little wolf. No matter what they did to you, no matter what spell they used, I knew you weren’t that woman.”

I looked at him through tear-filled eyes.

“How?”

He touched my chest gently, right above my heart.

“Here.”Then he touched my temple.”And here.”

He smiled softly.

“We are connected in more ways than scent or appearance. I know your heart. I know your mind. I know your voice. I would know you in this lifetime, the next one, and every lifetime after that.”

A small smile broke through my tears.

“You really mean that?”

“I do.”

I wrapped my arms around his neck.

“I love you.”

“I love you too, my Luna.”

Then he kissed me.

And for the first time since I had been taken from Mountcrest, I allowed myself to believe that my life truly belonged to me.

A Few Months Later

Months passed.

Frostcrest had changed after the war. The kingdom was peaceful again, the Graham family had been stripped of its power, and the threat that had followed me since childhood was finally gone.

One bright afternoon, Clara and I walked through the palace gardens.

“I still think you’re walking too slowly,” Clara complained playfully.

I laughed. “I’m walking perfectly fine.”

“You’ve been complaining about being tired for days my lady.”

“I have not.”

“You have my lady…maybe.”

I opened my mouth to argue, but suddenly the entire garden seemed to spin.

I stopped.

“Clara…”

She immediately turned toward me.

“My lady.”

My vision blurred.

The next thing I knew, everything went black.

When I opened my eyes again, I was lying in bed with Zayan sitting beside me.

He looked terrified.

“What happened?” he demanded as the pack doctor examined me. “Why did she faint? Is something wrong with my Luna? Is she sick? Is it the spell? Did Graham’s people do something to her? Tell me what happened!”

“Zayan,” I whispered.

He immediately looked at me.

“Relax. You’ll be fine.”He took my hand and nodded, though his expression remained tense.

The doctor smiled.

“On the contrary, my lord. There is absolutely nothing wrong with your Luna.”

Zayan frowned.

“Then why did she faint?”

The doctor looked between us.

“Because she is expecting pups.”

Silence.

Zayan blinked.

“Pups?”

The doctor smiled wider.

“Yes.”

Zayan stared at me.

“She’s pregnant?”

“Exactly.”

His eyes suddenly widened.

“Wait.” He looked at the doctor again. “You said pups. As in… more than one?”

The doctor laughed softly.

“Yes, my lord. More than one.”

Zayan turned back to me, and the look on his face was something I had never seen before.

Pure joy.

“We’re having heirs?”

I couldn’t stop smiling.

“I didn’t even know.”

He immediately leaned down and kissed my forehead.

“I’m going to be a father.”

Then he looked at my stomach as if he expected to see the babies through my skin.

“Wait… more than one?”

I laughed.

“Yes, Zayan. More than one.”

He sat back, looking completely amazed.

“I knew my bloodline was powerful, but perhaps my strength has other talents.”

I stared at him.

“Zayan.”

“What?”

I rolled my eyes.

“Please.”

He laughed, wrapping his arms around me.

But beneath the laughter, I could see just how happy he was.

I rested my head against his chest, listening to his heartbeat.

For so long, I had believed my life was cursed.

I had believed I had lost everything when Nicholas chose Wren. I had believed being sent to Frostcrest was a punishment. I had believed I was being sold to a ruthless warlord and that death was waiting for me.

But fate had been writing a different story.

I had lost a family that never truly loved me, only to find a home where I was cherished. I had lost the future I thought I wanted, only to discover something far greater. I had endured humiliation, betrayal, loneliness, and fear, and somehow, through all of it, I had found the one person who saw me exactly as I was.

Zayan tightened his arms around me.

I smiled.

Maybe everything I thought was the end had only been the beginning.

I looked down at my stomach and placed my hand over it gently.

I had survived Mountcrest.

I had survived my father and I survived everything they had tried to turn me into.

And now, I was standing beside the love of my life, carrying the future of Frostcrest within me.

For the first time, I didn’t wonder what fate had planned for me.

I knew.

I had finally found my forever.

THE END.