Chapter 15: The Solstice Gala

Devlin’s POV

I sat in front of the vanity mirror, staring at my reflection. Tonight was the Solstice Gala. The night Jason was supposed to announce Chloe as his future Luna.

The night my marriage would officially become nothing more than something people talked about in the past. I wasn't going there to fight for Jason. That part of my life was over.

I wasn't going to beg him to remember his promises or cry in front of everyone. And I certainly wasn't going there looking for revenge. I'd spent enough time hurting over that man. I was tired. Not the kind of tiredness that sleep could fix. I was tired of being the woman everyone felt sorry for. Tired of being whispered about and hearing the word wolfless as if it were my identity, as though everything I had done as Luna meant nothing because I couldn't shift.

And despite the strange vision I'd experienced days ago,the sound of thundering paws, the golden light, the feeling of something moving inside me—I wasn't expecting anything to happen tonight. I was wolfless. I had accepted that reality a long time ago.

Whatever that vision had been, it had to be something else. A strange dream. A warning. Anything. Just not a wolf. Because I didn't have one.

I looked down at the dark green dress laid across the bed. It was beautiful, elegant without being too loud. The fabric hugged my curves perfectly, making my dark skin stand out against the deep green. I wanted to look good tonight. Not for Jason or anyone, but for me.

I stood and slipped into the dress, adjusting the fabric around my waist before walking back to the mirror. I pinned my hair up, leaving my neck bare. The place where Jason had marked me was still visible. I stared at it for a few seconds. Years ago, I had looked at that mark and believed it meant forever. Believing him when he promised that whatever happened, we would face it together. Now it only reminded me of a promise that had meant nothing to the man who made it.

I picked up my makeup and applied just enough to bring out my features. Nothing heavy. Nothing that made me look like I was trying too hard. When I finished, I looked at myself again. I still looked like me. That mattered. I was still Devlin.The Luna. And I wasn't going to let them watch me break. If they wanted to celebrate my replacement, they could do it while looking me in the face.

I walked out of my room. The estate was already alive with activity. Servants moved through the halls carrying trays and bottles. Guards stood at every entrance. Music drifted faintly from the ballroom. Everyone was preparing for the biggest night of the year, but I kept walking with my hands steady.

My heart wasn't.

When I stepped into the grand ballroom, the atmosphere changed almost immediately. Conversations slowed, and a few people stopped talking altogether. I felt eyes turning toward me from every direction. Visiting guests stared. Pack elders whispered behind their hands.

Someone near the entrance dropped a spoon against a glass, and the sharp sound seemed much louder than it should have been. I ignored all of them. I lifted my chin and kept walking.

Near the head table, Jason turned. His eyes found mine immediately. For a second, he simply stared. I saw the surprise on his face, followed by something I couldn't understand.

Beside him, Chloe's smile disappeared. Her fingers tightened around the champagne glass in her hand. Jason's mother looked at me from the raised platform and gave me a small, satisfied smile. She probably thought I had finally accepted my place. Maybe she thought I had come to watch my husband choose another woman and quietly step aside.

She had no idea I intended to leave with my dignity.

I took my place among the guests. Jason kept looking at me, but I refused to look back. I could feel his eyes following me, but I kept my attention on the people around me and the decorations hanging from the high ceiling.

A few minutes later, he stepped onto the central platform. The room slowly fell silent as he adjusted the microphone.

"Members of the Red Moon Pack, distinguished guests..." His voice carried across the ballroom. I kept my face calm.

"Tonight, on the Solstice, we gather to discuss the future of our leadership. For a pack to survive the coming years, its Luna must possess strength, bloodline, and—"

Pain shot through my chest.

I sucked in a breath, my hand flying beneath my collarbone.

Not again.

The warmth was there. That same strange warmth I'd felt before. Only this time, it was stronger. Much stronger. I pressed my palm against my chest.

Please. Not here.

The warmth became heat, and then the heat became unbearable. My heartbeat suddenly sped up and my breath came faster. I looked around, but nobody seemed to understand what was happening.

Then a woman standing several feet away gasped.

"Look!"

Every head turned toward me.

I looked down. A faint golden glow was coming through my dress. My blood went cold.

No.

The glow became brighter, spreading beneath the fabric until it covered my chest with a light so bright that the dark green silk couldn't hide it anymore.

"Devlin?"

Jason's voice came through the microphone. He had stepped down from the platform. His face had changed. He looked frightened.

"What's wrong?"

"I..." I couldn't finish.

The heat suddenly tore through me. It spread from my chest into my arms, my back, my legs. It felt like something was moving through my veins. Something alive. Something that had been waiting.

I stumbled. Someone screamed, then another person. The ballroom erupted around me, but the voices sounded distant as the heat continued spreading through my body.

I tried to breathe, but my lungs refused to cooperate. I dropped to my knees, the marble floor striking my skin.

"What is happening to me?"

Nobody answered.

Then I heard it.

A heartbeat.

At first, I thought it was mine, but it wasn't. It was deeper. Louder. It felt as though something enormous was beating beneath my own heart.

My entire body jerked.

Pain exploded through my spine. I screamed, my fingers digging into the marble as my bones began to move. I heard cracks, one after another. My vision blurred, and the ballroom disappeared behind a wall of golden light.

I couldn't see Jason anymore. I couldn't see anyone. There was only pain. My body felt like it was being torn apart and put back together at the same time. I tried to fight it, but I couldn't.

Another crack sounded through my body. My hands changed. My fingers stretched, my nails pushing out into claws. My back arched. A scream left my throat, but it didn't sound human anymore.

Then everything went dark.

When I opened my eyes, I was no longer on my knees.

I was standing on four legs.

My breathing was heavy, and my body felt huge. Too huge. I looked down. Golden fur covered my legs. My paws were enormous, and I stumbled backward.

Everything around me felt different.

The sounds were sharper. I could hear people breathing from across the ballroom. I could hear the frantic pounding of their hearts beneath their screams. The scent of perfume filled the air, mixed with spilled champagne, fear and something metallic I couldn't immediately place.

A terrified scream came from somewhere near the entrance. I turned toward the sound.

People were running. Some had fallen. Others were pressed against the walls, staring at me as though I had become something they had spent their entire lives fearing.

I didn't understand.

I turned toward the shattered remains of one of the mirrors. A piece of glass lay on the floor. I moved closer and looked into it.

I stopped breathing.

A wolf stared back at me.

Not a normal wolf. It was enormous, its fur the color of liquid gold, moving slightly with every breath. Across its chest was the same symbol that had been appearing beneath my skin.

The Sun Crest.

Its eyes were amber.

My eyes.

I stared at the creature in the glass, unable to understand what I was seeing. Then the truth hit me so hard that I almost stepped backward.

The creature was me.

My wolf.

After twenty-three years of being told I had no wolf, the truth had finally revealed itself. I had never been wolfless.

I had spent my entire life believing there was something missing inside me. I had accepted every insult, every whisper and every look of pity because I believed them when they told me I was different.

But they had been wrong.

I wasn't broken.

Before I could understand what that meant, a deep voice broke through the chaos.

"Impossible."

I turned.

At the far end of the ballroom stood a man surrounded by several elders.

Kaelen Vane. The Alpha King.

He wasn't moving. His eyes were fixed on me. Not with fear. Not like the others. There was something else in his expression.

Recognition.

An elder beside him swallowed hard.

"Your Majesty..."

Kaelen didn't answer.

"What is that thing?" the elder whispered.

"Is it a mutation?"

Kaelen's eyes never left me.

"No."

His voice was quiet, but somehow, I heard him clearly through the screaming.

"That isn't an ordinary wolf."

He took one slow step forward.

Something inside my chest responded.

The golden mark pulsed.

Kaelen stopped.

His face changed. For the first time, I saw something close to shock in the eyes of the most powerful Alpha in the realm. He looked at the Sun Crest on my chest, then at me again.

"The Old Lands weren't destroyed."

The elder stared at him.

"What?"

Kaelen's jaw tightened. His gaze remained fixed on me.

"They've been waiting for her."

I didn't understand what he meant. I didn't understand why the Alpha King was looking at me as though he had just found something he had spent years believing was lost forever.

But the moment he said those words, the golden power inside me stirred again.

And somewhere deep inside my chest, the creature that had slept for twenty-three years opened its eyes.