Chapter 112: The Reckoning

The forest was quiet, too quiet.

Not even the usual night songs of crickets or owls stirred the stillness. It felt like the entire world was holding its breath—waiting. Watching. The moon, full and low, bled crimson through the clouds, casting the clearing in a sickly, dreamlike hue.

Serena stood at the edge of the hollow, her arms wrapped around herself. Her breath came in shaky waves. She had fought demons, faced down packs, challenged the laws of the supernatural, but this—this moment—was the hardest of them all.

She was finally choosing.

Her wolf trembled beneath her skin, uncertain. Torn.

Behind her, footsteps crunched on fallen leaves, drawing closer. She knew the gait before she turned. Elias.

“Serena,” he breathed, stopping a few feet from her, searching her face for answers. “You came alone.”

“I needed space to think,” she said, her voice low but steady.

His brows furrowed. “And?”

“I’ve made my decision.”

Elias exhaled, the tension in his shoulders loosening slightly. “I won’t ask what it is. I just needed to see you. To know you’re safe.”

She met his eyes, and the fire behind them—the quiet patience, the loyalty—cut her more deeply than any blade.

“You’ve always been there,” she murmured. “Even when I didn’t deserve it.”

“You always deserved it,” he said fiercely. “And if I could go back, I’d still choose you. Every time.”

A silence stretched between them, thick with history. With longing.

Serena took a step closer. “You never asked for anything. Not even when I ran back to Theron, believing his lies.”

Elias’s jaw flexed, but he said nothing.

“I was afraid,” she whispered. “Afraid that if I chose you, I’d be weak.”

“You’d be stronger,” he corrected gently. “Because you wouldn’t be carrying it all alone.”

Her lip trembled. “I never wanted to be someone’s burden.”

“You’re not. You never were. You’re the reason I survived the war with the Shadow Pack. You kept me sane.”

She stared at him for a long moment before closing the distance. Their hands met—fingers brushing, then curling together—and a jolt of warmth surged through her.

“I’m tired, Elias. Of running. Of doubting myself.”

He touched her cheek, his thumb feathering across her skin. “Then stop running. Stay—with me.”

Before she could answer, the air shifted.

A low growl sliced through the stillness.

Serena stiffened. Her wolf bristled.

From the edge of the trees, Theron emerged.

He looked like a ghost of himself—his shirt torn, eyes glowing with something unhinged. The bond between them, though frayed and broken, still sparked faintly in her chest. But it no longer warmed her. It burned.

“So this is where you are,” he said, voice low, dangerous. “In his arms.”

Serena stepped forward, shielding Elias without realizing it. “You shouldn’t be here.”

“I marked you,” he growled. “You are mine.”

“No,” she said firmly. “You marked a version of me that no longer exists. You broke your claim the moment you used me.”

Theron’s snarl echoed through the woods. “You would throw away our bond for him?”

“There is no bond,” she spat. “Only control, manipulation, and betrayal.”

Elias stepped up beside her. “You had your chance, Theron. You don’t get to rewrite the past.”

Theron’s eyes burned into Elias. “And you think you’re worthy of her?”

“I never claimed to be,” Elias said evenly. “But I would never lie to her. I would never use her.”

The tension in the clearing crackled like lightning. Serena’s heart pounded, not with fear, but with the weight of the moment. The choice was made. Now she had to stand by it.

Theron shifted—half-wolf, his claws extending, teeth bared. “I won’t lose you.”

“You already have,” Serena said coldly.

With a snarl, he lunged.

Elias shoved Serena behind him and shifted in one breath, his body erupting in silver fur. The two wolves collided in a clash of power, snarls echoing like thunder.

Serena watched, her instincts screaming, but she held firm. This wasn’t about proving strength—it was about ending something that should have died long ago.

Elias held his own, fast and sharp, his movements fluid with purpose. Theron, though stronger, was reckless, driven by obsession.

Blood stained the grass. Fur flew. Claws raked. The fight was vicious, primal.

Finally, Elias landed a blow that sent Theron sprawling. Before Theron could rise, Serena stepped forward.

“Stop,” she said, her voice like steel.

Theron froze, chest heaving.

“I’m done running,” she continued. “You need to leave. If you ever come near me—or my pack—again, I will end you.”

For a moment, she thought he might try to strike again.

But something in her eyes must have told him she meant every word.

Theron growled one last time, then vanished into the trees.

Elias shifted back, bleeding but alive. Serena rushed to him, catching his face in her hands.

“You’re hurt,” she said.

“I’ve been through worse,” he smiled faintly.

She kissed him then—softly, fully—for the first time without guilt or hesitation. It wasn’t perfect. It wasn’t easy. But it was real.

When they broke apart, he whispered, “What happens now?”

She looked toward the moon. “Now we rebuild. Together.”

And for the first time in a long while, the night no longer felt cold.