Chapter 30: Beneath the Silver Moon

The full moon rose high above the ancient trees, casting a ghostly glow across the clearing as if nature itself had paused to witness the chaos about to unfold. Raven stood at the edge of the circle, her breath shallow, her senses flaring. Her wolf paced inside her, restless and alert. The silence around her wasn’t peace—it was tension, coiled and waiting to snap.

Alpha Kade stood across from her, his eyes burning gold beneath the moonlight. He hadn’t said a word since they arrived at the sacred grounds of the Lunar Circle—a place reserved for ancient rites, hidden deep within the Silverfang territory. The only sounds were the murmurs of wolves gathered around them—council members, pack warriors, even rogues whose allegiance now hung in the balance.

“You called this meeting,” Marcus murmured beside her, his voice low but firm. “Let’s hope they’re ready to listen.”

Raven glanced at him, grateful for his quiet presence. He had been her shield more times than she could count, and tonight, she might need him more than ever.

Kyla stood a few paces behind, eyes darting between Raven and Kade. There was conflict etched in every line of her face. She had grown distant ever since the attack. Raven wasn’t sure where her loyalties lay anymore.

“Let’s begin,” Kade’s voice rang out, deep and commanding.

The crowd stilled. No one dared move.

“I, Alpha Kade of the Silverfangs, invoke the Rite of the Moon,” he said. “To challenge prophecy, to clarify destiny, and to determine loyalty.”

A low murmur rippled through the crowd. The Rite of the Moon was not common. It was sacred—dangerous. The council elders, seated in a half-circle near the ceremonial stones, nodded solemnly.

Raven stepped forward. “I accept the rite.”

The moment she spoke, her heart thundered. This wasn’t just a ceremony. It was a gamble. One wrong move could shatter everything she had begun to build.

Kade’s jaw clenched. “Then you will speak your truth before the moon.”

Raven nodded.

“I was stolen from my pack as a child,” she began, her voice carrying across the circle. “Raised in the dark. Trained to be something I wasn’t. I returned not to claim power, but to survive. But I found more than survival—I found truth. I found my people.”

She met the eyes of several pack members—some skeptical, some silently cheering.

“But I also found deception. The prophecy speaks of me as destruction—but what if it was never meant to destroy this pack, but to reveal its rot?”

A gasp came from the crowd. Kade’s face remained unreadable.

“I was lied to,” Raven continued. “By the rogues who raised me. By those who feared my bloodline. But I will not let fear rule this pack any longer. I stand here not to seize a crown, but to stop a war. If that makes me the forbidden mate—so be it.”

Silence. Then murmurs.

A tall elder rose. “And you, Alpha Kade? Do you accept her claim?”

Kade stepped forward. “I accept her truth. And I claim her.”

The crowd gasped.

Raven froze.

Claim her?

Kade turned to face the circle. “I’ve fought this bond. Denied it. But I won’t anymore. The prophecy is not a threat. It’s a guide. And I see now—we’re stronger together.”

Raven’s breath caught. Was this real? Or was he using the moment to control the narrative?

Before she could process his words, an explosion rocked the earth.

Boom!

Screams erupted as a wall of flame burst from the western edge of the circle. Shadows emerged—masked wolves, rogue enforcers, weapons drawn. The ceremony had been a trap.

Raven spun, instincts taking over. Her wolf surged forward, claws extending as she dropped low into a fighting stance. Marcus was already in motion, shielding the elders.

Kade roared, his shift seamless, his wolf leaping into battle.

But it was Kyla who moved first—straight toward the flames.

“Kyla!” Raven shouted.

But she didn’t stop. Kyla dove into the fire, vanishing in the smoke.

Betrayal? Or sacrifice?

Raven didn’t have time to decide.

A rogue lunged at her. She ducked, rolled, and slammed her fist into his gut. Another charged—she kicked out, sending him crashing into a tree. Her wolf itched beneath her skin, but she held it back. She needed clarity, not fury.

“Kade!” she called out. “Where’s the council?!”

“They’re protected!” he shouted, his voice rough, his wolf form dripping blood. “But the rogues are everywhere—we have a mole!”

Raven’s eyes burned. Of course they did.

“Fall back to the cliffs!” she shouted. “We need the high ground!”

Marcus appeared at her side, blood running down his jaw. “We won’t last long like this.”

“We just need to hold them off until the moon peaks,” she said. “Then everything changes.”

“How?”

“I don’t know,” she whispered. “But I feel it. Something’s coming.”

The air shifted—charged, electric.

A howl rose in the distance.

Then another.

And another.

Not enemy rogues.

Reinforcements.

From the east, a new wave of wolves burst into the clearing—golden eyes, silver fur, wearing no crest. A third faction.

Raven’s heart dropped. “Who the hell are they?”

A massive wolf stepped forward, shifting mid-run into a tall woman with silver braids and piercing green eyes.

“I am Selene, Alpha of the Shadowborn,” she announced. “We come to claim what was stolen.”

Raven blinked. She knew that name. From her mother’s journal.

Her wolf whispered:

Mother’s pack.

Selene’s eyes met hers. “You are of our blood. Daughter of Sariah.”

The earth tilted beneath her.

Kade turned, snarling. “You will not take her.”

“She’s not yours to keep,” Selene said, voice calm. “She’s ours to protect.”

The battle paused. For a breath. For a moment.

Everything was about to change.

And Raven stood in the middle of it.

Torn between past and future. Between two alphas. Between the fate she fled… and the legacy she never asked for.