Chapter 94: Shadows Beneath the Moonlight

The moonlight washed over the training field like a pale, silent witness. Shadows loomed long across the clearing as Serena stood alone, blades at her sides, heart pounding in a rhythm she couldn’t silence. She’d come here to clear her mind, to breathe through the weight Elias had dropped on her earlier. But no amount of training could loosen the knot inside her chest.

She threw her dagger. It sliced the air and embedded with a satisfying thunk in the center of the dummy. Another throw. Another perfect strike. Her precision hadn’t dulled, but the fire behind each movement wasn’t rage. It was despair, confusion… and fear.

The truth about the council’s involvement in the massacre that had torn her world apart had cracked something in her. Something deep.

Behind her, footsteps crunched over fallen leaves.

“I thought I might find you here,” came a voice — smooth, low, unmistakable.

Theron.

Serena didn’t turn. She retrieved her daggers, wiping the blades on her thigh. “Then you know me better than I thought.”

He stepped into the moonlight, arms folded. “You disappear after Elias nearly breaks your world in two. I wasn’t going to just sit around.”

She faced him, finally. Her expression unreadable. “You knew.”

His jaw clenched. “I suspected. There’s a difference.”

“But you didn’t tell me.”

“Because I didn’t have proof. And because I knew it would destroy you.”

Her voice was sharp. “You don’t get to decide what I can or can’t handle, Theron.”

His gaze was steady. “You’re right. I don’t. And I’m sorry.”

The apology hung between them, raw and unpolished.

“I’ve spent my whole life running from lies,” she whispered. “And now the truth feels worse.”

Theron moved closer, cautiously, like approaching a wounded animal. “What Elias told you—”

“Changes everything,” she snapped. “The council orchestrated my pack’s fall. The blood that was spilled—my family, my people—it wasn’t just rogue wolves or fate. It was calculated. Controlled.”

“And now you know. So what happens next?”

Serena’s eyes shimmered with emotion. “I don’t know. That’s the terrifying part. I don’t know who to trust.”

Theron reached out, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. “Start with me.”

Her breath caught.

“I’m not perfect,” he murmured. “But I’ll never lie to you again. No more half-truths. No more politics. Just us.”

Her body was trembling, but not from fear. From the sheer weight of being seen. Understood.

“I don’t want to feel like this anymore,” she admitted. “Like I’m drowning.”

He stepped closer. “Then hold onto me.”

She looked up at him. So many nights she’d dreamed of this closeness, and now it was real — urgent and fragile.

He tilted her chin up with his fingers. “Let me in, Serena. Not as your ally. Not as your future Alpha. Just as the man who can’t go a day without needing you.”

Her lips parted, but no words came.

So he kissed her.

It wasn’t rushed or desperate. It was grounding — the kind of kiss that said I’m here. I’ve got you. No matter what comes next.

And Serena kissed him back.

The warmth of his lips, the steadiness of his hands on her waist — it melted the walls she’d built around herself, brick by careful brick. When they finally pulled apart, the world felt quieter. Calmer.

“I don’t know what the council will do when they find out I know,” she whispered.

“They’ll come after you,” Theron said honestly. “They’ll see you as a threat. But you’re not alone anymore.”

A low rumble interrupted the silence. It wasn’t thunder.

It was a howl.

Followed by smoke curling into the air from the western edge of the territory.

Serena stiffened, instinct kicking in. “That’s not a drill.”

Theron nodded. “Rogues. Or worse.”

Her heart dropped. “The timing—do you think it’s the council?”

“It wouldn’t surprise me.” He turned, already reaching for the comm crystal at his waist. “You head to the watchtower. I’ll rally the southern patrol.”

She nodded, but grabbed his wrist before he could run off. “Theron…”

He turned back.

“I meant it,” she said softly. “I trust you.”

A small smile tugged at his lips. “Good. Then hold on to that. Because this war? It’s just getting started.”

They split, both vanishing into the shadows with the grace of warriors. The training field lay empty again, but the air still pulsed with heat and promise. And the war drums, though silent, were beginning to beat.