Star’s POV
The pack begged. One by one, warriors, omegas, elders, all those who had once scorned me, dropped to their knees and pleaded.“Please, Luna.”“Don’t abandon us.”“Save our Alpha.”Their voices mixed together, were a desperate chorus echoing in the morning air. But I didn’t flinch. I didn’t even slow my steps. My decision was made.I walked through the heart of the pack I had once called home, my only belongings packed into a small bag slung over my shoulder. The sun was just rising, casting golden light over the pack house as the scent of breakfast wafted through the air, fresh bread and roasted meat, but I tasted nothing but the bitterness of my resolve.My fingers curled tightly around the strap of my bag as I stepped through the entrance, my feet light but my heart was heavy. It was early, and the dining hall was packed. Warriors sat at long woodeHelios’ POVThe world around me was slipping. At first, I thought it was just the weakness from my wounds, the slow-healing injuries that should have closed by now but remained stubborn, festering. But the moment my wolf, Hades, let out a soul-crushing howl inside my mind, I knew something was wrong.No, something was gone. A deep, hollow ache, spread through my chest, a pain far worse than any wound. My limbs turned to lead, my body burning and freezing all at once. My breathing hitched, coming in shallow, desperate gasps.And then it hit me. She left. My mate, my Luna, and my Starlight had left. The bond… our pack bond… was severed. I felt it vanish, like a tether that had been keeping me grounded suddenly snapping. And with it, my already failing body collapsed.A strangled noise escaped my throat as I felt my connection to everything fade, my pack, my wolf, my very soul. Hades howled
Star’s POVThe motel room was dim, the flickering bulb above casting weak light across the peeling wallpaper. It was a cheap place, nothing like the cold, grand halls of the Moonlit Pack’s estate. But here, I was alone and Free. Or so I thought.The pain hadn’t left. If anything, it had worsened. My limbs ached, my wolf, Sky, was eerily silent, and my head pounded like a war drum. I lay curled up on the bed, my breath shallow. I didn’t regret leaving. But my body did.A soft knock on the door startled me. My fingers curled instinctively, muscles tensing despite the exhaustion. No one should know I was here. Cautiously, I pulled myself upright and walked to the door, pressing my ear against it. “Star,” a familiar voice whispered. “Please, child, open the door.” My breath hitched. Celeste.I yanked the door open, and there she stood, the mystical healer of the Moonlit Pack. Her silver hair shimmered under the hallway’s dim light, and her w
Star's POVI stood there at the threshold of the infirmary, my eyes trained on Helios. His eyes flickered open, meeting mine with a mixture of confusion, weakness, and... something else I couldn’t quite place.I felt the flicker of recognition deep within me. But it was buried beneath layers of everything he’d put me through, every insult, every cold look, every time I was cast aside as insignificant. This was Helios. The future alpha. The man who thought the world revolved around him. But I wasn’t here to coddle him.The murmurs from the pack grew louder, like a tide of anxiety slowly rising. They had been watching me, waiting for me to make my move. But I had already made it. I stepped forward, my heels clicking against the sterile floor, the sound echoing through the room like a declaration of war.The pack was behind me, outside the infirmary, in the corridors, in the hallways, all of them waiting for a sign. Waiting for me to give t
Star's POVThe atmosphere was still with tension. The moment I stepped into the infirmary, the entire pack felt it, their gazes trained on me like hawks, waiting for a sign, a reason to breathe. Helios was still unconscious, his body pale and fragile, a shell of the man he once was. But the moment my feet hit the cold floor, a strange sense of relief washed over me.It wasn’t for him. It wasn’t even for the pack. It was for me. I could feel the shift in the air, like everything was aligning for this one moment. Helios was no longer the mighty, untouchable alpha. He was broken, vulnerable, and the only way to save him, to save this pack, was for me to mark him.The bond we had always been reluctant to embrace would now define us. But not in the way he’d imagined. His body was weak. He barely moved as I approached him.“Helios,” I whispered, leaning over him, my breath cold against his skin
Helios' POVThe burning sensation from her bite was still fresh against my skin, but something more profound had shifted deep within me. The pack was silent, their collective gaze heavy on my body as the mark she left on me began to glow faintly.It wasn’t just my skin that was healing, no, it was deeper than that. My entire being was mending itself, like a broken chain slowly knitting itself together, stronger than before. The pain I had been enduring for days, the weakness I had grown accustomed to, began to fade. The bruises from the rogue attack, the lingering fatigue, everything started to feel less oppressive, less life-threatening.I could feel her wolf, powerful and proud, weaving into my veins like a fire spreading through dry wood. The surge of power was intoxicating, and I could sense her all around me, her energy more potent than anything I had ever experienced.
Helios' POVThree days. That was all it took. The mark she left on me had done what nothing else could. It healed me, body, mind and soul. I could feel the strength surging through me, the healing coursing through my veins, but I knew it wasn’t the mark itself. It was the power she held over me, the power I had tried to deny. Now, it was undeniable.I stood at the edge of the pack house, feeling the immensity of the transformation I had gone through. Once, I had been the untouchable future alpha, the one everyone looked up to and feared. But now? Now I was different. And I was okay with it. No, I was more than okay with it. For the first time, I realized that this wasn’t weakness. This was power. True power. The kind that didn’t need to be flaunted or demanded. It was hers. And I was hers.I could still feel the residual pull of her, like a thread wrapped around my soul, pulling me towa
Star's POVThe night had fallen over Moonlit Pack, and silence now reigned in the house. Only the soft rustling of the wind against the trees outside broke the stillness. Inside their chambers, I could feel the tension crackling in the air, thick and tangible. Helios was standing in the corner, his jaw clenched, his body stiff with anticipation.He was a powerful alpha, the leader of this pack, yet here he was, waiting for me to tell him what to do. I turned to face him, my eyes cold, assessing him like a predator eyeing its prey. “You’ve been far too proud for too long, Helios. It’s time to learn humility.”He didn’t move, but I could see the muscles in his jaw flexing. His eyes had been tracking my every movement, and I could feel the heat of his gaze as if it were a tangible thing. But I wasn’t going to give him any satisfaction tonight. He needed to learn control, and I would be the one to teach him. “Strip,” I c
Star's POVThe days following that night had been both a relief and a new challenge for me. Helios was no longer the arrogant alpha I had once known. He was different, more aware, more attuned to my needs, and most importantly, more submissive. The constant pressure from the mate bond, the overwhelming desire to touch me, to possess me, was something he now fought daily, but it was clear that he was starting to understand the lesson I’d begun teaching him. Control.I had made my point. And the more he learned, the more I saw the transformation in him. His arrogance had diminished, replaced by a quiet obedience that wasn’t natural for someone who had ruled over the Moonlit Pack for so long. Yet, the part of me that had always craved power, respect, and dominance felt a certain satisfaction in seeing him surrender, not to me, but to us.I had decided that it was time to take our relationsh
Star’s POVThe gardens had changed so much. Once, they were a tangle of wild vines and neglected fountains. Now, they bloomed in every color the mind could conjure, a testament to years of peace, nurtured by steady hands and hopeful hearts.I sat beneath the silverleaf tree, a thick book resting in my lap, though I hadn’t turned a page in some time. Instead, I watched. Two figures stood at the edge of the training grounds, bathed in the golden haze of late afternoon.Lyra moved like liquid light, a blade in each hand, her strikes swift and sure. Kaelen countered, laughing, parrying her every move with effortless grace. Their magic pulsed between them, visible now,mwoven into every step, every breath.I smiled. They were no longer children clinging to my skirts. They were warriors. Leaders. Legends in the making. "You look proud," Helios said, dropping down onto the bench beside me. His hair was dusted with gray at the temples now, and fine lines fanned from the corners of his golden ey
Star’s POVThe great plaza of Solis Magna had never held so many. From every corner of the realm, from snow-dusted northern steppes to the emerald coasts of the south, they came.Nobles in gleaming armor. Magi in embroidered robes. Merchants in bright silks. Hunters, warriors, healers, even wandering bards. The city was a living river of humanity, all converging for one reason: To witness the birth of a new era.I stood at the center of it all, the twins at my side, Helios at my back. Today wasn’t just about us. It was about what we symbolized: Survival. Unity. A future carved from the ashes of fear.The royal dais had been draped in banners of silver and indigo, the colors of hope and rebirth. At its heart sat the Twin Thrones, two smaller seats forged from moonstone and steel, twined together by veins of shimmering crystal.An artisan's masterpiece. A promise made manifest. The twins shifted beside me, sensing the importance of the moment even at their tender age. Little Elira clut
Star’s POVThe battlefield was silent. Not with the unnatural silence of fear, but with the heavy, reverent hush of mourning.The crows had come to feast, circling high above the smoldering ruins, but even they seemed hesitant to land.It felt as if the very earth was holding its breath.I stood at the edge of the palace gardens, what remained of them, cradling the twins in my arms. The price of our victory lay all around us. Not in broken stones. Not in burned fields.But in the faces missing from the crowd.Sir Caldus, the grizzled commander who had once sworn never to serve under a "mere omega," had fallen protecting the southern gate, his body found draped over a trio of young squires he had shielded from the cult's last brutal strike.Lady Meriva, my oldest advisor and secret mentor in court politics, had refused to leave the war room even as the ceiling collapsed around her. Her sharp tongue and sharper mind, silenced.And Lord Riven, Helios’ second-in-command, a warrior as fier
Star’s POVThe dawn rose blood-red over the battlefield. I staggered through the wreckage, every breath burning in my lungs, every muscle aching. Helios’ hand never left my back, steadying me, grounding me. But it wasn’t over. Not yet.Above the palace, the twin beams of light pulsed stronger, not fading, not weakening but building. Growing. Drawing every soul’s attention like a lodestar. The survivors turned, warriors, mages, servants, all of them lifting their heads, faces bathed in the radiant glow.Even the enemy’s corpses, corrupted and twisted, seemed to dissolve into dust under its touch. The world itself was changing. I knew I had to get to them. Ignoring the protests of my battered body, I ran, up the crumbling stone steps, through the shattered gates, until I burst into the palace.The halls were filled with light. And at the heart of it all, in the throne room, the twins stood. No longer fragile infants. Not quite children either. They hovered inches above the ground, tiny
Star’s POVThe night before the battle, the sky wept black rain. It fell in thick sheets against the palace windows, painting the world in shadows.The twins slept fitfully in their cribs, tiny fists clenching, soft whimpers escaping their lips. Even they could feel it, the tension tightening the air, the storm gathering beyond the horizon.I stood at the highest tower, my armor a second skin, my sword strapped to my back, celestial magic humming at my fingertips. Below me, the army gathered. Wolf warriors clad in dark steel. Mages with their staffs glowing faintly. Archers stringing arrows tipped with silver and starfire.Helios was already at the front, speaking to the troops. I could feel him through the bond, calm, steady, a blazing force holding the line. I closed my eyes and let my power rise. Tonight wasn’t just another skirmish. It was the first true war cry of an ancient enemy. And we would answer it.The cult came with the storm. They poured out of the forests like oil slick
Star’s POVThe first sign was so small, so easily missed, that it almost slipped through my fingers. A scout failed to report back on time, nothing unusual, given the chaos at our borders.But then another disappeared. And then a patrol found strange footprints at the edge of the northern woods: bootprints, human, but alongside them, the scorched marks of something... other.I tightened the palace defenses that night, weaving additional layers of celestial magic into the gates, the walls, even the air itself. I didn’t sleep. I didn’t dare. Because deep in my bones, the truth was already stirring: There was a traitor among us.Three days later, it struck. The twins were asleep in their nursery, the palace humming with low, wary energy. I was reviewing troop movements with Helios when the alarms screamed through the halls, a keening, unnatural sound that made every hair on my body rise.I sprinted, Helios at my heels, instincts howling. Bursting into the nursery, I found chaos. The head
Star’s POVThe morning after the council’s cowardice was laid bare, the sun rose blood-red over the horizon.I stood alone on the highest tower, the cold wind snapping at my hair and cloak, my heart burning with a fire no frost could quench. Below me, the courtyard buzzed with nervous energy, soldiers drilling harder, blacksmiths hammering faster, scouts galloping through the gates.We had little time. The vision the twins had shared in flashes, beasts without faces, storms that bled black rain, fires that howled like grieving mothers, haunted me.The darkness wasn’t waiting politely at our borders. It was coming.And this time, it was not a squabble over thrones or a petty rebellion. It was annihilation. Helios joined me silently, his presence steady at my side. His arm brushed mine in a silent vow: Whatever comes, we stand together.I turned to him. “It’s not enough,” I said simply.The preparations, the drills, the polished armor, it wasn’t enough to face an ancient enemy that wiel
Star’s POVThe first sign came with the breaking of a mirror. It wasn’t just any mirror, it was the ancient obsidian looking glass that had hung in the royal antechamber for generations, unmarred by time or war. That morning, I found it split down the center, a crack as fine as a spider’s web radiating outward like a warning whispered from the bones of the earth. The second sign was harder to ignore.Reports flooded in, whispered by trembling envoys. Reports of black storms rolling across the distant borders, swallowing rivers, rotting crops in minutes, and waking beasts from ancient slumber. Villages that had stood for centuries vanished beneath the storms’ writhing clouds.And every time I reached out with my magic, trying to sense the twins through our invisible thread, I felt a hum of urgency. A pulsing hurry that prickled against my skin. The threat was coming. Not in months. Not even in weeks. Days.I gathered my court in the war room, a vaulted chamber carved of stone, with a
Star’s POVThe summons came at dawn. A formal decree, pressed into my palm by a pale-faced courier who refused to meet my eyes. The parchment crackled in my grip, the words stamped in wax as if the Council thought their authority alone could cage me.Helios stood beside me on the palace steps, reading over my shoulder. His growl rumbled low and dangerous. “They dare summon you like a criminal?” I smoothed the parchment with steady fingers, though inside, a storm brewed.“They fear what they don't understand," I said. "And they never imagined the power they tried to bury could rise stronger than them." He squeezed my hand, silent but burning with unspoken support.The Council had demanded not only my presence, but that of my father, King Hesperion, as if dragging him into their theater of fear would lend their accusations more weight. They were wrong. So wrong.The Grand Hall of the High Council was colder than I remembered. Ancient pillars loomed overhead, carved with the symbols of e