Chapter Six: Him
Selene's POV The trees whispered around us as we walked in silence. Ronan said nothing, and neither did I. The forest floor was soft beneath our boots. Sunlight slipped through the leaves above, dancing on our faces as we moved deeper, farther, into the quiet heart of the woods. I didn't ask where we were going. Something in my chest already knew. We finally stopped in a small clearing. It was silent here. There were no twisted thorns. No suffocating shadows. Just light. Just air. In the center of the clearing was a flat, smooth rock covered in moss and wildflowers. Someone—Ronan, maybe—had placed fresh white petals upon it. My breath caught when I saw the symbol carved into the rock. My father's crest. My legs grew suddenly heavy. This… was where he was buried. Tears welled up in my eyes before I could stop them. Ronan stepped aside, giving me space. I didn't look at him. I walked slowly forward to the stone, knelt down, and put both hands on it. The cold seeped through my skin. "Father," I whispered. My voice cracked. "I'm sorry it took me so long to come." The trees around me appeared to be holding their breath. I closed my eyes and rested my forehead on the rock. "I should've known Kael would betray us. I should've seen through Mira's lies. I was weak. But not anymore." The tears came. Soft, silent. Not loud like before. But I didn't try to hide them this time. "I don't care how long it takes," I said to him. "I don't care if it hurts. I don't care if I bleed. I will take back everything he took from you. Your name. Your honor. Your pack." I laid my hand on the stone. "I swear it on your grave." I felt a hand on my shoulder touch me softly. I turned. Ronan was behind me now, kneeling next to me. His eyes were motionless. Silent. Yet kind. "He would be proud of you," he said to me. I shook my head. "Not yet. I've done nothing." "You lived," he said. "That in itself is something Kael never expected." I gazed at him. There was a smear of dirt on his shirt. Sweat on his skin from training. A tiny scar near his collarbone that peeked through the fabric. But he did not hide it. He was raw. Uncooked. "You didn't have to save me, " I whispered. "You could've stayed hidden." He smiled a little, the corner of his mouth. "Your father once told me… if I ever got the chance to protect what mattered most to him, I wasn't to hesitate." My heart missed a beat. " And I mattered to him?" I asked, voice small. "You were his world," Ronan whispered. His eyes then fell to my lips. "And now… you matter to me too” I froze. Not in pain. Not in fear. But something else. Something I hadn't experienced in so long. His hand drifted from my shoulder to my fingers. He didn't pull. He didn't grab. He just held them gently, giving me the choice. I allowed him. The wind stirred silently around us, as though the forest itself was clearing a path for us. He bent forward. And this time… I didn't push him away. His lips brushed mine. Soft and cautious. Like a vow he had no intention of breaking. He pulled back before I could even breathe, eyes scanning mine. "Too fast?" he asked. I shook my head. "No," I whispered. "It's… it's exactly what I needed." We sat, side by side, our hands still held. "I'm not giving up," I said again. He smiled. "Then neither am I. "Chapter 144 – The Weight of Forgiveness (Ronan’s POV)The night was quiet. The moon hung low over the palace, casting a pale silver light across the walls and floors. I stood at the window in my study, my hands pressed against the cool glass, staring out at the packlands below. Everything seemed so calm, so peaceful. Yet inside me, a storm raged—a storm of memories, regrets, and emotions I had been trying to lock away for far too long.I thought of Selene.Her face appeared in my mind unbidden: the way her eyes had looked when Evric had confessed, the shock, the desperation, the panic. I remembered the way my wolf had roared at me, telling me to strike, to demand truth, to punish. But I hadn’t. I had controlled it, for the sake of clarity, for the sake of the pack, and… for her.And yet, that didn’t make it any easier.I could feel the tightness in my chest, the ache in my heart that wouldn’t subside. The betrayal, real or imagined, had cut deep. Every instinct in me wanted to lash ou
Chapter 143 : Ronan’s Resolve (Ronan’s POV)I sat alone in my study, the fire dying low in the hearth, shadows stretching across the walls. My hands rested on the desk, but they felt heavy, weighed down by every thought I couldn’t shake. The truth had come out. Evric had spoken. Selene had tried to deny it. And I… I had felt every stab of betrayal as though it had cut me open from the inside.The anger had come first—sharp, burning, a wildfire that I could barely contain. I had wanted to roar, to punish, to make her feel the fear, the humiliation I’d carried since I heard Evric’s words. But then the anger had collided with something else, something softer but just as fierce: love.I loved her. I had always loved her. I had fought for her, waited for her, lost myself in trying to protect her even when I wasn’t near. And despite everything, I still saw her as the woman who carried my child, who had endured fear and uncertainty and survived.But love was complicated. Love was cruel when
Chapter 142 : The Alpha’s Wrath (Ronan’s POV)I watched Selene’s face as the words spilled from Evric’s trembling mouth. My hands clenched into fists so tight that my nails dug into my palms. Every fiber of my body screamed in fury, in disbelief.She had lied. She had betrayed me. She had crossed a line that no mate, no Luna, should ever cross.And now, seeing her panic, seeing her desperate, calculating eyes trying to twist the truth—it lit a fire inside me that I had never felt before. My wolf growled deep within my chest, a low, dangerous warning that only I could hear.“Selene,” I said, my voice low at first, steady but heavy, like the calm before a storm. “Look at me.”She froze, her breathing ragged. For a moment, I thought she might actually confess, might finally let the truth come out. But then, like I should have expected, she tried to turn it, tried to twist the knife in my chest.“He’s lying,” she spat, voice sharp, eyes flashing with panic and anger. “Evric is lying. He w
Chapter 141Ronan’s POVThe moment Evric’s words spilled out of his mouth, a growl ripped through me. The sound echoed in the walls of the house, low and dangerous, carrying the weight of an Alpha’s fury. He shook under my grip, his wrists bound tightly by the ropes I had tied with my own hands. His scent reeked of fear—sweat, shame, and regret—and it fueled the fire in my chest.“They both like each other. They kissed… did things… but never went further…” His voice trembled as he repeated what I had forced him to admit.The words pierced my chest like claws. I had expected betrayal—my instincts had whispered it for weeks—but hearing it confirmed, hearing that another male’s lips had touched what belonged to me, made the beast in me roar.My gaze snapped to Selene. She stood frozen across the room, her face pale, her eyes wide and shimmering with unshed tears. My mate. My supposed Luna. The one who was supposed to stand beside me through everything.“Is it true?” My voice was gravel,
Chapter 140Ronan’s POVThe packhouse was unusually quiet that evening. Selene had just retired to the other room after one of her endless complaints, leaving me to myself in the sitting hall. I leaned back against the armrest of the chair, my wolf restless under my skin. For days I had sensed something off—something lurking in the shadows of my pack, slipping right under my nose.Then the door creaked.At first, I thought it was one of the servants, but the scent that drifted in made me sit upright immediately. Evric.He entered nervously, muttering curses under his breath. He didn’t notice me—his eyes darted left and right, clearly searching for Selene. His fists were clenched, jaw tight, and the rage rolling off him was so sharp it stirred my wolf.“Selene!” Evric’s voice broke through the silence, filled with accusation and raw emotion. “You think you can just use me and then run back to him? Huh?”I froze where I sat, my body still but my mind racing. Use him? Run back to me? Wha
Chapter 139— Mirella’s POVI had never seen a house so big in my life. When Lucien brought me here, I almost thought he had made a mistake, that maybe he had taken me to the Alpha’s mansion instead. The walls rose high, white stone shining under the moonlight, with tall windows that looked like they had been cut from crystal. The front doors were so wide and carved with wolves running across them that I felt small standing in front of them.“This is home now,” Lucien had said, his voice calm but proud, his golden eyes watching me closely as though my reaction mattered more than anything else.For a while, I was too stunned to answer. I had grown used to Ronan’s house, where shadows and silence always clung to the corners. This place was nothing like that—it was alive, warm, welcoming, even though it felt too big for just two people.But the real change came when the pack began to notice.At first, wolves bowed their heads politely when they saw me beside Lucien. They respected him, so