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 98: Selene’s Part For Celebration Selene’s POVThe Morning of the Alpha CeremonyThe drumming started before sunrise.It was soft at first — distant and pulsing like a heartbeat — but it grew louder with every minute, every breath, until it filled the sky. The wind carried it like a warning. The wolves were gathering. The celebration had begun.Ronan’s celebration.I sat on the edge of the bed, my hands trembling in my lap. My heart pounded louder than the drums. The dress I’d worn yesterday still clung to me like shame. I hadn’t changed. I hadn’t slept. I hadn’t breathed right since I walked out of his room.I wanted to go.Moon, I wanted to go.I wanted to run into that hall and tell him everything. That I never stopped loving him. That I didn’t stay with Evric because I chose him — I stayed because I had no choice. I wanted to tell Ronan I was sorry, that I was his, that I never wanted this distance between us.I stood up, heart racing. My feet moved before I could think.
Chapter Ninety-Seven: The Morning of the Alpha Celebration(Ronan’s POV)The sun rose, but it felt like nothing changed.The cold from the night still lived in my bones, and the silence in my room was heavier than sleep.I hadn’t closed my eyes. I couldn’t.Not when she hadn’t come.Not when everything was about today.The Alpha celebration.The day I was supposed to stand in front of my pack, the day I was meant to present a Luna.And she wasn’t here.I sat still at the edge of the bed, the same spot where I’d waited all night.The fire had long gone out. My throat was dry. My fists hurt.I couldn’t feel any of it.All I could feel was the empty space where she should be.There was a knock.Lucien didn’t wait for me to answer. He came in.He looked better than me — dressed, clean, ready.But there was something in his eyes that said he hadn’t rested either.He looked at me for a moment before speaking. “You need to come down.”I didn’t answer.He stepped forward. “The hall is packed.
Chapter Ninety Six- The Night She Didn’t ComeRonan’s POVThe hall was still loud when I left it, though my head was pounding too hard to hear what anyone was saying.I didn’t care.They could sing, drink, dance, argue, or gossip about the blood on my knuckles — I didn’t care. All I could see was her face, standing at the edge of that crowd, eyes wide with disbelief and something else.Hurt.Not fear. Not anger. But something deeper. Something she didn’t say, because Selene never says what she’s really feeling.But I saw it. And I thought I’d done enough.I thought… after that fight, after standing in front of everyone and proving that no one, — could get between me and her, she would come to me.But she didn’t.The room was cold. I waited.I told the guards, If she comes, let her in. I don’t care what hour it is.Then I sat.And waited.The fire in the hearth burned low. I poured myself a drink and barely touched it.I took off the shirt with her blood on it — not from tonight, but f
Chapter Ninety Five: The Walk That Broke MeSelene’s Pov The wind was soft that morning.I wrapped my cloak tighter around me as I walked out of the palace gates, guards watching from a distance. They knew better than to stop me — Evric allowed me short walks, as long as I stayed in the garden paths and didn’t go too far.But today, my feet wanted to move. Not just for the sake of walking, but to breathe. I hadn’t truly breathed since Ronan disappeared. Since I agreed to stay with Evric.Since the world started to feel like a prison.Every step I took, I felt the weight of the child in my womb. A reminder. A tiny heartbeat that belonged to a man who didn’t know he still owned me — all of me. Mind. Body. Soul.I sat beneath the old oak tree by the edge of the palace grounds. The place where the air didn’t smell like control, like silence, like gold and fear. I placed my hand on my belly, closing my eyes.“I’m sorry,” I whispered to my child. “For all of this.”A rustle behind me made
Chapter Ninety Four: Nothing Left to Cry AboutSelene’s PovI locked the door behind me and sank to the floor, letting the weight of the moment crash into me. My hands trembled as I pressed them against my belly—the place where Ronan’s child still lived, still grew.He was alive. Ronan was alive. And I saw him. I saw his face.And yet, I couldn’t run to him.Because I wasn’t free anymore.The moment I lifted my head to look at Ronan across the crowd, I had felt it—hope, like fire in my chest. But it disappeared just as quickly when I saw Evric standing behind me. I was still his. The pack thought I belonged to him. The entire kingdom saw me as his mate.Lady of the Pack. The woman Evric claimed.A soft knock landed on the door. I stayed silent. Maybe he would go away.Another knock. Then the door creaked open. I forgot Evric had the key.He stepped inside, tall, straight, his boots loud against the floor. I turned my face away and wiped the tears, but he already saw them.“You’re cryi
Chapter Ninety Three : After the StormRonan’s POVThe gates of the pack house opened with a loud creak, and I stepped in first, the Alpha guards bowing low as I passed.Alpha.It would take me a while to get used to hearing that again. It didn’t feel real yet.Lucien followed behind me, his face calm, but I could feel his tension. His posture was straight, his jaw tight, like a man who knew he had burned all his bridges.I didn’t speak until we were deep inside the house and the doors had closed behind us. Everything felt too clean, too formal. I looked at the grand staircase, the polished floors, the golden crest on the wall.All this… mine now.I turned to Lucien with a half-smile. “So… you going back to Evric’s pack tonight or in the morning?”He shot me a look and snorted. “I’m not stupid.”I laughed. “Come on. I heard they serve good food there. And lots of tension.”Lucien groaned. “Don’t remind me. I wouldn’t step a toe back there even if you dragged me.”“I just might,” I tea