Chapter Forty-seven

Queen Returns

The mortal air burned.

Mona gasped as she fell through the rift, crashing onto the cold earth of the mortal realm. Her body ached, her veins on fire. The world around her spun — trees warped and groaning, the soil bleeding faintly red beneath her hands.

She had escaped the Shadowlands… but not unscathed.

Her power flickered, unstable. The link with Kimberly had nearly ripped her apart. Yet even through the pain, she smiled.

“I felt it,” she whispered. “Her light… and his darkness. Together.”

She spat blood into the soil, the drops sizzling like acid. “Then they’re both mine.”

The forest was silent — too silent. Even the moon above seemed to hold its breath. Mona lifted her gaze to it, the faint crimson tint still clinging to its edge.

“The next rise will be mine,” she said softly. “And when it comes, the world will kneel.”

A rustle behind her made her turn.

Several wolves emerged from the shadows — Derrick’s sentries, their eyes wary. When they saw her, they froze. She looked nothing like the Luna they once knew. Her aura burned red, her skin pale as frost.

One of them — a young Beta named Rowan — took a cautious step forward. “L-Luna?”

Mona smiled slowly. “Did you miss me?”

The wolves exchanged uneasy glances. One of them bowed. “We… we thought you were dead.”

She stepped closer, her bare feet leaving faint scorched prints on the soil. “Not dead. Ascended.”

Rowan swallowed hard. “The Alpha… he’s been searching for you. He thought—”

“He thought wrong,” Mona cut in. “Where is he?”

“At the hall,” Rowan said quickly. “He’s preparing for war. Kimberly—”

Her eyes flared crimson. “Speak her name again, and I’ll rip out your tongue.”

Rowan bowed lower, trembling. “Forgive me, Luna.”

Mona sighed. “Such loyalty… wasted on him.”

She waved her hand dismissively, and the red mist around her thickened, seeping into the wolves’ eyes. They gasped, their bodies trembling as her power filled them — corrupting, twisting, binding.

When the mist cleared, their eyes glowed faintly crimson.

“There,” she murmured, tracing her fingers along one wolf’s jaw. “Now you’re truly mine.”

She turned her gaze toward the distant lights of Derrick’s stronghold. “Take me to him.”

They obeyed without hesitation.

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The hall was half in ruin when they arrived.

Derrick stood near the shattered throne, issuing orders to his warriors. His expression was hard, his aura restless. He looked like a king carved from anger.

When the doors burst open, his command faltered.

Mona stepped inside, framed by the crimson light spilling through the shattered roof. Her wolves flanked her, silent and still.

For a long heartbeat, no one spoke.

Then Derrick exhaled sharply, disbelief breaking across his face. “Mona?”

She smiled. “Did you miss me, my love?”

He stared at her — at the crimson veins threading beneath her skin, at the unnatural glow in her eyes. “What have you done?”

“What you were too weak to,” she said softly. “I’ve become what this world needed.”

He took a step forward, his voice low. “You’ve become a monster.”

Her smile widened. “And yet, you still stare.”

She moved closer, every step deliberate. The soldiers shifted uneasily, their instincts screaming at them to flee.

“Where’s Kimberly?” Derrick demanded.

Mona stopped inches from him. “Alive,” she said sweetly. “For now.”

Derrick’s jaw tightened. “You tried to kill her again.”

“She tried to erase me,” Mona hissed. “But she can’t. I’m tied to her blood. As long as she breathes, I rise.”

He shook his head slowly. “This isn’t power, Mona. It’s a curse.”

Her laughter filled the hall — soft, unhinged. “Oh, Derrick. You call it a curse because you fear it.”

She lifted her hand, and crimson mist wrapped around his throat. He gasped, his knees buckling slightly as the power tightened.

“Do you feel that?” she whispered. “That’s control. That’s what it means to lead.”

She released him suddenly, letting him stumble backward. “You failed this pack. You failed me. So now, I’ll do what you couldn’t — I’ll give them purpose.”

Derrick coughed, fury rising. “And what purpose is that? To become your slaves?”

She turned her back to him, spreading her arms as the red mist filled the room. “To become gods.”

The wolves in the hall began to change — one by one, their eyes turning crimson as her power spread. The air throbbed with energy, thick with the scent of magic and blood.

Derrick’s voice was hoarse. “Mona, stop—”

She turned, her gaze blazing. “Don’t order me anymore.”

He froze.

She stepped close enough to whisper in his ear. “You wanted a queen. You got one.”

Then she smiled coldly. “Now kneel.”

Derrick hesitated — and the red mist surged. Pain flared through his body, driving him to his knees. His eyes widened in horror as he realized what she’d done — his strength bending under her will.

“Good,” she murmured. “Now we begin.”

Outside, the clouds began to shift. The faint light of the moon dimmed, its edge bleeding slowly red.

Mona lifted her face to it, her voice soft and reverent. “Soon.”

Behind her, Derrick trembled, his fists clenched, his pride shattered. Around them, the wolves howled — their cries no longer human, no longer wolf.

They were hers.

All of them.

And when the next blood moon rose, the world would remember her name — not as Luna.

But as Queen of the Crimson Moon.

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