The Luna's True Power

The alliance meeting was set for the next full moon.

Three weeks. Three weeks to prepare, to train, to convince the other packs to stand with them against Korrin.

Luna threw herself into the work. She trained with the warriors, honing her Moonfire, pushing her body to its limits. She met with diplomats, sent messages to neighboring Alphas, negotiated alliances with packs that had been neutral for generations.

And through it all, she felt the bond growing stronger.

Not just with Xavier—though that was changing too, shifting from pain to something more complicated. But with Leo. With Damian. With the pack.

She was becoming something more than she'd ever been.

Something powerful.

---

The attack came two weeks before the alliance meeting.

Luna was in the training yard when she felt it—a spike of terror through the bond. Not Xavier's this time.

Leo's.

She shifted instantly, her white-and-silver wolf bursting forward. She raced toward the packhouse, her heart pounding, her mind screaming.

Leo. Leo. Leo.

The packhouse was in chaos. Wolves were running, shouting, scrambling to respond to an attack that had come from within their own walls.

Korrin's spies.

They'd infiltrated the pack. They'd gotten past the guards, past the defenses, past everything.

And they'd taken Leo.

Luna burst into the nursery to find Chloe on the floor, bleeding from a wound to her head. The she-wolf was unconscious, but alive.

"Where is he?" Luna demanded, shifting back to human form.

"He took him," Chloe gasped, her eyes fluttering open. "One of the servants. A woman. She said she was taking him to you—"

"Which direction?"

"East. Toward the border."

Luna didn't wait. She shifted again and ran.

---

She caught them at the edge of the territory.

The servant—a mousy woman with terrified eyes—was holding Leo, dragging him toward a waiting car. Leo was crying, struggling, his small hands glowing faintly with Moonfire.

"Let him go," Luna snarled.

The woman spun around, her face pale. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. He has my daughter. Korrin has my daughter. He said if I didn't bring the boy—"

"I don't care." Luna stepped closer, her Moonfire blazing. "Let. Him. Go."

The woman hesitated. Then, with a sob, she released Leo.

Leo ran to Luna, throwing himself into her arms. She caught him, holding him tight, her heart pounding with relief and fury.

"Mommy," he sobbed. "Mommy, I was scared."

"I know, baby. I know. I've got you."

The woman fell to her knees, weeping. "Please. Please, I didn't want to do it. He has my daughter—"

"Where is Korrin?"

"I don't know. He just said to bring the boy to the border. Someone would be waiting."

Luna's mind raced. Korrin wasn't here. He'd sent others to do his dirty work. He was hiding, waiting, planning his next move.

But he'd made a mistake.

He'd threatened her son.

"Take her," Luna said to the warriors who had arrived. "Lock her up. We'll deal with her later."

They dragged the woman away, her sobs echoing through the forest.

Luna held Leo tighter, her body trembling. She'd almost lost him. Again.

"Mommy," Leo whispered. "I don't want to be special anymore."

Luna's heart broke. "I know, baby. But you are special. And I will protect you. Always."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

---

That night, Luna stood on the cliff overlooking the territory.

The same cliff where she'd once stood with Xavier, watching the pack below. The same cliff where she'd first felt the stirrings of something other than hatred for him.

Now she stood alone, the wind whipping her hair, the moon bright above her.

She thought of Korrin. Of the threat he posed. Of the war that was coming.

And she thought of Leo. Of his fear. Of his power.

She thought of the Goddess's words: He is the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy. The child who will unite the packs. The child who will bring peace.

But how could Leo bring peace when the world was so determined to destroy him?

The answer came to her slowly, like a whisper in the darkness.

You must become what you were born to be.

Luna closed her eyes, the Moonfire pulsing beneath her skin. She'd spent three years building a new life, becoming a new person. She'd thought she'd left the weak, wolfless omega behind.

But she'd been wrong.

The weak, wolfless omega had never existed. She'd been a lie, a mask, a cage.

The real Luna was something else entirely.

She was the Moonfire Queen. The Alpha Queen of the Shadowfang Pack. The mother of the child of prophecy.

And she was done hiding.

She opened her eyes, her gaze fixed on the moon.

"Korrin," she whispered. "You want a war? You've got one."

The Moonfire blazed, silver-white flames dancing across her skin. She felt the power surge, felt the wolf inside her rise, felt the bond pulse with strength and purpose.

She was ready.

For the first time in her life, she was truly ready.

---

The next morning, Luna called a meeting.

Xavier was there. Damian. Chloe. Marcus. The pack elders. The warriors.

They gathered in the council chamber, their faces grim, their eyes watchful.

"I've made a decision," Luna announced. "We're not waiting for Korrin to attack again. We're going after him."

Murmurs rippled through the room. Xavier's eyes widened.

"That's risky," he said. "We don't know where he is. We don't know his numbers. We don't know his plans."

"I know." Luna's voice was steady. "But I know something else too. I know that he's afraid of me. Afraid of Leo. Afraid of what we represent."

"And what do we represent?"

"Power." Luna's Moonfire flickered. "Real power. The kind that can't be bought or stolen or controlled. The kind that comes from the Moon Goddess herself."

She stepped forward, her presence filling the room.

"Korrin wants to destroy us because he knows we're the only ones who can stop him. He wants to take Leo because he knows Leo is the key to the future. But he's wrong."

She looked at Xavier, then at Damian, then at the assembled wolves.

"We're not going to let him take our future. We're going to take his."

The room was silent.

Then Xavier spoke, his voice quiet but firm.

"What do you need from us?"

Luna smiled—a cold, fierce smile that made even the most seasoned warriors shiver.

"Everything."

---

The war had begun.