CROWNED BY BLOOD
"He died for a lie, Luna. And you'll die with it. This Conclave, this unity it's a dream. We are predators. We always have been."
"No," I whispered, raising the blade. "He died for a future you tried to kill. But I'll build it over your ashes, and my child will inherit a world worth living in."
And I drove the blade through her heart.
The silence after was complete.
Her magic broke like glass, releasing in a final wave that rustled through the surviving trees. Her body stilled, and with it, the last of the old guard's power. Somewhere in the distance, wolves howled her remaining pack calling to a master who would never answer.