Chapter 8: Moonlight Vows
Five Years Later
The scent of night-blooming jasmine filled the air as I adjusted the silver-threaded shawl around my shoulders. The entire pack had gathered under the full moon, their faces glowing with anticipation.
At the edge of the sacred clearing, seven-year-old Lily fidgeted in her white dress, a basket of flower petals clutched in her hands. “Mama, hurry! Papa’s waiting!”
I smoothed her wild curls—so like her father’s—and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Patience, little Alpha.”
The drums began.
My heart thundered as I stepped onto the moonlit path, my bare feet brushing cool grass. This wasn’t just a ceremony.
It was a rebirth.
The Second Chance
Leo stood at the ancient oak, his ceremonial armor glinting, his eyes burning gold. When he saw me, his breath caught—just like it had the first time we met.
The priestess began the words, but I barely heard them. All that mattered was the way Leo’s hands trembled as he took mine, the way his voice broke when he spoke our vows:
“I already loved you once. Let me love you better this time.”
The pack howled as we kissed, but the loudest cheer came from the front row where four-year-old Asher, our miracle second child, waved tiny fists in the air.
The Luna’s Gift
Later, when the feasting fires burned low, Leo pulled me into the shadows beneath our old meeting tree.
“You’re crying,” he murmured, thumb brushing my cheek.
I laughed through the tears. “You gave me back everything I lost.”
His lips found the scar on my neck where his mark had once been. “Let me fix that.”
The bite was sweet agony, the bond singing between us as my skin knit together under his teeth. When he pulled back, the mark glowed faintly—new and yet eternal.
From the nearby grove, childish giggles erupted as Lily and Asher attempted (and failed) to sneak up on us.
Leo groaned. “Our little spies.”
I tangled my fingers in his hair. “Our perfect little wolves.”
The moon shone brighter then, as if blessing what it had once broken.
And somewhere in the shadows, two contented wolf spirits—Lena and Leo’s fierce Nero—curled together to watch over their human halves.
At last.
[THE END]