SERA'S POV
I'm drowning in silver light.
No not drowning. Floating. The darkness is gone, replaced by brightness so pure it should hurt my eyes. But it doesn't. It feels... right.
Am I dead?
I must be. I remember the silver claws tearing through me. The poison burning. Kade's horrified face.
But if I'm dead, why can I still think? Why do I feel more alive than I ever did before?
Because you were never truly living, daughter.
I spin around. A woman stands before me, and my brain can't process what I'm seeing. She's beautiful in a way that makes me want to cry. Ancient in a way that makes me want to kneel. Power radiates from her like heat from the sun.
Silver hair flows around her like water. Eyes full of stars. And above her head a crown made of moonlight itself.
I know who she is. Every wolf knows.
Moon Goddess, I whisper, and my voice sounds strange here. Echoed.
She smiles, and it's sad and warm at the same time. Hello, daughter of my blood.
Daughter of her blood? What does that mean?
You're confused, she says, moving closer. Sit with me, Sera Blackwood. We have much to discuss.
The silver mist shifts, forming a bench. I sit because my legs feel weak. The Goddess sits beside me, and I realize I'm sitting next to an actual deity.
This is insane.
Am I dead? I ask.
Yes and no. She touches my face gently. Your body died. The silver poison should have killed you completely. But something inside you refused to let go.
The mark. That black mark that appeared after Kade rejected me.
That was no curse, the Goddess says, reading my thoughts. That was your true power waking up. Fighting to survive.
I don't understand.
She takes my hand. Then let me show you.
Images flood my mind. A family with my same silver-white hair. Wolves who could command others with just their voices. A beautiful court made of moonlight and shadow.
The Blackwoods, the Goddess explains. Your ancestors. They were the Lunar Heirs wolves descended directly from my bloodline. They ruled all packs fairly from the Moon Court for centuries.
More images. A trial. Accusations of treason. A family begging for mercy.
They were innocent, I whisper, seeing it all.
Yes. The High Council wanted power for themselves. They framed your family, exiled them, and bound their powers so they could never reclaim the throne.
The images shift. Blackwoods dying over generations. Accidents that were actually murders.
They killed them all? My voice breaks.
Almost all. Your parents were the last to die. Murdered when you were a baby. You survived because your grandmother hid you with a low-ranking pack. Rain Valley.
My whole life has been a lie.
The power in your blood was bound, the Goddess continues. Sleeping. Waiting. When your mate rejected you, when your heart broke completely the bindings cracked. Your death shattered them completely.
She stands and pulls me up. Now I offer you a choice, Sera Blackwood, last of the Lunar Heirs. Rest in peace with your ancestors. Or return to the living world with your full power awakened.
My heart pounds. If I go back
You cannot return as who you were. That girl is dead. You can only go forward as who you're meant to be. Her eyes glow brighter. A queen.
A queen. Me. The weakest wolf in Rain Valley Pack.
Then I remember Vivian's cruel smile. The pack's pity. Kade saying I was too weak.
All because my power was stolen from me before I could even use it.
Send me back, I say.
The Goddess smiles. Then we begin your training.
Time is weird here. The Goddess calls it the Veil Between the space between death and life. Three months pass in the living world, but here it feels like years.
Ancient warriors train me. Dead Blackwoods who've been waiting for their heir to return.
Again! Shouts Commander Thane, a huge warrior who died two hundred years ago. Your wolf is massive now. Use that power!
I shift, and my wolf is unrecognizable. Luna isn't small anymore. She's eight feet tall at the shoulder. Her fur glows like starlight. Her eyes burn silver.
We fight. I learn combat. Strategy. How to command other wolves with just my voice. How to see through lies. How to wield lunar magic that can heal or destroy.
Every day I train until I collapse. Every night I watch the living world through the Veil.
I see my funeral. Kade standing at my grave, his face destroyed by guilt. Nova crying so hard she can barely stand.
I see the weeks pass. Kade barely eats. Barely sleeps. Vivian tries to comfort him, but he pulls away.
Good. Let him suffer.
Then two months after my death, I watch Kade marry Vivian anyway.
The ceremony is small. Quiet. Kade looks hollow the whole time. But he says the words. He accepts Vivian as his mate.
Something in my chest the part that still loved him finally dies.
Let it go, the Goddess says, appearing beside me. Let the pain become power.
And I do. I take every hurt, every rejection, every moment I believed I was worthless and I forge it into steel.
I train harder. Push further. Become stronger.
When I'm ready, the Goddess calls me to her throne.
Kneel, she commands.
I kneel, and she places something on my head. A crown. I can feel it made of moonlight and shadow, visible to every wolf who sees me.
Rise, Sera Blackwood, the Goddess says. Last of the Lunar Heirs. Queen of the Moon Court.
I stand, and power rushes through me. I am not the weak girl who died. I am something new. Something dangerous.
Go, my daughter, the Goddess says. Reclaim what was stolen. But remember Her eyes turn sad. Revenge is a fire. Don't let it burn away everything worth saving.
I meet her gaze. What if there's nothing worth saving?
She touches my face one last time. Then you'll learn. The hard way, I'm afraid.
The Veil tears open before me. I can see the living world. The forest where I died. Rain Valley Pack territory.
Are you ready? The Goddess asks.
I think of Kade. Vivian. Everyone who made me feel worthless.
Send me back, I say. My eyes glow silver. My crown blazes with light.
I step through the Veil.
I open my eyes to dirt and darkness.
I'm underground. Buried. In my grave.
But I'm not scared. I reach up and touch the earth above me. My power surges.
The ground explodes.
I rise from my grave like I'm being born. Dirt falls away. Moonlight blood moon bathes me in red light.
I stand in the forest, fully alive, power rolling off me in waves.
And above my head, visible to every wolf for miles, my crown glows.
In the distance, I feel it. Kade. The mate bond I thought was dead it's alive again. Stronger than before. Pulling him toward me.
I smile.
Let him come. Let them all come.
I am not the girl they killed.
I am the queen they created.