The knock on my chamber door came just after midnight.
Not loud.
Not hesitant.
Controlled.
I already knew who it was.
"Enter," I said calmly.
The door opened.
Alpha Kael stepped inside alone.
No guards. No witnesses. No court.
Just the man who had killed me.
He closed the door softly behind him, but the click echoed like a gunshot in the silence.
"You shouldn't be here," I said.
"And yet I am."
His eyes moved over my face slowly, studying every detail as if memorizing it.
"You avoided me today," he continued.
"I was entertaining a guest."
His jaw tightened slightly.
"You were provoking me."
I allowed myself a faint smile. "Was I?"
The air between us thickened.
The mate bond pulsed — stronger now, more insistent.
He felt it.
I knew he did.
"You are not who you claim to be," he said finally.
There it was.
I tilted my head. "And who do you believe I am?"
He stepped closer.
Too close.
The scent of him wrapped around me — cedar, steel, winter.
"Five years ago," he said quietly, "my mate died."
The word mate vibrated in the air.
I kept my breathing steady.
"And?" I asked.
"And when I stand near you…" His voice lowered. "My wolf does not recognize her death."
Silence.
My heart pounded violently.
But I would not give him the truth so easily.
"Perhaps," I said softly, "your wolf is confused."
His hand shot out, gripping my arm — not violently, but firmly.
The contact sent fire racing through both of us.
The bond surged.
His pupils shifted gold.
"Do not lie to me."
The command rumbled through his chest.
For a second, the memory overwhelmed me.
The blade. The whisper. The betrayal.
I yanked my arm free.
"You forfeited the right to command me," I said quietly.
Something in his expression flickered.
Pain.
Real, sharp pain.
Then it vanished behind iron control.
"You don't know what you're saying."
"I know exactly what I'm saying."
The room trembled faintly — not from him this time.
From me.
A sudden pressure built beneath my skin, unfamiliar but powerful.
Kael noticed.
His gaze dropped to my collarbone.
His expression changed.
Slowly.
Dangerously.
"Turn around," he ordered.
I didn't move.
"Now."
Something in his tone made my stomach twist.
Reluctantly, I turned my back to him.
There was a sharp inhale behind me.
Then silence.
Cold air brushed my exposed skin as his fingers hovered — not touching — just above my shoulder blade.
"That mark," he murmured.
My pulse spiked.
"What mark?"
"You didn't have it before."
Ice slid down my spine.
Before.
His fingers finally brushed my skin.
Heat exploded outward.
I gasped.
The bond roared violently between us.
"Five years ago," he said slowly, "when you died… my mate bore no mark."
My breath stopped.
A mark?
"What are you talking about?" I whispered.
"There is a crescent scar on your back," he said quietly. "Glowing."
Glowing.
Impossible.
Suddenly, fragmented memories flickered in my mind — not of my death, but of something older.
A temple.
A voice.
The words Moon Queen.
The pressure beneath my skin intensified.
Kael stepped back abruptly.
"This is not coincidence," he muttered.
Before I could respond, a sudden crash echoed from the corridor outside.
Voices.
Shouting.
Kael moved instantly, positioning himself between me and the door.
The door burst open.
A palace guard stumbled inside, pale and shaking.
"My Lady— Alpha— the Seer… she collapsed in the council chamber."
Kael's eyes sharpened. "What did she say?"
The guard swallowed hard.
"She screamed only one thing before she fainted."
Silence fell heavy.
"What?" Kael demanded.
The guard looked directly at me.
"She said… 'The Moon Queen walks again.'"
The room froze.
My heart slammed violently against my ribs.
Moon Queen.
The words echoed in my skull.
Kael slowly turned to look at me.
Not confused now.
Not jealous.
Not angry.
Calculating.
The mate bond burned brighter than ever.
"You should not exist," he said quietly.
"Apparently," I replied, though my voice was thinner now, "I do."
Outside, more shouting erupted.
The political balance of the palace was shifting in real time.
Cassian would hear of this within minutes.
And if the Seer had spoken publicly—
Then this was no longer just about us.
Kael stepped closer again, his voice dropping so only I could hear.
"If you are what the Seer claims…"
His hand lifted, brushing just barely against the glowing mark on my back.
"…then the war that's coming is because of you."
The air between us felt electric.
Dangerous.
Unavoidable.
I turned slowly to face him.
"And if it is?" I asked.
For the first time since my rebirth…
Kael looked uncertain.
Not weak.
But shaken.
"The Moon Queen," he said carefully, "is not meant to be reborn."
My lips curved slightly.
"And yet," I whispered, "here I am."
Outside, the palace bells began to ring.
Not for ceremony.
For emergency council.
War was no longer approaching.
It was awakening.
And this time—
I was not the girl in white waiting to die.