AYLA'S POV - THREE DAYS LATER
The throne room was packed.
Every Alpha, every Beta, every wolf of significance had converged on the capital. They came to witness history—the Luna who remade her bond, the King who sacrificed his hope, and the reckoning that would decide the kingdom's future.
I stood before them wearing silver armor that caught the light like captured moonbeams. The Luna crown—ancient, beautiful, terrifying—rested on my head. I'd resisted at first, but Kael had been right: symbols mattered. The wolves needed to see their Luna crowned.
Even if she still wasn't sure she wanted to be.
Kael sat on his throne, looking every inch a king. But I felt the emptiness through the bond. The hollow space where his hope had lived. He performed his role perfectly—commanding, authoritative, every gesture calculated.
But it was a performance. Nothing more.
