The lodge fell silent as Thomas's challenge hung in the air. Luna could feel the weight of every gaze in the room—some hopeful, others skeptical, all waiting to see what she would do.
"The moon's blessing," Luna repeated carefully, buying herself time to think. "And what exactly does that entail?"
Thomas's scarred face split into a cold smile. "Every true Silvermoon heir can call upon the sacred silver light. It's the mark of our royal bloodline, the proof that you carry the moon goddess's favor." His eyes glittered with malicious satisfaction. "Unless, of course, you can't."
Kane stepped forward, his Alpha authority radiating through the room. "Thomas, this is neither the time nor the place—"
"When is the time, Kane?" Thomas interrupted, his voice rising. "We've followed you for twenty years based on the promise that our lost princess would return. Now she's here, conveniently with no memories and no proof of her heritage beyond some resemblance to her parents." He gestured dismissively at Luna. "For all we know, she could be a hunter plant, surgically altered to look like Alexander's daughter."
Murmurs rippled through the crowd. Luna could see doubt creeping into some faces that had been welcoming moments before.
"You want proof?" Luna's voice cut through the murmurs, surprising herself with its steadiness. "Fine. Tell me what I need to do."
"Luna, you don't have to—" Kane started.
"Yes, I do." Luna's legal training kicked in, the same instinct that told her when to stand firm in a negotiation. "If I'm going to lead these people, they need to trust me. And they can't trust me if they're not certain who I am."
Her grandfather's weathered hand gripped the arm of his chair as he leaned forward. "Child, the moon's blessing isn't something you perform on command. It comes from deep within, from your connection to your wolf spirit and the lunar cycles."
"Then teach me," Luna said simply. "Show me what I need to do."
The old man's eyes crinkled with something that might have been pride. "Very well. Sarah, clear the center of the room. We'll need space for the ritual circle."
As pack members began moving furniture aside, Kane appeared at Luna's elbow. "Are you sure about this?" he asked quietly. "There are other ways to prove your identity. We could wait, let you settle in, help you remember—"
"And let doubt fester in the pack while I'm trying to figure out who I am?" Luna shook her head. "No. If there's something I can do to settle this now, I'm doing it."
Kane studied her face for a long moment, then nodded. "You're already thinking like an Alpha," he murmured, and something warm bloomed in Luna's chest at the approval in his voice.
Sarah approached with what looked like a bowl of silver sand. "Traditionally, the trial is performed during the new moon, when the veil between worlds is thinnest," she explained, beginning to pour the sand into an intricate circular pattern on the wooden floor. "But royal blood can call the blessing at any time, if the need is great enough."
"What exactly am I supposed to do?" Luna asked as the ritual circle took shape around her feet.
"Stand in the center," her grandfather instructed, his voice taking on the cadence of ancient tradition. "Open yourself to your wolf spirit. Feel the connection to every werewolf who came before you, every drop of Silvermoon blood that runs in your veins." He paused, his rheumy eyes fixing on hers with surprising intensity. "Then ask the moon goddess to show these people who you really are."
Luna stepped into the circle, the silver sand warm beneath her feet despite its metallic appearance. The moment she reached the center, she felt something shift in the air around her. The lodge seemed to fade slightly, as if she were looking at it through water or thick glass.
"Close your eyes," Sarah's voice seemed to come from very far away. "Breathe deeply. Let your wolf come forward."
Luna closed her eyes and tried to find that wild presence she'd felt stirring inside her. For a moment, there was nothing but her own heartbeat and the sound of her breathing. Then, slowly, she felt something respond—a warmth in her chest, a sense of ancient power stirring to life.
The silver mark on her neck began to tingle.
"That's it," she heard Kane say encouragingly. "I can feel her wolf responding."
The warmth spread from Luna's chest down through her arms and legs. When she opened her eyes, she gasped—her skin was beginning to glow with a soft silver light, just as it had in the warehouse when her powers first awakened.
The pack members around the circle drew in collective breaths of wonder and relief. This was what they'd been waiting to see, the proof that she was truly their lost princess.
But something was wrong.
The light was growing brighter, much brighter than the gentle glow she'd expected. The warmth in her chest was becoming a burning sensation, and her wolf spirit wasn't just stirring—it was thrashing, fighting against something that felt like chains or barriers.
"Luna?" Kane's voice carried a note of concern. "You can stop now. You've proven yourself."
But Luna couldn't stop. The power was spiraling out of her control, fed by something she didn't understand. The silver light blazed brighter, and she could feel Victor's mark on her neck burning like a brand.
"Something's wrong," she gasped, but her voice came out distorted, as if she were speaking through water.
The ritual circle beneath her feet began to smoke, the silver sand hissing and popping like it was being heated to dangerous temperatures. Several pack members stepped back in alarm.
"The circle's overloading," Sarah called out. "Kane, you need to break the connection before—"
Luna's world exploded into silver fire.
The light that had been emanating from her skin suddenly blazed outward in all directions, far beyond anything a simple moon blessing should produce. Windows shattered, the wooden floor beneath the circle began to char, and every werewolf in the room stumbled backward with their hands pressed to their ears as if they were hearing some unbearable sound.
But Luna heard something else entirely—Victor's voice, somehow speaking directly into her mind despite the miles between them.
"Luna, you need to stop. You're drawing on my power through the mark, and it's not compatible with your wolf spirit. Fight it. Push me out."
She tried to follow his instructions, tried to sever whatever connection was feeding this dangerous overflow of energy. But every time she pushed against Victor's influence, her wolf spirit surged stronger, as if it were trying to devour the vampire power and make it her own.
The competing energies were tearing her apart from the inside.
"Get everyone out!" Kane shouted over the sound of continuing destruction. "Now!"
"We can't leave her!" Sarah protested, even as she herded the smaller pack members toward the exits.
"She's going to burn the whole lodge down!"
Through the chaos, Luna heard her grandfather's voice, calm and authoritative despite his age. "Child, listen to me. You're fighting the wrong battle. Don't try to control both powers—choose one."
"I don't know how!" Luna cried, her voice echoing strangely in the maelstrom of silver light.
"Yes, you do. Deep down, you know exactly who you are. Wolf or vampire thrall—choose."
The words hit Luna like a physical blow. Vampire thrall. Is that what Victor's mark had made her? Had she traded her werewolf heritage for his protection without even realizing it?
The thought filled her with rage, and suddenly her wolf spirit wasn't just stirring—it was howling, furious at the suggestion that she belonged to anyone but herself.
"I am Luna Silvermoon," she snarled, and this time her voice carried the authority of twenty generations of Alpha bloodline. "I bow to no vampire, no matter how pretty his contract."
She grabbed Victor's mark with her consciousness, imagining it as a physical chain around her neck, and pulled.
The psychic feedback was immediate and devastating. Through their connection, she felt Victor cry out in pain somewhere across the city, felt his shock and alarm as she rejected his claim on her. But she also felt something else—hurt. Deep, genuine hurt that she was casting him aside so completely.
"Luna, please—" his mental voice was weak now, strained. "The mark isn't about ownership. It's about protection. Without it, the hunters can track you more easily—"
"Then I'll deal with the hunters myself," Luna shot back, giving the psychic chain another vicious yank.
The vampire mark shattered.
Luna felt it break like a physical thing snapping against her neck, and suddenly the silver fire consuming the lodge wasn't chaotic anymore. It was hers, completely and totally hers, flowing through her body like liquid moonlight and responding to her will as naturally as breathing.
The light condensed, pulling inward until it formed a perfect silver aura around her body. The destroying heat faded, leaving only a warm, welcoming glow that made every werewolf in the room relax despite the devastation around them.
Luna opened her eyes and found Kane staring at her with an expression of pure awe.
"Now that," he said softly, "was a moon's blessing."
Thomas, who had been pressed against the far wall with the rest of the fleeing pack members, slowly straightened. His scarred face was pale, but his expression had shifted from skepticism to something approaching reverence.
"I..." he cleared his throat, then tried again. "I formally apologize, Princess. Your bloodline is... beyond question."
Luna looked around at the damaged lodge—the shattered windows, the charred floor, the scorch marks on the walls where her power had lashed out uncontrolled. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to destroy your home."
"This can be rebuilt," her grandfather said, pulling himself to his feet with obvious effort. "But what you just did—rejecting a vampire's claim while awakening your full heritage—that's not something most wolves could survive." His ancient eyes sparkled with pride. "You're stronger than even your father was, child."
"I don't feel strong," Luna admitted, exhaustion suddenly hitting her like a physical weight. "I feel like I just got hit by a truck."
Kane was beside her in an instant, his strong arms catching her as her knees buckled. "The first full awakening is always overwhelming," he murmured against her hair. "You need rest."
"But first," Thomas interrupted, approaching the ritual circle with obvious caution, "there's something else we need to discuss."
Luna looked up at him wearily. "More tests?"
"No tests." Thomas knelt beside the charred remains of the silver sand circle. "But your awakening left something behind. Something that's never happened before in any moon blessing ceremony."
He held up a shard of what looked like crystallized silver light—beautiful, deadly, and radiating power that made Luna's wolf spirit perk up with interest.
"What is it?" she asked.
"I don't know," Thomas admitted. "But it feels like..." He paused, searching for words. "Like concentrated moonlight. Like a piece of the goddess herself."
Kane frowned, his Alpha instincts clearly troubled. "That shouldn't be possible. Moon blessings don't leave physical artifacts."
"Nothing about tonight should have been possible," Sarah pointed out. "Rejecting a vampire mark, channeling that much power without dying, creating something new in the process—she's rewriting the rules."
Luna stared at the crystallized light in Thomas's palm. It was beautiful, but it also felt dangerous, like a weapon waiting to be wielded. "What does this mean for the pack?"
"It means," her grandfather said solemnly, "that you're not just the lost princess returning home. You're something new, something unprecedented." He looked at her with eyes that had seen nearly a century of supernatural politics. "And that, my dear child, is either going to save us all or destroy everything we've ever known."
Luna closed her eyes and leaned into Kane's solid warmth, letting him anchor her as questions swirled through her exhausted mind. She'd broken free of Victor's mark, proven her heritage to the pack, and apparently created some kind of supernatural artifact in the process.
But why did victory feel so much like she'd just made everything infinitely more complicated?
And why, despite her anger at his deception, did she miss the comforting weight of Victor's presence in the back of her mind?
End of Chapter 5