1
I thought I was ready.
But nothing could prepare me for the feeling of standing at the gates of Blackwater Castle again.
The last time I crossed this threshold, I was dragged in chains. Bloody. Broken. Marked as Garrick's Luna.
Now, I walked on my own two feet.
No chains. No mark.
Just purpose.
Cailen and I stood at the edge of the decayed path, the other warriors keeping their distance. The moon hung low watchful.
"He's inside," Cailen said. "We've cleared the surrounding patrols. Just his elite left now."
I glanced up at the jagged tower, memories flashing through me like knives.
"My past ends tonight."
He looked at me.
"Are you sure you don't want us at your side?"
I nodded.
"I started this alone. I'll finish it the same way."
He didn't argue.
He just touched my hand, then turned away, guarding my back like he always did never trying to take the fight from me.
2
I slipped inside through the servants' hall.
Every crack in the stone whispered my name. The ghosts of my past lives clung to the walls.
Here was where he locked me in the cold cellar for defying an order.
There the hallway where Lyra risked her life to smuggle me food.
And ahead
The grand chamber where I was once crowned a Luna under blood and threat.
Now, it reeked of smoke and rot.
But I didn't flinch.
I climbed the steps to the inner sanctum the place Garrick once called the Hall of Obedience.
And I found him there.
Not waiting on a throne.
But kneeling in front of an altar.
As if praying to the goddess he never believed in.
3
"I wondered how long it would take you," he said without turning.
"You left a trail," I said. "Sloppy for someone who used to be so calculated."
He stood slowly, taller than I remembered.
Older.
And far more dangerous.
"You came to die?" he asked.
"No. I came to bury what's already dead."
He turned to face me.
"Still full of fire. I gave you that."
"You didn't give me anything," I snapped. "You tried to strip everything away. But I found what you couldn't touch."
He smirked. "And what's that?"
"My soul."
4
We shifted at the same time.
His wolf massive and dark, veined with silver corruption leapt with brutal force.
But I was faster.
Lighter.
I ducked, spun, bit his leg and twisted until I heard a pop. He howled, slamming me against a pillar. My ribs cracked.
But I didn't stop.
I wouldn't.
This was no longer about revenge.
It was reclamation.
Every strike I landed was a piece of myself recovered.
Every wound I received, a price I was willing to pay.
Until he faltered.
Until I stood over him, blood trailing from my mouth, paws trembling with fury.
I shifted back first.
So I could look him in the eye.
"You thought you broke me," I whispered, dagger in hand.
"You made me."
He laughed, blood spilling from his teeth. "Then I win."
I knelt, pressing the blade to his throat.
"No," I said. "You don't win by creating monsters. You lose when the monster becomes more human than you ever were."
And I plunged it deep.
5
His body hit the stone with a final thud.
No ceremony.
No last words.
Just silence.
I stood over the corpse of my past. And I didn't cry.
I burned every part of him that had tried to stay inside me.
And when the fire took him, it was not vengeance.
It was release.
6
Outside, the pack was waiting.
Their faces lifted to the moon as I stepped into the courtyard, smoke trailing from behind me.
"It's done," I said.
Cailen caught me as my knees gave out. But I didn't fall.
Not really.
I had never stood taller.
"You're free," he whispered.
I nodded.
And finally let myself breathe.
7
In the days that followed, we dismantled the ruins.
Stone by stone.
Banner by banner.
We didn't build a new throne.
We built a new beginning.
The pack became a sanctuary.
Not a kingdom.
And I…
I stopped being a Luna.
I became Aurora.
Just Aurora.
Unbound.
Unbroken.
And whole.
8
One night, as spring began to thaw the last of winter's chill, I stood at the cliff's edge, overlooking the valley.
Cailen joined me, wrapping a blanket over my shoulders.
"What do we call you now?" he asked.
"Nothing," I said softly.
"No title?"
I shook my head. "Titles can be taken. Stolen. Used against you."
He smiled.
"Then who are you?"
I turned to face him, wind dancing through my hair.
"I'm the woman who lived."
"And that," he said, "is more powerful than any throne."1
I thought I was ready.
But nothing could prepare me for the feeling of standing at the gates of Blackwater Castle again.
The last time I crossed this threshold, I was dragged in chains. Bloody. Broken. Marked as Garrick's Luna.
Now, I walked on my own two feet.
No chains. No mark.
Just purpose.
Cailen and I stood at the edge of the decayed path, the other warriors keeping their distance. The moon hung low watchful.
"He's inside," Cailen said. "We've cleared the surrounding patrols. Just his elite left now."
I glanced up at the jagged tower, memories flashing through me like knives.
"My past ends tonight."
He looked at me.
"Are you sure you don't want us at your side?"
I nodded.
"I started this alone. I'll finish it the same way."
He didn't argue.
He just touched my hand, then turned away, guarding my back like he always did never trying to take the fight from me.
2
I slipped inside through the servants' hall.
Every crack in the stone whispered my name. The ghosts of my past lives clung to the walls.
Here was where he locked me in the cold cellar for defying an order.
There the hallway where Lyra risked her life to smuggle me food.
And ahead
The grand chamber where I was once crowned a Luna under blood and threat.
Now, it reeked of smoke and rot.
But I didn't flinch.
I climbed the steps to the inner sanctum the place Garrick once called the Hall of Obedience.
And I found him there.
Not waiting on a throne.
But kneeling in front of an altar.
As if praying to the goddess he never believed in.
3
"I wondered how long it would take you," he said without turning.
"You left a trail," I said. "Sloppy for someone who used to be so calculated."
He stood slowly, taller than I remembered.
Older.
And far more dangerous.
"You came to die?" he asked.
"No. I came to bury what's already dead."
He turned to face me.
"Still full of fire. I gave you that."
"You didn't give me anything," I snapped. "You tried to strip everything away. But I found what you couldn't touch."
He smirked. "And what's that?"
"My soul."
4
We shifted at the same time.
His wolf massive and dark, veined with silver corruption leapt with brutal force.
But I was faster.
Lighter.
I ducked, spun, bit his leg and twisted until I heard a pop. He howled, slamming me against a pillar. My ribs cracked.
But I didn't stop.
I wouldn't.
This was no longer about revenge.
It was reclamation.
Every strike I landed was a piece of myself recovered.
Every wound I received, a price I was willing to pay.
Until he faltered.
Until I stood over him, blood trailing from my mouth, paws trembling with fury.
I shifted back first.
So I could look him in the eye.
"You thought you broke me," I whispered, dagger in hand.
"You made me."
He laughed, blood spilling from his teeth. "Then I win."
I knelt, pressing the blade to his throat.
"No," I said. "You don't win by creating monsters. You lose when the monster becomes more human than you ever were."
And I plunged it deep.
5
His body hit the stone with a final thud.
No ceremony.
No last words.
Just silence.
I stood over the corpse of my past. And I didn't cry.
I burned every part of him that had tried to stay inside me.
And when the fire took him, it was not vengeance.
It was release.
6
Outside, the pack was waiting.
Their faces lifted to the moon as I stepped into the courtyard, smoke trailing from behind me.
"It's done," I said.
Cailen caught me as my knees gave out. But I didn't fall.
Not really.
I had never stood taller.
"You're free," he whispered.
I nodded.
And finally let myself breathe.
7
In the days that followed, we dismantled the ruins.
Stone by stone.
Banner by banner.
We didn't build a new throne.
We built a new beginning.
The pack became a sanctuary.
Not a kingdom.
And I…
I stopped being a Luna.
I became Aurora.
Just Aurora.
Unbound.
Unbroken.
And whole.
8
One night, as spring began to thaw the last of winter's chill, I stood at the cliff's edge, overlooking the valley.
Cailen joined me, wrapping a blanket over my shoulders.
"What do we call you now?" he asked.
"Nothing," I said softly.
"No title?"
I shook my head. "Titles can be taken. Stolen. Used against you."
He smiled.
"Then who are you?"
I turned to face him, wind dancing through my hair.
"I'm the woman who lived."
"And that," he said, "is more powerful than any throne."