The sanctuary was quiet.
Too quiet for wolves, too still for the wounded.
Tucked between the snow-laced cliffs of the northern range, the abandoned Moon Temple stood like a forgotten sentinel of time. Ivy crawled its worn stone, the once-shimmering mosaics faded by frost and wind. There was no pack territory here. No enemies. No allies. Just silence.
And a boy who had nearly died.
And a girl who had nearly lost herself trying to save him.
Luna sat beside Min SUGA's bedroll, a threadbare blanket pulled tightly around her shoulders. Her fingers trembled—not from cold, but from exhaustion that no fire could warm. Across from her, the Alpha lay still, chest rising in slow, shallow breaths. The faint silver shimmer that once burned across his wound had faded now.
He was healing.
She should've felt relief.
She didn't.
Because she knew what she had given.
And she still didn't know what the Goddess had taken in return.
The fire crackled beside them, casting golden shadows across his face. In sleep, SUGA looked younger. Softer. Less dangerous. But only just. The angles of his face were still sharp, and even now, unconscious, his body curled instinctively in protection—like a shield between her and the outside world.
She sighed.
"You're a mess, you know that?"
He didn't answer, obviously. Just kept breathing.
Luna looked down at her hands. The same hands that had called down silver fire. That had begged the Moon to spare him. That had glowed with ancient power—only to fall dark the next morning. She could still feel something humming beneath her skin, but it was distant now. Like a memory more than magic.
"You weren't supposed to matter this much," she whispered. "But you showed up anyway."
And now here they were.
Mates.
Marked. Bound. Cursed and chosen all at once.
She laid down slowly beside him, curling up on her side, facing him.
"I don't regret it," she murmured. "Even if I should."
She woke to the scent of pine smoke and bloodroot.
And a voice.
Not loud, not spoken aloud—but one that vibrated in her bones.
"You are not just a mate. You are a bridge."
Luna jolted upright.
SUGA was still asleep beside her, unmoved, unaware. The fire had gone low, casting everything in dim orange light. But something had changed.
She felt it in the air.
"Who's there?" she asked quietly.
No answer. Just the flicker of the flames—and then, across the stone floor of the temple, her reflection shimmered.
Except it wasn't a reflection.
It was her.
But older. Wiser. Dressed in ceremonial silver robes of the ancient Moon Priestesses. Her eyes glowed like stars. Her expression was unreadable.
Luna's heart pounded.
"What—what are you?"
"What you could become."
"I don't understand."
The reflection tilted her head.
"You were born of both bloodlines. Alpha and Priestess. One carries power. The other carries responsibility. The Moon does not choose lightly."
"But why now?"
"Because the balance is breaking. And you…" Her voice faded into wind, "…are the only one left who can hold it together."
The image vanished.
Luna sat frozen for several seconds, heartbeat thundering in her ears.
What the hell did that mean?
She stood, pacing across the ancient stones, hands clenching and unclenching.
A bridge?
Between what? Between Alpha and Priestess? Pack and Goddess? Destiny and choice?
And then a rough voice broke through the silence behind her.
"You're muttering again."
She spun.
SUGA was awake. Propped up on his elbow, pale but alive, his eyes locked on her like he'd never seen anything more confusing and beautiful in his life.
Luna swallowed hard. "You should be resting."
"Can't rest when my mate's talking to ghosts in her sleep."
She rolled her eyes but didn't argue. She walked to him instead, sat beside him, careful not to touch his shoulder.
"I think…" she began slowly. "I think the Moon wants something from me."
He didn't laugh. Didn't tease. Just studied her with those dark, serious eyes.
"Of course She does," he said. "You're Her child."
"What does that make you?"
"The idiot She bonded you to."
Luna snorted. "That, you are."
But then—his hand found hers. Just barely. Their fingers touched, and something shifted again. Not magic this time.
Just connection.
"Whatever She wants," SUGA said, voice low. "Whatever storm's coming… I'll be there. You're not walking into this alone."
Her throat tightened.
"You already almost died."
"Yeah, well. Still hot, though."
"Barely."
"You kissed me when I was bleeding out."
"I had to distract you."
"It worked."
She looked down, blinking rapidly. He was still joking, but there was a weight beneath his words now. A fear neither of them had named yet.
She leaned her head against his good shoulder.
"I'm scared," she admitted.
"So am I."
"But I'm more scared of what happens if we don't try."
He didn't answer.
He didn't have to.
They stayed in that temple for three more nights.
Long enough for SUGA's strength to return.
Long enough for Luna to hear the Goddess again, in her dreams and in the wind.
She was being called back.
To Silverhollow.
To the place she'd run from.
To the place her power had been born.
A reckoning was coming.
And the Moon wouldn't wait forever.