[Elara's POV]
As the great doors parted, two lines of Sanctum Wardens in gleaming silver armor marched out in perfect unison. They halted before me, raised their right fists to their chests, and offered a warrior's salute.
Following them, the Great Elder Elias, clad in ceremonial robes, emerged. He personally carried an obsidian box draped with the Moon Goddess's Banner, and he approached me with slow, measured steps.
On the banner, the silver-threaded sigil of the Goddess shimmered with a sacred light that made my eyes sting. That banner was everything my parents had lived and died for. When they answered the Elder Council's call to fight the rampaging beasts in the Forbidden Lands, they knew they might not return.
"Your parents were true heroes, Elara," the Great Elder's voice was aged but kind, his gaze filled with both pride and sympathy. "Their wolf spirits have merged into one. It was their choice."
"It's better this way," I murmured, my eyes fixed on the Spirit Stone beneath the banner. "They loved each other so much. To be together even after death… they would have wanted that."
The Great Elder nodded. Then, he drew himself to his full height and presented the stone box to me with grave formality.
"A Hero's Spirit, a Beacon for the Moon!" he declared.
The Wardens behind him roared in unison, their voices thundering across the sky.
"A HERO'S SPIRIT, A BEACON FOR THE MOON!"
The deafening chant scattered the clouds overhead. My vision blurred. I straightened my spine and returned the most solemn salute I could muster to the Elder and his warriors.
"Elara Silvermoon receives her heroes and brings them home!"
I extended my hands and accepted the heavy box. It was weighted with stone and sorrow, yet it brought me a sense of peace I hadn't felt in three long years. I could finally bring my parents home.
Only after the ceremony was complete did the Great Elder seem to notice I was alone.
"Your mate? Did he not come?" he asked gently. He was one of the few who knew of my union with Kaelen.
I lowered my gaze, my voice flat. "He was detained."
The Great Elder had watched me grow up. A flash of pain crossed his weathered features. The vibrant, spirited girl he once knew had become a woman whose face was etched with a weariness that never seemed to fade.
"Child, if you are wronged in this world, remember: the Elder Council will always be your shield," he said, placing a comforting hand on my shoulder.
"Thank you, Elder Elias," I whispered.
"Go now. Take them home."
I nodded, bid the Elder farewell, and carried my parents' Spirit Stones back to my mount. I carefully secured the box to the saddle before swinging myself up and galloping toward the Alpha's House.
"Father, Mother," I whispered into the wind. "I'm taking you home."
When I returned to the Alpha's House, the first thing I heard was the shrill, cutting voice of Kaelen's mother, the former Luna, Adelina.
"Now that Seraphina is back, and a War Master no less, you need to reject that lone wolf immediately and marry Seraphina! It's what's best for the Blackwood Pack."
"Seraphina and I are just allies," Kaelen's deep voice rumbled in response.
"Allies? Don't be ridiculous! The entire continent knows you're in love with her! She has a noble bloodline and immense power. What does that Elara have? Nothing! She is not worthy of you!" Kaelen's sister, Giselle, chimed in.
My heart turned to ice, piece by piece. For three years, I had secretly used the resources from my parents' vault to help him quell rebellions and fend off rival packs. I had spent countless sleepless nights poring over strategies for his grand ambitions. And in their eyes, I had "nothing."
Just then, Giselle spotted me in the doorway. "Elara! Were you eavesdropping?"
I walked forward, the stone box held tightly in my arms. "I came in through the front door. It's not eavesdropping."
"Good, then you heard! If you have any sense, you'll leave my brother now and stop getting in the way of his future with Seraphina!" Giselle's tone was laced with its usual scorn.
"Giselle, that's enough!" Kaelen barked. She fell silent, though her glare remained venomous.
Kaelen strode toward me, his brow creased. His gaze fell upon the obsidian box in my hands, draped with the Moon Goddess's Banner.
"This is..."
"My parents' Hero's Spirit Stones," I answered calmly. "I've brought them home."
A flicker of guilt crossed Kaelen's eyes. "I'm sorry. I should have been there, but Seraphina's mother—"
He was cut off by a sharp, piercing cry. "What? Spirit Stones?!"
Adelina wrinkled her nose in disgust, as if she smelled something rotting. She glared at me with pure revulsion. "How dare you bring that... that foul thing into my house? It reeks of the grave!"
"Inauspicious object?" I stared at her in disbelief. "These are my parents' Spirit Stones. They were heroes! Not some 'foul thing'!"
They had laid down their lives for every wolf, including her. They deserved respect.
"I don't care whose bones are in that box, they stink of death!" Adelina snapped. "Get out! Now! Do not bring that thing in here. It will poison the spirit of our pack!"
I clutched the box tighter. "I am not leaving. This is my home, the one I share with Kaelen."
"It belongs to my brother!" Giselle fanned the flames. "Brother, the Shaman just healed Mother's eyes; she can't get agitated. Make Elara leave!"
Hesitation warred in Kaelen's eyes. In the end, he chose his family.
"You should go for now," he said, his voice cold. "Just find some place to put it."
Just find some place...
My heart plummeted into a bottomless abyss. How could he say that?
"You think my parents' spirits will bring bad luck?" I stared at him, my soul begging for him to say no. "They can't even rest in our home for a single night?"
Kaelen said nothing. His silence was the only answer I needed.
"And what if I refuse?" I challenged. "Kaelen, I have been your mate for three years. I have never done anything to wrong you or your family!" My voice rose, cracking with the agony of it all.
"When you first became Alpha, beset by enemies, it was my parents' resources that secured your position! When your mother's sight was failing from dark magic and every healer gave up, it was a favor owed to my mother that brought the Shaman Fara out of seclusion to save her!"
"I treated you all as my family. But have any of you ever shown an ounce of respect for mine?"
My words struck home, twisting their expressions into masks of ugly resentment.
Giselle, flush with rage, shot back, "You helped because my brother is the Alpha! That Shaman came out of respect for him! This pack is what it is today because of his strength alone. Stop trying to take credit for his achievements!"
I was done arguing with her. I looked only at Kaelen. "Three years we've been mated. All I ask is to let my parents' spirits rest in our home for a few days. Is that too much?"
Kaelen's jaw tightened. "Elara, don't make this a scene."
"What if I insist?" I took a step forward.
Consumed by rage, Adelina lunged at me, her hand swiping violently at the box. "Not while I'm alive! You will not bring that omen of death inside!"
I instinctively twisted away, shielding the box with my body. The force of her own momentum sent Adelina stumbling. She lost her balance, crying out as she started to fall.
Kaelen was there in a flash, catching her.
He turned his head and glared at me, his eyes filled with a venomous hatred I had never seen before.
"Elara," he snarled, his voice a low, threatening growl. "If my mother gets hurt because of you, I swear I'll make you feel every last drop of my hatred through this bond."