Elara's POV
"You're making a mistake," Dante calls after us, his voice breaking. "Elara, please. Just listen—"
I don't look back.
Kieran guides me through the Veilwood with steady confidence. Unlike when I stumbled through here alone and dying, the forest seems almost peaceful now. The twisted trees lean away from us. The shadows retreat. Even the dark magic that tried to kill me before parts like curtains.
"The forest fears you now," Kieran explains, noticing my confusion. "Starborn power is older than this place. It recognizes what you are and bows."
"Everything keeps bowing or fearing me," I mutter. "I just want to understand what's happening."
He stops walking and turns to face me. "What's happening is that you're no longer the girl everyone could ignore or hurt. You're something they have to respect whether they want to or not." His golden eyes are kind. "That terrifies them. Especially the ones who wronged you."
Like Dante. Like everyone in the Border Settlements who turned their backs while I suffered.
"Good," I say, surprised by the hardness in my voice.
Kieran smiles slightly. "There she is. The queen underneath all that kindness."
We reach the edge of the Veilwood as the sun climbs higher. Beyond the tree line, I see the Border Settlements in the distance—the place that was never really home. The place that cast me out to die.
"We should avoid the settlements," Kieran says. "Too many of Dante's loyalists. They'll try to capture you if they see—"
"Let them try." The words surprise even me. "I'm done hiding."
Something shifts in Kieran's expression—approval mixed with concern. "You've only had your power for a few hours. You're strong, but untrained. If they attack in numbers—"
"Then I'll learn fast." I start walking toward the settlement.
Kieran catches my arm gently. "Elara, wait. I understand you want revenge. But rushing in angry will get you killed, and if you die—"
"Dante dies too. I know." I pull my arm free, not roughly but firmly. "I'm not going to attack anyone. I just need to see someone."
Understanding dawns on his face. "Your friend. The one who helped you."
"Ivy." Her name is both comfort and pain. "She's the only person who was kind to me. I need to make sure she's safe before we go north."
Kieran nods slowly. "Then I'll come with you. But stay close, and if things go wrong, let me handle it."
We walk into the Border Settlements side by side. Immediately, wolves stop what they're doing and stare. They don't recognize me at first—my silver hair is glowing now, my eyes hold cosmic fire, and I stand tall instead of hunched and hiding.
Then someone gasps. "That's... that's the Moonwyn girl!"
Whispers explode around us. Wolves back away, fear written on their faces. Some bow their heads instinctively. Others reach for weapons.
"She was supposed to be dead," someone hisses.
"What happened to her? Why does she look like that?"
"Is that the Northern Alpha with her?"
I ignore them all and head straight for the healing house. The door is closed, but I push it open without knocking.
Ivy is inside, grinding herbs at her work table. She looks up, and the mortar drops from her hands, shattering on the floor.
"Elara?" she whispers, her round face pale. "But you—how are you—" Her eyes take in my glowing hair, my changed appearance, the Starborn mark visible through my torn dress. "What happened to you?"
"I found out what I really am." I step closer, and she flinches. The flinch cuts deeper than any rejection. "Ivy, I'm not going to hurt you."
"I know, I just—" She swallows hard. "The rumors are everywhere. They're saying you're some kind of ancient monster. That you put a curse on the Alpha King. That you're going to destroy the territories."
"Would you believe me if I said I'm not a monster?" I ask quietly.
She studies my face—really looks at me, past the glowing power and cosmic marks. Then tears fill her eyes. "You're still you. I can see it. You're still my friend who brought me soup when I was sick. Who helped me bury my grandmother. Who never once treated me like I was less because I'm an omega."
The tears I've been holding back since the rejection finally spill over. "I came to say goodbye. And to give you something."
I hold out my hand, and cosmic fire gathers in my palm. But instead of destroying, it creates. Light solidifies into a small crystal pendant that glows with soft silver light.
"This will protect you," I tell her, placing it in her shaking hands. "If anyone tries to hurt you because you were kind to me, it will keep you safe. And if you ever need me—really need me—break it. I'll feel it and come, no matter where I am."
Ivy clutches the pendant to her chest, sobbing. "Where are you going?"
"North. With him." I gesture to Kieran, who's standing guard at the door. "I need to learn to control this power. To understand what I am."
"Will you come back?"
I think about that. About the wolves who turned their backs on me. About the Alpha King who destroyed me. About eleven years of suffering.
"Yes," I say finally. "But not as the girl who left. I'll come back as something they can't ignore anymore."
Ivy hugs me tight, and I let myself be held for just a moment. Then I pull away and walk toward the door.
As I leave the healing house, a commotion erupts at the settlement entrance. Guards in silver armor—royal guards from the Stronghold—are storming in with weapons drawn.
"There!" one shouts, pointing at me. "The Moonwyn girl! The Alpha King wants her captured alive!"
Kieran steps in front of me, his body tense and ready to fight.
But I put a hand on his shoulder. "No. Let me handle this."
"Elara—"
"Trust me."
The guards surround us—twenty armed warriors against one untrained Starborn and one Northern Alpha. The lead guard, a scarred man with cold eyes, sneers at me.
"Elara Moonwyn, by order of Alpha King Dante Silvercrest, you're under arrest. Come quietly or—"
"Or what?" I interrupt. "You'll hurt me?" I smile, and it's not a kind smile. "Go ahead and try."
The guard lunges forward, grabbing for my arm.
I don't think. Don't plan. I just react.
Cosmic fire explodes from my body in a wave. The guards fly backward, slamming into buildings and trees. Not killed—I'm not ready to kill—but definitely hurt. Definitely afraid.
I stand in the center of the settlement, glowing like a fallen star, and let them all see what I've become.
"Tell your Alpha King," I say, my voice carrying to every corner of the settlement, "that I'm done being hunted. Done being afraid. If he wants me, he can come find me himself. But I promise—" Power crackles around my hands. "—he won't like what he finds."
Then I turn to Kieran. "Let's go."
We walk out of the Border Settlements with every wolf watching us leave. No one tries to stop us.
As we travel north through the wilderness, I feel it through the bond—Dante's rage, his fear, his desperate need to control me. His heart stutters with every step I take away from him.
"He's going to come after you," Kieran says. "Probably with an army."
"Good." I look up at the sky, where stars are starting to appear even though it's still afternoon. My stars. "Let him come. Let him see what happens when you reject someone the universe chose."
Kieran is quiet for a moment. Then: "You're not what I expected."
"What did you expect?"
"Someone more... broken. More afraid." He looks at me with something like admiration. "But you're not broken at all, are you? You're angry. And that anger is going to change everything."
He's right. The girl who stood crying in that ceremony circle is gone. The girl who begged for mercy is dead.
What remains is someone new. Someone powerful. Someone who will make them all regret the day they decided I was worthless.
We crest a hill, and I look back one last time at the Southern territories spread below us.
"I'll be back," I whisper to the wind. "And when I am, every single one of you will kneel."
Through the bond, I feel Dante's heart stop again.
This time, I smile.
Then something else floods through the bond—not just pain, but a vision. Dante is showing me something, forcing me to see it.
I see a woman with dark hair and cruel eyes. Beautiful but cold. She's in the Royal Stronghold, whispering in Dante's ear.
"The Starborn must die," she says. "Before she becomes too powerful to stop. I can help you, my king. Let me finish what the first magisters started."
My blood runs cold as I recognize her face from Dante's memories, memories bleeding through our twisted bond.
Seraphina Ashwood.
The woman he loved. The woman who supposedly died.
She's alive. And she's coming for me.