Page 12

They threw a firelit feast in the village that night-smoke curling into stars, meat sizzling over open flames, drums echoing like heartbeats. For the first time, the pack didn't look at me with suspicion.

They looked at me like I was one of them.

Mira gave me a slap on the back and a rare grin. "Didn't think you had it in you."

I smirked. "Me neither."

Someone handed me a drink. A few others offered nods. Even Lira, from a distance, looked less like she wanted to kill me and more like she finally believed I could survive without protection.

I should've been glowing.

Instead, I felt numb.

Because something about that fight... about the way my wolf had snapped... it scared me.

Not because I lost control.

Because I didn't.

I wanted to win.

I wanted to hurt something.

And I didn't know what that said about me.

?

Later that night, long after the fires dimmed and the laughter faded, I found Kael in the woods behind the packhouse, splitting logs like it was the only way to silence his thoughts.

He looked up when he heard me.

"You should be resting."

I stepped closer. "Couldn't sleep."

He set the axe down.

I hesitated, then said the truth I hadn't told anyone-not even Mira.

"I liked the fight," I whispered. "I didn't just want to survive. I wanted to win."

Kael's expression didn't shift. "Good."

I blinked. "Good?"

He nodded once. "You finally chose to live."

I didn't know how to respond.

So I sat beside him in the damp grass, knees brushing, silence wrapping around us like a blanket.

"You know what the hardest part was?" I said after a moment. "It wasn't the beast. It was... coming back."

"Why?"

"Because it felt like I was returning as someone new. And I don't know if that version of me deserves peace."

Kael was quiet for a long time. Then he said, "You don't have to deserve peace, Luna. You just have to stop running from it."

Something inside me cracked open.

Not in pain.

In relief.

I leaned my head against his shoulder.

He didn't speak. Didn't move.

But his warmth was steady.

And for the first time in forever, I didn't feel like I had to fill the silence.

He was already listening.

Even to the words I didn't say.