Chapter 32: Chapter 32: The Full Moon Is Gone
Kane wiped his knife on the traitor’s cloak "We end this tonight. All of it. No more waiting."
Rylan’s laugh was raw. "I’m with you. But if I shift. get Lila out. I don’t trust myself right now."
I looked at the three of them. The bond was straining. the wolves so close to the surface I could see the fur rippling under their skin. But they were still here. Still fighting for us. I felt the latent alpha blood surge hot under my own skin, pushing back against the fear and the exhaustion
"Then we fight it together," I said again. "Like we always have."
The nursery corridor was chaos. Two guards lay dead. A third was wounded but conscious, clutching his side. Mara and the other mothers had formed a tight circle around the remaining pups, knives in their hands, faces pale but determined. The pack was starting to gather at the end of the hall, drawn by the noise and the scent of blood.
I handed Lila to Mara. "Take her to the inner chamber. Lock the door. Don’t open it for anyone but us."
Mara nodded and took the baby, her arms steady despite the fear in her eyes. Lila fussed for a moment, then settled against her. I watched them disappear behind the heavy door and felt something cold settle in my chest.
The bond tightened. Darius, Kane, and Rylan closed in around me as we moved toward the main hall. The curse was hitting them hard now. Darius’s claws kept slipping out and retracting. Kane’s eyes flashed gold every few steps. Rylan’s breathing had turned into a low growl.
The great hall was already filling with wolves. They had heard the screams. They had seen the blood. Some carried weapons. Others looked ready to run.
I stepped into the center of the room with the brothers at my back. Blood still dripped from the cut on my arm, but I didn’t wipe it away. Let them see it. Let them see all of it.
"Someone tried to kill my daughter tonight," I said, voice carrying across the stone. "Someone took gold from my father and brought a blade into the nursery. He’s dead now. But he wasn’t the only one."
The hall went dead silent.
I looked at every face. Some met my eyes. Others looked away. The bond fed me the brothers’ rage, their protectiveness, their struggle against the curse that wanted to tear them apart.
"If you took gold, if you spoke to Shadowpine, if you even thought about turning on us, step forward now. Tell me. I’ll give you the same choice I gave the last one. Talk, and your family lives. Stay silent, and I’ll find you myself."
No one moved.
Then a young wolf near the back stepped forward. His hands shook. "I didn’t take gold. But I heard things. I didn’t say anything. I was scared."
I nodded. "Then you speak now. Every name. Every message. Every promise my father made."
He talked. The hall listened. Names came out. Three more wolves. Two gammas. One scout who had been on the eastern wall. The pack shifted uneasily as the list grew.
Darius stepped up beside me. His voice was cold. "Bring them in. All of them."
The arrests happened fast. The traitors were dragged into the hall, wrists bound, faces pale under the torchlight. The pack watched in silence as I stood in front of them with the brothers at my back. The curse was pushing harder now. Darius’s eyes glowed ice-blue. Kane’s claws were fully out. Rylan’s axe was raised, ready.
I looked at the traitors. "You chose gold over your own pack. You chose my father’s promises over the child sleeping in the nursery. That choice ends tonight."
The executions were quick. Rylan did them himself, one clean swing each time. The pack watched in silence. When it was done, no one cheered. But no one looked away either.
The moon was at its peak outside the windows. The bond was screaming. Darius dropped to one knee, claws digging into the stone floor. Kane’s knife clattered from his hand as the shift tried to take him. Rylan roared, the sound echoing off the walls, his body rippling with fur before he forced it back.
I stepped into the center of the hall and raised my voice.
"This is what the curse does. This is what my father wants. He wants us to tear each other apart so he can walk in and take what’s left. But we are not breaking tonight. Not any of us."
I walked straight to Darius and dropped to my knees in front of him. I took his face in my hands, claws and all, and pressed my forehead to his. The bond surged between us, fierce and warm. "Stay with me," I whispered. "Stay with us."
He shuddered. The claws retracted. His eyes cleared.
I moved to Kane next. I took his scarred hands in mine and held them tight. "Stay with me."
He exhaled, long and shaky. The gold faded from his eyes.
Rylan was last. I stood in front of him and pressed my palm to his chest, right over his heart. "Stay with me."
He let out a broken laugh and pulled me into a rough hug, his arms trembling around me. The bond settled. The wolves slid back under their skin. The full moon still hung red and heavy outside, but the curse had lost this round.
The pack watched in silence. Then the beta who had taken over after the first traitor stepped forward. He dropped to one knee. One by one, the others followed. The hall filled with the sound of knees hitting stone.
I stood in the center with the brothers around me, blood on my hands, Lila safe in the nursery, and felt something shift inside the keep. It was something closer to trust.
The moon began its slow slide west.
The night was far from over.
But for the first time, the pack had chosen us.
And my father was going to feel exactly what that meant.
The full moon had slid west, taking its red light with it, but the hall still felt heavy with the weight of what had just happened. The pack stayed on their knees long after the traitor’s body was dragged away. The air was thick with the scent of blood and torch smoke, but no one moved until I nodded.
The beta who had taken charge after the first betrayal rose first. He looked at me, then at Lila strapped to my chest, then at the blood still staining the stone floor. "We choose you," he said. "All of us. No more doubt."
One by one the rest of the pack stood. Not with cheers. Not with grand speeches. Just with quiet nods and the kind of silence that meant something real had shifted. I felt it in the bond, the four of us linked tighter than ever. The curse had tested us and lost. For tonight, at least.
I didn’t say anything. I just nodded once and walked out of the hall with the brothers at my back. The keep felt different as we climbed the stairs. The air was lighter. The shadows less sharp. Lila made a small contented sound and nuzzled closer, her tiny fist curled in my tunic. The bond hummed warm and steady between the four of us, the wolves pushed back under their skin for another month.
In the chambers the fire had burned low. Darius dropped into the chair by the hearth and pulled me onto his lap, careful of the baby between us. Kane knelt in front of me and checked the cut on my arm, his scarred fingers gentle. Rylan paced once, then stopped and leaned against the wall, axe propped beside him.
"You could have stayed behind," Darius said quietly, his hand resting on Lila’s back.
"I couldn’t," I replied. "Not anymore."
Kane finished wrapping the cut and looked up at me. "The pack saw you tonight. They saw all of us. That changes things."
Rylan’s grin was tired but real. "They finally get it. You’re not the girl they sent north in chains. You’re the queen who just stood in a hall full of blood and told them exactly who we are."
I smiled down at Lila. She had fallen asleep, her small mouth parted, dark lashes against her cheeks. The bond hummed warm and steady between the four of us, the curse quiet for now. But I could still feel the shadow at the edges, waiting for the next full moon to test us again.
In the nursery and the training yard, Rylan took to carrying Lila around the keep on his shoulder, letting her tug at his hair while he checked the walls. I felt the second pregnancy in small ways: the nausea in the mornings, the tiredness that hit me harder than before, the way my breasts grew heavy again. But the latent alpha blood kept me strong. I trained with the women in the yard every afternoon, blade in hand, Lila watching from the edge in her basket.
Three weeks after the full moon, the scouts brought new word from the south.
Kane met them first, then came straight to the chambers where I was nursing Lila by the fire. His face was grim.
"Your father is still in the cells, but his allies outside are moving. He had already paid gold and made promises before we captured him. Two outer packs are sending wolves. They believe the children are the reason the curse is still testing us. They’re coming to demand the prisoner’s release or they’ll burn the southern passes."
