Chapter 5: They Owe Her
Alastor:
The storm ruined nothing.
If anything, it only made the night grander.
The rain had driven everyone inside, transforming the celebration from an open ceremony beneath the sky into something warmer, louder, and far more... intimate. The grand hall of the pack house glowed under chandeliers of crystal and gold, their light reflecting off polished floors and raised glasses, laughter echoing from every corner.
Lively and rich music filled the air, drowning out the sound of thunder that still rumbled beyond the thick walls.
People were dancing, drinking, and celebrating. And at the center of it all was her - Charlotte.
My gaze found her instantly, as if drawn by something inevitable. She stood surrounded by people, her golden hair catching the light, her smile effortless and radiant as she laughed at something Kaiser had just said. She looked... perfect. Untouched by the storm, untouched by the weight of what had happened tonight.
Untouched by everything.
I watched her for a long moment, my expression unreadable even to myself. This was what we had been searching for.
A fated mate - not just for one of us, but for all three.
Even now, the thought felt surreal. Impossible. And yet there she was, the living proof. After all these years of uncertainty, of quiet tension between us, of knowing something was missing but never quite understanding what... she had appeared.
And everything had fallen into place.
It should have been enough to settle the restless feeling inside me. But it didn’t. Because my attention, no matter how many times I forced it back, kept drifting elsewhere. To someone who wasn’t here anymore.
Rosalie.
My jaw tightened slightly.
I hadn’t missed the look on her face when she left. No matter how much I tried to convince myself otherwise, it lingered at the edge of my thoughts like a shadow I couldn’t shake.
She had looked... broken.
The memory pressed uncomfortably against my chest, but I pushed it aside almost immediately.
This was necessary.
Everything we had done tonight, it had been necessary - for Charlotte, for the packs, for the future.
Rosalie would understand. She always did. That was who she was - soft, gentle, endlessly forgiving, and most importantly... she loved us. Enough to accept what we couldn’t yet explain.
I exhaled slowly, reaching for a glass of wine from a passing tray. The cool surface grounded me as I took a small sip.
"She left." Darien’s voice came from beside me, low and calm, but not without weight.
I didn’t look at him immediately as I replied, "I know."
A brief silence settled between us, filled only by the distant music and the sound of laughter. Then he asked the question we both already knew the answer to. "You are thinking about her."
It wasn’t really a question.
I let out a quiet breath. My gaze was still fixed on the crowd, though I wasn’t really seeing any of it. "I sent Luxe after her," I said instead and that earned a slight shift in Darien’s posture.
Finally, I glanced at him.
His green eyes were focused ahead, but I could see the tension there - the same tension I refused to acknowledge within myself.
"He’ll bring her back," I added.
He didn’t respond immediately. Instead his gaze drifted, settling on Charlotte who was now being pulled toward the center of the room by one of her friends. Laughter spilled from her lips as she allowed herself to be dragged into a dance.
"She’s really our fated mate," Darien murmured after a moment, almost to himself. There was something unreadable in his voice. Something distant.
I followed his gaze, watching Charlotte move gracefully with the music, her presence commanding attention without effort.
"Yes," I said simply. The word felt heavier than it should have. Because it changed everything.
Kaiser appeared then, slipping easily into the space beside us, his usual confidence intact but his expression sharper than his relaxed posture suggested.
"I still can’t believe it," he said, his tone lighter than the words deserved, though I knew him well enough to hear what lay beneath it. "All this time... and it turns out we were waiting for the same person."
His eyes flickered briefly toward Charlotte, something possessive flashing through them before it disappeared just as quickly.
He huffed a quiet breath, running a hand through his slightly damp hair. "Well, doesn’t matter now. We owe her."
There was certainty in his voice. A finality. And beneath it... responsibility.
"We need to protect her," he continued, his tone shifting, growing more serious. "Make sure she gets everything she deserves."
Everything she deserves.
The words echoed in my mind, heavy and unyielding. Because we both knew what that meant - the position, the title, the attention. Everything that came with being Luna, and everything we had just given her.
Kaiser’s gaze shifted then, landing on me and Darien. "Do you think Rose is going to be too upset?"
The question hung in the air, fragile in a way I didn’t expect from him. And for the first time since the ceremony, something tightened sharply in my chest.
Rose.
He didn’t even call her Rosalie. Not when it mattered. Not when it was just us.
I glanced at him, noting the slight crease between his brows and the way his usual smirk had faded. He looked... genuinely concerned.
And for a moment... so was I.
Because no matter how much I tried to justify it, no matter how many reasons I laid out in my mind, there’s no denying we had hurt her - publicly, completely, and on her birthday.
The thought sat heavily in my chest, uncomfortable and persistent. But before it could take root, Darien spoke.
"She’ll be fine."
His voice was calm and certain as if there had never been any doubt.
Kaiser frowned slightly. "You think so?"
Darien nodded, his gaze still on Charlotte as she danced, her laughter echoing across the hall. "She might be upset for a while," he admitted. "Anyone would be. But it’s Rose."
There was something almost dismissive in the way he said it. As if that alone explained everything. As if her feelings weren’t something that needed to be deeply considered. Because they would pass.
"They always do," he added quietly.
