The hall of Lunaris was bathed in silver light, the sacred glow of the Moon Goddess spilling across marble floors and towering pillars. Hundreds of eyes watched, hushed and heavy, as the moment everyone whispered about finally unfolded. Isabella stood trembling under the goddess's blessing—her half-blood secret laid bare for the entire pack to see.
And then… Theodore spoke.
His voice was cold steel wrapped in velvet. "A mere half-blood… and before the Moon Goddess herself, you expect me to bend?" His lips curled with disdain, his eyes glinting like obsidian fire. "I do not claim what taints my bloodline."
The words cut deeper than any blade. Isabella's chest heaved, her throat tightening as the cruel truth slashed across her heart. The hall fell silent—until a cry broke through the silence.
"Theodore!" His mother's voice trembled, raw with desperation. She stepped forward, tears streaking her cheeks. "Son… you cannot defy her. You cannot defy the Moon Goddess. This mark—"
Theodore stiffened. For upon his hand, a searing burn had begun to etch itself into flesh—a mark of bond, glowing silver. The pain was unbearable. He staggered, knees buckling, the sacred flame searing into his very veins. The hall gasped.
But he refused to fall. With clenched teeth, veins straining in his neck, Theodore rose again. His jaw was set like carved stone, fury blazing through the torment. No one would see him as weak. Not now. Not ever.
His mother reached out, sobbing. "My son, the Moon Goddess will not forgive arrogance. Please… bend before destiny. Do not tear your soul apart for pride!"
Theodore's gaze locked with hers—ice meeting fire. His voice thundered across the hall, sharp enough to split the silence.
"I bend to no one. Not to man, not to wolf… not even to the Moon Goddess herself. Let the stars burn me if they wish—I will not take a half-blood as Luna. My pride is not theirs to decide."
The words were poison and power, arrogance so sharp it left even the elders in stunned silence. His mother fell to her knees, weeping, her sobs breaking the hearts of all who dared listen.
And yet, Theodore turned. His cloak flared like a shadowed wing as he strode to his steed. A beast of midnight black, eyes burning red, snorting smoke as though it too fed on his fury. In his hand gleamed one of the finest swords of his pack, its silver edge catching the light of the hall like a promise of war.
He mounted with cold elegance, but before he could spur forward, six shadows moved to block his path. Rowan, Leo, Oliver, Cassian, Dorian, and Lucas—brothers not by blood, but by bond. Their eyes burned the same oath.
"If you go," Rowan said, his voice low and unyielding, "then we ride with you. To hell, or to the goddess herself."
"I ride alone," Theodore growled, his grip on the reins tightening. "It is but twenty days—no more. Do not waste your blood for mine."
But none moved aside. Their loyalty was iron. Their silence was the weight of mountains. Theodore's teeth clenched—he knew he could not tear their devotion apart.
And then—movement above. Two figures on the balcony, their eyes sharp as knives. Nina and Amilia descended the marble steps, their voices dripping with venom.
"Look at her," Nina sneered, chin tilting toward Isabella. "Rejected, spat on, burned by her own fate. Did you really think you were worthy of standing in this hall?"
Amilia's laughter rang, cruel and mocking. "A half-blood in the goddess's court… pathetic. Even pity is too generous for you."
But then—it happened. Isabella's lashes lifted, and her eyes, once dim with tears, ignited with a strange, ethereal glow. Not darkness—no. A luminous, radiant violet. Light so pure, it silenced the cruel tongues around her. Nina's words withered on her lips, Amilia's laughter died in her throat. The hall trembled with something unseen, as though the Moon Goddess herself stirred within Isabella's blood.
And for a fleeting second… it was not Theodore's arrogance, nor his mother's weeping, nor his friends' loyalty that held the hall captive. It was her. Isabella, broken yet unyielding, glowing with a light too rare, too dangerous to be ignored.