Chapter Eighteen
The moonlight spilled like silver silk over the grounds of Stormclaw, painting everything in ethereal hues. It had been weeks since the Restoration Ceremony, yet the air still felt charged with new beginnings. I stood at the edge of the training field with Ayla on my hip, her small fingers curled into the fabric of my tunic. The pack was thriving, but my heart still beat like a war drum, alert and restless. Peace was a strange kind of tension–quiet, but not without its tremors.
Ayla had begun to change.
At first, it was subtle. Her eyes, once the warm amber of her father’s line, now shimmered with flecks of silver that mirrored the moon. When she laughed, things around her vibrated–nothing violent, just enough for the hairs on my arm to stand. Once, I woke in the middle of the night to find her humming softly in her sleep, and the candles in the room flickered to life in response.
It wasn’t just me who noticed.
Vivienne was the first to voice it. “She carries the mark of something old,” she said one morning, watching Ayla build little stone towers in the garden. “Not just the bloodline of Alphas… but something deeper. Older than us.“}
I wanted to brush it off, to pull Ayla into my arms and pretend she was just a child–mine and mine alone. But even I couldn’t ignore what was blooming inside her.
We called for the seer.
Her name was Maeve, a reclusive elder who spoke in riddles and moonlight. She arrived cloaked in robes of twilight gray, eyes clouded but sight far sharper than most. When she entered our home, the air shifted, as though the very walls recognized her.
She said nothing at first, only extended her hands toward Ayla. My daughter looked at her, wide–eyed, then reached out with no hesitation. The moment their skin touched, Maeve inhaled sharply.
“Moon–kissed,” she whispered. “The child walks with the blessing of the First Mother. She is touched by Lunara herself.”}
Silence filled the room like a howl held back.
“What does that mean?” I asked, my voice rough with tension. “What is she?”
Maeve looked at me, her expression unreadable. “She is the beginning of something we have not seen in generations. Her spirit is a thread in the Great Weave. If trained, she will awaken a light that will guide this realm. If not…“)
Her gaze drifted to the window, to the moon.
“If not, the shadows will claim her before she knows who she is.”
My arms tightened around Ayla. “She’s just a child.“)
“Yes,” Maeve nodded. “But not forever. And destiny does not wait for readiness.”
After Maeve left, I found myself sitting on the terrace, Ayla asleep against my chest, her breath warm and soft. The stars blinked above like silent watchers.
Vivienne came to me, draping a shawl over my shoulders.
“You can still be her mother, Selene,” she said gently. “But you must also be her guardian. Her guide. Her legacy.”
I met her gaze. “I thought I came back for justice. For vengeance. But now… now it feels like that’s just the beginning.“}
She smiled, soft and proud. “Because it was. You burned a path through the ashes, Selene. And now you’re building something with the fire.“D
Later, my father joined us, Garrick sat beside me in silence for a while, watching Ayla sleep.}
“She looks like you did,” he murmured, “when you were just a cub. Except stronger. Wiser.”
My heart swelled. “She has to be.“!
He looked at me, seriously now. “Maeve isn’t often wrong. If Ayla is truly moon–touched, she will need every lesson, every protection, we can offer. I will gather the elders. We will make a plan.”
“I’ll train her myself,” I said. “No one will use her the way I was used. She will know her power, not fear it.”
“And we will support you,” he said, laying a hand on mine. “Stormclaw stands behind her. Behind you.”
That night, I watched Ayla sleep under the glow of the moonlight that now seemed to follow her. My heart was no longer filled with vengeance. It was filled with awe. With fierce, wild hope.
She wasn’t just my reason to fight.
She was the future.
And I would burn down kingdoms to protect her light.”
6009
