I DIED AS HIS LUNA, I RETURNED AD HIS QUEEN

The day I died, the man I loved stood beside the woman who destroyed me. I used to think death would be loud. I imagined screaming, struggling, maybe even begging the Moon Goddess for mercy. Instead, everything was strangely quiet. The cold iron around my wrists had rubbed my skin raw, but I barely felt it anymore. My knees pressed against the stone platform in the center of the courtyard while hundreds of eyes watched me from below. Pack members. Council elders. Warriors. People I had fed when their homes burned. Women whose newborn children I had carried in my arms. Men whose families I had defended when Kael first became Alpha. Not one of them looked at me like their Luna anymore. To them, I was a traitor, a disgrace, a woman waiting to die. I lifted my head and found him immediately. Kael Mercer. My mate. My husband. My Alpha. He stood at the front of the platform dressed in black, his shoulders straight and his expression unreadable. For years, I had known every version of that face. I knew the tiny crease between his brows when he was angry, the way his jaw hardened when he was worried, the softness that once appeared in his eyes when we were alone. There was no softness now. Beside him stood Nadia. My sister, or at least the woman I had called my sister for most of my life. She wore white, as though she were the innocent one, and one of her hands rested lightly against Kael’s arm. The sight hurt worse than the chains. Three months ago, I had been Luna. Two months ago, I had still been Kael’s wife in every way that mattered. A month ago, I had believed that if I could only prove my innocence, everything would return to normal. Then Mira died, and whatever hope I had left died with her. My throat tightened as her face came back to me. Mira had been the only one who believed me when the accusations started. She had sworn the evidence was wrong. She had promised to find whoever was behind it. Three days later, they found her body near the eastern border. They called it an attack. I knew better. Mira had learned something, and someone had made sure she never got the chance to tell me what it was. The chains around my wrists rattled as my hands curled into fists. Nadia noticed. For one brief second, the sweetness disappeared from her face and something colder showed through. Then she smiled again. I wondered how I had never seen it before. “Selene Vale.” One of the elders stepped forward and unrolled a document. His voice carried across the courtyard as he listed the charges against me. Treason. Collaboration with enemy packs. Leaking patrol routes. Forging council orders. Causing the deaths of six warriors. Every accusation sounded more ridiculous than the last, yet every piece of evidence somehow carried my signature or authorization. Evidence I had never seen before my arrest. Evidence Kael had still chosen to believe. I barely listened. My gaze stayed on him. Look at me. That was all I wanted. Just look at me and tell me you truly believe I did this. As though he heard the thought, Kael’s eyes finally met mine. The mate bond between us had once felt warm, steady, safe. Now it was nothing but pain. “Kael.” His name escaped before I could stop it, and a murmur passed through the crowd. His jaw tightened. I hated that I still knew what that meant. “Nadia is lying,” I said. “She has been lying to you for months.” His expression did not change. Nadia’s fingers tightened around his sleeve. Something inside me cracked. Not because I expected him to believe me anymore, but because some pathetic piece of the woman I used to be had still hoped. I swallowed against the burning in my throat. “I never betrayed your pack.” “Our pack,” he corrected quietly. A bitter laugh escaped me. Was it? Had it ever really been mine? I stared at the man I had spent years protecting from criticism, comforting after battles, defending before the council. I had loved him before he grew fully into the title of Alpha. I had stood beside him when leadership frightened him, when enemies tested him, when his own people doubted him. Now, when loving me had become difficult, he had chosen the easiest answer. I was guilty because everyone said I was. Nadia was innocent because she smiled. “I hope,” I said softly, “that one day you learn the truth.” Something shifted in his face then, so quickly I almost missed it. Doubt, maybe. Regret or Fear. Nadia leaned closer to him, and whatever it had been disappeared. The elder continued reading, but I stopped listening completely because a strange warmth had begun beneath my ribs. At first, I thought it was fear. Then it spread. Heat crawled through my chest, down my arms, beneath my skin. My heart began pounding so violently it hurt. For twenty-five years, my wolf had been almost silent. Weak. Incomplete. The shame people whispered about when they thought I could not hear them. The reason some members of the council believed Kael deserved a stronger Luna. But suddenly, something moved inside me. It wasn’t weak, it was Enormous. I sucked in a sharp breath. A sound filled my head. A growl. My wolf. After all these years. Now? Pain exploded through my body, and I collapsed forward, catching myself on my hands. Whispers rippled through the courtyard. Kael took one step toward me, but Nadia caught his arm. I barely noticed either of them. Something was breaking inside me. A wall I had never known existed. Images flashed through my mind too quickly to understand. A woman with my eyes, Blood staining white marble, a silver crown, a massive dark wolf surrounded by fire and a man’s hand reaching for mine. Then it was gone. The elder raised his hand. My executioner moved behind me. I should have been terrified, but an unnatural calm settled over me. Maybe death became easier once there was nothing left to lose. I looked at Kael one final time. He had gone pale. Good. Let that be the last thing I took with me—the memory of my face and the knowledge that I had died believing he failed me. A horn sounded somewhere beyond the gates. Once, Then again. The courtyard stirred. Warriors began shouting. Someone yelled that royal riders had crossed the boundary. Nadia’s head snapped toward the entrance. Kael turned. I heard horses, heavy boots, and urgent orders. Then a voice cut through the courtyard. “Stop the execution!” Everything froze. Through the crowd, a tall man dressed in dark royal armor forced his way toward the platform, several warriors following behind him. I had seen his face only in portraits. Everyone had. King Lucian Cross, The Lycan King. His eyes found mine, and the horror in them made no sense. He looked at me as though he knew me. As though he had been searching for me. “Selene!” He knew my name. The executioner moved before anyone could stop him. Pain tore through me. The courtyard disappeared. The last thing I saw was Lucian running toward me. Then darkness swallowed everything.