THE ALPHA WHO COULD NOT HOWL

Mother Wolf

Alpha Marcus was on his knees, but he was trying to fight it. He was a powerful Alpha, he didn't want to bow to a 19-year-old girl wolf.

"What... what trick is this?" he spat. "This is not possible! Selene is a myth!"

I walked to him in my giant white wolf form. Each step made the ground shake. Kael was beside me in his silver-black wolf form, protecting my side.

I lowered my huge white head to Alpha Marcus's face. He was shaking now.

Inside my head, Selene took full control, and when I opened my mouth, it wasn't my voice. It was HER voice — ancient, mother of all wolves.

*"I AM NOT MYTH, CHILD. I AM YOUR MOTHER. AND YOU TRIED TO KILL MY DAUGHTER."*

Marcus screamed as he felt her power enter his mind. He saw what she saw — 1,000 years ago when she created the first werewolves from humans, how she loved them.

"Your daughter tried to poison Selene Reborn with wolfsbane," Kael growled in his wolf voice, which now had Selene's echo too. "For that, pack law says death."

"No!" Marcus cried. "Please! She is young, foolish! She thought the girl was just a cleaner! Spare her!"

I looked at Kael. Even as a giant white wolf, I could feel his heart through our mate bond. He was angry, but he was also fair. He didn't want to kill a young girl.

I shifted back to human — white light covering me — and I was back in Kael's shirt, but now standing with power. My eyes glowed white.

"Bring Vanessa," I ordered.

They brought her from the dungeon. She saw me — glowing, powerful, standing with Kael — and fell to the ground.

"Luna... please... forgive me..." she cried.

I looked at her. The old me would have been scared. The new me — Selene and Luna together — felt pity.

"You tried to kill me because you wanted to be Luna," I said. "But Luna is not a title you steal with poison. It's a heart that protects its pack."

I turned to Marcus. "Alpha Marcus, your daughter will not die. But she will not be Luna here. She will work as a cleaner in this pack for 3 months, like I did. She will learn what it means to serve, not just to rule. If she learns, she can go home. If she doesn't, she stays."

Everyone gasped. No one expected mercy.

Marcus bowed his head, tears in his eyes. "You... you are truly Selene. Only Mother would punish with teaching, not death. We... we accept."

The other three Alphas also knelt.

"We have come to see if Silver Crest had fallen because its Alpha could not howl," one said. "But we see now... you are not fallen. You are risen. You are the Alpha Prime and Mother Selene Reborn. We pledge loyalty to Silver Crest."

Kael looked at me, shocked and proud. He took my hand and raised it high.

"My Luna has spoken! Silver Crest will be the pack of mercy and strength! And any Alpha who dares harm her will face ME!"

All werewolves howled — but this time, not from command. From respect.

But far away, in a dark forest, a woman with black eyes watched through a magic mirror and smiled.

"So Selene has finally woken up inside that little cleaner girl... good. I've been waiting 19 years to kill her again."