Chapter Nine: The False Luna
781 Words
Kael’s voice cut through the night like a blade.
“I want the truth. Right now.”
He stood at my door with the full weight of an Alpha in his posture. Cold, proud, distant. But something burned behind his eyes—recognition, maybe. Or fear.
I didn’t move. I didn’t invite him in.
Because I didn’t know what version of me would answer.
“I already told you everything I know,” I said.
“You’re lying.”
“And you’re still grieving a Luna you let die,” I said flatly.
That stopped him. Not with guilt—but with restraint. I saw it in his jaw. The twitch of his eye. The way his hands flexed like he wanted to strike something.
“I saved your life,” he said.
“No,” I replied. “You spared it. There’s a difference.”
We stared at each other in silence.
Then he turned and walked away.
Just like he did before.
---
I closed the door.
And let myself breathe again.
---
I didn’t sleep. Instead, I sat at the window and listened to the wind. Silvercrest was quiet this deep into the night, but that silence was never peace. It was a lull before the bite.
I stared at the blade Dax had given me.
Then I thought of the way he’d said my name.
Selene.
The only one who’d dared say it out loud.
And still lived.
---
He hadn’t chased me when I walked away.
He hadn’t needed to.
Because I knew the questions that burned in him.
How could I be alive?
Why hadn’t I told him sooner?
And more than that—why did I come back as someone else?
The truth was… I didn’t fully know either.
Not yet.
---
In the morning, the Keep felt different.
Too still. Too quiet. Like everyone was holding their breath.
I walked to the training yard, needing movement, needing blood in my muscles.
I was halfway through my second sparring set when Lucille approached.
She didn’t speak at first. Just watched me. Judging. Calculating.
“You’re efficient,” she said finally.
“I like efficiency.”
She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes.
“You remind me of someone.”
“I get that a lot.”
Lucille stepped closer. “You know what happens to false Lunas who pretend to be someone they’re not?”
“I imagine it depends on who they’re pretending to be.”
Lucille leaned in. “They get gutted in front of the council.”
“Good thing I’m not pretending,” I said.
I didn’t blink. Didn’t show a hint of fear.
She stepped back.
But she was already marking me.
---
Word spread quickly that I’d been summoned to speak in front of the council again.
Not as a scout. Not as a soldier.
But as a suspect.
---
The chamber was full. Council members. Advisors. Officers. Even guards lined the walls. Kael sat at the head, impassive.
I stood before them.
I didn’t wear anything ceremonial. I wore black.
Because if they wanted a funeral, I’d give them one.
Lucille stepped forward.
“State your name.”
“Aira Doe.”
“And where did you come from?”
“The forest. Half-dead.”
“How did you survive?”
“Luck.”
“How do you explain your combat experience?”
“I don’t. I just use it.”
“Do you know who Selene Nightshade was?”
I looked straight at Kael.
“Yes.”
“And?”
“She was the Luna of Silvercrest.”
“And?”
“She died.”
I paused.
“But her memory didn’t.”
Gasps rippled.
Kael didn’t move.
Lucille narrowed her eyes. “Are you claiming to be her?”
“No.”
“Then who are you?”
“I’m the ghost that keeps you all up at night.”
I turned and walked out.
And no one dared stop me.
---
Outside, Dax was waiting.
“Do you know what you just did?” he asked.
“I put the blade to their throats without drawing it.”
“They’ll come after you harder now.”
“Then they should’ve made sure I stayed dead the first time.”
He looked at me for a long moment.
Then he nodded.
But behind his eyes, I saw the fear.
Not of me.
Of what was coming.
---
That night, someone broke into my room.
I was ready.
They never made it past the threshold.
I left their body in the hallway.
A silver coin resting on their chest.
The mark of the False Luna.
- Writer
