Chapter 7: “Wanted”
1176 Words
The news spread fast.
We were three days away from the Ashford ruins when we heard it. A trader on the border road.
“Heard about the Blackstone girl?” he said, counting coins. “Luna. White wolf. Sent twenty wolves running with one word.”
Kael went still. I froze.
The trader looked up. “You two hear about that?”
Kael shook his head. “Just rumors.”
The man shrugged. “Darius is offering silver for information. Any Pack that finds her gets territory.”
He went back to his coins.
I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding.
“Wanted,” I whispered.
Kael didn’t answer until we were back in the trees. “Yes.”
I gripped the staff tighter. “So hiding is over.”
“It is,” he said. “If we run, every Pack will hunt us. If we stand, we choose the ground.”
I looked at him. “You think we should stand?”
“I think you should decide,” he said. “I’ll follow.”
That night we made camp by a river. No fire. Too risky.
I couldn’t sleep. The staff was beside me. It pulsed faintly, like a heartbeat.
_“You are the last, Ella Moore. Will you hide?”_
The first Luna’s voice again. Faint.
“No,” I said out loud.
Kael sat up. “What?”
“I’m not hiding,” I said. “Darius wants me because I’m scared. So I won’t be.”
Kael studied me in the moonlight. “What’s your plan, Luna?”
I sat up too. “We go to the Neutral Grounds.”
His eyebrows went up. “The council?”
The Neutral Grounds was a valley where all Packs could meet without fighting. Old law. No bloodshed.
“If I’m really a Luna,” I said, “then I have a right to speak there. To tell them what Darius did. To tell them I’m not his weapon.”
Kael was quiet for a long time. “It’s dangerous. Darius will be there. Other Alphas too. They’ll all want to test you.”
“Let them,” I said. “I’m done running.”
He nodded slowly. “Then we go.”
We traveled for two days. I trained as we walked.
“Command,” Kael said. “Not force. Ask.”
I practiced on birds. On deer. “Stop,” I’d say. And they’d pause. Look at me. Then go.
“Better,” Kael said. “You’re not breaking them. You’re asking.”
On the third day, we reached the valley.
Tents. Flags. Wolves from ten Packs.
And in the center, a stone circle. The Council Ring.
Darius was already there. With Marcus behind him.
Marcus saw me first. His eyes widened. He didn’t say anything.
Darius turned. Slow.
When he saw me, his face went hard.
“The rogue,” he said loud enough for everyone to hear. “And the stolen girl.”
Stolen.
Whispers started.
I stepped forward. Alone. Kael stayed back, like we planned.
“I’m not stolen,” I said. My voice carried. “I’m Ella Moore. Daughter of Blackstone. And I’m a Luna.”
Silence.
An old Alpha from Greyfrost Pack stood. “Prove it.”
I raised the staff.
Silver light ran down it. The mark on my neck flared.
A gasp went through the crowd.
Darius stepped forward. “She’s unstable. Dangerous. She attacked my wolves.”
“I defended myself,” I said. “You came to take me. I told you to leave.”
“Command,” another Alpha muttered. “That’s Luna power.”
Darius’s eyes narrowed. “If she’s a Luna, she belongs to Blackstone. By Pack law.”
“No,” I said.
Every head turned.
“Pack law says a mate can claim,” I said. “But I have no mate. Because the bond was false. And Luna law is older.”
I opened the book from the library. The one with my name.
_“She will not be bound by a false mate. The bond must be given, not taken.”_
I held it up. “This is Ashford record. Five hundred years old. Luna law says I choose.”
Murmurs.
Darius laughed. “A book? You think a book overrides an Alpha?”
“I think the Moon does,” I said.
The staff pulsed.
Above us, the clouds parted. Moonlight, even though it was day. It hit me. Hit the staff.
The mark on my neck glowed so bright it hurt to look at.
No one spoke.
Even Darius went still.
“Test her,” an Alpha said. “If she’s real, let her heal.”
Healing. I’d read about it. Lunas could ease pain.
A young wolf was pushed forward. Leg broken. Whining.
I knelt beside him. I didn’t know if I could do it.
I put my hand on his leg. Closed my eyes.
“Please,” I whispered. Not to the wolf. To her. To the white wolf inside.
Warmth.
It flowed from me into him.
The wolf gasped. Then stood. Whole.
The crowd broke into noise.
“Real,” someone said. “She’s real.”
Darius’s face was red. “Trick—”
“Enough,” the Greyfrost Alpha said. He was old. Respected. “The Moon has spoken.”
He looked at me. “Ella Moore. Under Neutral Law, you are recognized as Luna. No Pack can claim you by force. You are free.”
Free.
The word hit me harder than the rejection did.
I exhaled. My knees almost gave out.
Kael was at my side in a second. Steadying me.
Darius looked like he wanted to tear the valley apart. But he couldn’t. Not under Neutral Law.
He pointed at me. “This isn’t over, girl.”
“No,” I said. “It’s just beginning.”
He turned and left. His wolves followed.
Marcus lingered.
He walked up to me. Stopped two steps away.
“You were right,” he said quietly. “I’m sorry. For everything.”
I nodded. “I accept it.”
That was all.
He left too.
The crowd started to disperse. But they looked at me differently now. Not with pity. With respect.
And fear.
Kael walked with me out of the circle. “You did it.”
“I did,” I said. My hands were shaking again. But not from fear. From power.
“Now what?” he asked.
I looked at the staff. At the valley. At the sky.
“Now,” I said, “I build something new. A place for wolves like me. Rejected. Hidden. Afraid.”
Kael smiled. Just a little. “A Pack for the unwanted?”
“Yes,” I said. “Ashford will rise again. But not with blood. With choice.”
The staff pulsed once. In agreement.
Above us, a white wolf howled.
Mine.
She was awake.
And she was not afraid.
- Writer
