THR SILVER MOON'S CHOSEN

CHAPTER SIX: THE COURTYARD

I could hear them before we reached the doors.

“She’s probably faking it for attention.” Cassidy’s voice carried across the courtyard, sharp with venom. “Three days unconscious? Please. She’s milking this for all it’s worth.”

My fingers tightened on the doorframe. The old Isla would have turned around, found another exit and avoided the confrontation. But I’d spent three days, or what felt like three months, training with a goddess. I’d learned to channel mooweapons, to heal wounds with a touch and to sense the corruption in hearts bent toward darkness.

I’d learned I was done hiding.

Kieran’s hand found the small of my back, steady and warm. Through the mate bond, I felt his wolf’s fierce protectiveness and his human side’s determination to stand with me.

“You don’t have to do this now,” he murmured. “You just woke up.”

“Yes, I do.” I met his storm gray eyes. “They need to see that everything has changed. Not in three weeks, not tomorrow. Now.”

He studied my face, then nodded slowly. “Then let’s make an entrance.”

He pushed open the doors.

The courtyard fell silent.

Fifty pack members had gathered, drawn by whatever drama Cassidy had been stirring. I saw warriors who’d ignored me for years, elders who’d turned their backs when I walked past and teenagers who’d learned cruelty from their parents. I saw the pup I’d saved, Tommy, clutching his mother’s hand, his eyes going wide when he spotted me.

And I saw Cassidy with her inner circle, beautiful and cruel, their designer clothes and perfect hair marking them as the pack’s elite. They stood in the center of the courtyard like they owned it.

Cassidy’s expression when she saw Kieran and me together, his hand still on my back and my silver hair catching the afternoon light, was almost worth nineteen years of torment.

“Alpha Kieran,” she purred, recovering quickly. “I’m so glad Isla is feeling better. We were all so worried.” The lie was as transparent as glass. “But now that she’s awake, surely she can return to her quarters. You have important pack business to attend to.”

“I am attending to pack business.” Kieran’s voice carried the weight of command. “Isla is my mate. That makes her your future Luna. I suggest you adjust your tone accordingly.”

Gasps echoed through the crowd. Margot actually stumbled backward. Elena’s mouth fell open.

But Cassidy’s eyes narrowed. “Your mate? Kieran, she’s wolfless. She’s—”

“I shifted.” My voice rang clear across the courtyard. I stepped forward, away from Kieran’s touch, standing on my own. “Three days ago during the Bloodfang attack. My wolf finally came.”

“Convenient timing,” Vivienne sneered. “Right when the Alpha heir is looking for a Luna—”

“Show them,” Kieran said quietly. “If you’re ready.”

Was I? Selene had trained me to shift at will, to control the transformation that had once been instinct. But I’d only done it in that star lit realm between worlds, with a goddess guiding me.

I took a breath and reached inside, finding that place of silver fire and moonlight.

“Little sister,” my wolf said, her voice like bells. “Let me out.”

The shift took seconds. No pain this time, just the glorious sensation of becoming who I truly was. My bones reshaped, my senses sharpened and my fur emerged like liquid starlight.

I stood on four legs in the center of the courtyard, easily the size of Kieran’s alpha wolf, my silver coat gleaming and my eyes glowing with ethereal light.

The silence was absolute.

Then Tommy broke free from his mother and ran toward me. “Silver wolf! You saved me!”

His mother cried out in alarm but I lowered my head gently, letting the pup throw his arms around my neck. His pure joy and absolute trust flowed through me. When I huffed a soft breath, sparks of light danced in the air around us, making him giggle.

“She’s beautiful,” someone whispered.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” another voice said.

“The silver fur isn’t that from the old legends?”

I shifted back, the change as smooth as water and caught Tommy in my arms as he stumbled.

“Thank you for being brave,” I told him softly. “You didn’t panic. That helped me focus on protecting you.”

His mother rushed forward, tears streaming down her face. “Thank you,” she said, her voice breaking. “Thank you for saving my son. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry for how we treated you. I didn’t know. I didn’t—”

“It’s okay.” I squeezed her hand. “We start fresh. All of us.”

Kieran moved to stand beside me, his presence solid and sure.

“The Bloodfang attack was not random,” he announced to the assembled pack. “They were testing our defenses and they’ll be back in greater numbers. But they didn’t know about Isla. They didn’t know the Moon Goddess herself has gifted us with a champion.”

“Champion?” Marcus stepped forward from the crowd, his beta authority evident. “What does that mean?”

I felt Selene’s presence, a whisper of starlight in my mind, giving me courage.

“It means I am the Silver Wolf,” I said clearly. “Once every thousand years, the Moon Goddess chooses a champion to rise when darkness threatens. I am that champion. I carry her blessing, her power and her mandate to protect the wolf packs from the war that’s coming.”

“What war?” one of the elders demanded.

“Bloodfang has allied with the vampire covens and the orc tribes,” Kieran said grimly. “They plan to destroy the packs one by one, starting with us. We have three weeks until they attack in force during the new moon.”

Panic rippled through the crowd. I raised my voice and something in my tone made them all stop and listen.

“We will be ready. I’ve trained with Selene herself. I can heal your wounds, strengthen your wolves and teach you to fight as one united force. But I need something from you.” I looked at each of them. “I need you to trust me. Follow me. Fight beside me. Can you do that?”

The silence stretched.

Then Tommy’s mother dropped to one knee. “I will follow the Silver Wolf.”

“Me too!” Tommy chirped.

Marcus followed. “I pledge my loyalty to the Moon’s Chosen.”

One by one, the pack knelt.

Only Cassidy and her circle remained standing.

“This is insane,” Cassidy hissed. “You expect us to follow her? She’s been nothing for nineteen years and now suddenly she’s some kind of savior?” She turned to Kieran. “Choose a real Luna. Someone strong. Someone like—”

“Someone like you?” Kieran’s voice was cold. “You pushed my mate into walls, Cassidy. You mocked her, tormented her and made her life a living hell. The only reason you’re still in this pack is because Isla is more merciful than you deserve.”

Cassidy’s face went white.

“Kneel or leave,” I said quietly. “Those are your choices.”

After a long moment, she dropped to her knees. The others followed.

“Training starts tomorrow at dawn,” I said. “We have three weeks to become an army. We are Shadowpine and we do not fall.”

The pack howled, fierce and united.

Kieran took my hand. “Not bad for your first day as Luna.”

“I’m not Luna yet.”

“You are in every way that matters.”

Everything had changed.

And the hardest part was still ahead