THE LUNA HE THREW AWAY

The Return

At dawn, I stood at the edge of the Hollow. Mud clung to my boots, my hair was damp and tangled, and my heart pounded so hard I wondered if the trees could hear it. The weight of last night still pressed on me. My fight with Aldric was fresh, his threat to break me or drive me away echoing in my mind. I kept replaying his words, the risk I took facing him alone, and the grim deal we made that could end in blood. The memory of Jax being captured still hurt, and the fear that one mistake could cost more than just my life kept me awake. I spent the night staring into the dark, counting my regrets. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Aldric’s face- old, sharp, defiant. I saw Jax, grinning in the moonlight, and my mother’s hands shaking as she touched my hair. I saw Kael: sometimes the boy I loved, sometimes the man who hurt me, sometimes both.

When I got back to camp, Cass was awake. She crouched by the fire, poking at ashes, her profile outlined against the gray light. Her eyes were red, but she didn’t mention it. She never did.

“You alive?” she asked, voice dry as old leaves.

“For now,” I said. I dropped beside her, let my hands dangle over my knees. “Did you sleep?”

She smiled, but it was more a baring of teeth. “Did you?”

I shook my head, then nodded at Fen as he came back from the woods, dirt on his hands and a fresh cut on his cheek. He looked at me closely, and I could tell he already knew how things went with Aldric. Kael sat on a rock nearby, sharpening his knife in the pale sunlight. I wondered if he ever slept.

No one asked what happened. They didn’t have to. The tension in the air was almost suffocating.

Jax was there, too. When I saw him, I nearly dropped. He looked thinner, his skin stretched tight over bones, but his eyes were bright, and when he saw me, he grinned like a boy who’d gotten away with something.

“Hey, Lil,” he said. “I’m back. For now. The Council let me go, but they kept my locket. Bastards.”

I hugged him so hard he squeaked. For a second, I didn’t care about the Rite or Aldric or the world ending. I just cared about Jax, alive and in front of me.

“Don’t get used to it,” he muttered, awkward. “I’m only back because nobody else can make coffee like me.”

Fen ruffled his hair. “You’re the only guy who ever survived a Silver Cell and still wanted to cook.”

Jax shuddered. “The food in there’s so bad I almost missed Kael’s mother’s stew.” That earned him a look from Kael, but Jax just shrugged. “Don’t get soft, Alpha. I know your secrets.”

Cass handed Jax a mug. “Can you even eat?” she asked.

He took a gulp, grimaced. “If I throw up, it’s because of the coffee, not the trauma.”

I sat next to him, letting the mix of chaos and comfort settle around me. For a moment, it almost felt normal. But normal never stays for long.

When the sun was fully up, I gathered everyone. My hands shook, so I hid them in my sleeves.

“I talked to Aldric,” I said. “He’s agreed to the Rite. Thornridge will witness.

To most people, Sovereigns were just legends- rare, with old blood and a power that could change the packs’ fate. Some whispered we were the last hope for balance, others said we were a danger meant only for stories and warnings. Sometimes, I wasn’t sure which one I was.

Jax put a hand on my shoulder. “You come back, okay? Don’t go all martyr on us.”

I smiled, but it felt brittle. “I’ll try.”

The hours crawled. Cass and Fen argued over the order of the Rite, the proper words, the way the witnesses should stand. Kael paced, checking his weapons, eyes flicking to the tree line. Jax tried to make jokes, but even he sounded tired.

At midday, Rowan arrived with two Ashveil wolves. He looked at me, then at the others. “You ready?”

“As I’ll ever be,” I said. “You brought your witnesses?”

He nodded. “And I brought this.” He held up a worn journal with a cracked leather cover. “It’s my father’s record of the last Rite. I thought you might want to see what a Sovereign looks like from someone else’s view.” He paused, his thumb brushing the pages. “People still argue about how that last Rite ended. Some say it was a triumph, others say it almost destroyed the packs. My father never talked about it without a shadow in his eyes.”

I took the book, surprised. “Thank you.”

He shrugged. “Don’t thank me yet. I might still change my mind.”

I grinned. “You won’t.”

That afternoon, the Exiles came. They didn’t announce themselves. They just emerged from the woods, silent and silver-eyed, moving like water. The old man who’d spoken for them before nodded at me.

“You remember your promise?”

“I do.”

He smiled, soft. “That’s all we ask.”

Dara Ironveil arrived last, alone except for a single guard. She looked around, her gaze sharp. “You have your circus. Now let’s see if you can perform.”

Cass rolled her eyes, but I saw the tension in her shoulders.

We spent the rest of the afternoon getting ready. Cass practiced the old language, Fen checked the edges of the Hollow, Rowan’s wolves walked the perimeter, and Dara wrote in her small notebook.

Jax sat beside me, silent until the others drifted away. “You nervous?”

“Terrified.”

He grinned. “Good. Means you’re still human.”

I nudged him. “You’re going to stay out of trouble tonight, right?”

He winked. “No promises.”

As dusk settled in, Cass gathered us. “This is it. Tomorrow, the world changes, or it doesn’t. Either way, we stand together.”

Kael stood, his hand on his heart. “For Thornridge.”

Rowan, arms folded, nodded. “For Ashveil.”

Dara smirked. “For Ironveil. But don’t get used to it.”

The Exile elder raised his hand. “For the lost.”

Fen just looked at me. “For whatever comes next.”

Jax took my hand, squeezed it. “For you, Lil. You got this.”

I closed my eyes, breathing in the scent of fire, earth, and rain. “For all of us.”

That night, I dreamed of Aldric. He was younger, laughing, his hands clean. He told me a story: “The world ends, Lira, not with a bang, but with a correction.” In the dream, I was a child again, trying to understand why some people had to break for others to stand. I woke with tears on my cheeks and the taste of ash in my mouth.

Before dawn, I dressed for the Rite. Simple clothes, nothing fancy. My father’s locket at my throat, the spiral Fen carved in my pocket, the letter pressed to my chest. Cass checked my hair, Fen handed me a knife, Kael just looked at me, his eyes saying everything his mouth couldn’t.

As the first light crept into the Hollow, the witnesses gathered. The council fire was lit. The world held its breath.

I stepped into the circle, every scar, every hope, every promise burning inside me.

Today, I would stand for myself.

Today, I would see if the world was ready to change.