THE LUNA HE THREW AWAY

The Choice

I woke to Cass hammering. She broke the last Silver Cells, jaw tight and hands blistered. Those cells held prisoners for years. Their bars were lined with silver to drain strength and kill hope of escape. When the first uprisings started, the Council secretly ordered these cages, thinking silver could keep dissenters and shifters in check. It showed how much they feared what they couldn’t control. Destroying the cells was more than breaking cages; it removed a tool the Council used to keep power. Metal rang through the trees, the closest thing to music the Hollow had heard in a long time.

By the time I dragged myself over, she’d already broken two locks and thrown the keys into the pool. I picked up a hammer and joined her. The final lock was old, rusted, and stubborn as hell. I hit it again and again until my hands went numb, until my breath was ragged.

Cass didn’t say thanks. She just leaned on the bars, sweat running down her face, and stared at me like she was seeing me for the first time.

“You’re not what I expected,” she said.

“Yeah, well, neither are you.”

She barked a laugh. “You gonna stay, Sovereign?”

The word stung. I’d never wanted it, never wanted to be some symbol, some answer. But it was mine now, forced on me by the Council so the packs would see me as their leader. Whether I liked it or not, I held their expectations, and maybe their future in my hands.

I looked at the ruins. “If I leave, everything we did here is just a story. If I stay, it’s a threat.”

Cass’s mouth twisted. “Good. Let ‘em be threatened for once.”

I didn’t answer. There was no answer. Not yet.

The Council sent for me that afternoon. It wasn’t a summons, it was a request, with please and everything. Silas was waiting outside the Hollow with a letter, the wax still warm.

The letter was short and official. It called me Sovereign Regent, first of my line, architect of the new order, whatever that meant. The Council offered power over its law and wanted me to stay and build, but I knew they expected me to stabilise the Hollow and quell unrest. Beneath the neat writing and warm wax, I sensed urgency, maybe even fear. The Council never gave up power for no reason. Rumours spread through the Hollow: rival packs gathering in the east, secret meetings in Ashveil market, and talk of something hidden under Council Hall that scared even the elders. Maybe the Council had no options left. Maybe this was their way of keeping me close and guaranteeing my loyalty, or keeping me under watch. It sounded like an offer, but every line felt like a test. It asked for more than it promised.

I stared at the letter for a long time. The ink bled into my fingerprints.

Cass watched me read it, arms folded. “You gonna say yes?”

“I don’t know.”

“Then wait until you do.”

I spent the rest of the day walking through the Hollow. Outside, the world was noisy with change. The packs- old rival clans who ruled their lands with tradition and force, were arguing as usual. Council members whispered in corners. Ashveil, the nearby city always looking for weakness, sent messengers with new treaties. But inside the trees, it was just me and the ghosts: my father, every Omega ever caged, every Sovereign lost to fire and fear. The ground under the roots smelled of moist soil, old leaves, and broken promises. Moss covered the stones, hiding runes from before the Council, when packs marked borders with blood and tokens. In the dark oaks, I could almost smell burnt incense from forbidden rites, things the elders tried to erase. The Hollow listened, deep and silent, and under that quiet I felt layers of history, waiting for someone to remember.

I didn’t ask them for advice. I just wanted to know they were there.

Near dusk, Fen found me. He moved like he always does- without sound, without warning. He leaned against a tree, arms crossed, tattoos restless as wind.

“You’re leaving,” I said. It wasn’t a question.

He shrugged. “There’s more to do. The records. The others. The world’s bigger than Thornridge.”

I looked at his hands, the lines of old scars and new ones. “You want me to come with you?”

Fen’s mouth twitched, almost a smile. “Not yet. You’ve got roots to put down. Or pull up.”

He stepped closer, closer than he ever had before. “When you’re ready, find me,” he said. “I’ll be out there, making sure the old stories aren’t lost again.”

I wanted to ask him to stay. I wanted to ask him nothing. I just nodded, and he nodded back, and that was the only goodbye we needed.

Kael came last. He waited until the sun was gone, until the Hollow was just shadows and memory. He found me at the edge, where the grass met the dark.

“You’re not asking me to stay,” I said.

He gave a small, tired smile. “I’m not asking you for anything.”

We stood there, not touching, not apart. He looked at the trees, at the Hollow, at me.

“I’m going to rebuild Thornridge,” he said. “Not the way my father did. I want to make it something worth coming home to, a place where no one else has to choose between loyalty and freedom.”

I nodded. “You will.”

He didn’t promise. He didn’t ask for a promise. He just said, “You’ll always have a place, in whatever form you want it.”

That was it. He left. The Hollow swallowed him, and for the first time, I let him go without anger or hope. Just the truth of it: we were both free now, and freedom is never what you think it will be.

That night, I sat by the pool and wrote my mother a letter. It was short.

I’m okay. I think Dad would have liked how it turned out.

I’ll come home when I can. Save me something to eat.

I folded the letter and held it in my lap. The Hollow was quiet behind me. The pool reflected nothing but sky.

I didn’t know if I would stay or leave. I didn’t know what I owed to the world that tried to erase me. Part of me wanted to run, to let go of every duty and leave the past behind. Another part hoped that all this loss could mean something, that I could make it matter. I was afraid. If I stayed, I might end up like those before me, lost to old mistakes. But leaving felt like giving up on the people who still needed someone to fight for them. I wasn’t sure which choice would cost me more. It was my choice now. And that was everything.

In the dark, Cass found me, her voice soft. “You know what you are now?”

I shook my head. “Not yet. But I know what I’m not.”

She smiled. “That’s a start.”

The Hollow breathed, and the world held its breath.

Tomorrow, I will answer. Tonight, I just let myself be.