Silas’s footsteps echoed softly against the polished floor as he left the library, the door clicking shut behind him. The quiet that followed seemed heavier than before, pressing in on Celeste like a second skin.
She stayed in her seat for a long while, her gaze fixed on the flickering shadows cast by the fire. The words she had spoken still clung to the air, about her family, her markings, her power. For so long she had buried those truths under layers of silence, but now they were out, and there was no taking them back.
Truthfully, she didn’t even need her wolf to be powerful. The strength of Verena, her wolf, was an advantage, yes, but her true power had never come from her other half. It came from the Moon Goddess herself. The markings that curled like molten silver beneath her skin
