Chapter 11: The Return I Refused
751 Words
Amara’s POV
I read Kael's letter three times.
Not because I did not understand the words.
Because I could not understand why they still had the power to shake me.
I know now that I was wrong.
Those six words should not have mattered.
After everything that happened at the mating ceremony, after the laughter and whispers, after I had run into the forest believing my life was over, I should have been able to throw the letter into the fire without another thought.
Instead, I stood there staring at it.
Nora watched me carefully.
“You do not have to answer him.”
“I know.”
“You do not have to go back.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you still holding the letter?”
I looked down at it.
“I do not know.”
Selene approached from behind us
“You know.”
I turned toward her.
“What?”
“You still care.”
My chest tightened
“I hate him.”
“I did not say you loved him.”
I looked away.
Selene's voice softened.
“Hate and love are both forms of attachment, Amara. The opposite of both is indifference.”
I hated that she was right.
I folded the letter and slipped it into my cloak.
“I am not going back because he asked.”
Selene nodded.
“Good.”
“I am going because I need answers.”
Her expression became serious.
“And because the packs need you.”
I looked toward the wounded wolves in the fortress.
Children were sleeping beside their mothers. Warriors were treating injuries. Families who had never met each other before were now sharing what little food remained.
This was bigger than Kael.
Bigger than me.
“What happens if I refuse?” I asked.
"Ronan continues gathering power"
“And if I return?”
“You become a target.”
I let out a bitter laugh.
“I already am.”
Selene smiled faintly.
“Then perhaps it is time your enemies learned exactly who they are targeting.”
We left the fortress the next morning.
Our destination was not Shadow Moon.
Not yet.
Selene wanted to take us through the northern territories first.
She said I needed to see what Ronan's war had done.
I quickly realized why.
Every village we passed looked different.
Some were empty.
Some had burned buildings.
Some were filled with wolves who looked at me with fear and hope at the same time.
At one village, an old woman stepped forward.
She bowed.
“My Queen.”
I froze.
“I am not your queen.”
She looked up at me.
“You are the Moonborn.”
I did not know what to say.
The woman reached for my hand.
“Then save us.”
Her fingers were trembling.
I gently squeezed them.
“I will try.”
Selene watched me from behind.
Later, she said, “That was your first mistake.”
I frowned
“What?”
“You promised to save everyone.”
“I will.”
“No one can save everyone.”
I stopped walking.
“Then what am I supposed to do?”
Selene looked at me.
“Lead them.”
That night, I understood something.
Being Queen was not about having people bow to me.
It was about having people trust me when they were afraid.
And that was far more frightening.
We were almost at the next settlement when a wolf came running toward us.
“Elder Selene!”
She turned.
"What happened?”
“The eastern patrol has found something.”
“What?”
The wolf looked at me.
His face went pale
“They found the bodies of Shadow Moon warriors.”
My heart stopped.
“Kael?”
He shook his head.
“Not the Alpha.”
Then he handed Selene a blood-stained piece of cloth.
She stared at it.
“What is this?”
The wolf swallowed.
“It was found beside the bodies.”
I recognized the symbol stitched into the cloth.
The same black symbol from the archive.
The same symbol connected to Ronan.
But there was something else.
A second mark had been drawn beneath it.
A crescent moon.
Selene's face changed
“What does it mean?” I asked.
She looked at me.
“It means Ronan is no longer hiding.”
Then she looked toward the road ahead
“He wants you to know he is coming.”
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