Life after the ritual was complicated in ways I hadn't anticipated. Celeste carried the binding now, yes. But she also carried something else. Knowledge. Ancient memories that weren't her own. Visions of past Silver Moon Alphas who'd served as guardians before her.
"There were so many," she told me one morning, her voice distant. "Grandma and Grandpa were just the last. But before them... hundreds. Thousands. All the way back to the beginning."
"Do they speak to you?" I asked carefully. We were in the garden, away from others. These conversations felt too private for public spaces.
"Not exactly. More like... I remember things they knew. Feel things they felt. It's like I'm connected to everyone who came before." She plucked a flower absently. "They're proud of me. But also worried."
"W
