SERAPHINA’S POV

My wide eyes took in the small, fierce face that appeared on the screen, a jolt sparking through my chest.

Ava.

She stood in what looked like one of Nightfang’s training rooms, shoulders squared, chin lifted, green eyes shining with the same defiance that had once made her bite my hand in Moonlight Alley.

My breath caught.

“What is this?” Ethan murmured.

No one answered.

Because none of us knew.

On-screen, Ava glanced at someone behind the camera, then looked forward again as if she were preparing to fight the entire world with nothing but her voice.

“My name is Ava,” she said. Her voice trembled at first, but only for a moment.

“I don’t know much about politics. I don’t know what a silver wolf is supposed to be. I don’t care what scary old books say or what some mean Alpha on TV wants everyone to believe.”

Ava swallowed, and her voice steadied. “But I know Sera. And I know what she did for me.”

A strange, aching pressure built behind my eyes as the room disappeared for a moment, and Moonlight Alley rose in my mind.

A narrow street.

A stolen compass.

A little girl with fox-sharp eyes and so much fear hidden beneath too much pride.

“When I met her, I stole from her,” she said bluntly.

A startled sound moved through the council chamber, but I barely heard it.

“I stole something important, something her son made for her.” She glanced off-camera again before she refocused.

“She chased me, caught me, and had every right to hand me over or punish me or walk away after getting it back.” Ava’s mouth tightened. “But she didn’t. She followed me because she saw I was crying. She found out my grandma was sick, and instead of acting like I was some dirty street thief who deserved what I got, she called a doctor. She paid for treatment and stayed. She didn’t ask me for anything in return. She didn’t make me feel small.”

Ava’s voice cracked then. “She told me I didn’t have to handle everything alone. And it wasn’t just an empty promise. She accepted me into Nightfang when my grandma died and has been taking care of me ever since. She’s the kindest person I’ve ever known. ”

My vision blurred.

I blinked hard. Once. Twice.

It didn’t help.

On-screen, Ava drew a shaky breath and lifted her chin higher.

“So I don’t care if she’s a silver wolf. I don’t care if she’s something rare or powerful or whatever. Before any of you knew what she was, she was already the kind of person who took care of scared kids in alleys and opened up her home to them.”

A stunned hush fell over the room, the tension palpable, no one daring to breathe or look away from the screen.

Then the video shifted, and another child appeared.

A little boy from Nightfang’s lower training group. I recognized him vaguely. I had once bandaged his scraped knee while he tried very hard not to cry in front of older trainees.

“My name is Toby,” he whispered, looking nervous.

Ava’s voice came faintly. “Louder.”

“My name is Toby,” he repeated. “Luna Sera helped me when I got hurt. I thought she’d be mad because I wasn’t supposed to climb the fence, but she just cleaned my knee and told me even brave people got hurt.”

My chest gave a painful squeeze.

Another child appeared.

Then another.

A boy with missing front teeth declared, “She smiles at people who aren’t important.”

A tiny girl with curly hair whispered, “She remembered my birthday.”

Each sentence struck deeper than the last.

Some children stumbled over words. Some looked embarrassed. One forgot what he meant to say and had to start again while someone—likely Ava—giggled softly behind the camera.

That was what struck me right in the heart.

They weren’t performing.

They were telling the truth as simply as children did—without strategy, without calculation, without understanding the weight of the battlefield they had just walked onto.

Around the council table, the Alphas had gone utterly silent.

Even Helen’s guarded expression had softened into something difficult to name.

Lacy stood near the console with both hands pressed over her mouth.

“How long has this been online?” Corin asked quietly.

Lacy checked the numbers with trembling fingers. “Less than twenty minutes.”

“And?”

She looked up, eyes wide. “It’s everywhere.”

The video continued.

Ava came back on-screen briefly.

“Adults keep saying they need proof Luna Sera’s not some monster,” she said. “Fine. We’re proof. We live here. We see her when cameras aren’t watching. We know who she is.”

Then she stepped aside.

And Daniel appeared.

The air left my lungs.

My son stood in front of the camera, hands clasped tightly in front of him, trying to look composed. He almost succeeded.

But I knew him too well. I saw the tension in his shoulders. The brightness in his eyes. The way his mouth pressed together before he spoke because he was fighting to make every word steady.

Kieran’s hand found mine beneath the table.

Daniel looked directly into the camera.

“My name is Daniel Blackthorne,” he said. “Sera is my mom.”

A lump formed in my throat.

“People say she’s dangerous because she’s a silver wolf,” he continued. “But before she was a silver wolf, she was Sera, the mom who stayed up nights when I was sick just to watch me breathe. The mom who makes the best pancakes in the whole world. The mom who put her life on hold for me.”

He sighed and shook his head, a lock of hair falling over his face. “My mom has had a harder life than most. She thinks I don’t know the full story, but what I know is enough. I know my mom is brave. She’s kind. She’s the kind of person who will stand in front of those she loves and take bullet after bullet just to make sure they never get a scratch.”

His voice trembled. He swallowed and kept going. “My mom was special long before she was a silver wolf. She’s good. Even when it hurts her. Even when people misunderstand her. Even when it would be easier to become what they accuse her of being.”

Daniel’s eyes shone now, moisture gathering as he blinked, determined to finish.

“So you can be scared if you want,” he said softly. “But I’m not. I know exactly who my mom is. She’s the kind of person you want watching your back. She’s the kind of person you want to come home to after a long, hard day. She’s the kind of person whose love you never ever question.”

Something inside me broke, and a tear slid down my cheek.

Then another.

I couldn’t stop them.

I pressed my free hand hard against my mouth, but it did nothing to hold back the sob shaking loose behind my ribs.

“And by the way,” he added, “I’ve met her wolf, Alina, and she’s pretty freakin’ awesome.”

A soft, wet sound escaped me.

The video ended on a simple black screen.

White letters appeared.

WE KNOW SERA.

The council chamber remained silent.

For several heartbeats, no one moved.

Then Lacy sniffed loudly and wiped her face with her sleeve.

“Sorry,” she muttered, though no one had accused her of anything.

I lowered my hand from my mouth, but my fingers were shaking.

Kieran turned toward me. His own eyes were red and glassy, and his expression wavered between pride and a tenderness so fierce it nearly undid me all over again.

“They did this?” I whispered.

His thumb brushed the tear from my cheek. “It seems they did.”

“They’re just children.”

“They’re your children,” Corin said softly from across the table.

I looked at him through blurred vision.

He smiled. “Not by blood, all of them. But in every way that matters.”

Lacy’s tablet chimed repeatedly.

Then another laptop.

Then three phones around the room.

She looked down, stunned all over again.

“The reactions are changing,” she said.

Ethan strode to her side. “How much?”

“A lot.” Her voice shook. “The video is trending above Marcus’s interview. People are reposting clips of Ava. Daniel’s part is everywhere. Comments are shifting fast.”

She put the main feed back on-screen.

The headlines were still changing, but no longer in Marcus’s favor.

CHILDREN OF NIGHTFANG DEFEND SILVER LUNA.

“WE KNOW SERA” VIDEO GOES VIRAL.

SILVER WOLF OR SLANDERED LUNA?

Public comments streamed too quickly to follow, but fragments caught my eye.

’No child lies like that.’

’That video had me in tears.’

’Marcus sounded polished. Those kids sounded real.’

’I don’t know what she is, but I know who I believe.’

’Protect Sera and those kids.’

A laugh escaped me through the tears, broken and disbelieving.

Just like that, the battlefield shifted again. Not because of evidence or strategy.

Because a group of children had done what all of us had been too careful, too political, too afraid to do.

They had made me human again.

Kieran pulled me gently into his arms, right there in front of the allied Alphas, and I went to him without hesitation.

I buried my face against his chest as the screens continued flashing with support, with outrage on my behalf, with strangers arguing that Marcus had attacked a woman children clearly adored because he had no better weapon left.

Kieran’s hand cradled the back of my head as I closed my eyes, tears soaking into his shirt.

“They chose you,” he murmured.

I was too choked up to counter him. But those kids had never needed to choose at all.

They already knew me.