SERAPHINA’S POV

Later that night, after the children had been herded toward bed and the packhouse had quieted, exhaustion should have dragged me under instantly.

Instead, restlessness vibrated beneath my skin like static.

Nightfang had mostly settled outside. The distant sounds of guards changing shifts drifted through the air, along with the soft rustle of trees moving with the wind.

I stood barefoot at the balcony railing outside our room, staring at the moon hanging massive and silver above the forest.

Something pulsed within me in quiet rhythm with it, and Alina paced restlessly beneath my ribs.

Not distressed.

Almost like...anticipation.

I heard the bathroom door open inside the room, and a few seconds later, the balcony door opened.

I glanced back as Kieran stepped out, drying his damp hair with a towel slung loosely around his shoulders.

He stopped the moment he looked at me, gaze flicking once toward the moon overhead before returning to me.

“Full moon,” he said softly.

“Mhm.”

His eyes sharpened as he crossed the open space toward me. “You’re restless.”

I leaned one shoulder against the balcony frame. “Am I that obvious?”

“To me?” His mouth curved. “Always.”

Warmth flickered in my chest.

He stopped in front of me then, close enough for the familiar heat of him to wrap around my skin.

“You’ve been restless since dinner,” he murmured. “Happier. But restless.”

I huffed softly. “Maybe my body doesn’t remember how to relax properly anymore.”

He rolled his eyes good-naturedly. “That’s like answering ‘What’s your greatest weakness?’ with ‘Cares too much, works too hard.’”

I snorted as Kieran laughed quietly under his breath.

The sound of our amusement settled something inside me.

Gods, I had missed this.

Us.

Moments untouched by strategy meetings and war reports and fear.

His gaze drifted toward the forest again. Then he looked back at me carefully.

“Want to go for a run?”

Alina surged beneath my skin so fast that I physically jolted, pure exuberance and hungry excitement flaring like wildfire. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Ashar answered instantly from within Kieran.

The reaction hit both of us so hard and instinctively that we laughed again.

“I think that’s a yes,” Kieran murmured.

I hadn’t realized how badly our wolves needed this until now.

For weeks, everything had been survival. Meetings. Political maneuvering. Raids. Nightmares. Planning the next move before we’d even recovered from the last one.

Ashar and Alina had barely had room to breathe together, and wolves were not creatures meant to live trapped inside concrete rooms.

“A resounding yes,” I breathed.

Kieran’s smile deepened, softer now. “Thought so.”

We shifted beyond the eastern boundary of the packhouse.

The transformation swept through me like silver fire—bones reshaping, senses sharpening, instinct flooding every nerve until Alina stood fully beneath the moonlight.

Beside me, Ashar emerged enormous and golden like a midnight sun, golden eyes blazing in the dark.

The guards stationed along the forest perimeter immediately straightened as we approached, recognizing us.

One even smiled faintly and bowed his head.

“Good evening, Alpha. Luna.”

Alina preened at the title, nudging his thigh lightly before we dashed into the forest and the trees swallowed us whole.

And then—

Freedom.

Alina burst forward through the forest like released lightning.

The ground flew beneath my paws in rapid rhythm while wind tore through my silver fur.

Moonlight spilled between the trees in fractured ribbons, illuminating moss-covered roots and thick trunks in flashing blurs as Ashar raced beside me.

Joy—wild, untamed, alive—exploded through me so vividly it almost hurt.

Alina threw back her head and howled into the night.

Ashar answered instantly.

The sound rolled through Nightfang territory like something ancient waking beneath the mountains.

We ran without destination.

Without strategy.

Without fear.

Just movement and instinct, guided by moonlight.

Branches blurred overhead while the forest opened and narrowed around us in shifting waves of silver and gold.

Alina leaped over fallen logs and raced down narrow ridges slick with dew while Ashar stayed close enough that our shoulders occasionally brushed mid-stride.

Every touch sent warmth and reassurance racing through me, weaving comfort into the wild exhilaration of the run.

The bond between them hummed brighter tonight. Stronger.

Alina barked playfully once before darting ahead.

Ashar lunged after her immediately.

I laughed as we tore through the woods.

For a little while, I forgot Marcus. Forgot Catherine.

Forgot silver wolves and public opinion and prophecy and death visions and politics and war.

There was only this.

Moonlight. Forest. Ashar.

The trees eventually began thinning near the northern edge of the territory until the forest opened around a small lake that stretched smoothly beneath the night sky like a polished mirror.

Alina slowed first.

Ashar stopped beside her.

The moon reflected across the water in shattered silver fragments while mist drifted faintly above the shoreline.

Everything felt impossibly still and beautiful, and I wished we could stay in this moment forever.

Then pain exploded through my skull.

I screamed, the sound exploding out of Alina’s mouth as a painful howl.

The golden mark on her forehead—the mirror to the silver marks on my back—ignited like molten metal driven straight through bone.

The world shattered white, and I collapsed.

Ashar lunged toward us with a violent snarl of panic while agony ripped through my body hard enough to make thought impossible.

Alina thrashed desperately beneath it.

The mark burned brighter, hotter, and the pain raced downward violently, carving through my spine in waves sharp enough to make me convulse against the ground.

Ashar pressed against Alina frantically, trying to shield her, soothe her, help her.

But he couldn’t.

Nothing touched the pain. Nothing stopped it.

Then suddenly, the world twisted sideways.

Human skin slammed back into place as I shifted forcefully out of wolf form.

I barely registered Kieran shifting beside me before his arms caught me against his chest.

“Sera!”

The sound was distorted, but I could hear the strain in his voice, feel the panic and fear in his grip.

My entire body shook violently while the burning continued beneath my skin, racing down my spine like lava.

“Kieran—”

“I’ve got you, baby,” he whispered feverishly, pulling me tighter against him.

The pain peaked so sharply I genuinely thought it might split me apart.

Then—

Silence.

The burning vanished instantly. I felt hollow and disoriented, shaken that pain so ferocious could disappear so absolutely, as if it was never there.

My body sagged against Kieran’s while ragged breaths tore from my lungs.

For several long seconds, neither of us moved.

The lake lapped quietly against the shore nearby.

Night insects hummed faintly beneath the trees.

Kieran held me tightly enough that I could feel his heart hammering against my shoulder.

Then slowly, the world sharpened.

I blinked once.

And nearly recoiled.

Every leaf on every tree suddenly felt...defined. Not sharper in the ordinary sense, but outlined by something deeper, as though I could perceive the pulse of life moving through them beneath the moonlight.

The lake no longer sounded like simple water against stone; each ripple carried texture and rhythm, overlapping into patterns my mind somehow understood instinctively.

Scents separated themselves with impossible clarity, not merely distinct but layered with emotion and presence—the steady grounding warmth of Kieran, the quiet pulse of the forest, distant wolves scattered across Nightfang like flickering points of awareness at the edge of my senses.

The silver of the moonlight looked...alive.

“What...” I whispered hoarsely.

Kieran pulled back enough to search my face.

“Sera?”

“I can see everything.”

The world looked unbearably vivid now, sharpened beyond normal wolf senses into something almost overwhelming.

Alina stirred slowly beneath my skin.

Not hurting. Changed.

My pulse quickened.

Then a thought slammed into my mind.

“Kieran.”

Something in my voice made his expression tighten instantly.

“What?”

I pushed away from him shakily and turned around, gathering my hair in my hands.

Cool air swept across my skin while moonlight spilled fully over my bare back.

“Check,” I whispered.

Silence.

Then Kieran inhaled sharply behind me.

My pulse started pounding harder.

“Kieran?”

Nothing.

Then another breath, this one unsteady.

Fear flickered in my chest now.

“Kieran.”

When he finally spoke, his voice sounded nothing like normal.

“Sera...”

I turned partially toward him.

And froze.

My Alpha looked shaken, his face tight with awe and concern, as if he was witnessing a miracle that frightened him.

Ashar burned fiercely behind his eyes while Kieran stared at me like he was looking at something impossible.

His hands settled carefully against my waist, and I realized they were trembling.

“The markings,” he whispered.

My heartbeat thundered painfully against my ribs.

“What about them?”

His throat moved once before he answered. “They’re complete.”

Cold rushed through me. For one suspended heartbeat, the entire forest seemed to hold its breath with us.

‘When the pattern fully forms, your anchoring will be complete. When that happens, your power will stabilize at its highest level.’

Slowly, Kieran lifted his gaze fully to mine.

Moonlight reflected brightly in his eyes now, and his next words struck the air between us like thunder.

“Sera,” he said hoarsely, “you ascended.”