[redith].
I leapt.
The ground fell away, and for a heartbeat, I was airborne—suspended between earth and sky, wolf and queen, past and future.
When I landed, power, not a destructive one, but declarative, rippled outward.
"I am here," Valmora said.
The won watched in reverent silence. I could feel their awe, their relief, their quiet joy. This was not chaos. This was prophecy fulfilled.
I slowed at last, coming to a stop at the centre of the clearing, my chest rising and falling as moonlight traced the lines of my silver form.
For the first ti in my life, I had wolfed out as myself.
I lifted my head and howled in greeting. The sound rose into the night, ancient and sovereign, and sowhere deep within , I knew this was only the beginning.
---
The change back to my human form ca gradually.
The world softened first. The ground beneath my paws steadied, then rose. My limbs reshaped with quiet inevitability, silver fur dissolving into skin, strength folding in rather than vanishing.
When I finally sank to my knees in the grass, human again, the moonlight still clung to as if reluctant to let go.
I pressed my palms into the earth, breathing hard. I was not empty.
I was full. Too full.
Power moved through like a living current—warm, vast, obedient.
It didn’t surge or strain. It simply was, flowing through my veins the way blood always had, only now I could feel it. Every thread. Every pulse.
My grandmother knelt before again without effort, her presence grounding even before her hands touched my shoulders.
"You feel it," she said softly. It wasn’t a question.
I swallowed. "It’s... everywhere."
She smiled knowingly. "That is because there are no chains left to hold it back."
I lifted my hands, turning them over as though I might see the power there. "It’s not fighting anymore."
"No," she agreed. "It never wanted to."
Then, she helped to my feet and guided to sit on a flat stone at the edge of the clearing. The other won had stepped back, giving us space, their forms half-lost to shadow and moonlight.
"Listen carefully, Edith," my grandmother said, her voice lowering. "Because now, guidance matters more than strength."
I nodded.
"You already know of the bond—how you can hear, feel, and touch your mate through it. But that was only the surface."
She reached out, tapping lightly over my heart. "What flows through you now is older than packs. Older than crowns."
She began to na them, one by one, and with each word, sothing inside recognized itself.
"You can feel the truth of others—not thoughts, but intent. Lies will scrape against you like thorns."
Instantly, I thought of Wanda. Of Randall, and my chest tightened.
"You will be able to touch lunar energy itself. And I do not an borrowing or begging for it. I an, command it."
My breath caught in my throat.
"The moon empowers wolves," she continued, "but it will answer you. In ti, the entire pack will feel your presence without knowing why."
A chill, awe rather than fear, ran through my spine.
"You can awaken what sleeps in others," she said next. "Strength. Loyalty. Potential. But never do it lightly. What you wake, you must be prepared to face."
Her fingers tightened briefly around mine. "And most dangerous of all, you will endure. Your spirit is not bound by ordinary years."
I stared at her. "Forever?"
She did not answer that directly. Instead, she said, "Long enough for history to change."
The power stirred again, as if pleased by the truth. Then the fear ca. It rose sharply and suddenly, slicing through the wonder.
"Grandma..." My voice dropped. "How do I hide this from Draven?"
That was the question that truly mattered.
"How can I hide this much power from him? It... is impossible."
She was quiet for a mont, then sighed. "You can’t."
My heart sank. "I... I can’t?"
"Your aura has changed," she said gently. "Anyone sensitive enough will feel it. Your mate, especially. But feeling is not knowing."
Then she leaned closer, her voice firm now. "No one can destroy a truth they do not understand. And no one can accuse you of what you do not claim."
I searched her face. "But if others suspect—"
"Let them," she interrupted calmly. "Suspicion is not proof."
Then, with a softness that nearly broke , she added, "After all... You are still cursed, useless, and wolfless, aren’t you?"
Understanding struck like lightning. ’Appear weak. Appear limited. Appear unchanged. No matter the amount of power swirling inside of .’
I exhaled shakily. "But Draven..." I whispered. "I don’t want to lie to him."
My husband was the only one I cared for. Others were not my concern. They could have all the suspicions in the world about , and I wouldn’t give a fuck. But not my mate.
I cared what Draven thought, what he observed, and what he felt.
My grandma squeezed my hands. "This is not a lie of betrayal. It is a silence of protection. When the ti is right, the truth will stand on its own, and he will stand with it."
I looked up at the moon again, feeling its pull, its loyalty.
For the first ti, I was not afraid of my power. I was scared of how much I had to protect.
And how much I had yet to lose.
My grandmother studied for a long mont, as if she could see the strain written beneath my skin.
"You’ve been through too much all at once," she said gently. "It’s ti to rest."
I didn’t argue. The exhaustion had already begun to seep into my bones—deep, heavy, unavoidable.
My body had only endured because it was forced to, and also because Draven had trained physically. But now that the mont had passed, my body demanded its due.
I nodded.
As we turned away from the clearing, the other won stepped back and bowed in unison.
We walked slowly, side by side, the night quiet around us. The moon still hung high above, but it no longer pressed against . It watched instead.
Just before the path curved away from the clearing, my grandmother stopped.
"Rember this, Edith," she said, her voice firm now, carrying the weight of generations. "Never let your power control you."
I lifted my gaze to her.
"A true Queen," she continued, "is not ruled by her emotions, her power, or her wolf. She commands them. Always."
The words settled deep, anchoring themselves sowhere steady inside .
I nodded again, this ti with understanding.
Together, we walked back toward the house, the night closing behind us, the clearing fading into silence.
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