Chapter 121
Chapter 121
Damon
The clearing was already alive by the time I arrived–drums low and steady, a heartbeat in the dark. The full moon loomed high above it all, massive and pale, soaking the forest in silver.
Tradition.
I’d hated this place for years. At thirteen, Asher’s father had made me spar with some minor noble’s son in this same place. I hadn’t known my own strength then and didn’t meant to kill him. I carried that guilt with me still.
The place had changed since then.
The ceremonial clearing at the edge of the royal forest had been used for generations–until I changed it.
Too rooted in the past, too bound by meaningless spectacle and politics that wore the skin of ritual. I’d moved the Equinox celebrations to the palace terraces years ago–clean, contained, controlled.
But tonight, we were back. And the fire was already burning.
Nobles murmured in slow–moving circles. Elders bowed their heads in silent prayer. Foreign dignitaries watched everything with the keen, hungry interest of males always looking for advantage.
I stood at the edge of it all, arms folded behind my back, boots planted firm in the frost–blanketed ground.
The wind tugged lightly at the hem of my formal coat–midnight black with storm–gray trim, the Royal crest stitched discreetly at the collar.
The ceremony was meant to begin soon.
But I wasn’t watching the fire. I wasn’t listening to the slow drumbeat or the shuffling footsteps or the low, reverent chant beginning to rise from the Elders.
I was watching the tree line. Waiting for Lila.
I hadn’t planned to hold the Equinox here. In truth, I had no intention of honoring tradition this year at all.
Not with the instability in the outer provinces. Not with the unease still rippling through the Council after what happened in Rogue territory.
But Jackson had insisted. Quietly, firmly.
“It’ll mean something to the Elders,” he said. “Help them accept her.”
Her. That had caught my attention. He meant Lila.
“It’s where Asher took her,” Jackson added after a long pause. And that was when my decision flipped.
Not because I cared what the Elders thought. Not because I gave a damn about empty tradition. But because I wasn’t going to let that bastard own one more piece of her story.
He’d brought her here. Alone. To this place. He had tried to bind her
to it. To the idea of him.
No. That night should not be the only memory of this place she carried. If she was ever going to return to it, it would be with me–not in Asher’s shadow.
So here we were. The drums were beating, the fire was crackling, and the moon was rising.
But my thoughts were elsewhere. I hadn’t seen her arrive yet.
18:08 Sat, 28 Jun
Chapter 121
A strange tension coiled in my gut—not anxiety, not anticipation. Something more primal. My wolf was awake, pacing just behind my ribs. Restless
Focused.
Zane could feel her approaching, even if i couldn’t see her yet..
The air changed when she was near. Like the forest leaned forward to listen.
I shifted my stance, straightened my shoulders, and kept my eyes on the shadows between the trees.
And when she arrived, I would make damn sure that this night–this place–belonged to her, not to the past. And certainly not to Asher.
She arrived like a promise stitched from moonlight.
No fanfare. Just movement between shadows–her cloak a starless blue, the hood pushed back so the moon could find her hair. It gleamed in the silver light, and for a moment, no one seemed to notice her.
But I did. I always did.
She moved around the crowd, skimming the edge of the clearing like a watchful predator. Her steps were quiet, controlled, but her posture was tight beneath the cloak. Shoulders square. Chin high.
Alone.
No crest at her throat. No pin to mark allegiance. She wore no pack.
But she had never looked more Royal or beautiful to me.
The murmurs continued, nobles lost in their games. But I kept my gaze on her, watching the way her eyes flicked through the clearing, not looking for someone–listening. For everything. For danger.
And then she turned toward the trees.
She stayed just outside the firelight, her fingers trailing briefly over the rough bark of a tree as if grounding herself.
I felt the shift in her before I saw it. A ripple in the air. A tremor in the bones of the earth beneath my boots.
Something in her stirred. And my wolf went still.
The chanting from the Elders deepened, braided in ancient tongué and rhythm. A call to the old bloodlines. To power and remembrance and balance.
But the forest didn’t respond to them. It responded to her.
Her breath hitched. I saw it in the slight tilt of her head, the way her hand flattened suddenly against the tree trunk, steadying. Her shoulders stiffened.
A flicker of motion beneath the skin–barely visible unless you knew what to look for.
I knew. My throat went dry.
She wasn’t shifting. She was burning.
I could feel the heat from where I stood, an invisible current threading from her chest into the air like the first tremor before lightning strikes.
Her energy curled outward, sharp and untamed like something too big for the body trying to contain it.
And then it surged.
Her knees bent. Her spine bowed just slightly. Her hand gripped the tree like it was the only thing keeping her tethered to the world.
My heart slammed once, hard.
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18:08 Sat,
Chapter 121
Her mouth opened—but no sound came. Not hers, at least.
Mark him, I heard it. Not with my ears. With the marrow in my bones.
Not her voice. Her wolf’s. The power of it crashed into me like a wave.
My breath stilled. She wasn’t just strong. She was ancient. And I had never seen anything more
raw, more alive, than the power rising in her now.
I’d felt flickers of it before–when we fought, when we kissed, when she looked at me like she wanted to tear me apart for being so stupid. But this? This was more than I could imagine.
And I understood, in that instant, just how much had been taken from her.
Who had caged this? Who had dared to bind a creature like this in chains of poison?
Fury bloomed behind my ribs, sharp and absolute. I would find whoever had done this. I would burn them out of her path.
And then–her eyes met mine. The fire, the wind, the chant–all of it faded.
She saw me. Not as a king. Not as a male. But as hers.
My body moved before I told it to–chin lifting slightly, gaze locking hers with unflinching steadiness. I didn’t blink. I didn’t breathe. I just stood there and let her see all of it.
Yes, I thought. Yes. Claim me. If it sets you free, take everything.
But she didn’t. Her jaw tightened. Her hands curled into fists. The glow behind her irises dimmed just enough for her to regain control.
And she stepped back. Slowly. Refusing the urge. Refusing me. Not out of fear. Out of strength.
And I had never loved her more.
The crowd never noticed. Their attention had drifted elsewhere. But I stood frozen, struck dumb by the storm that had almost broken over us.
And when she turned to leave–graceful and quiet, like nothing had happened–I didn’t stop her.
I just watched her go.
But I made myself a promise, silent and sacred: No one will cage her again. Not while I breathe.
AD
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