The moon rode low in the sky, white and bloated as a surveilling eye. It bathed the ceremonial grounds in silver light, shadowing the weathered stone of the old ring into a holy thing. The Moon Circle—once where Selene had walked at Kael's side with pride—now loomed with other significance. She walked by herself this time.
She wore no crown. No emblem of rank or privilege. Her dress was simple but beautiful, dark black velvet falling behind her like living shadows. Delicate silver filigree embroidered crescent moons down her sleeves—a quiet defiance. The moment she stepped through the arched stone gateway, the whispers began.
"She's here…"
"After all these years—how did she live?"
"Why hasn't Kael cast her out yet?
Selene blinked not. Each hostile glare was met with defiance.
She walked with a poise acquired in learning to bear pain as a shield.
She created a disturbance, not only among the pack nobility, but the elders, the guard, and even lower clans gathering behind the interior stone railing.
Kael was already within the circle, dressed in full Alpha gear. Midnight armor that was polished to perfection.
His appearance commanded attention, but for the first time, Selene noticed the tension in his jaw as his eyes locked onto hers.
Adrienne at his side. The crowd parted for Selene, but Adrienne did not look away. She was in shimmering sapphire, a color too vivid for ritual—intended to be noticed. Her smile was the kind that cut.
Selene neither bowed nor greeted as she came to the inner circle and stopped just short of Luna's dais. She didn't need their permission to stand here.
Behind her, Morwen appeared like smoke from the shadows. The High Seer moved with slow grace, her white hair coiled in ceremonial loops. Her robes shimmered with runes stitched in gold thread, catching the moonlight.
"You walk dangerous ground, child," Morwen murmured beside her without turning. "You should have stayed buried."
Selene didn't blink. "You taught me to listen before speaking. I've done that. Now it's time they listen."
Morwen's lips pressed into a line. "They'll devour you before the second bell."
Selene looked back over her shoulder at the thrones carved into the ring wall's stone—seats of power for the council, the Alpha, and the Luna.
Her own had been empty. Adrienne now stood beside Kael, her hand on his arm in a relaxed gesture.
Selene's eyes strayed around the circle, settling when she discovered Caden silently standing in the darkness by the lower terrace. He didn't belong here—no title, no pack ranking—but he did not look away.
She suspected he came for her… or for the tempest.
The ceremonial drums opened. Three measured beats. The ensuing silence was crushing.
Kael raised a hand. "We stand beneath the Moon to uphold our bargain, to judge with wisdom, and to speak truth." His voice rode smoothly. "Those in grievance may step forward."
Selene felt Morwen tensing beside her. The High Seer was not intimidated by blood—but she feared disruption. Fears prophecy unmaking.
One breath. Two.
Then Selene stepped forward.
Gasps rippled like waves through the courtyard.
Adrienne's smile froze.
Kael did not move.
"I have a grievance," Selene said, her voice tight and deliberate. "But not with a name. With a shadow."
She walked into the circle, her toes pressing against the frigid stone.
"And the moon," she continued, "sees all things hidden."
A thick silence descended after Selene's words. It rolled in like a fog, heavy and pricking with unease. Some of the gathered wolves looked to Kael for guidance, others to Morwen. But none of them moved.
Not even Adrienne.
Selene was alone in the center of the circle, a lone figure in the moonlight. Not weeping. Not screaming. Demanding.
Kael took one step forward, his face unreadable. "Air your grievance, Selene."
Her name on his lips burned. Not with longing—but with the impudence it took to utter it as if nothing had happened between them. As if she hadn't bled for his silence.
She didn't take the bait.
"I don't speak out against one wolf," she said flatly, "but against silence. Leaders' silence for failing to ask questions. Silence that allowed a Luna to be murdered based on sinister accusations. The silence that still taints this council."
Murmured gasps rippled across the stone benches."
Adrienne laughed—light, calculated, and cruel.
How theatrical," she said, slipping down Kael's flank like a huntress. "You speak as if you hadn't been convicted. As if your blood had not been shed under law."
Selene lowered her head. "And you speak as if you had penned the law yourself."
Kael's gaze swiveled from one to another of them. "That is enough."
Adrienne wouldn't listen. "This isn't how complaints are made. You besmirch the procedure by making a tool out of your history.".
Selene turned to face her fully. "My history is the grievance."
Adrienne smiled tightly. "A Luna must learn when to rise, and when to kneel."
Selene smiled back. "Then it's a good thing I'm not a Luna anymore."
Adrienne paled—just for a second. But it was enough. Selene had landed the blow without raising her voice. The crowd buzzed again, and Selene stepped back.
She wasn't here to scream.
She had come to be remembered.
"The rite has been called," Morwen announced from the stone dais, her voice cracked with suppressed irritation. "Say your grievance in its entirety, and let it be judged by the people gathered here."
Selene spoke to the masses a second time, her voice clear.
"There is rot in this council," she declared. "A death signed in secret. A verdict is given without trial. I was killed based on forged reports, stamped by unseen hands. And now those very hands occupy the seat of power."
The words landed like thunder.
Kael gritted his jaw.
Morwen's expression did not shift—but her knuckles grew white on her staff.
"I will not give them a name here," Selene continued, "not yet. But the moon will attest. And if this council intends to show its righteousness. It will uncover the archives. Let the truth arise."
That sealed it.
The whispers intensified then, pointed now, more urgent. The other Elders edged. Several nodded. A handful went ashy.
Selene noticed it. The change.
She receded into the shade of the ring and bent forward in bowing.
"Let this be the beginning," she said. "Not the end."
She left the circle before anyone could stop her.
War began sometimes not with a sword, but with a word.
She didn't make five strides down the inner corridor before Kael caught up.
"You staged that," he said, voice strained and hard. "You came here to start a war."
Selene spun around. The moon behind her set her eyes alight with silver flame. "No. I came to end one."
Kael moved closer. "You said you'd not name names."
"And I didn't," she replied. "You're not the first to learn discretion."
He frowned. "Why not just accuse Adrienne or Morwen outright?"
Selene's tone dropped. "Because I want them to perspire. I want them to fear what they think I know, not what I'll say."
He stared at her.
"You've changed."
Selene's smile was cold. "You have no idea how much."
In the shadows along the hall, another observer watched.
Caden stood in quiet against the pillar, arms crossed.
He smiled—not with humor, but something darker.
"You played your hand well," he said to himself. "Now let's see how long they let you keep it.".