Chapter 17: My Throne, My Choice

Isla's POV

The next morning, the entire Blackwood Pack learned the truth.

The Head Councilor had been arrested.

The Blood Moon attack had been exposed.

The medical records had been falsified.

And Seraphina's so-called life-saving bond had been nothing more than an elaborate lie.

For years, everyone had believed that Seraphina was the woman who saved their Alpha.

Now they knew it had been me.

The pack's elders gathered in the Grand Hall that afternoon.

I stood at the center of the chamber while Damien remained several steps away.

For once, he didn't try to stand beside me.

He knew he had no right.

The Head Elder rose slowly.

"Isla Harper, the Council has reviewed the evidence."

Every eye turned toward me.

"Five years ago, you saved Alpha Damien's life. Your contribution was deliberately erased from the official record."

I said nothing.

"The Council formally apologizes for what was done to you."

Then he turned toward Damien.

"Alpha Damien, do you wish to address the pack?"

Damien stepped forward.

His expression was calm, but his eyes were filled with regret.

"I spent five years believing a lie."

The hall became silent.

"But that doesn't excuse what I did after the truth was hidden from me."

His gaze found mine.

"I betrayed Isla's trust. I humiliated her. I allowed another woman to take the place that should never have been hers."

His voice cracked slightly.

"And even if the memories were manipulated, every choice I made after that belongs to me."

I looked at him quietly.

That was the first time I heard him take responsibility without making excuses.

He continued.

"I no longer ask Isla to return to me."

A murmur passed through the room.

"I only ask the pack to recognize what she has always been."

He turned toward the Elders.

"Our strongest healer. Our rightful Luna, if she ever chooses to accept that title."

The Head Elder looked at me.

"Isla, the Council wishes to restore your position and formally recognize you as Luna."

I almost laughed.

Luna.

The title I had once dreamed of.

The title I had sacrificed everything for.

But now it meant something different.

I stepped forward.

"I don't want a title because I was once Damien's mate."

The room went silent.

"If I accept a position in this pack, it will be because I choose it. Not because fate decided it for me."

The Head Elder nodded.

"Then what do you choose?"

I looked around the hall.

For years, I had imagined standing here beside Damien.

Today, I stood here alone.

And somehow, I had never felt stronger.

"I choose to lead the healer division and rebuild the pack's medical system."

The Elders exchanged glances.

"And the Luna title?"

I smiled faintly.

"I don't need it."

Damien's expression tightened for a moment, but he nodded.

He understood.

After the meeting, I walked outside.

The mountain air was cool against my face.

I heard footsteps behind me.

Damien stopped several feet away.

"I'm leaving for Europe tomorrow," I said.

"I know."

"The Guild offered me a permanent position."

"I'm glad."

I turned toward him.

"You aren't going to stop me?"

He shook his head.

"No."

A small smile touched his lips.

"For once, I'm going to love you enough to let you choose."

Those words should have broken me.

Instead, they brought peace.

"Thank you," I said.

He looked at me for a long moment.

"Isla."

"Yes?"

"I will spend the rest of my life regretting what I did."

I looked toward the horizon.

"Regret is yours to carry."

Then I looked back at him.

"My future is mine to build."

His eyes filled with tears.

But he smiled.

"Goodbye, Isla."

"Goodbye, Damien."

I walked away without looking back.

The next morning, I boarded the plane to Europe.

This time, I wasn't running away.

I was going toward something.

A new life.

A new career.

A future I had chosen for myself.

Months later, the Laurel Healers' Guild opened its largest research center under my direction.

The first project was dedicated to treating supernatural energy disorders.

The second was dedicated to protecting young wolves from memory manipulation.

I never returned to the role of Damien's Luna.

I never needed to.

Sometimes, the greatest revenge isn't watching someone regret losing you.

It's becoming someone they can never reach again.

Years later, when people asked me how I became the youngest healer to lead the Laurel Guild, I always gave the same answer.

"I chose myself."

And whenever I remembered the woman I had been before the Blood Moon, I felt no shame.

She had loved deeply.

She had trusted completely.

She had fought for the people she cared about.

She had simply forgotten to fight for herself.

I hadn't forgotten anymore.

My mate had once promised me a throne.

He thought it would be the throne of the Luna.

He was wrong.

My throne was the life I built with my own hands.

My crown was freedom.

And my kingdom was finally mine.

I looked out across the mountains as the sun rose over Europe.

For the first time, there was no bond pulling at my soul.

No Alpha commanding my heart.

No past waiting for me to return.

Only the future.

And I walked toward it smiling.

The End.