Chapter 11: One Last Moonrise

The pack witch came before dawn three days later.

She examined Selene in silence, then asked Kane and her mother to step outside.

Selene refused.

"Whatever you have to say, say it in front of them."

The witch lowered her eyes.

"The silver has reached your heart completely."

Selene nodded as though hearing the weather forecast.

"How long?"

"A day. Perhaps two."

Her mother broke first.

She covered her face and sobbed.

Kane couldn't move.

Selene looked at him.

"I want to see the Moon Spring tonight."

He nodded immediately.

"Then we'll go."

News spread through the pack despite their efforts to keep it private.

By afternoon, flowers appeared outside Selene's home.

Old classmates came to say goodbye.

Warriors who remembered her as the Alpha heir's laughing childhood companion stood silently at the gate.

Ilsa came too.

Selene's mother refused to let her inside.

Selene heard the argument and asked to see her.

Ilsa entered with swollen eyes.

She fell to her knees beside the bed.

"I'm sorry."

Selene looked at her quietly.

"I know."

"I destroyed your life."

"You changed it."

Ilsa cried harder.

"Can you forgive me?"

Selene was silent for a long time.

"I don't know."

Ilsa looked up.

"And I don't think I need to decide before I die just to make you feel better."

Kane watched his mother lower her head.

Selene continued gently, "Live with what you did. Become better because of it. That's all I can give you."

Ilsa kissed Selene's hand and left.

That evening, Kane wrapped Selene in a thick blanket and carried her to Moon Spring.

The water reflected the full moon perfectly.

"It's exactly the same," Selene whispered.

"No," Kane said. "The trees are taller."

"You're ruining the moment."

He laughed.

She smiled against his chest.

They sat at the water's edge for hours.

Kane told her stories about the North that he had never told anyone.

Selene told him about the ridiculous things her mother had done during treatments to make her laugh.

For a few precious hours, they were not an Alpha heir and a dying wolf.

They were Kane and Selene again.

Two children under the moon.

Two teenagers who had once believed love alone could protect them from everything.

Near midnight, Selene became very quiet.

"Kane?"

"I'm here."

"Did you ever love Vivra?"

He answered honestly.

"I cared about her. I tried to build something with her. But part of me was always angry at you, and I mistook that anger for proof that I was over you."

Selene nodded.

"Don't spend the rest of your life comparing everyone to me."

His throat tightened.

"I don't want anyone else."

"Not now."

She looked up at him.

"But someday, if you do, don't feel guilty."

"Selene—"

"Promise me."

He couldn't.

She smiled faintly.

"Still stubborn."

"Always."

Her breathing became shallower.

Kane held her closer.

"Take me home," she whispered.

He carried her back beneath the moonlight.

Neither of them knew it would be the last time she ever saw the forest.