Chapter 15: The Bloodline They Tried to Erase

Faye’s POV

The entire room had gone silent.

I stared at the silver glow beneath my feet.

I didn't understand what was happening.

I only knew that every person in the room was looking at me differently now.

Not with pity.

Not with contempt.

With fear.

The elder who had called me weak moments ago took a step backward.

“The Moonborn bloodline disappeared more than a century ago.”

His voice trembled.

“No.”

Another elder shook his head.

“It can't be her.”

Sebastian moved toward me.

“Faye, step away from the circle.”

I looked at him.

“Why?”

“Because we don't know what the ritual will do.”

Leo suddenly grabbed my hand.

“Mom, don't leave me.”

I looked down at him.

“I'm not leaving.”

The silver light intensified.

A warm current traveled through my body.

For the first time in my life, I felt something stirring inside me.

Not a wolf.

Something older.

Something quiet.

Something that felt like moonlight flowing through my veins.

Elena stared at me in disbelief.

“That's why.”

I looked at her.

“Why what?”

She swallowed.

“That's why your blood never behaved like an ordinary human's.”

I remembered every time she had mocked me.

Your bloodline is barely detectable.

Don't waste your time.

I had believed her.

Sebastian had believed her.

Leo had believed her.

But she had been wrong.

Or perhaps she had known exactly what I was and wanted me to believe I was nothing.

The elder suddenly shouted.

“Seize her!”

Several guards rushed toward me.

Sebastian stepped between us.

His Alpha aura exploded through the room.

“Nobody touches her.”

The guards stopped.

One of the elders snarled.

“You would defy the council for a woman who abandoned you?”

Sebastian's expression turned cold.

“She didn't abandon me.”

His eyes moved to me.

“I abandoned her.”

My chest tightened.

I hadn't expected him to say it aloud.

The elder scoffed.

“You are the Alpha. You have obligations.”

“And my first obligation is to protect my family.”

The room erupted in whispers.

I looked at Sebastian.

For the first time, he wasn't choosing the pack over me.

He was choosing us.

But I wasn't ready to forgive him.

Not yet.

A sudden crack echoed through the room.

The crystal above Leo shattered.

Silver light exploded outward.

Everyone was thrown backward.

I grabbed Leo and held him against my chest.

When the light faded, the ritual markings were gone.

The crystal had turned black.

The elder stared at it in horror.

“The ritual failed.”

Elena shook her head.

“No.”

She looked at me.

“It didn't fail.”

“It chose her.”

Everyone turned toward me.

A small silver crescent had appeared on the inside of my wrist.

Sebastian stared at it.

“What does that mean?”

Elena whispered.

“The Moonborn doesn't receive power from the pack.”

“The pack receives power from the Moonborn.”

The elders went pale.

I looked at them.

“So all these years, you thought I was the weak one.”

No one answered.

I smiled bitterly.

“You were wrong.”

Leo tightened his arms around my waist.

“Mom is the strongest.”

I looked down at him.

His little face was filled with absolute certainty.

Something inside me softened.

I kissed his forehead.

“Let's go home.”

Sebastian stepped forward.

“Faye…”

I looked at him.

“Not the estate.”

He stopped.

“Then where?”

I held Leo's hand.

“My home.”

Sebastian nodded slowly.

“Then I'll come with you, if you'll allow me.”

I studied his face.

This was the man I had once spent an entire lifetime waiting for.

But I wasn't that woman anymore.

“You can follow.”

His eyes softened.

“That's enough.”

Behind us, the elders remained frozen.

They had wanted to awaken Leo's power.

Instead, they had awakened mine.

And for the first time, I understood something important.

My second chance wasn't about getting Sebastian back.

It was about discovering who I could become without him.