ELARA'S POV
I can't breathe.
Can't think.
Can't process what Kael just said.
Guardian, I repeat numbly. You're saying I'm a... but that's impossible. I'm nobody. I'm nothing. I've been powerless my whole life.
You weren't powerless. Kael's hand still touches my face, gentle despite his claws. You were hiding. Probably without even knowing it.
Hiding from what?
His expression darkens. From the wolves who slaughtered every Guardian they could find seventy years ago.
The room spins. I push his hand away and struggle to stand. My legs barely hold me.
Start from the beginning, I demand. Tell me everything. Now.
Kael rises slowly, giving me space. For a long moment he just studies me—like he's deciding how much truth I can handle.
Then he speaks.
A hundred years ago, Lunar Guardians walked freely among the wolf packs. They were human, mostly—but blessed by the Moon Goddess with special gifts. They could channel lunar power, communicate with wolves, and most importantly...
He pauses.
They bonded with wolves as fated mates.
My heart pounds. Bonded how?
Soul-deep. Permanent. When a Guardian found their wolf mate, they created a pairing unlike anything else in our world. His eyes burn with intensity. The Guardian's power merged with the Alpha's strength. Together they were unstoppable, strong enough to unite warring packs, wise enough to maintain peace, powerful enough that kingdoms fell before them.
He starts pacing, and I can see the tension in every line of his body.
Guardian-Alpha pairs shaped history. They ruled the Northern Territories for generations. My great-great-grandfather was bonded to a Guardian named Lyris. Together they created the Iron Summit Accord that united five packs.
So what happened? I ask. If they were so powerful, why are they extinct?
Kael's hands curl into fists. Because the modern pack leaders got scared.
Scared of what?
Of being overthrown. He turns to face me. Seventy years ago, the White Crest Pack led a movement. They convinced the other Alphas that Guardian-bonded pairs were too dangerous. That they threatened the established pack hierarchy. That they needed to be... eliminated.
Ice floods my veins. Eliminated.
Hunted. His voice goes cold. Every Guardian family. Every bloodline. They tracked them down and murdered them. Entire settlements burned. Children killed before they could manifest their powers.
My vision blurs. My family.
Your family wasn't killed by rogues, Elara. Kael's eyes meet mine, and they're full of a rage that's not directed at me. They were executed. Specifically targeted because you were a Guardian bloodline.
But I was only eight. How could I be a threat?
You weren't. Not yet. He moves closer. Guardian powers don't fully manifest until puberty. Your family was killed to prevent you from ever awakening.
My legs give out. I hit the floor hard.
Kael catches me before I fall completely, lowering us both to the ground. His arms wrap around me, gentle, protective.
They burned them, I whisper. The memories I've spent fourteen years trying to forget flood back. My mother hid me in the root cellar. She told me not to make a sound no matter what I heard. I listened to them scream. I smelled the smoke. I felt the heat through the floorboards.
My voice cracks. And I did nothing.
You survived. Kael's hand strokes my hair. That's what your mother wanted. She saved you.
She saved me so I could spend fourteen years being worthless and weak—
You were never weak. His grip tightens. You were dormant. Your Guardian power stayed buried because you believed you were human. Because you had no reason to access it. No trigger to wake it up.
Understanding dawns. Until tonight.
Until the mate bond activated. His eyes glow brighter. When we touched during the ceremony, your Guardian blood recognized its Alpha mate. The power that's been sleeping in you for twenty-two years? It woke up.
I look at my hands—normal now, but I can still feel the silver light humming beneath the surface.
That wolf-thing that appeared. The projection.
Guardian spirit manifestation, Kael confirms. It's your power taking form. A protective instinct made visible. Your ancestors could maintain those projections for hours, use them in battle, even communicate through them.
I can barely make it appear for ten seconds.
Because you just awakened. You're untrained. Raw power with no control. He helps me stand. But with time, with practice, you could become what your ancestors were.
Something in his tone makes me look at him sharply. You sound afraid of that.
I'm terrified of it. His honesty surprises me. Do you know why White Crest led the genocide? Why they were so desperate to eliminate every Guardian?
Because they were threatened?
Because seventy years ago, a single Guardian-Alpha pair nearly destroyed the entire White Crest Pack. His expression turns grim. My grandfather—before he was cursed—was bonded to a Guardian named Lyris. When White Crest tried to break their alliance, Lyris and my grandfather fought back. Just the two of them against an army of two hundred wolves.
He pauses.
They killed a hundred and seventy before they were finally overwhelmed. It took massive numbers and Guardian-killing silver weapons to bring them down. And even then, my grandfather survived long enough to curse White Crest's bloodline before he died.
My mouth goes dry. What kind of curse?
The same one that ended up on my family instead. Bitterness fills his voice. Somehow White Crest deflected it. Turned it back on the Blackridge line. For three generations, we've been cursed never to find our true mates.
That's why you killed your father.
That's why I had to. Pain flashes across his face. Without the mate bond, Blackridge Alphas go feral. Slowly lose our humanity. Become the monsters everyone fears. I watched my grandfather tear apart pack members in his madness. I watched my father descend into paranoia and rage. I knew I was next.
He touches my face again, and his hand trembles.
I've been waiting to die for over a century, Elara. Waiting for the madness to take me. Knowing someone would have to put me down like I did my father. His thumb traces my cheekbone. And then you walked into my great hall, and my wolf—silent my entire life—roared.
So I broke the curse?
You triggered the mate bond that should be impossible for me. Whether that breaks the curse or if it's just a temporary reprieve, I don't know. His eyes search mine. What I do know is that you're in danger. Extreme danger.
From White Crest.
From every pack in the Northern Territories. He releases me and steps back. When word spreads that a Guardian has awakened—that she's bonded to an Alpha—they'll all come for you. White Crest will lead them because you're living proof of their genocide. Evidence of crimes they've spent seventy years covering up.
The weight of it crashes over me. So what do I do? Run? Hide?
You can't hide what you are. Not anymore. Kael's expression hardens. The moment you manifested, every wolf with enough power felt it. They know a Guardian has awakened. They just don't know where yet.
How long before they figure it out?
Days. Maybe a week if we're lucky. He starts pacing again. White Crest will send scouts first. Then investigators. Then assassins.
The ones who already attacked
Were just the beginning. His jaw clenches. They'll send armies next.
Fear claws at my throat. Then I'm dead.
Not if we fight back.
I look at him sharply. Fight back? Against entire packs?
Against the corrupt system that's ruled through fear and genocide for seventy years. His eyes burn with fierce intensity. You're not the first Guardian I've met, Elara. I'm old enough to remember when they walked among us. I remember what they could do when fully trained and bonded to their mates.
He moves closer.
You have raw power. I have over a century of combat experience and an entire pack's resources. Together, if we complete even a partial mate bond—we could be strong enough to fight back.
Or we could die trying.
Probably. His honesty is brutal. But the alternative is you running for the rest of your very short life. Hiding. Waiting for them to find you. Living in fear like you have for fourteen years.
His words hit hard because they're true.
I've spent my whole life being weak. Being powerless. Being nobody.
But that silver light, the spirit-wolf, the power humming under my skin—it doesn't feel like weakness.
It feels like everything I should have been.
If I do this, I say slowly, if I agree to fight, what exactly are you offering?
Training. Protection. Resources. He counts on his clawed fingers. I'll teach you combat. Find someone to help you control your Guardian powers. Use my pack's strength to keep you safe while you learn.
And in return?
You help me break my curse. Bond with me enough to stabilize my wolf. His eyes meet mine. And when White Crest comes, because they will come, you stand with me and burn down every pack that profited from genocide.
The offer hangs in the air between us.
It's insane. Suicidal. We're talking about going to war with the most powerful packs in the territories.
But I think of my family burning. My mother's screams. Fourteen years of being treated like trash because I had no power, no protection, no value.
I think of the people who did this—who murdered children to protect their power.
And I think of the silver light that lives in me now. The proof that I was never supposed to be weak.
I was supposed to be dangerous.
I have one condition, I say.
Kael's eyebrow rises. Name it.
When we're strong enough, when I can control this power—I want the truth about what happened to my family. Names. Faces. Everyone involved. My voice hardens. And I want to be the one who makes them pay.
His smile is sharp and vicious and absolutely terrifying.
Then we're in agreement, little mate.
He extends his hand.
I look at it, clawed, dangerous, belonging to a monster.
Then I take it.
The moment our palms connect, silver and gold light explodes around us. Not violent like before, but warm, powerful, right.
The mate bond flares to life between us, and I feel it lock into place. Not complete. Not fully fused. But real. Undeniable.
Kael pulls me close, and his forehead touches mine.
Welcome to the rebellion, he whispers.
Through the bond, I feel his determination. His hope. His absolute certainty that together we can survive this.
And underneath it all, I feel his wolf—ancient and powerful and completely devoted to me.
Mine.
The thought isn't mine, but it echoes through the bond anyway.
Kael's eyes flash gold. Careful. My wolf is very possessive.
Good. I don't know where the boldness comes from. Because I'm not running anymore. Not from White Crest. Not from this power. Not from anything.
His smile could melt ice. Then let's show them what a Guardian-Alpha pair can really do.
He releases me and strides toward the great hall doors.
Where are we going?
To tell my pack they have a new Luna. One who's going to change everything.
He throws the doors open.
Every wolf in the fortress must have been waiting outside because hundreds of them stand there—watching, listening.
Kael's voice carries through the crowd with absolute authority.
The human bride is no longer human. She's a Lunar Guardian—the last of her kind. She's my fated mate. And anyone who threatens her will answer to me.
Shocked silence.
Then one wolf, Marcus steps forward.
Alpha, if she's really a Guardian, then White Crest will come for her. They'll bring armies. This will start a war.
Then let it start, Kael says coldly. White Crest has been ruling through genocide and fear for seventy years. It's time someone stood against them.
You'll get us all killed!
Or we'll finally be free. Kael's eyes glow brighter. I'm done bowing to corrupt elders who maintain power through slaughter. Anyone who wants to leave has tonight to do so. But anyone who stays fights with me.
He looks back at me.
With us.
The wolves stare. Some look terrified. Some look angry.
But a young male with Kael's dark hair pushes through the crowd.
I'm with you, brother, he says firmly.
Kael nods. Thank you, Theron.
One by one, other wolves step forward. Not all of them. Maybe half.
But it's something.
Kael turns back to me and extends his hand again.
I take it without hesitation.
Together we walk through the crowd of wolves—some loyal, some uncertain, some definitely plotting against us.
But none of them attack.
Not yet.
When we reach Kael's private chambers, he finally lets out a long breath.
That went better than expected.
Half your pack looks ready to betray you.
Only half? His smile is dark. I was expecting more.
I should be terrified. We just declared war on the most powerful pack in the territories. We have maybe a week before armies come for us.
But standing here with Kael's hand in mine, feeling the mate bond pulse between us, I don't feel afraid.
I feel alive.
For the first time in fourteen years, I feel like I have a purpose beyond just surviving.
Tomorrow we start training? I ask.
Dawn. Kael's expression turns serious. It won't be easy. I'll push you past every limit.
Good. I meet his eyes. I don't want easy. I want strong enough to make them regret what they did to my family.
His hand cups my face. You're magnificent. You know that?
Before I can respond, he kisses me.
It's different from the claiming kiss at the wedding. This is softer. Deeper. Full of promise and danger and something that feels terrifyingly like hope.
When we break apart, we're both breathing hard.
Get some rest, Kael says roughly. Tomorrow changes everything.
He's right.
Tomorrow I stop being the powerless orphan.
Tomorrow I become what I was always meant to be.
A Guardian.
And White Crest Pack is going to learn why their ancestors were so desperate to hunt us to extinction.
Because we're not the prey anymore.
We're the hunters.