THORNE POV
"Absolutely not."
I'm standing in the hallway outside Isolde's hospital room, trying to keep my voice down while my wolf rages inside my head.
Celestria sits in a chair, still covered in her best friend's blood, looking at me with those devastating violet eyes.
"It's not your decision," she says quietly.
"The hell it's not! You're not turning yourself over to a psychotic she-wolf who just killed three innocent people in the last two hours!"
Kyver sent me the photos. Three Quillan Pack members—a teenager, an elderly omega, and a mother of two—all dead. All with Senna's signature on the kills: throats torn out, bodies displayed publicly as warnings.
And Senna's message was clear: One death every hour until Celestria surrenders. The blood is on her hands.
"Those people died because of me," Celestria whispers. "If I don't go—"
"More will die if you do!" I crouch in front of her, forcing her to look at me. "Senna doesn't want to negotiate. She wants you dead. The second you show up, she'll kill you and disappear."
"Then what do you suggest? I just hide here while she murders innocent people?"
"I suggest we hunt her down and end this."
"Your pack has been searching for two hours! She's vanished!" Celestria's voice rises. "And while we're searching, people are dying. Children are dying, Thorne."
She's right, and I hate it.
Senna's gone to ground somewhere in the neutral territories. My best trackers can't find her. And we're running out of time—the next kill is scheduled for thirty minutes from now.
"There has to be another way," I mutter.
"There isn't." Celestria stands, her jaw set with determination. "I'm going to meet her. Trade myself for the innocents."
"No."
"It's not your choice!"
"You're under my pack's protection now! That makes it exactly my choice!"
We glare at each other, both stubborn, both desperate.
Then Celestria's expression softens. "You've done so much for me already. You saved me from Dorian. You exposed him. You got justice for those three dead Lunas. But this? This is my fight. Those are my pack members dying. My responsibility."
"They're not your pack anymore," I say gently. "Dorian's been stripped of his title. The pack is under Council oversight. You owe them nothing."
"I owe them everything. They might not have protected me from Dorian, but they're not all monsters. That teenager who died? Her name was Kira. She used to bring me flowers from her mother's garden. And the omega, Gerald? He taught me how to balance the pack's budget when I first became Luna." Tears stream down her face. "They were kind to me. And now they're dead because Senna wants revenge."
My wolf whimpers. Everything in me screams to lock Celestria in the safest room in Nightfall territory and never let her leave.
But I can see it in her eyes. She's already made her decision.
And if I try to stop her, she'll never forgive me.
"Fine," I say, the word tasting like poison. "But we do this smart. No heroic sacrifices. No walking into obvious traps."
Hope flares in her eyes. "You'll help me?"
"I'm going with you. Armed backup, escape plan, the works. If Senna wants you, she goes through me first."
Celestria throws her arms around me. "Thank you."
I hold her tight, breathing in her jasmine scent, trying to memorize this moment.
Because there's a very real chance we're both about to die.
Kyver appears in the doorway. "Hate to interrupt, but we've got a location. Senna sent coordinates for the exchange."
"Where?" I ask.
"The old Quillan Pack cemetery. Midnight. She wants Celestria to come alone."
"Of course she does." I check my watch. Twenty minutes until midnight. "Can we get a team in position?"
"Already moving. But boss... it's a cemetery. Open ground, lots of tombstones for cover. Perfect ambush territory."
"Then we ambush her first."
I turn to Celestria. "Here's the plan. You go in wired with a mic and tracker. My team surrounds the cemetery—hidden, ready to move. The second Senna shows herself, we take her down."
"She'll be expecting that," Celestria says.
"Probably. But she's arrogant. She thinks she's smarter than us. We use that against her."
Kyver hands me a small device—a nearly invisible earpiece. I gently tuck it into Celestria's ear.
"Can you hear me?" I ask.
She nods.
"Good. Keep this in the whole time. If anything goes wrong, if you feel threatened at all, you say the word 'roses' and we come in immediately."
"Roses. Got it."
We drive to the cemetery in tense silence. My warriors are already in position—ghosts in the darkness, waiting.
I park the car at the cemetery gates.
"Last chance to change your mind," I tell Celestria.
"I'm not changing my mind."
"Stubborn woman."
"Stubborn Alpha."
Despite everything, I smile.
Then I do something I probably shouldn't. I cup her face and kiss her. Not gentle. Not soft. But fierce and claiming and desperate.
When I pull back, her eyes are wide.
"What was that for?" she whispers.
"In case I don't get another chance to do it."
Her hand touches her lips. "Thorne—"
"Go. Before I change my mind about this whole insane plan."
She gets out of the car and walks through the cemetery gates.
I watch her disappear into the darkness, every instinct screaming at me to follow.
"She's got guts," Kyver says from the passenger seat. "I'll give her that."
"She's got too much guts. That's the problem."
I switch on the comm system, listening to Celestria's breathing through the mic.
"I'm at the center of the cemetery," her voice comes through. "By the largest monument."
"Copy that," I whisper. "We've got eyes on you. Stay alert."
Minutes pass like hours.
Then Celestria's voice: "She's here."
My whole body tenses.
Through the night-vision binoculars, I watch Senna emerge from behind a mausoleum. She's in human form, wearing dark clothes, her auburn hair wild.
"Hello, Celestria," Senna's voice carries across the cemetery. "So nice of you to join me."
"I'm here. Let the others go. You wanted me, you've got me."
"Others?" Senna laughs. "Oh, sweetie. There are no others. I made that part up."
Ice floods my veins.
"What?" Celestria's voice shakes.
"The hourly kills? Just a motivator to get you here. I only killed those first three. The rest of Quillan Pack is fine. Well, traumatized and leaderless, but alive."
She lied. The whole thing was a setup just to lure Celestria out.
"You're insane," Celestria breathes.
"I'm efficient. Now, let's finish this. Any last words before I rip your throat out?"
I'm already moving, signaling my team.
But Senna's faster.
She shifts mid-leap, her wolf form massive and deadly, launching straight at Celestria.
Celestria tries to dodge, but she's not fast enough.
Senna's claws rake across her shoulder, tearing through fabric and flesh.
Celestria screams.
I shift, my wolf exploding forward with murderous rage.
I hit Senna mid-air, knocking her away from Celestria. We roll across the ground in a tangle of fur and fangs.
My team rushes in, surrounding us.
But Senna's not alone.
More wolves emerge from the shadows—rogues, by their scent. At least twenty of them.
She brought an army.
"Did you really think I'd come alone?" Senna's voice in my head through the pack link she's forcing open. "I've been planning this for weeks. By the time your team realizes they're outnumbered, it'll be too late."
The rogues attack.
Chaos erupts. My warriors fight valiantly, but we're outnumbered two to one.
I try to reach Celestria, but three rogues block my path.
Through the melee, I see Senna shifting back to human form, walking calmly toward where Celestria's collapsed, bleeding from the shoulder wound.
"No!" I howl.
But I'm too far away.
Senna pulls out a knife—silver blade gleaming in the moonlight.
"This is for everything you took from me," Senna says, raising the knife above Celestria's heart.
Time slows.
I'm not going to make it.
None of my warriors are close enough.
Celestria's going to die, and I can't stop it.
Then something impossible happens.
Celestria's eyes flash not amber—but pure white.
Power explodes from her body—a shockwave of energy that sends Senna flying backward twenty feet.
Every wolf in the cemetery freezes.
Because that kind of power only comes from one source.
An Alpha bloodline.
But Celestria's supposed to be a healer's daughter. No Alpha blood. No power.
She rises slowly, her shoulder wound already healing at an impossible speed.
And when she speaks, her voice echoes with ancient authority:
"I am Celestria Moonshadow. True heir to the Lunar Crown. And you just made a very big mistake."
The ground beneath us begins to glow with silver light.
And I realize everything we thought we knew about Celestria Wynter was a lie.