(Mari POV)
The council had dismissed me hours ago, leaving the hall quiet except for the crackle of the torches lining the stone walls. Yet I didn't return to my room. Instead, I followed my parents through the winding corridors, past shadows that seemed to shift with anticipation, toward the chamber where they often spoke in whispers of strategy, secrets, and power.
Darius Ventor, Alpha of Nightblade, and Selene, his Luna, waited in the center of the room, their faces illuminated by the moonlight streaming through the high windows. The silver light pooled on the floor like liquid steel, casting their shadows long and commanding.
"You're late," my father said, though his voice carried no anger. Only expectation.
"I had matters," I replied, keeping my tone neutral. Neutrality was a shield, a weapon, a habit I had honed for every negotiation, every battle, every challenge.
Selene's lips curved faintly, a gesture that was neither warmth nor mockery. "Matters that keep you from listening to your parents?"
"I listen," I said. My eyes flicked from father to mother. "I always listen."
They shared a look. Not one of doubt. But of certainty. Of knowledge I would soon inherit, whether I wanted it or not.
Darius motioned to the seat at the far end of the room. I took it, keeping my posture perfect. Alpha's daughter. Not yet Alpha. But the heir. And soon, the pack would know it.
Selene moved to stand beside me. "Two months," she said softly. "That is all the time left before your eighteenth birthday."
I frowned. "I know."
Darius leaned forward, his hands resting on the stone table like a predator ready to strike. "You may know, but knowing does not prepare you. Two months, Mari, and your life changes forever."
I cocked my head. "You've said that every year since I was eleven."
"Yes," he admitted. "But this year is different."
I waited, letting the silence stretch. My parents rarely spoke without meaning. Rarely said anything that wasn't intentional.
"The Moon Goddess," Selene began, her voice dropping almost to a whisper, "will choose you. Fully. On your eighteenth birthday."
I blinked. "Choose me?"
"Yes," my father said, his voice steady, final. "Not to dominate you. Not to enslave you. But to awaken what has always been yours. Your wolf. Your power. Your place as Alpha."
I let the words sink in, letting them roll across the edges of my mind like waves. The Moon Goddess. My wolf. My birthright. Full awakening. I had dreamed of it in fragments, imagined the rush of power, the connection—but the reality, spoken aloud, was heavier, sharper.
"And the mate?" I asked, cautious.
Selene's gaze flicked to Darius, and he nodded once. "You will meet him. The one assigned to you by the Moon Goddess. Your bond will not be a suggestion, Mari. It will be a covenant—something deeper than the pack, deeper than blood, something that touches the very essence of your wolf."
I felt my chest tighten. Not fear. Not excitement. Something in between. Respect, perhaps. Reverence. Power waited for me, and it would be given freely… but only after the ritual. Only after I proved myself ready.
"Your wolf will speak to you," my mother continued. "Not as an animal, not as instinct alone, but as a guide, a partner, a part of you that has always been there, hidden under the surface. You will understand it. Converse with it. Trust it. Harness it."
I clenched my fists under the table. My wolf had always been there, coiled and restless under my skin, whispering, waiting, pushing me to strike, to kill, to dominate. But until now, it had been a voice drowned by human doubt, by the masks we all wore. Soon, it would be mine. All mine. And I would be stronger for it.
Darius's eyes bore into mine. "Strength is more than muscles and claws. It is control, Mari. Control of your mind. Control of your pack. Control of the war and the politics and the blood that will one day run through this territory."
I nodded slowly. "I understand."
"No," Selene said, her tone sharper now. "You will understand when it happens. For now, you prepare. You train. You learn. Two months. That is all the time you have to master yourself before the Moon chooses you fully."
The room felt colder somehow, the torchlight pale against the weight of their words. I swallowed, feeling the tension settle over me like armor. I would be tested. I would rise. I would not fail.
"And the mate?" I pressed again. "If he is… unworthy?"
Selene's lips pressed into a thin line. "No mate is unworthy. He is chosen. As you are chosen. The Goddess does not make mistakes."
I let the thought fester. My wolf stirred beneath my skin, coiling and twisting like it already sensed the ritual, already felt the presence of what was to come.
"You will be able to touch the threads of our pack like never before," Darius said, voice firm. "Communicate through the link, command your Beta, guide your Omegas, protect your territory. All will obey because they recognize your strength, Mari. Because it is your destiny."
I felt a shiver—not of fear, but of anticipation. Power was coming, and with it, clarity. The chaos of the last weeks—the fire, the ruins, the attack by Luke and his pack—would be tempered by a focus I had never allowed myself before. My wolf would speak, and I would finally hear.
Selene stepped closer. Her hand brushed my shoulder—not comfort, not love—but acknowledgment. Approval. "Two months. You will need every day. Every hour. Every moment. You must be ready for the bond. For the awakening. For your true strength."
"I will be ready," I said, and the words felt heavier than anything I had ever said. Not a promise. Not a threat. A declaration.
Darius stood, his shadow stretching across the chamber. "Good. We will speak no more of it until the night arrives. Until the Moon Goddess comes to you. Until the ritual."
I stood too, feeling the weight of the future settle into my bones. I was no longer just Mari Ventor. Not just a daughter. Not just a wolf-in-training. Soon, I would be the Nightblade Alpha. Fully. Completely. Power would flow through me like molten silver. My wolf would be my voice, my mind, my edge.
And Luke… Luke Vrenatta would see it. He would feel it.
I left the chamber quietly, my parents' eyes following me until the door closed. My wolf stirred beneath my skin, coiled and ready, whispering words I had not yet learned to understand—but would. Soon.
Two months.
The Moon Goddess would choose me.
And I would be ready