Dominic Silvermane's Arc

Chapter 7 of 9

Dominic brought his mate home ready. Fenrir had bowed to her. The moonstones had glowed for her. But his two rivals still watched her with cold eyes each morning. A title spoken in a hall meant nothing. She needed the whole pack to kneel at once, under the moon, where no wolf could pretend not to see. So Dominic called the ceremony. He named the cliff with the flowered arch, the old place where lunas were crowned. At dusk the pack climbed the stone steps. The arch stood at the cliff's edge, draped in ribbon and roses. Below it, a sheer drop fell into dark. Dominic took his mate's hand and led her up. Her white dress caught the last light. His two rivals stood at the front, arms crossed, waiting for her to falter. The old crown wolf came forward to seal it. Lunara Firstborn wore her purple cloak, gold thread bright at her collar. She was the last blood of the first luna, and the pack fell silent when she raised her hands. "I have tested this one," she said. "The stones knew her. Now I ask the pack." She turned her purple eyes on the two doubters. "Speak now, or bend the knee." The two rivals said nothing. Then, one by one, the pack knelt on the cold rock. His rivals held out longest. Dominic watched the taller one. The wolf's jaw worked. At last his knee touched stone. The other followed. Lunara pressed her palm to the white-haired woman's brow. "Rise, Luna," she said. The pack howled, and the sound rolled off the cliff into the night. Then a voice cut through it. "So this is your crown." Scarlett stepped from the trees. Her red hair was wild, her leather jacket torn at the shoulder. Dominic had passed her over for luna. She had loved him, conspired against him, and lost everything at the border. Now she stood alone, no pack behind her, green eyes fixed on the woman in white. His wolves rose, teeth bared. "Hold," Dominic said. He would not let his ceremony end in blood. Scarlett did not look at him. She looked at the luna. "You think a crown makes them yours. I served this pack ten years. I know every weak trail, every blind patrol." She smiled without warmth. "A title won't guard your gates." The luna stepped forward, calm. "Then tell me where they are weak," she said. "And I will fix them. Or leave, and gamble you remember better than I learn." Scarlett had no answer. She turned and vanished into the dark. The ceremony was done. The pack had knelt. His mate was luna in full, before every eye. But Scarlett's words hung over the cliff. She knew the gates. She had come to the ceremony to prove she could reach them. Dominic held his crowned mate close and knew the next fight would come at his own walls.