Chapter 129
Elowen POV
I was still trying to breathe after walking into that ballroom like a damn moon goddess on a mission, but the second I sat down and caught sight of Taya’s hand, I choked on my champagne.
“Wait a minute!!”
There it was. A whole ass solar flare on her finger.The diamond practically blinded me. Massive. Flawless. Flashing in every direction like it had a damn personality.
Lyssira snorted in amusement,“That is not a ring. That is a weapon of mass seduction. I approve.”
Taya wiggled her fingers with a smug little grin, and I shrieked. “TAYA!”
Everyone else at the table turned at once. Jace froze mid drink. Amaris gasped so loud the royal bear queen actually leaned over to see what was happening. Ashrian was already halfway out of his chair, clearly thinking someone had been stabbed.
She stood up, grinning like the unhinged goddess she is, and raised her glittering hand high. “We’re engaged, bitches!”
Screaming. Actual screaming. I shot out of my chair so fast I nearly took the tablecloth with me. “OH MY GOD…YOU’RE GETTING MARRIED?!”
Taya squealed and grabbed my hands, bouncing in place while the whole head table erupted..
Amaris launched herself into Taya’s arms. Jace was literally clapping like a child. Lachlan muttered something about “hell freezing over,” and even Bram cracked a rare ass grin.
Then I saw Luna Aelira’s face, and everything stilled. Her eyes were wide and shining.
“Taya…” she whispered, her voice breaking just a little as she reached across the space between us and pulled Taya into a hug so tight I thought she might snap her spine.
“You’re going to be my daughter,” Aelira said softly, trembling. “I’m going to plan your wedding. You hear me? The entire thing. Every flower, every stitch. I…”
She choked. Covered her mouth. Swallowed hard.
“Rylens parents were my betas,” she said, turning to the table, to the room. Her voice rose with a quiet power. “They died fighting the Hollow Creed. I raised that boy since he was thirteen. And now, he’s chosen someone strong, and brave, and beautiful.”
The Luna turned to embrace Rylen and held him tightly. Taya was crying. I was crying. Everyone was crying.
Lyssira purred softly, “Oh, this is the good stuff. Love, grief, legacy. The kind of thing stories are made of.”
Aelira turned back to Taya and kissed both of her cheeks like a mother welcoming her daughter into the pack for the first time. Then she stood tall, lifted her glass, and spoke in the Luna voice that could command armies.
“To the future Beta, Taya Quinn. May her fire always burn, and may Rylen never forget the wild she tamed.”
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10:56 Tue, Oct 7
Chapter 129
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The entire ballroom clapped. Cheered. Howled. Rylen stood there with his arm around Taya’s waist, his eyes shining with pride. Dozens of glasses raised. Echoes of her name filled the air like a chant. And Taya? She stood there in a sparkly dress, with sparkly eyes, and the sparkliest damn diamond I’ve ever seen, and she looked perfectly made for this moment,
My wild sister. My chaos twin. My future bad ass Beta bitch. I leaned in and whispered, “You better let me help plan your bachelorette party.”
Taya wiped a tear and grinned. “Bitch, you’re running it.”
Vaela Stormclaw POV
If hell existed, it wore pink plaid skirts and smelled like cherry lip gloss and cafeteria bleach.
I sat perched on the windowsill of my room, if you could even call this bland little concrete shoebox a room, watching the moon rise over the snow capped mountains like it had any right to shine on me.
It didn’t.
“They locked us up like criminals,” I whispered to my wolf Genie, twisting a curl of platinum blonde around my finger. “For what? Telling the truth? Saying what nobody else had the spine to say?”
She growled in response, we hadn’t been getting along very well lately. She wanted to help Elowen. Fucking Moon Goddess can suck my left tit. My wolf can get her shit together.
This school, “Celestia Ridge Academy for Gifted Girls“, was a fucking prison with better lighting. Private uniforms. Curfews. Weekly spiritual check–ins with “Moon Matrons” who thought chanting and candle circles could rid of us our evil.
Spoiler alert: they couldn’t. I was embracing that shit. Everyone be damned. My fingers burned faintly, a silver glow threading under my skin like moonlight veins. I was getting better at hiding it. Sharper. Stronger. The “moon training” classes were supposed to help us “find balance.” All it had done was make me lethal.
And I wasn’t the only one. Soria kicked the door open without knocking, all long legs and attitude in her half buttoned shirt and too short skirt.
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