Chapter 17: A New Moon's Promise

The return to Silverfall Creek was nothing like my departure. News of Selena’s treachery and her subsequent defeat, along with Elder Theodric’s public vindication of my name, had preceded us. The atmosphere was not one of scornful silence, but of stunned, watchful awe. We entered the town not as a disgraced half-blood and a fallen Alpha, but as victors. Kaelus walked by my side, his posture no longer that of a distant ruler, but of a protector and partner. His wounds were bandaged, but his...