Chapter 5

I opened my eyes just as the car rolled to a stop.

The first thing I saw was their hands, clasped together because they thought I was asleep.

They snatched them apart the second they saw me.

I pretended not to notice.

My hands trembled, but I forced them steady and opened the door.

I acted completely normal, walking with them towards my parents' home with the gifts.

"You're back!"

My parents met us at the door, their faces breaking into wide smiles.

"There's something we wanted to discuss with you!"

My mother took Kane's hand.

"After the ceremony, tradition says you must take Elara to visit the elders of the branch tribes. Your announcement was so rushed, they didn't really get a chance to meet her."

Lyra shrank into a corner, her face a mask of disappointment.

Kane agreed to everything, but his eyes kept darting toward her.

A flicker of irritation crossed his face.

Only after my mother finished did Lyra manage to crack a smile.

"Auntie, I can't make the Winter Festival feast this year. My long-lost relatives are coming to visit."

My parents just nodded, handing her the generous festival gifts they'd already set aside.

That night, Kane lay beside me, tossing and turning.

He took my hand.

"Elara, the ceremony is so close… I feel this strange panic."

I closed my eyes in the darkness.

"Then let's put it off."

His breath hitched, and his voice became urgent.

"No! I meant we should move it up. I want to mark you sooner. I want to make you my true, my one and only Luna…"

Those words made me think of the forum posts.

I cut him off.

"You said you wanted my help managing the tribe's wealth, right? Then give me the secondary sigil, the one controlling the Alpha's treasury."

Kane didn't hesitate.

He lit a moonstone, pulled the sigil from his coat, and gave it to me.

It was the secondary sigil, alright.

But my wolf's intuition screamed at me.

This wasn’t the original sigil he’d inherited from his father.

He kissed my forehead.

"There. Now I can finally relax…"

In the middle of the night, Kane's communication crystal began to glow.

He slipped out of bed and into dark, traveling clothes.

The soft click of the door sent my heart plunging into an icy abyss.

The resignation letter I'd agonized over all afternoon…

I no longer hesitated.

I sent it to the Elder Council through our mental link, resigning all my duties.

Once he was gone, I grabbed my father's hornbow and quiver.

And I followed him.