My voice carries across the amphitheatre. “I invoke the right of Silver Severance.”
Gasps ripple through the rows. These words carry power. They always have.
“This rite,” Amara begins cautiously, “You understand what it truly means—”
“That my wolf may perish if I fail, and so might I,” I say. “I know. But I have no other choice, Elder. I don’t seek to abandon my pack. I seek only to sever the bond that chains me.”
Kade’s head jerks up, but what words he has die on his lips.
I keep my eyes forward. “I present my three proofs.”
Amara nods stiffly. “Then the High Council will bear witness.”
I reach into the chest that Tamsin carries and lift the diadem—the sapphire crown that once marked me as Luna of Silvercrest. The light strikes it, scattering blue fire across the marble floor.
“First,” I say, “the Diadem. Symbol of rule. I return it not in surrender, but in truth. I am Luna no longer by marriage, but by right.”
I set it upon the stone table before me.
The murmurs grow louder.
I gesture to the semicircle forming behind me.
Jax steps forward first, flanked by other betas. Then, Tamsin, with five other gammas and three dozen pack members from Silvercrest.
My witness circle only needed nine members. But I have fifty.
“Second,” I say, “my witnesses. The pack, the warriors, the elders. All who have seen the truth with their own eyes. They know the betrayal I tasted. And the humiliation I faced in my own house. They stand here of their own will.”
Jax bows his head slightly. Tamsin rests a hand over her heart. The others mirror the gesture.
“And third…” I let my breath steady. The world narrows to the pulse beneath my skin. “Third, my wolf.”
Nyx rises within me before I even close my eyes. The air buzzes. My bones shift, not in pain this time but in harmony. Light breaks through skin.
Gasps fill the circle as I stand half-shifted—eyes glowing silver in the marble reflection beneath me, the faint shimmer of fur tracing down my arms like moonlight incarnate.
“This,” I say, voice both mine and hers, “is proof enough.”
The arena becomes silent as one by one everyone falls to their knees. Then whispers echo:High Luna. Goddess’s blessing. The divine.
Then I see Kade enter and walk toward me in awe before he, too, falls to his knees.
Amara clears her throat, glancing up at me from where she stays kneeling, her voice trembling slightly. “The High Council recognizes the proof. The Severance may proceed as you please, High Luna.”
Finally.
I feel so overwhelmed, I almost cry.
Shaking my head slightly, I kneel. My hands rest upon the marble, the cold biting into my palms. Nyx hums beneath my skin, ready and confident.
“By the light of the Moon, I release this bond.” My voice shakes once as the Goddess’s power flows before it steadies. “I sever the thread that bound me to Kade Thorne—Alpha of Silvercrest. I free my spirit and my wolf from his call.”
A silver light rises from the ground, circling me in soft ribbons of mist. It touches my chest—right where the mate mark used to burn—and pulls.
Kade gasps, clutching his side. “Freya—”
I bow my head. The connection between us snaps like a string drawn too tight. The sound isn’t heard butfelt, rippling through every pack wolf in the circle.
