The ghost wolf lands easily on the ground behind the Warden, shaking like he just got wet.
The Warden doubles over, the whites of his eyes flashing. He literally doesn’t know what hit him.
With lightning speed, Noah shifts and somehow swiftly unlatches the cruel silver collar.
He grabs my hand, and I gasp at the power that surges between our hands.
The Alpha Bonding.
The rite I was supposed to complete with Aiden under the eclipse is happening now. With Noah.
Because he’s the true Adalwulf alpha.
The first-born pup from the Alpha Rites years ago.
This is why the Grandmothers orchestrated his appearance here in the Celestial Cradle at this exact moment. It’s why they brought us together to fall in love and mate. Why they then wrenched us apart to experience the anguish of losing each other. We each had to follow our personal journeys to get here. Had to know heartbreak and feel a love so pure we would sacrifice our own peace and sanctity, or even our own lives to save one another.
They played us both like puppets, so Noah would risk everything to show up to rescue me here in this moment.
Magic pours into me from Noah. Alpha power. A deep sense of calm. The steely spine of leadership. Our powers mingle, weaving his ferocity with my Sight. I cling to him like he’s a lifeline. Because he is. He is my hope and my salvation, and when I’m with him, I feel like I can do anything.
The Warden, Aiden, and all his enforcers freeze, staring at us. Immobilized.
The magic pulses between us, following the cadence of the beating drums. A golden light surrounds us. I turn my face up to the eclipse to receive the blessing of the Moon Goddess. The moonstone tiara channels a bolt of power straight through my body and into Noah’s.
The dais we stand upon cracks in half, just as the moon reemerges, bathing Noah in light.
He’s in exactly the position Oma described to the Warden when she shared her vision of the pup with no ears, straddling two halves of the broken dais.
Suddenly, I know what to do.
“This wolf is your true alpha!” I lift our joined hands in victory, like he’s a boxer who’s just won a fight. “It’s time for the truth to come out.” I shout over the pounding drums. The wind whips my hair, and I raise my free hand, commanding attention as only a Seeress can. “The last Seeress prophesied this moment.”
“Kill them!” Aiden snaps.
His enforcers don’t move, seemingly frightened or mesmerized by the magic I wield.
I go on. “Aiden was never the true alpha chosen by the Grandmothers. He was not the first born after the Alpha Rites” I let the wind carry my voice to the edges of the land. I don’t need to shout, though, because every wolf but Noah can hear what I’m saying. There are gasps and murmurs as I proclaim to Aiden, “You’re not the true alpha of the pack.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Aster
The drumbeat stops. No one else makes a sound. They’re all processing what I just told them. Aiden’s eyes blaze, but he remains still, his face a ferocious mask.
“The Warden and the last Seeress developed the Alpha Rites to choose the next alpha because Odin could not produce an heir.” I point at the Warden, whose mouth is open as if he’s being strangled. His clown makeup makes his angry face look ridiculous. “The Grandmothers marked the next alpha as the first-born pup after the Alpha Rites. Odin believed that pup was Aiden, but it was not. Liora’s son, Noah, was the first-born.”
“Lies,” the Warden shouts. The sound is lost in the rippling roar of all the wolves present, clamouring for the truth. “She’s lying!” His voice cracks. Anyone looking at his expression would see his fear as he takes in Noah, as if for the first time.
He’s been looking for the wolf with no ears for years and still didn’t recognize he was Noah.
“I am the Seeress.” I grip Noah’s hand for strength. “I walk beyond the veil. Listen to my words or suffer the consequences.”
“Oma wanted to kill the first-born pup because he was born without hearing, but Liora sneaked him out, and the Warden looked the other way.”
“Seize them,” Aiden orders his red-eyed wolves, flicking his hands towards the Warden and us. The enforcers secure the Warden but stop short of the dais when Noah growls. Hugh stands between us and them, his teeth bared and tail lashing his legs. The enforcers can’t see him, but they must feel something strange and dangerous because they stop in their tracks.
“Stop!” Noah’s voice carries the timbre of Alpha Command, and the enforcers freeze. “I didn’t come for your pack. I don’t want to be alpha. I just want to leave with my mate.” His eyes search mine, as if looking for my agreement.
