Chapter 13 - THE LAST NIGHT OF THE OLD ORDER
The forest became chaos.
Cross wolves collided with Gideon's fighters.
Aurelia fought beside Marcus.
Cassian, wounded but conscious, guarded the journal.
Damian stayed near me.
“Get to the estate.”
“No.”
“Elara.”
“We already discussed this.”
An attacker lunged.
Damian intercepted him.
Another came from behind.
Something inside me opened.
My scent flooded the forest.
The attacking wolf stopped.
Not because I forced him.
Because he recognized me.
His body shifted back into human form.
He looked terrified.
“Why are we fighting her?”
Another wolf stopped.
Then another.
Gideon's soldiers began hesitating.
I understood.
They had been told I was dangerous.
A tyrant.
A weapon.
But my scent carried something their bodies recognized before propaganda could interfere.
Not control.
Truth.
“Stop fighting!”
My voice traveled through the trees.
The battle slowed.
“Look at me.”
Wolves turned.
“I am not asking anyone to kneel.”
Damian stared at me.
“I am not claiming your territory.”
More wolves shifted back.
“I don't want your crowns.”
“I don't want your obedience.”
“I want the killing to stop.”
Silence spread.
Then Gideon emerged from the trees.
“You see?”
His voice thundered.
“She doesn't even understand what she is.”
He pointed at me.
“You were born to rule.”
“No.”
“You can command every wolf here.”
“I won't.”
“Then you're weak.”
“Maybe.”
I stepped toward him.
“But they're still listening to me instead of you.”
His face twisted.
He charged.
Damian moved.
I shouted.
“No!”
Damian stopped.
This was mine.
Gideon shifted mid-stride.
A massive gray wolf launched toward me.
My instincts screamed.
I didn't run.
I removed the pendant.
The seal shattered.
Not cracked.
Shattered.
Silver light seemed to move through the forest.
Every wolf dropped.
Not kneeling.
Overwhelmed.
For the first time in my life, I smelled myself.
Rain.
Pine.
Snow.
Home.
Gideon shifted back before reaching me.
He fell to his hands.
“You can't.”
I walked toward him.
“I can.”
His body shook.
“Make me kneel.”
“No.”
His eyes burned with hatred.
“Command me.”
“No.”
“Prove what you are!”
“I don't need to.”
I stood over him.
“You spent twenty-one years terrified of someone who never wanted your throne.”
Gideon's expression changed.
“And that fear turned you into exactly what you claimed you were fighting.”
Cassian stepped forward.
He held the journal.
Then Marcus.
Then Aurelia.
Then representatives from the other territories.
Cassian raised Gideon's records.
“He ordered Frost Hollow infiltrated.”
Shock spread through the crowd.
“He paid Serena Blake.”
More whispers.
“He ordered the attacks against Elara.”
Gideon looked around.
His coalition was disappearing before his eyes.
“Lies.”
Cassian opened the journal.
“Your handwriting.”
Gideon lunged for him.
Damian caught him.
Marcus joined him.
Together they forced Gideon to the ground.
This time, Gideon did kneel.
Not because of my blood.
Because he had lost.
The eastern Alpha stepped forward.
“Gideon Vale, you will stand trial before all seven territories.”
Gideon looked at me.
“This isn't over.”
I believed him.
Because men like Gideon rarely accepted endings they didn't control.
And when they dragged him away, I noticed Serena standing on the distant balcony of the Cross estate.
The guard beside her was unconscious.
May you like
Her chains were gone.
And she was holding a torch.
