Chapter Thirty Nine-Farewell Valemont
VPN
51
Elara’s POV
The courtyard of Valemont swelled with movement, every wolf pressed into motion. Crescent cloaks of black and gold brushed against Valemont grey as supplies were loaded, scrolls tied, wounds bound one last time before the march. Apprentices darted like bees. The smell of leather oil and steel clung to
the mist.
Aeron clung to me stubbornly, lips trembling. “No want new house,” he whispered, muffled against my cloak. “Want home.”
My mother-Seraphina-stepped forward, her healer’s satchel strapped across her chest, her face calm though her eyes shone too bright. She cupped Aeron’s cheek, her touch gentle, her voice steady as prayer. “You are moon-blessed, little wolf. No shadow will claim you while my heart beats.”
He blinked up at her. “Gamma no cry.”
Her lips curved into a trembling smile. “Never, pup. Not while you are strong.” She kissed his curls, whisper lingering against his hair as though she could brand protection there.
Cassia strode forward next, crimson sweater streaked faint with soot. She bent low to Aeron, eyes fierce. “I’m coming too, pup. You’ll need someone to chase off the bad wolves when they get nosy.”
His little face brightened. “Aunty Cassha funny.”
Caius leaned lazily against the supply cart, though his gaze flicked sharp to Aeron. “And I’ll be there too. Someone has to keep Cassia from stabbing the wrong Alpha when she gets bored.”
Aeron’s eyes widened, “Unca Caius brave.”
Caius smirked. “Naturally,”
Their exchange broke into laughter, even pulling smiles from Crescent soldiers. Julian snorted from where he leaned against a post, tablet tucked under his arm. “If these two are the support team, Ashthorne should surrender now. They don’t stand a chance.”
Cassia shot him a glare. “Careful, strategist, or you’ll end up babysitting.”
1/4
14:30 Mon, Apr 20 N
Chapter Thirty Nine – Farewell Valemont
Julian smirked without missing a beat. “I only babysit kings. Pups drool too much.”
VPN
51
“Arrogant bastard,” Cassia muttered, though Aeron giggled, declaring proudly, “Both stinkies!”
The courtyard roared with laughter. Even Lyanna’s serene mouth twitched into the ghost of a smile.
To my shock, Thorne didn’t silence it. His gaze swept the crowd, then cut back to me. His voice was quiet but final: “Better they’re with you than at ridges I don’t command.”
Cassia blinked at his agreement, but Caius only smirked wider.
Lyanna moved forward, her braid pale silver, her voice like cool water. “Stay sharp in Crescent, Elara. Their politics cut deeper than claws. But if you hold your spine, they will break before you do.”
Darius loomed behind her, arms folded across his chest, steel-grey eyes unreadable. “You step into Crescent not as a guest, but as its future. Remember that when the councils circle.”
His words pressed like iron.
I bent, kissing Aeron’s curls. “No bad wolves, pup.”
“Promise,” he mumbled back, half-asleep already.
The gates opened.
Engines rumbled to life, deep and steady, replacing the groan of carts. Black SUVS rolled into the courtyard, Crescent banners snapping sharp in the mountain wind alongside Valemont’s silver pine. Their glossy frames reflected torchlight, windows dark as obsidian. Wolves lined the walls above, some bowing their heads, some staring with unreadable eyes.
Cassia claimed her spot immediately-perched in the back beside Aeron’s booster seat like she’d been born for guard duty, dagger twirling in one hand while the other steadied him. Caius slid into the row opposite, smirk daring anyone to question him, his blade strapped across his back despite the absurdity of steel in leather seats.
Seraphina bent low, her lips pressing one final kiss to Aeron’s curls. “Moon-blessed, little wolf,” she whispered, her voice trembling despite her composure. Aeron clutched Mister Dwagon tighter, eyes wide as the door shut between him and his grandmother.
Lyanna’s calm gaze followed every movement, cool and steady. Darius stood like carved stone in the courtyard, arms folded across his chest, his grey eyes heavy as the convoy pulled forward.
14:30 Mon, Apr 20
Chapter Thirty Nine Farewell Valemont
VPN
And Thorne-he took the lead SUV, black coat snapping as he crossed the tarmac of the courtyard, golden eyes fixed forward. A king, yes. But for the first time, a king who looked… content.
I turned in my seat, looking back through the tinted window.
At the walls where I had grown. The courtyard where Aeron had learned to chase shadows. The hearths that smelled of lavender and smoke. The pack that had been my spine when I thought I would break.
Farewell pressed like a bruise.
Aeron lifted his little hand to the glass, Mister Dwagon flopping. “Bye-bye home,” he whispered.
My throat burned.
Engines growled. The gates closed behind us.
And though Cassia teased Caius about seatbelts, though Aeron giggled at the novelty of riding in “Daddy King’s big car,” though Thorne’s silhouette ahead was lit with pride in every line of his shoulders
…the mist in the trees curled heavy, watching. Waiting.
A figure lingered in the treeline, eyes glinting faint in the fog.
Not all enemies had fled with Marcus’s broken wolves.
Some were still here.
And they would follow.
Thorne’s POV
The convoy rolled steady through the valley roads, headlights cutting white into fog. Engines hummed like a single beast, carrying not soldiers, not war banners-but my family.
I sat in the lead SUV, one hand braced on the door, the other clenched against my thigh to keep from turning and looking back every five breaths. I didn’t need to. I could feel them. The bond tugged sharp and unrelenting, Elara’s presence burning against mine, Aeron’s bright little spark humming like a second sun.
For the first time in too many years, my wolf wasn’t pacing the cage of my ribs. He was curled low,
3/4
14:30 Mon, Apr 20 N
Chapter Thirty Nine
Farewell Valemont
VPH
51
fierce and content, ears pricked not for danger but for the sound of a boy’s laughter spilling from the car
behind us.
I let my eyes half-close and listened.
Cassia’s voice, sharp and theatrical: “If you drop crumbs in my seat again, Aeron, I’ll make you clean it with your tongue.”
Caius’s drawl, lazy but amused: “If you stab the upholstery with that dagger, Cass, you’ll be cleaning it with yours.”
Aeron’s giggle, high and unafraid, crowned it all: “Both stinkies.”
Their laughter cracked through the engine’s hum, and even the driver’s shoulders shook with the effort of not grinning.
I almost smiled myself. Almost.
Because under the warmth, something deeper burned.
Ashthorne had thought to claim them. To mark them with threat, to whisper Elara’s past like poison
in the air. They had dared. And they had failed.
Now she rode north with me. Now Aeron pressed his small hand to the glass, waving farewell to a
home that would no longer have to bleed for him.
Mine, my wolf whispered, content and vicious in the same breath. Finally, they’re mine.
The SUV turned, headlights spilling across the flat stretch of tarmac where my jet waited-black, sleek, loyal. A Crescent crown in steel,
And for the first time since the war began, since Aeron’s first cry had tangled itself into my veins,
since Elara had looked at me with defiance instead of trust-
I felt something dangerous bloom in my chest.
Hope.
