Chapter 107

DEREK

The phone buzzed on the desk beside me, cutting through the quiet of my office. I reached for it absently, expecting Joe or maybe Brock with an update. But the name on the screen made me sit up straighter.

Aiden.

I answered immediately. “Hey, bud.”

“Hi!” His voice was bright, bubbling with energy. “Are you busy?”

“Not for you,” I said, leaning back in the chair, already smiling.

“So…we’re having a huge Moonbinding party tonight at Moonstone. With a feast and music and sparklers and a bondfire and my grandpa even said there’s gonna be a storyteller and a mooncake contest!”

“That sounds like a lot,” I said, chuckling. “You’re making me jealous already.”

Aiden didn’t miss a beat. “That’s why I’m calling. You should come. I want you to be there. I already asked Mom and she said it was okay, as long as you’re on your best behavior.”

I blinked, caught somewhere between pride and panic. “She said that?”

“Yup. So will you come?”

I hesitated for only a second, and then there was no real decision to make. “Yeah, kiddo. I’ll be there.”

“YES!” he shouted. “Okay, I gotta go get my face painted like a wolf—obviously.” Click.

The line went dead.

I stared at the phone for a long moment, then stood and reached for my jacket. A Moonbinding Festival at Moonstone. It felt a little like walking into a trap—if the trap was hand-decorated by children, lit by fairy lights, and baited with the hopeful smile of a six-year-old boy.

And maybe something else too.

Someone else.

---

Moonstone looked like a dream.

By the time I arrived, the entire estate was glowing. Lanterns were strung through the trees, casting warm amber light across the grounds. Music drifted over the grass, and laughter mingled with the scent of roasting meat and honeyed pastries.

I stepped out of the SUV and was met with a flurry of sound and color.

And then I saw her.

Elena.

She wasn’t dressed in anything extravagant—just jeans, worn leather boots, and a flowing blue blouse that made her hair look like fire in the golden light. Her smile wasn’t directed at me, but it still hit me like a punch. She was standing by a table arranging something, completely absorbed.

I didn’t realize I’d stopped walking until Aiden crashed into me.

“You came!” he shouted, grabbing my hand. “Come on, come on, I have to show you everything.”

And I let him. Let him tug me across the field, into the middle of games and booths and moonflowers floating in little silver bowls. He introduced me to vendors, warriors, cousins, Elders.

Half the time I couldn’t even catch their names, but I laughed anyway. It was impossible not to. He was a tornado of joy.

And every few moments, my eyes found Elena again.

She looked at home here. Radiant. Whole.

And I couldn’t help but wonder if there was a place for me in this world.

ELENA

I spotted Erin before she saw me, stepping carefully across the lawn in a soft ivory dress that hit just above the ankle, her hair pulled back with tiny braids threaded through. She looked regal.

“Erin!” I called, making my way through a crowd of wolves in matching face paint and flower crowns.

She turned, and her face lit up.

“Elena! You won’t believe this,” she said, eyes wide. “Your parents sent a messenger. With an invitation for tonight. On a golden tray.”

I stared. “You’re joking.”

“I swear! And then—get this—they sent a limo. With warrior escorts. To pick me and Carly up.” She laughed, overwhelmed. “Carly nearly fainted.”

I hugged her hard. “You deserve all of it.”

She looked misty. “Thank you. Truly. For believing in me.”

“I’ll never stop,” I said.

She slipped off to find Mason, and I stood there for a moment longer, the buzz of the party washing over me.

That’s when I saw them.

Aiden had Derek by the hand, dragging him through the crowd like a prized trophy. Derek was laughing at something, shoulders relaxed, eyes warm. He looked…happy. The kind of happy I’d never really seen on him back in Silverclaw.

Then Aiden led him right to my father.

My entire body tensed, waiting.

But my father—stoic, reserved, proud—extended his hand. Derek took it. And instead of icy formality, there was a quiet exchange I couldn’t hear, and a nod that looked a lot like respect.

What the hell?

A rustle of silk signaled my mother’s approach. She held a flute of sparkling wine and wore an amused expression.

“He’s taken to Aiden, hasn’t he?” my mother asked, her tone deceptively casual as she sipped from her glass. She nodded discreetly toward Derek.

We stood slightly apart from the crowd, beneath a tree strung with glass lanterns that swayed in the breeze. Firelight flickered along the edges of the path, casting amber and rose shadows across the lawn. Somewhere behind us, a fiddle started up, the tune light and playful.

“Yes,” I said slowly, watching the way Derek leaned down so Aiden could whisper something in his ear. “He’s in love with him.”

She made a small, pleased sound in the back of her throat. “And is he in love with you?”

That question landed like a stone dropped into still water.

I turned to look at her, startled. “What?”

But she wasn’t looking at me. Her gaze was fixed across the lawn where Derek was now standing beside my father—my father—listening intently as Aiden launched into what looked like a very animated explanation involving sweeping hand gestures and some kind of pretend sword fight.

Then Derek looked over.

Our eyes met.

And he smiled.

Not the smirk I used to know, not the restrained nod he wore at press conferences or strategy meetings. This was warm. Soft. Open.

The kind of smile that reached all the way to his eyes. And gods help me, I felt it in my ribs.

I didn’t answer my mother.

She didn’t need me to.

She kept her voice low, almost thoughtful. “Even your father has softened his stance on the Silverclaw Alpha. And that’s not a sentence I ever expected to say.”

I followed her gaze, stunned all over again. My father wasn’t just tolerating Derek—he was speaking to him like an equal. They stood close, not guarded. And Aiden kept nudging between them, clearly delighted to have them both in the same orbit.

“You seem surprised,” my mother said.

“I am,” I admitted. “I never thought this would be possible.”

She tilted her head, her earrings catching the firelight. “Even the deepest rivers shift course eventually.”

Before I could unpack that cryptic remark, her eyes flicked toward the dessert table. “Speaking of the impossible—your brother and his scandalous rogue are canoodling behind the éclairs.”

I turned.

Sure enough, in a quiet corner behind the food tent, Mason had Erin tucked close against his side. She was laughing at something he whispered in her ear, and he looked at her like she was the only star in the sky.

“It’s nice to see him happy,” I said.

“It is,” my mother agreed after a beat.

I glanced at her. “I wasn’t sure you and Dad would accept Erin.”

She sighed softly, her eyes never leaving the couple in the corner. “You standing up for the girl made a tremendous impact.”

I blinked, caught off guard. “I didn’t think anyone noticed.”

“Oh, we noticed.” Her voice dropped to something more private. “You didn’t defend her with anger, or defiance. You did it with grace. With patience. You offered us the chance to see her through your eyes instead of forcing us to see her your way. That carries weight, Elena.”

My throat tightened. I didn’t know what to say.

She turned toward me fully now, her expression soft. “You have all the skills you need now as a Luna.”

Those words knocked the breath from my lungs.

The music shifted again—slower now, more ceremonial. The drummers had begun warming up at the edge of the fire circle. Wolves started to gather on the outer ring of the lawn where the torches had been staked in the grass, casting long, dancing shadows that seemed to stretch toward the trees.

My mother stepped closer, lowering her voice even more.

“Now,” she said, eyes glinting, “all you need is a pack to lead.”

And then she looked—unmistakably, deliberately—at Derek.

Not a glance. A full, lingering look.

Then she turned back to me, expression unreadable but knowing, and locked eyes with mine.

Something hot and wild stirred in my chest.

“Mom—” I started, but she was already moving toward the fire circle, regal as ever.

And I was left there alone beneath the lanterns, heart pounding like the drums that were signaling the start of the Moonbinding festivities.