Chapter 5 A Name That Starts Wars

Thalia

The mark on her shoulder pulsed like a second heartbeat.

Not painful. Not pleasant. Just... alive.

Thalia stared at the glowing sigil on the altar, her fingers still pressed against the carved stone. It shimmered beneath her skin like moonlight trapped under water.

"You feel it, don't you?" Veyr said, voice low. He stood a few paces behind her, respectful of the moment, but close enough that his presence wrapped around her like a cloak.

She didn't answer.

Because she didn't need to.

Yes. She felt it. Something ancient. Something vast. The kind of power that didn't ask for permission. The kind of power that remembered.

The clearing thrummed with magic, so old it made her teeth ache, her blood hum. The runes weren't just carved into the altar. They pulsed with life. Memory. Will.

And they knew her.

"You said this was where my mother died," she whispered.

"Yes."

"Then why does it feel like she never left?"

Veyr exhaled, his breath curling like smoke in the cool forest air. "Because the Luna Flame doesn't burn in death, Thalia. It waits."

She turned slowly. "Waits for what?"

"For the one who can wield it."

Her laugh was bitter, sharp. "I'm a healer. Not a warrior. I don't even know what I am anymore."

"You're your mother's daughter. You're marked by the Alpha, tied to a bond neither of you understand, and blood-sworn to a magic the Council tried to erase." He stepped closer. "You're not just a healer. You're a fuse."

Thalia swallowed. "And what happens when I burn?"

Veyr's smile didn't reach his eyes. "Then Moonridge learns what they tried to bury."

---

Cassian

He'd read the same letter five times.

To the Elders of the Council,

I, Alpha Cassian Blackthorn, will not take another Luna while the bond remains intact. I request time to investigate the origin of the flare that registered at the Black Hollow perimeter last night, and will not engage in political matches under duress.

-C.B.

Kael slammed his hand on the table. "This is suicide, Cassian. They're calling your loyalty into question. Again."

"They can question it all they like," Cassian replied, eyes hard. "I'm not playing politics while Thalia's out there with her name on every whisper."

"They're not just whispers. They're threats. Crescent has started recruiting mercenary wolves. Elira's planning a private engagement ceremony without your approval. And the youngbloods think you're too lovesick to lead."

"I'm not their puppet."

"No," Kael snapped. "But right now, you're not much of an Alpha either."

Cassian stood slowly. "Then I'll remind them."

---

Thalia

The fire crackled low that night. She couldn't sleep.

She sat curled beneath a blanket, her mother's journal in her lap. She reread the same entry, again and again:

The Luna Flame is not a crown. It is a reckoning. It cannot be worn, it must be earned.

Veyr had gone silent after their visit to the altar. He hadn't followed her when she walked away. He hadn't hovered when she returned to camp. But he was always close. Watching. Waiting. Like he knew what she was going to ask before she did.

Finally, she broke the silence.

"You said my name would start wars."

He looked up from where he was cleaning his weapons. "I did."

"Why?"

"Because you're the heir to the Syndicate," he said. "By blood. By birthright. And because your mother made enemies who swore that no child of hers would ever rise."

Thalia blinked. "I thought the Syndicate was rogue. Not royal."

"It is," he said. "But that doesn't mean we don't follow rules. Or bloodlines. Your mother was the last of the Blackridge line. She left, yes. But she never renounced it. That means you're the next."

She stared at him. "I don't want to lead anyone."

Veyr's expression softened, just slightly. "Doesn't matter what you want. The moment Cassian marked you, the moment the Council exiled you, they made you a symbol. You can either let them shape that symbol, or you can define it yourself."

She closed the journal. The wind outside whispered through the trees, almost like it agreed.

"I don't want to be a symbol," she said quietly.

"Too late," Veyr replied. "You already are."

---

Cassian

He stood before the Council at dusk.

Elders sat in their curved thrones, cold eyes following his every move. Crescent representatives lingered in the back, draped in moon-cloaks, smug with silent threats.

He didn't flinch.

"I'm invoking Alpha's Right," he said clearly.

The chamber stirred. Whispers. Murmurs.

Elder Mora leaned forward. "You intend to override the Council's directive?"

"I intend," Cassian said, "to defend what's mine."

Elder Verin sneered. "A girl who fled your pack?"

"A girl you drove out with fear," Cassian snapped. "One who bears a bloodline even your histories can't name. And one the bond has not rejected."

Verin slammed his staff once. "And if the bond fails?"

Cassian's voice was low and lethal. "Then the next time she walks through those gates, it will not be as my mate-it will be as your replacement."

Gasps echoed through the chamber.

Kael muttered, "What the hell are you doing...?"

Cassian didn't blink. "I'm giving them a choice."

---

Thalia

"You need to train," Veyr said the next morning. "Now."

Thalia looked up from where she was meditating beside the ruins. "You mean fight?"

"I mean survive. The Council will send someone eventually, either to kill you or to drag you back."

She stood. "Then teach me."

He tossed her a short blade. "Try to hit me."

She moved quickly, instinctively, blade slicing the air.

He dodged it with barely a step. "Again."

She struck again. And again. And again.

Every time, he was faster.

But every time, she was closer.

By midday, her arms ached, her hair clung to her skin, and her chest burned from effort. But she didn't stop.

"I'm not strong enough," she panted.

"Not yet," Veyr said. "But you will be. You don't need to be the fastest. Or the strongest."

"Then what do I need to be?"

He looked her dead in the eyes.

"Unbreakable."

---

Cassian

He walked the Moonridge training grounds that night.

Every warrior stopped and bowed. Every recruit straightened their spine.

Kael followed behind him like a ghost.

"You really think she's going to come back?" Kael asked.

Cassian didn't answer.

Instead, he looked up at the night sky.

The full moon hung low, pale as a scar.

He thought of her scent in the clearing.

The pain in her eyes.

The burn in his chest every time he turned and didn't see her.

"I don't know if she'll come back," he said softly. "But I know I'll be ready when she does."

---

Thalia

That night, when the fire burned low and Veyr finally slept, Thalia walked alone to the altar.

She stood before the stone.

No blade. No guide.

Only her.

She placed her palm on the runes.

They lit instantly.

This time, they didn't just glow.

They spoke.

Images filled her mind-her mother casting protective spells, wolves burning with white fire, Crescent banners falling to ash.

And then, her own face.

Standing in a hall of fire, not beside an Alpha, but above them.

A voice echoed in her bones.

The Luna Who Wasn't Chosen... must become the Luna Who Chooses.

Thalia opened her eyes.

And whispered the name her mother had hidden.

"Ryker."

The runes flared in answer.

And somewhere, deep in Moonridge, Cassian woke with a start.

His bond mark burned.