The scrolls arrived under armed escort, sealed with the Lycan King’s crest and the polished signatures of his senior council. The wax still glistened with heat when the messenger delivered them to Celine and Leon’s chambers.
Celine held her breath as Leon cracked the seal and read the contents in tense silence.
Then—he exhaled. Slowly. Deeply.
“They’re releasing us,” he said.
Celine blinked. “They are?”
He nodded. “No charges. No restrictions. No more delays.”
It didn’t feel real at first.
After all the interrogation, the surveillance, the veiled threats—the idea of freedom felt distant, like something spoken in a language she used to understand. But it was there, in ink and royal decree.
She laughed—quiet and breathless, the sound full of disbelief and relief.
Leon reached for her before she could say another word, pulling her into him. His mouth found hers in a kiss that wasn’t just victory—it was promise. A tether. A claim.
When they broke apart, his forehead rested against hers, both of them breathless.
“You,” he whispered, “are everything I’ve ever wanted.”
Her heart caught in her throat.
“I thought I was a liability,” she said softly. “A burden. A prophecy waiting to explode.”
“You’re mine,” he said, voice firm. “And I would choose you in every life. In every war.”
Celine swallowed. Her eyes shimmered. “I love you.”
Leon cupped her face, brushing a thumb under her eye.
“You are the only thing that’s ever felt right. Even when the world isn’t.”
She wrapped her arms around him tightly, burying her face in his neck. “I want to go home.”
“We will,” he murmured. “But not as the she-wolf who arrived in chains. You’ll walk out of here as Luna. And they’ll remember it.”
They stood like that for a while, tangled in silence and each other.
Outside, the palace pulsed with secrets and soft-footed spies.
But inside, there was only this—love, quiet and fierce.
And the echo of a war that wouldn’t reach them. Not tonight. Tonight was just theirs.