Chapter 14 The Ashes of the Old World
The journey back from the Grey Peaks was silent, but it was a silence filled with the weight of a new era.
We travelled in a Lycan transport, the boys asleep in the back, their heads resting on each other’s shoulders.
Silas was in a high-security containment cell, his magic suppressed, his mind likely already plotting his next move—though I would ensure he never got the chance.
As the sun began to peek over the horizon, casting a pale gold light over the Eastern Region, I looked out the window at the sprawling forests of Koforidua.
“Sienna’s father is in custody,” Silas’s second-in-command, a man named Kael who had quickly switched allegiances, informed me.
“And Sienna... she was found at the base of the peaks. She’s alive, but her wolf has been shattered by the feedback of your blast. She’s human now.
”
A human in a wolf’s world. For a woman who prided herself on “purity,” that was a fate worse than death.
“Let her live,” I said. “Let her see the world through the eyes of the people she used to look down upon.”
Killian sat across from me, his gaze fixed on the floor.
He looked like a man who had been hollowed out and rebuilt with different materials.
“Elara,” he said, finally looking up.
“The Council will try to fight your protectorate. They are old men who fear change.”
“Then let them fear me,” I said.
“I am not the girl they bullied. I have the Northern Empire at my back and the Silver Lineage in my blood. If they want a war, I will give them a winter they will never wake up from.”
“I will handle the Council,” Killian said.
“I will be your shield in the south, so you can rule the north. But... will I ever see them? The boys?”
I looked at Leo and Liam, then back at Killian.
The hate was still there, but it was being eclipsed by something else—a weary respect.
“They need to know who their father is,” I said.
“Not the man you were, but the man you are trying to become. You can visit them once a month, under guard. If they want to see you more, that will be their choice when they are older.”
Killian nodded, a single sob escaping his throat.
“It’s more than I deserve.”
“It is,” I agreed.
As the transport descended toward the Black Mountain Pack house, I saw the crowds gathered at the gates.
They weren’t cheering. They were watching in silence, waiting to see what their new Queen would do.
I stepped out of the vehicle, my silver hair gleaming in the morning light.
I didn’t look at the Alphas or the Elders.
I looked at the omegas, the cleaners, the healers, and the outcasts who stood at the back of the crowd.
“The old world is ash!” I shouted, my voice carrying to every ear.
“The era of purity and rejection is over. From this day forward, the Black Mountain is a house of the Silver Queen. Here, your strength is not measured by your rank, but by your loyalty to your kin.”
I felt a surge of warmth from the bond—not from Killian, but from the pack itself.
A few wolves shifted and howled, a sound of hope that began to spread through the crowd like wildfire.
I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was Liam.
He looked up at me with his golden-silver eyes, a small smile on his face.
“Mama,” he said. “The air smells like flowers again.”
I looked at the gardens I used to tend, where the frost was already beginning to melt, revealing the first buds of spring.
“Yes, it does, Liam,” I said, pulling him close. “It finally does.”