The wind brushed against my cheeks as I sat quietly at the edge of the cliff, overlooking the forests below the High Council's territory.
Everything stretched endlessly, the tall trees, the flowing rivers, and the distant mountains that disappeared into the fog. It was the kind of view that made you forget the noise in your head.
It had been five years since I was rescued. Five years since I ran. Five years since I last saw him. But most of all, it had been five years since my wolf, Lilith, passed away.
I still remembered the day it happened, the aching silence, the way my chest felt too tight to breathe. I didn't realize how loud it was inside me until it was gone. Lilith was supposed to be with me until the end, my other half, the piece of me that understood without needing words. Losing her felt like someone had reached into my soul and ripped it apart.
When I woke up, I tried so hard to connect with her, but silence was the only thing that answered me.
For weeks, I couldn't sleep. I couldn't eat.
No one dared to approach me but one, my older brother. His name is Nicholas. He's twelve years older than me. I know, he's pretty old, but his age didn't get in the way for him to gather a lot of admirers everywhere he went.
He was there for me the whole time I was grieving. It felt strange, suddenly having someone by my side. Or maybe I just wasn't used to leaning on someone. At first, it was awkward, but eventually, as the days passed, I realized we actually shared a lot of things in common—how we both liked the color mint, how we liked to stare at the sky at night. Those little things slowly made me warm up to him.
Because of his presence, the silence became manageable. Still painful, but it no longer crushed my chest like before.
It wasn't just Nicholas, though. There were others, like Ash, Peter, Vaughn, and Emily. They're my cousins and around my age, though Vaughn and Emily are slightly older. Ever since I stepped foot here, they have been nothing but kind to me.
Though I'm more close to Ash than the rest, probably because he's more quirky and loud, and he can always make me laugh when I badly need one.
Because of them, I began to embrace my true identity. That's when I started remembering things I didn't understand. At first, it felt like a hazy dream. Then a woman's face began to appear, someone I had never seen before. She had white hair, violet eyes, and was cradling a baby as she smiled softly and called her Selene.
At first, I thought it was just my grief playing tricks on me. But the dreams became clearer the more I spent time with them. And the more I let go of my old identity, the worse the dreams became. They were different every time, but the people in them remained the same.
I opened up to them, and the moment I saw their reaction, I knew they were hiding something. Of course, I didn't back down. I persisted until they finally caved in and told me the truth.
They told me that everything I was remembering was a fragment of my past, my memories from when I was a child. I was confused, but I also realized something.
I had never once seen a photo of me as a baby with my parents. Not even one. Not even with my Uncle Seb.
That's when they told me the truth behind our identity, and what happened to my parents.
Our family are members of the powerful Nightingale Clan, a bloodline that once held one of the oldest seats in the High Council. My mother was a warrior-seer, my father a military strategist. They were betrayed by their own allies when I was barely two years old. The attack was quick and brutal. My uncle Tristan—Ash's father—was the only one who knew I survived. He placed me in Bloodmoon, under a different name, and erased every trace of my past.
They couldn't take me back or reach me as the danger still loomed, it was only until they fully eradicated the enemy did they tried to find me again.
Now everything was clear. Why I felt like I didn't belong there.
I used to wonder who I was. Now, I knew the truth.
My real name is Selene Nightingale.
The moment I accepted my real name, who I really was, something changed in me. First, it was my eyes, my storm grey turning bright violet. Then my hair began to change as well, strand by strand, until it faded into snow-white. It didn't happen overnight.
It was slow, like the girl I used to be was shedding, making space for the woman I was becoming.
Everyone noticed the change. Some whispered. Some stared. But no one dared ask. And when it was finally done, my uncles and aunts smiled at me, telling me that I looked more like my mother now.
And hearing their compliment, I began to wonder if I can also become the woman my mother used to be.
Hearing her stories, how fearless she was of her foes, how brave she was. Now. I aspire to be like her.
I trained day and night nonstop, they told me even with my wolf gone, I still retain some of my abilities as a werewolf. So I'm not gonna waste my wolf's sacrifice for me. I vowed to no longer be weak.
Eventually. I became one of the top fighters in the High Council. Not because I had something to prove, but because it was the only way I knew how to survive. I studied different styles, trained under various mentors. I sparred with wolves twice my size and beat half of them to the ground.
There were days I pushed myself too far. Ash would drag me out of the training halls and force me to rest. It was annoying, but I knew he meant well.
"Selene?" a voice called behind me, breaking my thoughts. I still haven't really gotten used to that name.
I smiled faintly without turning. "Ash, how do you always know where to find me?"
Ash sat down beside me, legs stretched out, as he rest his arms behind his head. "It's not hard when you disappear after dinner and leave your plate untouched. That's your tell. Plus, this is like your safe haven, where else do i ahve to look but here?"
"I wasn't hungry."
"You're never hungry when something's bothering you. What is it?" he asked, nudging my side gently.
I let the silence settle for a moment before speaking. "Do you think she's proud of me?"
Ash looked at me, his usual grin fading. "You still wonder about your wolf?"
I nodded.
"Well...I think she'd be amazed," he said softly. "At how far you've come. At how you didn't let the pain turn you into someone cold."
I blinked, swallowing hard. "I waited for her for so long, yet the time we spent together was so slim."
"I know."
"She's supposed to be with me right now."
"She still is," Ash said, pointing at my chest. "Right there. In every breath you take."
I placed a hand over my heart. It was quiet. But it beat steady.
"You think I've changed too much?" I asked after a while.
He turned toward me. "You've changed. But not too much. You're still the same stubborn, a little sweet, sharp-tongued girl who once punched me in the face for stealing your lunch."
I snorted. "You deserved that."
"I did," he grinned.
Then his tone shifted, becoming more thoughtful. "But you've grown. You've become someone people look up to. Not because of your bloodline, but because of how you carry yourself. You earned everything you have now."
I stared out at the horizon. "Sometimes I still feel lost. Even with all of this, the training, the titles, the truth about who I am, sometimes I still feel like I'm trying to catch up to someone I can't reach."
"Maybe you're not supposed to catch up," Ash said. "You're your own person. Why try to be someone else?"
That struck something deep inside me.
The wind picked up again. I closed my eyes and let it move through me.
"You know," Ash said, standing and brushing the dust off his pants, "Vaughn wants us to gather tomorrow morning."
I tilted my head. "Why?"
"I'm not supposed to tell you this, but I think you should know." His voice turned serious, and his gaze narrowed.
"A mission came through tonight. A pack has been asking for help for months. The attacks have gotten worse."
"What pack?" I asked, already sensing something sink in my gut.
Ash hesitated before answering. "Bloodmoon."
My breath caught.
The name tasted like rust in my mouth. Like a wound that had never truly healed.
"Does my brother know?" I asked.
"Nicholas was against it at first. But he's bound by duty, he can't do anything about it or else he'll be receiving punishment." Ash said.
"Apparently they're being targeted by rogues. They need fighters. So the High Council granted them our team to serve as temporary aid—to train their fighters."
I looked at him. My face was unreadable, but my thoughts were loud. And I know he can read me like a book.
"But you don't have to go," Ash said quickly. "I can talk to Dad. Say you need more time. He'll understand."
I stood slowly, brushing off the dust on my hands. "No. I'll go."
Ash's brows furrowed. "Are you sure? You shouldn't push your—"
"This is work," I said calmly. "That's all it is."
He studied me for a moment, then gave a slow nod. "Alright. We leave in two days. And pleaseee, just act surprised when they tell you."
I chuckled at him and nodded, turning my gaze to the night sky, hoping it would calm down the turmoil in my heart.
But even as the air around me stilled, my heart did not.
Bloodmoon Pack.
After all these years… Am I really going to return?