Chapter 5

Dawn hadn't even broken over Holy Moon City, and the streets were already alive.

Silver-white petals carpeted the royal avenue from end to end. The banners of all seven great wolf clans snapped in the morning wind. The bells rang out seven times—the highest honor the Alliance could bestow.

It was the grandest Luna coronation in nearly two decades.

And none of it was for me.

I stood outside the city gates and looked back one last time toward the temple.

In the distance, I could still make out the tall spire of the Moon Goddess Tower. For eight years,…