Blessed By The Moon

Chapter 60

Echo's POV:

I shoved the heavy doors open, the echo of my boots slamming against marble carrying down the hall. Storm followed, unbothered as ever, straightening his shirt like he hadn't just murdered two people in front of a packed courtroom and challenged my father for his title.

"Echo-"

"Don't you Echo me right now!" I spun around, fire practically crackling in my chest. "Do you even realize what you just did?"

He blinked, slow and calm, that dangerous stillness he always had after violence. "Yeah. I ended a threat. And I told your father the truth. I'm not letting him-"

"I don't care that you killed two people in front of the entire court! Hell I would have done it myself." I snapped. "But challenging my father for his title like this is some blood-soaked medieval play! What were you thinking, Storm?"

Moon, I'm tired of having the same fight over and over.

His jaw tightened. "I was thinking I'm tired of being treated like an animal they can chain or exile whenever it suits them. I've had enough."

"Oh, you've had enough?" I laughed bitterly, voice shaking. "Well, congratulations! You've just declared war on my family!"

He didn't flinch. Not once. Just stood there with that look that made me want to both hit him and....ugh....kiss him.

"I won't apologize for standing up for us," he said, voice low. "They wanted us dead, Echo. He wanted me gone. If your father thinks he can rule me, he's forgotten who I am."

My fists clenched. "You think this is about pride? About power? Storm, look at me..." I stepped closer, forcing him to meet my eyes. "People saw you shift. They saw you tear through two wolves like they were paper. You didn't use a single ounce of magic or aura."

"So what?"

I stared at him, stunned. "So what? You fucking idiot. people will figure it out!"

He frowned. "Figure what out?"

"That you're not using your Moon power." My voice dropped to a whisper, fury laced with panic. "That you lost it." That we lost it.

The silence hit like thunder.

For a moment, his confidence faltered, just barely, but I saw it. His pupils dilated, his breath caught, and that wolfish certainty flickered behind his eyes.

He took a slow step back. "No one... no one's noticed."

"Not yet," I hissed. "But they will. Wolves can smell power, Storm. And when they realize their unstoppable future  Alpha is fighting on pure rage alone, they'll come for us. Every one of them, maybe even the hunters once the news spreads."

His jaw tightened, eyes darting toward the doors, as if expecting the walls themselves to start whispering.

"Shit."

The word came out quiet. 

For the first time in hours, Storm didn't look like the indestructible force that had faced my father in open challenge. He looked human, like a cornered wolf who'd just realized his own pack was about to turn on him.

I exhaled sharply, stepping back, crossing my arms just to stop myself from shaking.

"This is what happens when you act first and think later," I muttered. "You're powerful, Storm. But power means nothing if everyone sees it's gone."