"I already agreed to be your Luna," I said, blinking. "Or are you... are you asking me to make it official now?"

"Yes," Blaise said, his voice hopeful. "I know you have accepted the fact that you’re going to become Fangborne’s Luna months ago, but Damon and I both think that this is the right time for you to truly take up the position of Luna. We want to make your position official now, among the pack."

"Now that Blaise has been crowned Alpha, we cannot delay your own coronation any longer. You’re ready for your own coronation ceremony now," Damon continued. "We believe this is the right time."

"What happens during the ceremony?" I asked curiously, since I had never seen one before.

Surely it wouldn’t be anything like my mating ceremony with Damon, would it?

I didn’t think I would have the stomach to go through something so public again, even if I had bedded Blaise and Damon plenty in the privacy of our own rooms.

Blaise snickered, guessing what I was thinking about.

Damon rolled his eyes and said, "It’ll be nothing like the mating ceremony, I assure you. You can keep your clothes on. We’ll simply have to let the pack witness your ascension under the light of the full moon."

Suddenly, I understood why they were so eager to get an answer from me. The next full moon was only a week away.

But was I truly ready?

Then again, there was only one way to find out. I had learned a lot in these past few months; now it was time to put myself to the test.

"What am I supposed to do?" I asked. I doubted that it would be something as simple as an announcement and me waving to the crowd of werewolves that made up my pack.

"We’ll bow under the light of the full moon, and you’ll recite your vows to the pack," Blaise explained.

My eyes widened; I had never written vows before! Hell, I haven’t even written vows for my mates!

"You can reuse the vows our mother wrote when she took over the position, or write your own," Blaise said, sensing my panic. "It’s nothing much, as long as the pack and Moon Goddess can sense your sincerity, that’s enough. The ceremony ends with a dance and we’ll break for supper."

"I see," I said faintly, the thought of making a speech in public causing my palms to sweat.

"Damon did something similar when he was crowned Alpha, but he did it with a lot less clothes, a lot more blood, and a lot more growling. It made quite an impression. You can follow his example if you like," Blaise added impishly.

"Oh fuck off," Damon grumbled, but there was no heat behind it. "At least I wasn’t the one holding a basket of leaves and smearing it all over my body."

That honor went to Blaise, who did that for his own coronation to Alpha a week ago.

"Those were medicinal herbs, and it was a tribute to the Moon Goddess for her grace and mercy!" Blaise retorted. "After all that we’ve been through, I would roll myself in a heap of dung during my coronation if I had to."

"Good thing you didn’t," Damon replied with a grimace. "I might have to disown you if you had. The smell would have made me so grateful to lose my wolf for good."

Before the bickering between brothers could devolve into childish insults and casual violence, I cleared my throat.

"I guess I’ll have to get started then," I said, my breath shaky.

"So you’re agreeing?" Damon asked. I nodded. Both brothers beamed at me with delight, taking turns to kiss me on the lips.

"Thank you for giving us a chance," Damon said quietly.

"I should be the one saying that to both of you," I said, "You were the ones that believed in me." 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

And I couldn’t let them down.

"May I have a copy of your mother’s vows?" I asked, and Blaise pulled out a sheet of paper from his office table. Clearly, he had done his preparation beforehand, in the hopes that I would agree.

"Here it is," Blaise said. "Remember, you can use this as a reference! Damon and I are not expecting you to follow in our mother’s footsteps."

I glanced down at the paper and felt sweat beading down my temples. Their mother’s vows took up an entire page and had many Latin words peppered throughout. This seemed to promise that she would rain hell on their enemies and curse them to death.

Then I recalled that she was an oracle with magical abilities. Those threats probably held more weight when she said them.

I guess I was on my own then.

"Alright, give me some time. I’ll make sure to write a great vow for the ceremony!" I promised.

***

The days ticked on, and soon, the night of my coronation had arrived. The moon hung low and bright in the sky, almost close enough that one could imagine touching it with their hands. The pack was bustling with excitement as they filled the stands of the very same arena I fought Damon in many moons ago.

Back then, they were actively booing me and wishing for my downfall. Now, it was something else entirely. I sucked in a deep breath from my waiting spot, willing myself to calm down.

I thought about everything that I endured. After whatever grief my mother put me through, it seemed almost nonsensical that I could still be nervous to give a speech.

’Good luck,’ Blaise’s voice came through loud and clear from the other end of the arena, giving me much-needed encouragement. I squinted; next to him, Damon had put up a thumbs-up.

’Walk out of there with your head held high. You can do this! Remember, just speak from your heart, and nothing will go wrong.’

I nodded and walked out. It was now or never.

"Thank you everyone for coming," I began. Luckily, my voice wasn’t trembling. I seemed to have forgotten everything in my script, but Blaise’s advice rang loud and clear.

"As you all know, I started off as an utter weakling who hated Fangborne," Stunned gasps echoed through the air. "My old pack had been decimated, and I was brought here against my will. I never thought I would call this place my home, but the Moon Goddess clearly wanted to prove me wrong. The longer the time I spent here, the more I thought about Fangborne as my new home."

I smiled a little stiffly at the crowd, my eyes scanning through all their faces. While I recognized many, some were still new and unfamiliar, people whom I needed to familiarize myself with if I was to be a good leader for them.

"Now, I can no longer conceive of another pack I wish to serve as thoroughly as this one. I want to be your strength in times of crisis, your rock in the storm. I want to be the one who delivers a basket of apples when you are hungry, the oasis when you’re thirsty, the one that helps this pack grow and reach greater heights."

The crowd was strangely silent, all of their eyes trained on me with bated breaths as they waited for me to finish my speech.

"It is my honor now, to be your Luna, if you will have me."

There was a moment of stunned silence, and I feared the worst. Then, I was swept away by a sea of tumultuous applause and cheering. Cries of Luna Harper filled the air.

I did it. The speech was a success.

Before I could walk away and sink down to the floor somewhere, I felt a great power well up between me. A blend of pain and adrenaline rushed through my body. It forced me to shift and howl at the moon, its silvery light raining down upon my fur in what felt like a bath of ethereal light.

The Moon Goddess!

My fellow pack members followed suit, and suddenly it felt like my brain was getting pulled in many directions at once, linking to every wolf in my pack. I could hear their frantic screams, all targeted at me in congratulatory screams of joy. While not everyone was excited about my current position, given how hard they made it for me when I first arrived, at least the majority were positive.

My heart swelled with warmth as I gazed upon the crowd. They had swarmed over, throwing flowers and confetti into the air, items that had seemingly materialized out of nowhere.

My gaze crossed the distance and met with that of Damon’s and Blaise’s from across the sea of bodies. They beamed, and no words were needed for me to understand exactly what it was that they felt― pride.

I could only mirror their emotions. After everything, after all this time, I was now, and forever more, Fangborne’s Luna.