The Invitation
LENA POV
Silvercrest Pack House stood against the wooded hillside, its pale stone walls covered with silver-and-white banners for the annual Silver Moon Gathering.
The Gathering was one of Silvercrest’s oldest traditions. Once every year, allied packs came together beneath the autumn moon to renew old ties, settle quiet disputes, and honour the bloodlines that had helped build the territory. As Silvercrest’s matriarch, Grandmother would open the ceremony herself before the moonrise feast.
By the time we arrived that afternoon, expensive cars filled the long driveway. Alphas, Lunas, Territorial Council wolves, and heirs from several neighbouring packs were already entering the main residence.
Madam Wynne stared through the window. “All these wolves came for one gathering?”
Ethan’s expression tightened. “Mother.”
I turned toward the window before she saw my smile.
When the driver opened my door, Ethan’s attention shifted to the necklace at my throat. He had been staring at it since I came downstairs that morning, but he had waited until now to ask about it.
“Where did you get that?” he asked.
“A gift.”
His gaze sharpened. “From whom?”
“We’re already late,” I replied instead.
His hand closed around my wrist before I could step out, and Sera immediately pushed forward beneath my skin.
I lowered my gaze to his fingers.
He released me.
“Your pack already thinks they’re above mine,” Ethan said quietly. “Don’t give them another reason to embarrass me today.”
Ethan was always confident inside Shadowfang Territory, but whenever he entered Silvercrest, something in him changed. His shoulders became stiffer, and he watched every important wolf as though he were measuring the distance between their rank and his own.
I stepped out without answering.
My father stood near the entrance receiving the arriving Alphas. His expression changed the moment he noticed Madam Wynne behind us.
“I wasn’t aware there would be three of you.”
Madam Wynne smiled as though she had personally been summoned to the Gathering.
“Our packs are connected through Ethan and Lena’s ceremonial mating bond. Surely that is invitation enough.”
My father’s face became impressively blank.
Before he could respond, Ethan stepped forward. “Alpha Somers, I have good news. His Majesty will be attending the Silver Moon Gathering.”
My father’s entire attention sharpened. “What?”
“I invited him personally,” Ethan added.
I said nothing.
Unfortunately, Father’s gaze immediately moved toward me and narrowed.
He knew me too well.
Mother appeared before he could question me, and unlike Ethan, she noticed my cheek immediately.
“Lena, what happened?”
“It’s already handled.”
Father heard that. “Handled by whom?”
I was saved from answering when movement near the gates silenced several conversations around us.
Silvercrest guards immediately straightened as a line of black vehicles entered the estate.
Sera rose inside me.
‘He’s here.’
The strange awareness I always felt around Julian spread beneath my ribs before the first vehicle had even stopped.
Ethan adjusted his jacket while Madam Wynne smiled with obvious pride.
“I told you,” she whispered. “He came because of Ethan.”
Two Lycan guards stepped from the first vehicle. Then, the rear door of the second opened.
Julian emerged wearing a black suit with the silver Lycan crest fastened at his collar.
Conversation around the entrance faded almost immediately.
Several Alphas lowered their heads.
Even the Silvercrest guards seemed to stand straighter.
Ethan moved quickly to stand beside my father.
“Your Majesty.”
Julian acknowledged him briefly before his gaze moved past him and found me.
Sera went completely still.
His eyes dropped to the dark red stone resting against my throat, and the corner of his mouth lifted.
It lasted barely a second.
Ethan saw it anyway.
Julian walked past him and stopped directly in front of me.
“Red suits you better,” he said quietly.
Heat climbed into my face.
Before I could answer, Grandmother’s voice came from the entrance.
“Are you planning to keep the Supreme Lycan outside until moonrise, Lena?”
I turned.
Grandmother stood at the top of the steps wearing the ceremonial silver cloak reserved for Silvercrest’s matriarch. The old crescent crest had been fastened across her chest, and amusement filled her eyes as she looked between Julian and me.
I stepped aside.
“Of course not.”
Julian climbed the steps and inclined his head respectfully to her. “Matriarch Somers.”
“Your Majesty.”
One of his guards stepped forward with a narrow silver case.
Julian handed it to Grandmother.
“For Silvercrest’s Gathering. The Locke archives recovered this last winter.”
Grandmother opened the case.
Inside rested an old moonstone seal engraved with Silvercrest’s original wolf crest.
For the first time that afternoon, genuine surprise crossed her face.
“I thought this had been lost generations ago.”
“So did my archivists.”
Grandmother closed the case carefully. “Then Silvercrest owes you, thanks.”
Ethan immediately moved closer. “Your Majesty, I’m glad my invitation reached you.”
Julian looked at him. “Your invitation?”
Some of Ethan’s confidence disappeared. “I mentioned the gathering to your people yesterday.”
Julian’s gaze shifted toward me before he answered. “Lena had already invited me.”
No one spoke for a few seconds, but that was enough for Madam Wynne's expression to change.
Even Father was looking at me differently now.
Ethan narrowed his eyes in suspicion. “She did?”
Julian didn't bother answering him.
Instead,Grandmother smiled.
“Then it seems we have Lena to thank for bringing such an honoured wolf to Silvercrest’s Gathering.”
That was probably the warmest thing anyone from my birth pack had said about me in months.
As Grandmother led Julian inside, he slowed when he passed me.
“The cheek looks better,” he murmured.
I looked up sharply, but he had already continued walking as though he had said nothing.
Ethan appeared beside me almost immediately.
“When did you invite him?”
“Yesterday.”
“Where?”
I adjusted the necklace Julian had sent me before meeting my mate’s eyes.
For once, Ethan was the one searching for answers.
I saw no reason to make it easy for him.
“Does it matter?”
I walked into Silvercrest before he could ask another question.
The effect of Julian’s arrival spread through Silvercrest before he had even reached the ceremonial hall.
Wolves who had been moving freely through the residence slowed as whispers passed from one group to another.
The Supreme Lycan had come to Silvercrest’s Silver Moon Gathering.
By the time I entered behind him, half the guests near the entrance were already trying to understand why.
Madam Wynne, however, had no doubts.
“My son invited him,” she told a Luna, standing nearby. “Ethan spoke to His Majesty personally.”
The Luna smiled politely, but her eyes flicked toward me before she moved away.
I kept walking.
Julian had already been escorted toward the front of the hall where Grandmother and Father received the most powerful visiting wolves.
Even surrounded by Alphas, he stood out without making any effort to do so.
He was not louder than anyone else. He did not demand attention. Yet every wolf nearby seemed instinctively aware of his presence.
Sera certainly was.
She had been strangely quiet since he entered Silvercrest, but I could feel her attention fixed on him beneath my skin.
‘Stop staring,’ I told her.
‘I’m not the one staring.’
I immediately looked away.
Beside me, Madam Wynne was still studying the hall.
Silvercrest’s ceremonial wing was far larger than Shadowfang’s main packhouse. Silver moon banners hung between tall windows, while the crests of allied packs had been arranged around the room according to territory and rank.
Representatives from nearly every important pack in the region had come for the Gathering.
Madam Wynne tried not to look impressed, but her eyes kept moving from the ancient Silvercrest crests to the Territorial Council wolves gathered near Grandmother.
At the entrance to the inner ceremonial hall, one of Silvercrest’s attendants stepped in front of her.
“Your invitation, please.”
Madam Wynne blinked. “I’m with my son.”
The attendant checked Ethan’s invitation before looking back at her.
“This invitation admits Alpha Yancey and Luna Lena.”
Her face changed immediately. “I’m his mother.”
“I understand, Madam, but tonight’s inner moon ceremony is restricted to invited wolves and recognized members of the Silvercrest bloodline.”
Ethan looked uncomfortable.
“Lena.”
Of course.
I stepped closer and lowered my voice to the attendant.
“She’s with me. Please add her to my party.”
The attendant hesitated briefly before stepping aside.
Madam Wynne entered with a dissatisfied huff.
“Your pack has a way of making everything more difficult than necessary.”
I looked at her.
“You weren’t invited.”
She ignored the comment.
The moment she noticed several she-wolves wearing territorial council pins, her expression brightened, and she headed toward them.
Ethan was no better.
He had already found Julian across the hall and was watching the group of powerful Alphas gathered around him.
“I’m going to greet His Majesty properly,” he said.
“You already did.”
“This is different.”
I understood what he meant.
Several influential Alphas and Territorial Council representatives had gathered around Julian, and Ethan wanted to be seen among them.
He adjusted his jacket before walking away.
For a moment, I watched him work his way toward Julian’s circle. He greeted two Council wolves he barely knew and positioned himself close enough to join the discussion if Julian acknowledged him.
Julian did not.
Instead, he continued speaking with Father and an Alpha from the western territories while Ethan remained nearby, waiting for an opening and smiling whenever anyone glanced his way.
A year ago, I might have felt embarrassed for him.
Today, I saw it differently.
Ethan had spent the entire morning telling me how highly Julian regarded him.
Yet now he stood only a few feet from the Supreme Lycan, waiting to be noticed.
Meanwhile, Madam Wynne was already moving from one powerful wolf to another, introducing herself whenever she found the opportunity.
Neither of them had asked Grandmother a single question about the Silver Moon Gathering they had come to attend.
I almost laughed at his words, but I held back and turned away.
There was someone else I wanted to see.
