Morning light filters through the cave entrance. I wake to Kieran checking his bandage, carefully peeling back the cloth.
"How is it?" I ask, sitting up.
"Closed enough to move." He prods the edges of the wound. "It'll hold."
I dress quickly in what's left of my clothes. The fabric hangs in tatters, but it covers enough. Kieran watches me, his expression unreadable.
"What?" I ask.
"Nothing. Just thinking how beautiful you look even in rags."
"Flatterer." But warmth spreads through my chest.
We leave the cave, moving north through dense forest. Kieran sets a steady pace. The trees grow thicker here, older. Sunlight barely penetrates the canopy.
After an hour, the forest opens into a clearing. I stop, breath catching.
Ruins rise before us. Crumbling stone walls covered in moss and vines. In the center, an altar stands intact despite the decay around it. Symbols cover every surface, carved in script I don't recognize but somehow feel I should.
"What is this place?" I whisper.
"The old Bloodfang temple." Kieran moves forward, running his fingers over the stones. "This is where our people made their vows. Marriages. Births. Deaths. All the important moments happened here."
I approach the altar slowly. The stone feels warm under my palm despite the morning chill. "It's beautiful."
"It was more beautiful once." He traces a symbol. "Before Ironvale tried to erase us from history."
"Why did they leave it standing?"
"They didn't know about it. The elders hid it with old magic before the massacre." He looks at me. "Only Bloodfang can find it now."
The implication settles over me. "I found it."
"You did." He moves closer. "Your blood remembers even if your mind doesn't."
I stare at the carvings, trying to make sense of them. Some symbols look almost familiar, like words on the tip of my tongue.
Kieran kneels near the altar's base, gathering something. He returns with ash in one palm and crushed flower petals in the other. The petals glow faintly silver in the morning light.
"Moonflowers," he says. "They only grow here. The elders said they were blessed by the Goddess herself."
"What are you doing?"
"Making a vow." He mixes the ash and petals together. "The way our ancestors did."
He dips his fingers in the mixture and draws symbols on my skin. Starting at my collarbone, trailing down my arms, circling my wrists. Each mark burns slightly, not painful but present. Alive.
"I vow to rebuild what was burned." His voice drops. "To raise our children knowing their true names. To honor the dead by giving life to what they protected."
The words settle into my bones like truth carved in stone.
I take the mixture from him, coating my own fingers. I trace the same marks on his chest, following instinct more than knowledge. Over his heart. Down his arms. Around his wrists where the chains left marks.
"I vow to stand beside you." The words come from somewhere deep inside. "To lead when you can't. To remember when you forget. To be the bridge between what was lost and what will be found."
He catches my hand, pressing my palm against his chest. His heartbeat thunders beneath my touch.
"The old vows required consummation on sacred ground," he says quietly. "To seal the promise with body and blood."
"Then let's do it properly." I pull him toward the altar.
He lifts me onto the stone surface. It's cold against my back, but Kieran's body covers mine, warming me. His wound pulls slightly, and he grimaces.
"We don't have to—" I start.
"We do." He silences me with a kiss. "This matters."
The full moon hangs low in the morning sky, visible through a gap in the trees. Impossible but present. Kieran notices my stare.
"The Goddess watches," he murmurs. "She always does here."
He enters me slowly. The symbols on our skin pulse with each movement, glowing brighter. It’s just us, together, on ground our ancestors considered holy.
I feel new life inside me stirring. Growing stronger. Certain. The knowledge sits in my belly like a small flame. I almost tell him. The words form on my tongue.
Then I stop.
Not yet. Not until there's hope beyond survival.
"What?" Kieran asks, noticing my hesitation.
"Nothing. Just thinking how perfect this is."
He kisses me deeply. "It is perfect. You're perfect."
We move together slowly, building rhythm. The bond flares between us, stronger than ever. I feel him in every cell, every breath. His love. His pain. His desperate hope that we'll survive this.
"Ardena."
"I'm here." I pull him closer.
The pleasure builds gradually, spreading through my entire body like sunlight. When the climax finally hits, it's gentle. Rolling. Complete. He follows moments later.
We lie together on the altar stone, breathing hard. The symbols on our skin fade slowly, sinking beneath the surface but not disappearing.
"We're married now," Kieran says quietly.
"Good." I trace patterns on his back. "I was getting tired of being Luna to the wrong Alpha."
He laughs. "You were never his."
"No. I wasn't." I touch my stomach briefly. "I was always yours."
"And I was always yours." He kisses my forehead. "Since the moment I saw you at that ceremony."
"Even though I was marrying him?"
"Especially then." He helps me sit up. "Made me want to burn the whole place down just to claim you."
"You basically did."
"Best decision I ever made." He hands me my torn dress.
I dress slowly, watching him do the same. The wound on his side looks better. Still healing but no longer bleeding. He catches me staring.
"I'll be fine," he says. "Takes more than one sword to put me down."
"Don't joke about that."
"Sorry." He pulls me close.
I lean into his warmth, letting myself believe it.
"We should go," he says. "The camp is another hour north."
We leave the ruins behind, walking hand in hand through the forest. The symbols on my skin tingle slightly, reminding me of the vows we made. The promises we sealed.
The life inside me pulses in rhythm with my heartbeat. Soon. I'll tell him soon.