Chapter 172: Let The Fun Begin

What was this? I couldn’t fathom it no matter how hard I tried.

This was really Astrid. In my place. In my chambers. Coming to find me, coming to seek my attention like I was something she needed.

The Astrid I knew would never do such a thing. She was so self-serving that she wanted everyone to bow at her feet ... and lick them if possible. She never wanted to be seen as anything less than a queen.

Yet everything she had chased so desperately her entire life, I had gotten without a single ounce of effort. Still, this was a change I hadn’t seen coming in the slightest.

"So nice to see you, Selene." She was touching my clothes, my face, running her fingers along my sleeve like she was confirming I was real. We were alone ... not completely, I had two guards posted nearby ... but it felt oddly intimate.

"Nice to see you too, Astrid. I didn’t know you’d be coming to the festival. I’m surprised," I said.

"No ... I came to see you. It was you I came to see. I came for you specifically." There was something in her voice I wasn’t used to hearing from her. Sincerity. Raw and unpolished. So I decided to listen.

"That’s really kind of you. How have you been?" I asked.

"I’ve been good. Life has been moving along fine. At least I didn’t die ... thanks to you and your invention," she said.

I smiled at that. The cure had been for everyone’s benefit, including mine, so I wasn’t about to sit there and take all the credit.

"How are Mum and Dad?" I asked.

"They’re doing fine. It’s been a while since I last saw them, but they’re well enough." Astrid replied.

Not that I genuinely cared how they were doing. I was only asking to appear like I did. I didn’t.

"Oh, that’s great," I said.

"You’re living the best life right now, Selene," Astrid said, looking around my chambers with something that wasn’t quite envy anymore. It was closer to admiration.

I laughed softly. "Forget all the glamour you see. With great power comes great responsibility."

"Yet it’s such an honour to carry that responsibility." Her tone shifted entirely then ... something heavier settling into her words. "Luna, I’m here to tell you I’m sorry. I’ve been carrying this guilt with me for so long."

She looked like she was about to cry. Like the words had been pressing against her chest for years.

"Sorry for what?" I asked, pretending I had no idea what she was referring to.

"You know, Selene. In the past I treated you badly. I called you names. I framed you. I turned our parents against you so they’d prefer me over you. I took your mate..."

The moment she started recounting it all, tears almost fell from my eyes without my permission. Pain doesn’t go away just because time passes. It just learns to sit quieter.

"It’s okay, Astrid. Why are you bringing all of this back up?" I asked.

"Because I feel the pain of it now. I see how much wrong I did, how much damage I caused ... and now it’s all coming back to me. Please forgive me, Selene. So at least the weight of it can go away." Her voice cracked on the last word.

I stood up from my chair just to avoid looking her directly in the eyes. I didn’t want to cry. Not here. Not in front of her. I walked over to the table and poured juice into two glasses, keeping my hands busy so my face could settle.

"Why here? Why now?" I asked without turning around.

"Because this is the only chance I have to see you. You’re always busy, Selene. I can never get a hold of you anymore ... so it was now or never." I could hear her sobbing behind me.

This was real. The drama queen ... my sister, the woman who had made my life a living hell ... had come to ask for my forgiveness.

I turned around and handed her one of the glasses, then took a slow sip from my own.

"It’s a process," I said. "I’m working toward forgiving you, and I will. But thank you for coming here. Thank you for saying it out loud. I appreciate that it took something real in you to show up like this. That means you’re intentional."

"Take your time, Selene." She steadied herself slightly. "But always remember ... we’re family. No matter what. Before you knew anyone else in this world, you knew family."

I managed to look her in the eyes then. They were red. Not staged, not performed. She was really crying.

"That’s always in my mind," I said quietly.

She stood up slowly. "I’ll leave now. Can I hug you?"

"Why not?" I closed the distance between us and we held each other tightly. She cried against my shoulder ... real, heavy sobs. She was truly remorseful.

There’s nothing fame and glory can’t do to a person, I concluded. Humbles even the proudest of them.

"Your husband is here, right? Send him my greetings," I said as we pulled apart. That seemed to gladden her in a way nothing else had during her visit. I told her to enjoy the rest of the festival and she left my chambers, disappearing back into the crowd.

It was only then I realised how much time I had spent with my sister. I barely had enough left to rest and prepare for the evening session. Workshops were still running, board games and all kinds of activities for the younger wolves ... the kind of noise and laughter that reminded me why this festival mattered.

But I didn’t even want to lay eyes on Lucian again. Because I would hit him. I genuinely would. It was despicable ... absolutely despicable ... what he’d done to me earlier, and the fact that he was still walking around out there holding his wife by the waist like he hadn’t tried to grope me just hours ago made my blood simmer.

I avoided violence purely out of strategy. Otherwise, he would have tasted hell before he ever made it back to Winterwood.

The evening crept in fast and I was the one opening it, so I spent the remaining time making sure the announcement was tight and the tech team was in position. This particular night was going to be something ... car races, competitive games, the kind of night where male wolves had their chance to impress their mates and initiate the marking.

The irony was that these games always came down to luck more than anything else. The ones who should have won didn’t, and the underdogs walked away with everything. It never got old watching it unfold.

All the royalty was in position at our usual spot and I could see Lucian from where I stood ... that ridiculous face of his, arm around his wife’s waist ... the same hands. I turned away.

"Welcome to the second night of the festival!"

The crowd erupted. Ten thousand voices screaming like they never wanted this to end.

"I’d like to open tonight by first letting you know there’s going to be a lot of sports ... so get your gloves, your shoes, and your heads in the game. Tonight is about earning what’s yours and claiming your mate."

Fireworks cracked open the sky above Icefang.

"But before all of that ... my team and I have been working on something." I paused, letting the screens come to life behind me. "This is a digital library. An app built to give every wolf in Morvaine access to our oldest books, our archives, every piece of history that belongs to us. Everything you’ve ever wanted to know about where we come from ... right in the palm of your hand. It is my honour to present to you the Morvaine Digital Library."

The QR code appeared on every screen across the open space. Downloads started immediately.

"Thank you, Luna! Thank you, Luna!"

Their chants rose above the fireworks. I hadn’t expected them to receive it the way they did ... that kind of raw, unfiltered joy from ten thousand people at once did something to your chest that was impossible to describe.

"Enjoy the rest of the night," I said into the mic, and set it down.

The fun began. And from the look of things ... it was never going to end.