Free Web NovelChapter 521: Chapter 521 DIVE OFF THAT CLIFF
KIERAN’S POV
Running had always been my sanctuary.
Every Alpha knew the feeling—that exhilarating freedom of stretching every muscle beneath a full moon, the forest opening before you while your pack thundered at your heels like a single living creature.
Warriors ran beside elders without distinction.
Young wolves darted between their parents as joyful thoughts drifted through the pack bond, creating a tapestry of laughter, affection, and belonging unlike any other.
This was what being Alpha was truly about.
Not commanding an army or winning battles.
It was protecting nights like this. Protecting the freedom to simply run beneath the moon with the people we loved.
I had experienced this feeling countless times over the years.
Yet never like this.
Ashar’s joy coursed through me with such overwhelming force that it was impossible to tell where his emotions ended and mine began.
Every time I glanced sideways, silver flashed through the trees beside me, gloriously luminous beneath the moonlight.
Alina.
My mate ran at my side with effortless grace, her delight threading through our shared mind-link whenever she leaped over a fallen log or surged ahead before letting me catch up again.
The bond between our wolves felt so natural that it was difficult to believe we’d spent so many years separated by silence.
‘You keep staring,’ she teased, amusement dancing through the link.
‘Can you blame me? Little Silver, you’re the most beautiful sight for miles.’
Her laughter rang brightly through my mind.
‘I bet you say that to all the wolves you run with.’
‘Only the ones who have my heart in their hands.’
‘Smooth, Alpha. Real smooth.’
Amusement rippled through me as something settled quietly inside my chest.
This night was perfect.
And only one thing could make it better.
Gently, Ashar brushed his shoulder against Alina’s.
‘Come with me.’
She looked at me curiously.
‘Where?’
‘You’ll see.’
I nodded to Xander, and my Beta took my place at the head of the pack.
Together, Alina and Ashar veered from the trail.
The forest grew still around us, the pack’s joyful noise fading into a distant murmur until all I could hear was the wind sighing through the trees and the steady rhythm of our breathing.
Then the trees opened.
Moonlight spilled across the perfectly still lake, turning its surface into polished silver.
Alina slowed first.
For a long moment, neither of us moved as memories of our last visit surfaced.
When the silver markings had bloomed across her skin. When the moon had anchored to her, announcing to the world what Ashar and I had known all along—that she was extraordinary.
I watched her drift toward the water’s edge, where she watched her reflection in the smooth surface.
The sight reminded me of another lake—where she had first seen her true self.
Where Ashar had first looked upon the silver wolf whispered about only in legends.
Even now, months later, she still took my breath away.
Alina moved towards me, rubbing her cheek against mine affectionately. ‘What are we doing here?’
I let the contact linger, breathing in the scent of moonlight, freshwater, and the intoxicating lavender that was uniquely hers.
’Ending one story’—Ashar bumped his head against hers—‘and beginning another.’
She tilted her head, and her curiosity made my pulse stumble.
I stepped back, and Ashar receded as effortlessly as he’d come, golden fur melting beneath the silver light until I stood on two feet once more.
The cool night air kissed my skin, carrying the scent of pine and the distant echoes of our pack beyond the trees.
A moment later, Alina’s form shimmered.
Silver dissolved, and Sera stood where Alina had been, her hair spilling white over her shoulders and the silver markings beneath her skin glowing as though the moon had chosen her as its reflection.
The joy she’d worn throughout the evening still lingered in her eyes, lighting up every feature until she was radiant.
I was filled with a peace I’d chased for years, not realizing it slept down the hall across from me.
And yet, beneath that peace, another emotion churned.
Nervousness.
It was absurd. I’d faced rogue armies, stood before the Dark Lord himself, and stared death in the face more times than I cared to count.
None of those encounters remotely compared to this.
Sera knew me well enough to notice. Her brows furrowed as she searched my face, her fingers finding mine.
"What is it?" she asked quietly. "You look...”
She studied me for another moment before reaching up to smooth a loose strand of hair away from my forehead.
“Gods, Kieran, you look terrified.”
I tried for a smile. "Am I that obvious?"
“To me?” Her smile softened. “Always.”
She pressed a palm to my chest. “Your heart’s racing.”
“Well, we did just finish running.”
She gave me an unimpressed look. “Nice try.”
I laughed softly.
She tipped her head, amusement returning to her eyes. "So...are you going to tell me what’s making the mighty Alpha of Nightfang look like he’s about to dive off a cliff?"
I let out a slow breath and looked down at our joined hands, tracing my thumb across her knuckles.
I had imagined this moment so many times over the last two weeks that I’d convinced myself I’d know exactly what to say.
Now that it was here, every carefully rehearsed word had abandoned me.
"I’m trying to remember the speech I practiced," I admitted.
Sera blinked. "Speech?"
I huffed out an awkward laugh, rubbing the back of my neck. "You would think I haven’t given dozens of those before a much larger audience.”
She moved closer and cupped my cheek, her eyes glowing like sapphires. She was so beautiful, and she looked at me with so much love and adoration that I thought I was going to spontaneously combust.
“I don’t need a speech, Kieran,” she whispered. “I know what’s in your heart.”
I closed my eyes, leaning into her touch.
"Marry me."
The words left my mouth before I even realized I’d spoken them.
My eyes snapped open.
I could only stare at her, equal parts horrified and stunned that I’d blurted it out so unceremoniously.
Sera mirrored my expression, her eyes impossibly wide, her lips parted in startled silence.
Well, time to dive off that cliff.
Very slowly, without letting go of her gaze, I lowered myself onto one knee.
Her fingers slipped from my face.
“Kieran...” Her voice was barely more than a whisper, trembling around my name as the shock gave way to understanding.
I reached toward a thick cluster of moonflowers growing beside one of the old roots by the lake.
Hidden beneath them, exactly where I’d left it earlier that afternoon, was a small velvet box.
When I lifted it into the moonlight, Sera slapped a hand over her mouth to muffle her sharp intake of breath.
My fingers trembled as I opened it.
Nestled inside rested a delicate silver ring crowned with a luminous moonstone, its pale blue radiance echoing the moon above.
The same moon that had paired us together.
The same moon that had watched us fall apart.
The same moon that had led us back together.
A piece of the moon on a ring.
Tears gathered in Sera’s eyes before I’d spoken a single word.
I’d spent weeks rehearsing this speech, convinced that if I chose every word carefully enough, I could somehow make up for everything that had come before.
I knew I couldn’t, but I needed her to hear the words anyway.
"I keep thinking about the first time we got married," I started. "Not because it’s a memory I treasure, but because every time I look back on it, I find something else I wish I’d done differently."
My gaze lifted to hers, and I managed a small, rueful smile. "I never have to look very hard; I did almost everything wrong."
A soft crease appeared between her brows, but she didn’t interrupt.
I continued, my thumb brushing over the velvet box, "I told myself I was doing the honorable thing by taking responsibility, but responsibility isn’t the same thing as choosing someone. You deserved a proposal. You deserved a ring because I wanted the whole world to know you were the woman I’d chosen. You deserved a wedding where everyone we loved gathered to celebrate the beginning of our life together."
I let out a quiet breath that felt as though it had been trapped inside me for years.
"Instead, you got signatures on a piece of paper. You got a husband who spent ten years standing only a few feet away from you, yet somehow made you feel completely alone. I convinced myself that a roof over your head and food on your table were enough, that it somehow excused everything else I failed to give you."
The words came more easily now, not because they hurt any less, but because I’d stopped trying to soften them.
"I never courted you. I never learned your favorite flowers or your favorite food or favorite song. I never danced with you beneath the stars. I never looked at you the way a husband should have looked at his wife, even though you were standing right in front of me all along."
My fingers tightened around the little velvet box.
"I robbed us of memories we should have had, and if I could go back and give you those years—years you could look back on with fondness instead of heartache—I would."
My voice faltered, and I swallowed against the tightness in my throat. "Gods, I would trade anything to erase the man I was and become the one you deserved from the beginning."
She was crying now, silent tears slipping down her cheeks, but she never looked away.
"I know this ring doesn’t erase the past." I looked down at the velvet box before lifting my eyes to hers again.
"It doesn’t undo every lonely night, every word left unsaid, every moment you believed you weren’t enough because I was too blind to see the miracle standing beside me."
I drew a slow breath.
"This time, I don’t want duty. I don’t want obligation. I don’t want fate to make the choice for either of us"
I held her gaze, letting her see every regret, every hope, every ounce of love I had for her.
"I choose you, Seraphina. I will choose you every day for the rest of my life, and I will spend that life trying to be the man you deserve.”
She let out a small, choked sob, and I gathered the courage to forge on.
"So..." My voice wavered as emotion threatened to steal it altogether. "Will you do me the greatest honor I could ever ask for"—I lifted the ring toward her—"and marry me again?"
