The cold night air rushed across the terrace, brushing against Odesse’s face as she stared back at Kael in a tense, suspended silence. He stood before her, his breath catching as his eyes locked onto her features in absolute disbelief.

Sensing his overwhelming shock, she stood up quickly from the stone floor, her movements fluid yet frantic as she reached up to wipe the lingering tears from her cheeks. Her eyes widened, her chest heaving slightly as she whispered his name into the quiet dark. "Kael?"

Kael couldn’t take his eyes off her, his voice trembling slightly under the sheer weight of his astonishment. "Your Highness... you are alright. You’re okay."

Odesse looked down for a brief second, a soft, fragile smile breaking through her grief as she looked back up at him. "How did you know it was me?"

He stared at her, the rigid, stoic mask he had worn for the past month finally fracturing. A genuine, soft smile broke across his weathered features—a rare, luminous expression that instantly lifted the heavy burden of stress from his face, replaced entirely by profound relief. "Your... your hair," he murmured slowly, gesturing slightly toward the striking silver strands. "It is completely unique. I could only guess it was you."

Odesse sniffed, a small, wet chuckle escaping her lips as she nodded. "Yes. You’re right."

Kael’s smile remained gentle, his voice dropping into a tone of quiet certainty. "Azure... that woman has surely placed a spell on his highness. But you are alive. I knew you were from the very beginning."

Odesse looked up at him slowly, her silver eyes shimmering with unshed tears. "You did?"

"Yes, I did," Kael replied, his gaze unwavering and full of reassurance. "You are not the type to give up, Your Highness. I know we did not get along in the very beginning. I admit that I saw you as nothing more than a dangerous distraction to his highness, a vulnerability that might cause severe problems for the stability of this kingdom. But I know better now. You are the glue that holds it all together."

At his words, a fresh wave of tears broke free, tracking hot and fast down Odesse’s cheeks. The validation from the King’s most loyal commander pierced right through her emotional defenses. "Oh, Kael," she choked out, her voice trembling violently. "She... she did something truly evil to him. I thought it would be so easy to stand in front of him tonight. I thought I was ready to face him, even knowing he doesn’t remember me anymore. But it was so hard. I felt like I was completely melting the moment he touched me. I tried so hard to keep my composure on that dance floor, but..."

She stopped, using her arm to desperately wipe the fresh moisture from her cheeks, her lips quivering as she forced herself to meet his gaze. "But I could not. He truly doesn’t remember me at all." The raw pain swelled in her eyes once more, making her flinch away in sudden shame. "I am so sorry. You have to see me like this. It is pathetic, is it not?" She shielded her face again, her shoulders shaking. "You are probably standing there thinking how incredibly weak of a queen I am."

Kael stepped a half-pace closer, his expression softening with immense respect. "I do not think that at all, Your Highness."

Odesse slowly lowered her arm from her face, looking up at him through her lashes as he continued to speak with a calm, smooth authority.

"I genuinely believe you are incredibly strong," Kael said, his eyes dropping briefly to her flat belly before rising back to meet her gaze. "I know that throughout this past month, you have gone through unimaginable hardships. And despite knowing that coming back to his highness would actively endanger your life, you still chose to return. I cannot begin to comprehend how difficult it must have been for you to feel his touch tonight while knowing his mind has forgotten you, yet you did not break."

Slowly, deliberately, the formidable First Commander sank down onto the cold stone, dropping one knee firmly to the ground.

Odesse gasped softly, looking down at his bowed form in sudden panic. "Kael, what are you doing?"

Kael looked up at her, a profound smile gracing his features. "I do not know what your personal definition of a true queen is, Your Highness. But from my understanding, a true queen is someone who selflessly puts her people before herself. A true queen is someone who possesses a humble soul, yet knows exactly how to cherish and protect her loved ones. And lastly, a true queen is a woman who never, ever gives up on her king." He paused, his gaze burning with fierce devotion. "You, Your Highness, fit every single one of those criteria."

With an air of absolute reverence, Kael placed his right hand flat over his chest, right above his heart, adopting the sacred posture of a warrior making an unbreakable vow. "Which is why I shall forever serve you, the true queen, for as long as you and his highness live." He lowered his head, completing the formal, submissive bow of a pack commander to his sovereign.

Odesse stared down at him, her heart swelling with an overwhelming warmth. Fresh tears rolled down her cheeks, her mouth quivering with deep emotion as she took a shaky breath. As Kael looked back up, she quickly wiped her face, a soft, graceful chuckle escaping her lips.

"You really are an incredibly loyal man, Kael," she said, her voice rich with gratitude. "I am so happy his highness had you by his side this past month. I... I truly thought everyone would have forgotten about me by now."

Kael stood up slowly, straightening his massive frame as he shook his head. "No one forgot you, Your Highness. Everyone in the palace still talks about you constantly. Azure is not nearly as good of a replacement as she thinks she is."

Odesse’s expression shifted, a flicker of guarded worry crossing her features. "Does his highness hear them talk about me?"

Kael paused, his jaw tightening slightly before he answered honestly. "He does. But whenever he hears your name, he gets deeply uncomfortable and confused. Azure spun a lie, telling him that you were a previous wife who died as a direct result of him mating you."

Odesse’s eyes widened in sheer disbelief, her breath turning sharp. "She said that?!"

Abruptly, she turned her back to Kael, walking toward the edge of the stone balcony. Her hands clenched into tight, trembling fists at her sides, her silver eyes turning dangerously cold as she stared out into the darkness. "I have never hated anyone in my entire existence as much as I hate that woman," she whispered, her voice laced with a lethal, icy precision.

Then, slowly, a sharp, calculating smirk crept up the corners of her lips. She tilted her head up, letting the brilliant moonlight wash over her face. "But she better not believe for a single second that I came back here without a plan. His highness’s soul still craves for me. She may have successfully wiped my physical existence from his conscious mind, but she could never wipe away the absolute control I have over his heart and soul."

Standing a few paces behind her, Kael watched her carefully, a sense of awe washing over him. "She really has become more confident," he thought to himself, a spark of pride igniting in his chest. "If there is one thing Her Highness is exceptional at, it is getting exactly what she wants. But... I do have one burning question."

He cleared his throat quietly, breaking the silence. "Your Highness, I personally searched for you across every border and throughout the neighboring packs, but we found nothing. Where..."

Odesse’s hands paused. She slowly brought them down to her sides and turned around, moving with a fluid, ethereal grace to face him once more. A soft, enigmatic smile played on her lips as she tilted her head slightly. "That is because I was never anywhere near the neighboring packs, Kael."

Kael’s brow furrowed in deep confusion. "What pack were you in then?"

Odesse turned her back to him once more, looking up into the vast, starlit sky with a serene, distant smile. "A pack that was absolutely beautiful," she murmured softly, her voice carrying a dreamlike quality. "A place that was completely full of radiant life. You see, Kael... the day I went missing, I was standing on that cliff, utterly devastated after losing my friend, my unborn child, and my entire world. I was ready to give up. In truth, I had already given up on everything. But while my physical body lay deeply unconscious..."

As she spoke, the cold air of the Bloodfang terrace seemed to fade away, and the memory forcefully dragged Odesse’s consciousness back to that fateful, terrifying night.

In her mind’s eye, she was back on the forest floor beneath the cliff. Her physical body lay completely lifeless, while her spirit was violently pulled upward, away from that realm, and dropped into a magnificent, surreal forest clearing.

In this realm, the thick air hummed with ancient power, and the moonlight shined with a brilliant, blinding intensity that defied nature. Odesse’s spiritual form lay flat on the luminescent grass. Slowly, weakly, she forced her heavy eyelids open. Her eyes ached terribly against the radiant atmosphere as she tried to comprehend her surroundings. Staggering heavily, she pushed herself up onto her feet, her legs shaking as she looked around the empty, glowing space.

"The spirit realm?" she whispered aloud, her voice echoing hollowly. "What am I doing here? Am I... am I not supposed to be dead?"

"No. Why would you be dead, child?"

The voice appeared directly behind her. It was soft, gentle, and deeply resonant, sounding like a warm, maternal breeze carrying the rolling rhythm of ocean waves.

Odesse turned around quickly, her spiritual body almost tumbling from the sudden movement as her eyes locked onto the towering, ethereal presence of the Moon Spirit. The deity stood before her, shrouded in pure, celestial light.

Tears immediately began flowing down Odesse’s cheeks, her voice turning thick and choked with built-up agony. "My friend just killed himself!" she cried out, her chest heaving as the trauma poured out of her. "I have lost my child! I am stuck in that miserable place for the rest of my life, and Azure... Azure is currently after his highness! Why did you not warn me about her? You could have told me what she was planning, but instead, you went completely silent!"

The Moon Spirit did not flinch at the outburst. Instead, she began to hover slowly around Odesse, her divine movements completely silent. "What makes a person truly great, Odesse?" the spirit asked softly.

Odesse looked at the deity, her mind spinning with confusion. "What... what do you mean?"

"A great person does not let their guard down simply because they feel they have a higher protection," the Moon Spirit lectured gently, her radiant eyes fixated on the mortal girl. "My divine duty towards you is to protect your life. Therefore, no matter what tragedies or enemies befall you, I will forever shield you from the jaws of death, until the day you yourself decide it is time to cross over. But the people around you are not my responsibility."

The Moon Spirit paused, coming to a halt directly in front of Odesse.

"It is entirely up to you to be vigilant, Odesse," the spirit continued, her tone shifting into something firmer, carrying the weight of ancient law. "Because you must remember one crucial thing: I will not step in to save the people around you just because you love them. But you, most definitely, possess the power to save them yourself."

Odesse lowered her gaze, her voice dropping into a soft, defeated whisper. "But you still could have warned me. You could have given me even a small hint about what Azure truly was."

"If I remember correctly, Odesse," the Moon Spirit countered smoothly, "the very first day you came into physical contact with Azure, I sent a distinct message directly to your soul. I told you that I sensed severe trouble. But you brushed it away as nothing."

Odesse looked down at the spiritual ground in silent defeat, knowing the deity spoke the absolute truth.

"If a newborn bird refuses to ever fly away from its nest to gather food because it expects its mother to always provide for it, then it will never be prepared to survive the real world," the Moon Spirit said, her voice echoing with profound wisdom. "Yes, the mother will bring it a worm from time to time. But it is ultimately up to that baby bird to decide its own fate: will it eat just that one single worm and remain in its nest, hungry and unbothered, or will it finally release its wings, descend into the wild, and hunt for abundance on its own?"

The Moon Spirit stepped closer, her divine presence enveloping Odesse in a wave of pure, comforting warmth. Slowly, she extended her radiant hands forward, gently placing her fingers beneath Odesse’s chin and lifting her face so their eyes met.

"Odesse, I am a part of you not to stop you from thinking for yourself, nor am I here to handle your battles while you remain off alert," the spirit whispered, her touch burning with a sudden, fierce empowerment. "I am here to strengthen your soul and prepare you for the heavy weight of the future. You are no longer Odesse the human servant, who bows her head down to kings and queens. You are Odesse, the Alpha Queen—the one who makes even the King himself bow down to her. Always remember that."

Odesse stared into the magnificent eyes of the deity, a lone tear rolling down her cheek as the words settled deep into her spirit, shattering the last remnants of her weakness. A new, unyielding resolve sparked within her chest.

"How..." Odesse asked slowly, her voice steadying as she looked at the blinding light around them. "How do I get out of here? How do I go back?"

The Moon Spirit smiled gently, stepping back a pace as the brilliant light around them began to fracture and swirl.

"You have to die first," the spirit replied calmly.

Odesse’s eyes widened in sudden shock, her breath hitching in her throat as the spirit realm began to dissolve around her. "What!?"