Chapter 122

Simon's POV The air inside the ceremonial hall was heavy with expectation. Even for an Alpha, I could feel the pulse of hundreds of heartbeats, a living drumbeat beneath the marble floor. Moonlight spilled through the towering arched windows, silvering the banners of every allied pack. They stood witness to this moment, to us. My eyes found Aisha's across the aisle, and everything else ceased to exist. She walked toward me, dressed not in finery for display but in something that radiated strength, a white gown embroidered with threads that caught the moonlight, flowing like water around her. She was power, wrapped in grace, and as she came closer, my wolf Blake pressed against the surface of my mind, almost bowing. Mine. When she stopped in front of me, our fingers brushed. The touch alone was enough to steady the storm that had been raging in me since the day she vanished. No words passed between us, but there was no need. Every heartbeat said what I had been trying to tell her for mo