Emma pov

　　Ava walks up to me, standing by my side. The ballroom is frozen, all the guests looking at us with faces utterly shocked and surprised. I feel proud, and confident in the turn of events. My heart races, but this time it's not from anxiety but excitement. I'm thrilled to finally be able to tell the truth.

　　I'm not sure how long the silence lingers, how many seconds or minutes everyone gazes in my direction with Ava by my side. But when the silence is broken, it's Daniel who does it. He starts applauding and lets out a whistle!

　　"Princess of Truth, long live Emma!" He declares in an excited and powerful shout, whistling again. "Long live Emma, the wolf of truth, princess of the stars, of truth, and of friendship. Long live Emma!"

　　Daniel gets the people to start applauding, and I'm flattered by the gesture. Matthew approaches me with a wide smile on his lips, joining in the applause. More whistles are made, and livelier music starts playing in celebration.

　　"Ladies and gentlemen, guests, and my wolf pack. Although you've come here to celebrate my twenty-fifth birthday, the reality is that I want to celebrate this victory. This achievement was made by Emma Smith. A resilient, strong, charismatic wolf, with the most beautiful smile I've ever seen. Emma could never harm anyone, and the proof of that is here today, in front of you all! Ava was well taken care of here with us, in the Night Howlers Pack," Matthew begins his speech with a firm and focused voice. He reaches out to Ava, who accepts the gesture. She passes by me and goes to the other side where Matthew is, putting the alpha in the middle of us.

　　Alpha Tim and his son Michael look on with still catatonic expressions. This fills me with pride; I finally managed to shut Michael up! The slanders he was enjoying saying to me too much will no longer hold water.

　　"I hope this act of kindness, camaraderie, and trust is etched in your hearts. May it show that the Night Howlers Pack is a merciful, kind pack to those who deserve it!" Matthew concludes, still holding Ava's hand and raising it as if offering my best friend back to her father and brother.

　　Ava goes to her father with teary eyes, ready to cry. Alpha Tim Davis embraces his daughter tightly, shaking my best friend's body. "My daughter, my girl is alive! By the glory of the divine, you're well, my little girl!" Alpha Tim Davis stammers emotionally as he hugs his daughter.

　　Michael approaches and joins the hug with his father and sister. He says nothing, only staying with his arms around his father and sister's shoulders.

　　"The most precious gift of this evening, my dear guests, is this family being complete again!" Matthew declares and leads another round of applause for Ava and her family. I clap with enthusiasm, with genuine happiness in the situation. Ava was eager to go back home; I wish I could feel that too. But Moonshadow Pack, I can't see it as my home anymore.

　　"Night Howlers Pack, home?" Accalia purrs in my mind. With a smile already on my face because of Ava, I simply lessen it a bit with the question.

　　"Not sure yet, Accalia. You like it here too, don't you?" I mentally point out, feeling Accalia stir inside me, in agreement.

　　My eyes focus on Matthew, and how stunning he looks tonight. The way we danced tango made me desire him even more, longing to stay and feel ecstatic again in Matthew's arms.

　　"Please, let's continue with the party. DJ, let's liven up this place a bit more!" Matthew declares after Ava's reunion with her father and brother.

　　Alpha Matthew Anderson leads the three to the table of honor guests. I remain at the door of the ballroom, watching the four of them move away. As happy as I am with the reunion, I don't want to be near Michael, not after the absurdities he said.

　　"Emma. Emma, the kitten came, the kitten came!" Charlotte emerges from between the tables, running excitedly.

　　The young wolf is too charming. Her dress is light pink with white flowers, quite puffy in the skirt, with bows at the hem. Charlotte's black hair is braided, falling on her shoulder as she stops running. I crouch down to talk to her at her height.

　　"What kitten, Charlotte?" I ask, confused. The girl spins around and points to the wizard Vini, who is now sipping a drink and chatting with two other wizards who were invited. I smile and then laugh, remembering Charlotte's vision. "Oh, Vini. Yes, as your brother promised, he invited the wizard Vini. Want to go say hi with me?" I suggest, and Charlotte jumps with joy at the idea.

　　Charlotte holds my hand, and I notice her excitement to talk to Vini, her enthusiasm filling me with joy. There's still a childlike innocence in Charlotte, even though she has such important powers for the pack.

　　We approach Vini slowly, waiting for an opportunity between the conversation he's having to introduce Charlotte. It doesn't take long for that to happen; Vini looks at me and opens a welcoming smile.

　　"Emma, hey! Good to see you, girl!" Vini opens his arms in an animated manner to greet me. "And who's this little fairy, beautiful?" he asks toward Charlotte, who is shyly standing next to me.

　　"She's Charlotte, Matthew's sister. She wanted to come over here to say hi to you. Isn't that right, Charlotte?"

　　Charlotte nods her head, not saying much. This makes both Vini and me chuckle. "Are you a cat?" Charlotte asks timidly.

　　Vini isn't bothered or embarrassed by the little wolf's question. "Unfortunately not, little fairy. I'm just a wizard," Vini responds as if he were saddened by not being a feline, he waves his hand in the air quickly, and sparks of magic jump from his fingers, impressing Charlotte, "But I can create plush kittens." He announces and shows in the palm of his hand a small black plush kitten with a strip of red fur from head to tail, reminiscent of his own hair. "For you, little fairy!"

　　Charlotte is excited about the new toy and takes it from Vini's hand with much animation. "Cool! Thank you, Vini!" she thanked him with even more joy.

　　Vini winks at her, and I also thank him with a whisper.

　　Shortly after, Charlotte starts running again between the tables in the ballroom, leaving me alone with Vini.

　　"Thank you so much for coming! I was very happy!" I say sincerely, and Vini nods as if it were nothing special.

　　"I wouldn't miss the chance to meet the girl who saved my best friend in the forest!" Vini replies with humor.

　　We talked for several minutes; Vini told me all the times he and Daniel did crazy things to each other. After almost ten minutes of conversation, Beta Liam calls me.

　　"Matthew would like you to come to the table of honor guests, please, Emma," Liam asks politely, and I agree.

　　The table is quite long, my seat is next to Ava and on the other side with an alpha that I can't seem to figure out which pack he's from. Matthew is sitting at the head of the table, the seat of honor. Our eyes meet, and I allow a gentle smile to form on my lips. I notice that sitting across from me is Michael, and I do my best to ignore his presence.

　　Many people at the table started asking how I managed to locate Ava, their curiosity sparking a bit more caution in me. I can't reveal that it was because of Charlotte's prophetic visions. I recount finding Ava first in the forest because I wanted to be alone for a bit, to deal with my own grief. Anything involving the truth about Charlotte, I hide, telling a lie over it to protect her. However, Michael becomes suspicious and starts bombarding me with questions. I answer them all naturally, but my patience starts to wear thin.

　　"I just find it strange how you simply found Ava and didn't tell anyone until today. Is there something you were planning to do? Kidnap Ava, perhaps..." Michael suggests accusatorily.

　　"Michael, how absurd! Emma would never do something like that to me. She went along with Alpha Matthew to find a solution to my fainting spells and memory loss. They were just protecting me. They would never do something like that," Ava defends me firmly, but her brother is convinced.

　　"Don't be naive, dear sister. You can't see people's bad intentions like me and dad. Don't trust these two too much," Michael accuses us.

　　"I know people's bad intentions well. Especially from our own Moon shadow Pack, brother. The story of how we got to where we are, do I need to remind you?" Ava retorts.

　　Michael is taken aback by Ava's accusation. Matthew furrows his brow at me, not understanding what's happening. I didn't tell him about how cruelly Moonshadow Pack acquired their own territory.

　　"If you want, we can show the treacherous intentions that our ancestors made," Ava suggests.

　　"Ava, that's enough!" Alpha Tim orders with authority.

　　I feel proud of Ava; we exchanged a look of complicity, and I'm grateful for it.