Elara's POVThe sharp, metallic scent of blood filled the air as I knelt beside Luca. My hands were trembling as I pressed a cloth to his side, trying to stop the flow. His muscles were taut beneath my touch, the deep gash across his abdomen a brutal reminder of the fight he had barely survived.Luca Blackstone, the notorious Alpha of the Blackstone Mafia Pack, had once again taken down his enemies. This time however, it didn’t come without a cost.I shouldn’t be here, I told myself. But I couldn't stay away try as I may. Luca’s eyes were closed, his lips pulled into a frown. His eyes opened and they fell on me. I held my breath, afraid that doing anything would shatter this fragile moment.The moonlight cast an eerie glow across his face, highlighting the sharp angles of his jaw and the fierce, unforgiving look in his eyes. Even wounded, he exuded power, the kind that made everyone tremble in his presence. Well…everyone except me.“Sorry.” I mumbled when he winced.I pressed harder o
RAVENA YEAR AND A DAY LATERThe wind rolls over the Hollow, whispering through trees older than even the gods. The moon sits fat and silver in the sky above me, casting its quiet blessing over Eclipse Hollow. Below, the village glows with firelight and joy — tonight is the Festival of Reckoning, the anniversary of the day we came back changed.They don’t call it a trial anymore.Now, they call it the Day of the Offering — the moment when the world turned on its axis not because we conquered the old magic, but because we chose not to use it for destruction.I stand at the edge of the celebration for a moment longer, breathing it all in. Laughter, music, stories — living proof that peace is possible. That what Kael and I gave wasn’t just a moment of sacrifice but a lifetime of change.Behind me, I hear the crunch of familiar footsteps. I don’t even have to turn to know it’s him.“You’re brooding,” Kael says softly, pressing a mug of spiced cider into my hand.“I’m thinking,” I protest
Haylee's POVThe power coursing through me is like liquid fire, melting every cell in my body to something more powerful, to something greater. The Alpha strength of my father combines with my Luna nature to create powers I never knew could exist. Xavier staggers back as I reach my feet in all my glory, energy dancing around me like fireflies.“No way,” he mutters, and his half-shifted face contorts in disbelief and rage. "You're just a Luna. "You can't have Alpha power."“I’m not just nothing,” I inform him — my voice tinged with a fresh self-confidence that even the shadow creatures seem intimidated by. “I am all that my father was, all that I have been, all that I wish to be.Xavier rushes me in desperate rage, teeth bared and claws sharpened with shadow magic that flies around him like a cyclone. Now, his moves feel slow, few times predictable. I dodge his attack and catch his wrist, transmitting pure Alpha power into my hold.The shadow rot pulls back at my touch, and hisses in r
Aiden's POVAnd the scent of my son slices through the chaos like a blade, sharp and unmistakable despite the sour-sweet smell of shadow magic and spilled blood. I keep pushing my way through the squirming crowd of creatures, my Alpha instincts targeting the one source of those prints pushing on away from the main battlefield.“You’ll make this for me too easy Aiden,” Arielle’s voice drifts back to me, taunting and malicious. “Going right where I want you to go.I tune out her words, focusing on the warmth of Lior as it gradually leaves me. With every step I take, I get farther away from Haylee and Kael, farther away from the ritual circle where Xavier has his last, best shot at ultimate power. The rational part of my brain is screaming that this is a trap, that I’m being led away from where I’m needed most.But the dad in me doesn’t give a hoot. My son is out there, scared and by himself, and I don’t care about anything else.A shadow beast leaps at me from my left, and I rip into it
Haylee's POVSeeing Aiden vanish into the midst of the bedlam, chasing Arielle and our kidnapped son, is like having half of my soul torn from me. Every survival instinct in me is urging me to go after him, to leave everything behind and fight to get Lior back. But Kael’s small hand squeezes mine, pulling me back to what’s really real.“Mom,” he says softly, but his little voice is filled with a strength that shatters me, “we need to trust Dad. He'll bring Lior home."I ease myself back into my chair, and then look down at my surviving son — my brave, impossible boy who’s at this very moment trying to comfort me when he’s the one who needs comfort. His eyes are hazel like Aiden's but are determined despite the impending flood of tears.“You’re right,” I murmur, giving his hand a squeeze. “We’ve got to stand the line here.But, easier said than done, hold the line. United, the pair are able to balance the ritual's magic using Lior's strength, and now the energies are starting to scatte
Aiden's POVHaylee’s war in her own mind against her father rends my heart, but Xavier’s evolution gives me chills. The bastard has been outmaneuvering us at every turn—we've been doing nothing but playing directly into his hand."The ritual's giving him strength," I snarl to Marcus, who is standing frozen next to me as Xavier's physicality starts to swell and twist. "He never meant to heal the rift. He needed us to fish open it wider.”Marcus's jaw clenches. "Then we break the circle. Stop the power flow."“And run the risk of losing control of the boys’ powers completely?” I shake my head grimly. "Look at them."Kael and Lior are swathed in very clear supernatural light; their young faces are intense, scrunchy with concentration as they struggle to control the sort of forces that might rip holes in reality. If we interrupt the ritual prematurely without a shutdown procedure, it could destroy them.“There’s got to be a better way,” I mutter to myself, mentally racing through every pi