Chapter 14: The Goddess's Judgment

The pain was blinding.

It felt like Jason was ripping my soul out through my chest, thread by golden thread. The dark magic from the dagger was a greedy, bottomless pit, trying to swallow the light of the Moon Goddess.

I heard Kael roaring my name, fighting desperately against the invisible barrier holding him against the wall. But his voice sounded miles away.

Give up, Jason’s voice hissed in my mind. You were always weak, Elara. You were nothing before me, and you will be nothing without your power.

I looked up at him through the tears of agony. He was grinning, his face twisted with triumph as the golden light poured into his body.

And suddenly, I understood.

My mother hadn't bound my power because I was weak. She bound it because the power of a True Heir cannot be stolen. It can only be given.

Jason wasn't pulling my magic. I was letting him take it.

I stopped fighting. I stopped resisting. I let go of the leash completely.

And then, I pushed.

I didn't just let him take the power. I flooded him with it.

Jason’s eyes widened in shock as the golden light pouring into him became a blinding, torrential flood. The black dagger in his hand began to glow red-hot, sizzling against his skin.

"What—what are you doing?" he screamed, trying to pull away, but he was locked in place.

"You wanted the power of the Goddess," I gritted out, forcing myself to my feet. "Take it."

The divine energy was too pure, too bright, too holy for a heart as dark as his. The black dagger shattered into a thousand pieces. A massive explosion of golden light threw Jason across the temple.

The invisible barrier holding Kael vanished. He was at my side in a heartbeat, his arm wrapping around my waist to keep me upright. I was drained, trembling, but I was still standing.

Jason crashed into the far wall, his body smoking. He shifted into his wolf form, trying to heal, but the golden light was burning through his veins. He howled in agony, shifting back to human, his skin blistered and raw.

Kael drew his sword, his eyes blazing with lethal fury. "I'm going to cut his head off."

"No," I said, my voice surprisingly steady.

Kael looked at me, shocked. "Elara, he tried to kill you. He tried to destroy everything."

"He did," I agreed. I walked forward, stepping over the shattered remains of the black dagger. Jason cowered against the wall, staring at me with pure, unadulterated terror.

"Please," he whimpered, his voice broken. "Elara, please. We grew up together. I loved you. I—"

"You never loved me," I said, my voice as cold as the Ashen Lands. "You loved my power. You loved the idea of owning a True Heir. And when you couldn't have that, you tried to destroy me."

I reached down and grabbed him by the throat, lifting him off the ground. He weighed nothing. The golden light inside me wasn't just magic anymore; it was judgment.

"Jason, Alpha of the Silver Creek Pack," I declared, my voice echoing with the ancient authority of the Moon Goddess. "For the crime of rejecting your fated mate, for the slaughter of innocent wolves, and for the crime of trying to steal the divine power, I strip you of your wolf."

Jason's eyes bulged. "No. No, you can't!"

I pressed my glowing palm to his forehead.

There was a flash of golden light, and a gut-wrenching scream. I felt his wolf—the animal spirit that had given him strength, pride, and status—tear away from his soul. It was a punishment worse than death. He was no longer a werewolf. He was just a human.

I dropped him. He crumbled to the ash, sobbing, clutching his chest where his wolf used to reside. He was nothing now. Just a weak, broken man.

I turned to Kael. He was staring at me with an expression of absolute, awestruck worship.

"Remind me never to get on your bad side," Vera muttered from the doorway, cutting Jax's bindings.

I walked over to Lord Marcus, breaking the chains with my bare hands. The old Alpha slumped forward, gasping for breath.

"Lord Marcus," I said softly. "Can you walk?"

"I think so, High Priestess," he rasped, looking at me with a newfound reverence.

I turned back to Kael. The blood oath pulsed between us, warm and steady. The exhaustion was hitting me hard now, the golden light fading.

"Let's go home," I whispered.

Kael scooped me into his arms, cradling me against his chest. He looked down at Jason, who was still weeping on the floor.

"Leave him," Kael said coldly. "The Ashen Lands will finish what we started."