LOGINSeraphine stumbled back, eyes fixed on the Moonbane blade buried in her chest.
“No way,” she rasped.
“This can’t… I’m supposed to be… forever…”I twisted the blade free.
My stomach turned at the sound.“Hey, nothing lasts forever,” I said. “Everything ends eventually. You just stuck around longer than most.”
She dropped to her knees.
Black sludge, heThree days after the battle, we gathered to honor our dead.Seventeen pyres.Seventeen lives lost to Aldric's betrayal and ambition.Marcus's pyre stood at the center.The largest.Not because he was more important than the others—every life was precious.But because he was Beta. Because his sacrifice had saved us all.I stood before it, with Alaric bundled peacefully against my chest in his wrap.Three days old.A relentless three days of vigilance, scanning every shadow for lurking threats.Just three days, and sleep had become a distant memory.“He would have loved to meet him,” Erica said softly beside me.My daughter had been quieter since Marcus's death.More withdrawn.They'd been close—he'd been training her, teaching her to be a warrior.Now that the teacher was gone.&ldqu
He didn’t stop.Aldric finally understood what Marcus planned. “Fool! That will kill you!”“I know!”Marcus reached the rune. He planted both paws on it. Poured everything into it. His life force. His magic. His soul.The rune exploded.The explosion stayed contained. Marcus had forced it inward. Shielding the rest of us.And yet he did exactly what he meant to do.The ritual circle collapsed. The control shattered.Warriors gasped as their minds snapped back to their own.Marcus’s body fell. Smoking. Broken.“No!” I ran before I even realized it. Kael is right beside me.We reached Marcus together.He was still breathing.His wolf form had already shifted back to human. The wounds were far beyond anythin
Night fell, and the camp quieted as the wolves settled into sleep.I heard the shift change at the perimeter. Distant conversations faded into murmurs. The usual sounds of a pack at rest—soft breathing, the occasional rustle of fur against canvas.But I couldn’t rest.I lay in the dark, one hand wrapped around the knife hilt under my pillow, the other resting on my stomach.The baby was restless tonight. Kicking hard. Like he could feel the tension knotted in my chest.It’s okay, I whispered in my mind. Mama’s got us. We’re safe.Then I heard it.Footsteps.Deliberate but quiet. Moving toward my tent.My pulse jumped.Through the mate bond, Kael snapped awake. Hidden in the shadows. Ready to strike.The steps stopped just outside.Silence stretched.The tent
The morning sun felt wrong. Too bright. Too cheerful. Like the world hadn’t noticed the dark magic and death that had torn everything apart.I stood at Mara’s grave. If you could call it that. A simple stone marker in the camp’s small memorial garden. There was no body to bury. By the time we returned to the medical facility, nothing remained but ash and rubble. So we made this spot. A place to remember.The marker read, “Mara—Teacher, Protector, Friend.” I carved it myself. My hands shook the whole time.“You taught me everything,” I whispered, placing a Moonbane amulet on the cold stone. One I’d made just for her. She’d never wear it now. “How to fight. How to survive. How to keep going when I wanted to quit.”My throat tightened
Seraphine stumbled back, eyes fixed on the Moonbane blade buried in her chest.“No way,” she rasped. “This can’t… I’m supposed to be… forever…”I twisted the blade free. My stomach turned at the sound.“Hey, nothing lasts forever,” I said. “Everything ends eventually. You just stuck around longer than most.”She dropped to her knees. Black sludge, her blood, I guess, poured out and pooled around her. It smelled like burnt rubber and old mistakes.“Two thousand years,” she muttered, voice fading. “All the plans. All the deals. All the nights scheming. And it ends like this?”I crouched so we were eye-to eye. Even after everything, a small part of me felt sorry for her. Not much. Just enough.“Not for nothing, Seraphine,” I said.
“And Sophia?” Her smile stayed bright, even through the tears. “Be happy. That’s all I ever wanted for you. To be happy. To be free. To live.”“Enough!” Seraphine’s voice sliced through the moment. Dark magic lashed out, trying to snap the connection.But Mara’s will held firm. “You can’t stop this,” she told Seraphine in a calm voice. “This is shaman magic. Older than your tricks. Purer than your evil. This is love, Seraphine. And love can’t be controlled.”The last of her life force flowed into me. The light began to dim. Mara collapsed.I moved without thinking. Caught her before she hit the floor. Held her close, even with the new power humming through my veins.“Mara, no. Please.”Her eyes turned brown again. Warm brown. Forever brown. They
I was placing a ward near the northern creek when I felt it.A surge of power from inside me. The Tear wakes up without permission."No, no, no!" I tried to push it down.Contain it.Too late.
"Terrified.""You don't look it.""Practice." He took my hand, his calluses rough against my skin. Through our mate bond, I felt his truth: a storm of fear roiling beneath iron resolve, laced with love that burned brighter than any dawn. "Remember the plan?""Every detail." Draw them in with feigne
She threw the dagger.I reacted on instinct. Pulled power from one of my mental channels—the one I'd designated for combat magic—and created a shield.The Moonbane rune manifested instantly.Solid. Controlled.The dagger bounced off harmlessly."Agai
"You're holding better than yesterday," she observed, wiping sweat from her brow."The channels are working. Feel the flow?""Like a river, not a flood." I straightened, flexing my fingers.The Tear hummed contentedly within, no longer a wild torrent but a directed current&md







