Chapter 77: Unleashed

For a moment, there was only silence.

The kind that settles right before the storm breaks.

Serena stood, the remains of her chains falling from her wrists, glowing faintly as the runes lost their power. Silver fire coursed through her veins, lighting her up from the inside like a star reborn. The cold dread that had clung to her for hours evaporated, replaced by something ancient, wild, and divine.

Her wolf had awakened—and she was furious.

Across the chamber, Elias faced off with Zevrin, blades locked. Sparks flew where their weapons clashed, dark magic grinding against silver-forged steel. Zevrin hissed through gritted teeth, eyes glowing violet.

“You think love makes you strong, boy?” Zevrin snarled. “It’s a weakness. A leash.”

Elias’s eyes gleamed gold. “No. It’s the fire that makes me burn.”

He pushed back with a roar, slamming Zevrin against the blood-stained altar.

Serena didn’t wait.

The moment the last rune burned away from her skin, she moved.

With speed that left an afterimage, she closed the gap between her and the guards who had chained her. She hit the first with a roundhouse kick that sent him flying into the stone wall. The second tried to draw his blade, but Serena caught his wrist, twisted, and drove her elbow into his throat. He crumpled.

The third tried to run.

He didn’t make it.

Serena’s wolf had no mercy.

Elias met her gaze from across the room—panting, bloodied, but alive. Their bond pulsed, deeper than words. This was no longer just about survival.

It was war.

And they were done playing by the rules.

Zevrin screamed something in the old tongue, summoning a wall of dark flame between them. Shadows leapt from the corners, taking shape—twisted figures of bone and mist.

“Revenants,” Elias growled.

“I’ll take the left,” Serena said, eyes narrowing. “You get the right.”

They moved as one.

Every step Serena took sent waves of moonfire across the stone. Every breath Elias exhaled fed the fury of the storm building around them. Revenants lunged, but they were no match for bonded mates awakened.

Elias struck with brutal precision, his blade cutting through shadow like sunlight through fog.

Serena danced like lightning, her hands wreathed in glowing flame. With every motion, she wove destruction and grace.

When they reached the altar again, Zevrin was waiting.

Blood dripped from his mouth. His robes were torn. But he still smiled.

“You’re too late,” he rasped. “The ritual is already complete. The Veil has cracked.”

Serena's heart skipped. “No…”

Zevrin raised his hand—and the entire chamber shook. Cracks split the floor. The air shimmered, warping, twisting. The wall behind the altar crumbled, revealing a void of swirling darkness.

A portal.

A tear in the Veil.

From it came voices—whispers in forgotten tongues, howls that didn’t belong in this world.

Something moved beyond the veil.

Something massive.

Zevrin’s eyes glowed. “Your power is magnificent, Serena. But all you’ve done is make the offering stronger. The Veil will fall—and a new order will rise.”

He reached toward the rift—

Elias roared and lunged.

But Zevrin moved like a wraith, vanishing into the shadows.

The portal pulsed, hungry.

Serena stepped forward. Her heartbeat thundered. She felt the pull of it—the call of the ancient blood in her veins.

She had been born for this.

To open it.

Or to close it.

“I can seal it,” she whispered.

Elias turned to her, eyes wide. “What?”

“I can close it, Elias. But I’ll need all of it—all of the moon’s fire, all of the bloodline. Everything I am.”

“No.” He was already shaking his head. “There has to be another way.”

She smiled sadly. “There isn’t. You know it.”

He stepped forward, cupping her face in his bloodied hands. “I just found you, Serena. I can’t lose you again.”

“You won’t,” she whispered. “You’ll carry me with you. Always.”

Tears filled his eyes. “I love you.”

She leaned into him, their foreheads touching. “I’ve loved you since the beginning. Even when I was afraid.”

And then she kissed him.

It was wild and desperate and deep—like two souls colliding through time and space. Like the kind of love that rewrites fate.

When they broke apart, Serena stepped toward the portal.

But just as she raised her hands to channel the sealing flame, a cry echoed through the chamber.

“NO!”

A third figure burst through the shadows.

Theron.

His sword glowed with runes, crackling with energy. Behind him came Serena’s brother—Kael—and two more warriors from the Whitefang resistance. Reinforcements.

“What the hell is that?” Kael shouted, pointing at the portal.

“Bad news,” Elias replied.

“Then let’s shut it down.”

With one motion, Serena turned to the rift and summoned every drop of moonfire inside her. The chamber blazed silver. The portal shrieked, resisting.

Elias, Theron, and Kael formed a triangle around her, channeling their strength into hers. Their bond, their unity—it amplified the seal.

The rift screamed, trying to hold.

And then—

With a final blast of light, the portal collapsed.

The chamber went still.

Smoke curled in the air. The walls cracked. The altar shattered.

But the Veil held.

Serena collapsed to her knees, drained.

Elias caught her before she hit the floor.

“I’ve got you,” he whispered, holding her close.

Her body trembled. Her voice was barely a whisper.

“It’s over.”

He pressed a kiss to her hair. “No. It’s just beginning.”