LOGINMarcus POVThe emergency council meeting had been going for six hours straight.Six long Fucking hours.And we were no closer to a solution than when we had started.“We need to send scouts to Moonveil,” Alpha knox of shadow hill was saying. Again. For the third time. “Get eyes on the situation. Assess Sylvester’s defenses…”“And get them all killed, that plan is a waste of time and resources,” Luna Nyx interrupted. “Sylvester will see them coming from miles away. Shadow magic gives him awareness of his entire territory.”“Then what do you suggest?” knox snapped. “We just sit here with our thumbs up our asses while he completes whatever ritual he’s planning?”“I suggest we think before we act. Something this council seems incapable of.”“How dare you…”“ENOUGH.” Lydia’s voice cut through the argument like a blade. “Both of you. This bickering accomplishes nothing, absolutely nothing.”She stood
Selene POVThe shadow transport ended abruptly.I stumbled as solid ground appeared beneath my feet. Sylvester’s arm tightened around my waist, keeping me upright.“Welcome home, my love ,” he said softly.I opened my eyes and we were back to the Moonveil Pack territory.I recognized it from descriptions. The elegant buildings. The carefully maintained streets. The sense of old magic permeating everything.But it was empty.Completely empty.“Where is everyone?” I demanded, pulling away from him.“Sent away. I needed privacy for what comes next.”Dread coiled in my stomach. “What comes next?”“The completion of the ritual, of course.” He smiled. “Five hundred years I’ve been working toward this moment. Every lifetime. Every iteration. All leading here, to this same moment.”“The ritual to bind us permanently.”“To bind us properly and permanently this time.” He circle
Selene POVThe world had gone red.Not literally. But everything I saw, everything I felt, was filtered through a haze of pure, concentrated rage.Kael’s heart had stopped.Marcus had pulled me away from his body. Had stopped me from pouring more of my power into him. Had stopped me from bringing him back.And now the angry mob was pouring through the door.“There she is!”“The cursed Luna!”“She’s killed the Alpha!”Something inside me snapped completely.The power that had been flowing through me…that white, ancient power…shifted. Darkened. Twisted into something that had been building for five hundred years of loss and grief and endless, endless death.My vision went purple. Deep, violent purple that pulsed with my heartbeat.But there was something else too. Something deeper. A second presence stirring within me, ancient and powerful, like a sleeping giant finall
Keisha’s POV“You’ll be reborn near her. Always near her. Always drawn to protect her. And you’ll die doing it. Over and over. Because that’s what his curse demands. A sacrifice in every lifetime.”“No.” Horror had washed over me. “I don’t want that. I don’t want to keep dying.”“I know. Which is why I’m going to offer you a choice.” The Moon Goddess had stood. “I can remove you from the cycle. Let your soul rest. Never be reborn. Or I can give you a chance to break the pattern.”“How?”“I’ll ensure you’re born to a mate in one of the future lifetimes. Someone who’ll recognize the cycle. Who’ll understand the danger. And who’ll have the strength to keep you away from Selene long enough that you don’t die for her.”“But she’ll be alone. Without my protection.”“She’ll have Kael. And maybe, without you dying, the curse will have less power.” The Moon Goddess had smiled sadly. “Or maybe it won’t matter. But at lea
Keisha POVThe cell was dark, but not completely. A single shaft of moonlight filtered through a crack in the stone ceiling, casting pale shadows across the floor.I’d been counting. Days. Weeks. Months.I’d lost track somewhere around seventy-three days. Or was it eighty-three? Time blurred when you were trapped in the same ten-by-ten space with nothing but your thoughts and the sound of your own breathing.The door at the top of the stairs creaked open. Heavy footsteps descended. I didn’t bother looking up anymore. I knew who it was.Alpha Ryker. My mate. My captor.“You need to eat,” he said, setting a tray down on the small table. His voice was gruff. Tired. Like this whole situation exhausted him as much as it did me.“I need to leave,” I said for the thousandth time. “Please. Just let me leave.”“You know I can’t do that.”“Can’t or won’t?” I finally looked at him. He looked worse than usual. Dark circles under his eyes. His clothes rumpled. When was the last time he’d slept? “S
Selene POV Through the bond, I felt Kael slipping further. The darkness spreading faster now. Consuming him from the inside out like poison eating through his veins. “We need to get him to the healers,” I said desperately, my hands still pressed uselessly against the wound. Blood…dark, wrong blood mixed with that horrible black webbing…seeped between my fingers. “There has to be something they can do. Some way to extract the shadow essence.” But even as I said it, I knew it wasn’t true. I’d seen what shadow essence did to Myra’s body. How it corrupted and consumed until nothing human remained. I know the reason he wasn’t like that yet was because of how strong he was. I hated myself for giving Lyra a chance. I hated it so much. I was nothing but a fool clouded by emotions. “Kael, please,” I whispered. “Please don’t leave me.” His eyes fluttered open. Those green eyes I loved, now clouded with pain and something darker. I could sense death all around him. “I Love you,” he breath







