Chapter 69
The shadow above the Blood Moon grew larger, blocking out the crimson light totally. But before anyone could figure out what it was, gunshots rocked the town. Marcus’s army had come. “We need to move!” Kane shouted, catching the children who were still hiding behind broken buildings.
Kael lifted Ronan’s dead body, his face twisted with grief and rage. “I won’t leave him here.” “He’s not really gone,” Elara said softly, feeling her chest where the transformed mate bond still pulsed with Ronan’s essence. “I can feel him. He’s with us.” But there was no time to mourn. Wolves poured into the town square from every direction. Silver armor gleamed in the strange darkness as Marcus’s top guards surrounded them. “Where is she?” a familiar voice boomed.
Alpha Marcus Blackwood stepped through the smoke, and Elara gasped. He looked different. Stronger. Dark veins sparked under his skin like black lightning. “What did you do to yourself?” Kael demanded. Marcus smiled, showing teeth that were too sharp. “I made myself better. Stronger than any Alpha who came before me.” “You made yourself a monster,” Darian whispered from where he knelt, still broken by his cut mate bond. “I made myself a god!” Marcus roared. “And now I’ll take what’s mine.” His eyes locked on Elara, and she saw hunger there.
The same hunger that had eaten Darian, but a thousand times worse. “You’re not taking her anywhere,” Kael snarled, silver knife shining. Marcus laughed. “My own son, trying to protect the monster who destroyed our family. How pathetic.” “She didn’t break anything. You did.” “I built this pack! I made us strong! And she Marcus pointed at Elara with a hooked finger. “She turned my sons against me with her witch magic.” The shadow above them pulsed, and suddenly Elara understood. “You’re working with it. The thing in the sky.” “Working with it?” Marcus’s grin turned nasty. “I called it. Fed it what it needed to grow strong enough to break through to our world p>
“What did you feed it?” Kane asked, though his voice suggested he already knew the answer. “Mate ties. Dozens of them. Every matched pair in my territory, drained dry.” Horror washed over Elara. “You killed innocent people.” “I sacrificed the weak to gain power! And now, with your abilities added to mine, nothing will stop me from ruling every pack on this land!” He raised his hand, and dark energy crackled between his fingers. But before he could strike, the ground beneath them began to crack. Something was coming up from below. “What now?” Celeste muttered, shifting to wolf form. The ground split open, and creatures crawled out. They looked like dogs, but wrong.
Their hair was midnight black, their eyes glowed red, and their teeth were made of silver. “Shadow wolves,” Darian breathed. “I thought they were just legends.” “Everything’s real tonight,” Marcus said with pleasure. “The Blood Moon opens doorways that should stay closed.” The shadow wolves circled them, growling with voices that sounded like breaking glass. “Kill the others,” Marcus ordered. “But bring me the Moon Alpha alive.” That’s when the real battle started. Kael fought with desperate rage, his silver knife flashing as he cut down shadow wolves. But for every one he killed, two more took its place. Kane and Celeste fought back-to-back, guarding the rescued children. But they were overwhelmed ten to one. Elara tried to use her healing power as a weapon, but the shadow wolves were already dead. Her magic passed right through them. “It’s not working!” she called out. “Because they’re not alive!” Darian shouted, finally joining the fight despite his broken state. “They’re made of pure darkness!” Marcus watched the fight with cold satisfaction. His sons were strong, but they couldn’t win. Not against an army of animals that couldn’t truly die.
Then he felt it.
A familiar presence approaching fast. His wife. Luna Evelyn Blackwood stepped into the square, and everything went quiet. Even the shadow wolves stopped attacking. She looked exactly the same as always. Beautiful. Elegant. Deadly. “Hello, husband,” she said calmly. “Evelyn.” Marcus’s voice was wary. “I thought you were dead.” “You left me for dead. There’s a difference p>
She walked toward him, ignoring the chaos around her. The shadow wolves parted like water, afraid to touch her. “You’ve been busy,” she observed, looking at the dark veins under his skin. “Making deals with things that should stay buried.” “I did what was necessary to save our pack.” “You did what was necessary to feed your ego.” Her voice turned ice cold. “And you murdered innocent families to do it.” Marcus’s face twisted with rage. “They were weak! The strong live, the weak feed the strong! That’s the law of nature!” “That’s the law of monsters.” Evelyn raised her hand, and silver light blazed from her palm. But it wasn’t healing light like Elara’s. This was pure, burning justice. Marcus screamed as the light hit him, his stolen power fighting against his wife’s magic. “You always were too soft,” he growled, dark energy crackling around him.
“And you always were too cruel.” They fought in the center of the square, silver light against shadow darkness. The force of their fight sent shockwaves through the ground. “Mom!” Kael called out, but couldn’t reach her through the wall of fighting shadow wolves. The fight between husband and wife was brutal. Decades of anger and betrayal poured out in blasts of magic that shattered buildings. But Marcus had fed on too much stolen power. Slowly, he began to win. “You should have stayed hidden,” he growled, his claws cutting across Evelyn’s shoulder. “And let you destroy our sons? Never.” She poured everything she had into one final attack. Silver fire burst outward, burning away half the shadow wolves and sending Marcus flying backward.
But it wasn’t enough. Marcus rose to his feet, barely hurt. “Goodbye, my dear wife.” He raised his hand for the killing blow. That’s when Darian made his choice. Still broken by his severed mate link, still consumed with guilt over his betrayal, he threw himself between his parents. Marcus’s dark magic hit him square in the chest. “No!” Evelyn screamed. Darian fell, his body convulsing as the shadow magic ate him alive. But with his dying breath, he mumbled something that changed everything. “The real trap… wasn’t for Elara… it was for you Marcus’s eyes widened in understanding just as the ground beneath him burst upward. Silver chains shot out of the ground, wrapping around his arms and legs. Ancient power, older than the shadow wolves, older than the Blood Moon itself. “What is this?” he roared, fighting against the bonds.
Evelyn smiled through her tears. “Insurance. I’ve been planning for this day for twenty years.” The chains began to drag Marcus down into the earth.
But as he sank, he looked straight at Elara. “This isn’t over,” he promised. “I’ll be back. And when I am, I’ll take everything from you. Your power. Your mates. Your life p>
The ground closed over him, but his final words echoed in the air like a curse. The shadow wolves, without their master’s power to support them, began to dissolve into smoke. But the thing above the Blood Moon was still there. Still hungry. And as the smoke cleared, Elara realized the truth. Marcus’s capture hadn’t been the win they needed. It had been exactly what the shadow thing wanted all along.