Chapter 79
The ancient voice shook the collapsing land like thunder. Red eyes glowed from the cracks in the earth, each one bigger than a house. Whatever was down there had been sleeping for thousands of years. “What is that thing?” Elara gasped, helping Celeste to her feet. The girl was weak but living, her sacrifice having worked.
“The Devourer,” Luna Evelyn whispered, her face going white as snow. “It can’t be. We sealed it away ages ago.” Everyone turned to stare at her. Luna Evelyn had always been quiet, staying in the background while her husband led the pack. But now she stepped forward, and something had changed about her. Her eyes were sparkling with silver fire. “Mom?” Kael said, confused. “What’s happening to you?” “I’m sorry, my sons,” Evelyn said, her voice stronger than anyone had ever heard it. “I should have told you the truth long ago.” She lifted her hands, and pure white energy flowed from her palms. The cracking ground around them stopped breaking apart, held together by her power. “You have magic,” Darian breathed in wonder. “Not just magic,” Evelyn said sadly. “I’m a Lunar Priestess. The last one alive.” The changed being, still glowing with starlight, bowed deeply. “High Priestess Evelyn.
I should have recognized you sooner.” “High Priestess?” Alpha Marcus stared at his wife like he’d never seen her before. “Evelyn, what haven’t you told me?” “Everything,” she said sadly. “I’ve been hiding everything to protect our family.” Another roar shook the realm. The red eyes were getting closer, rising from the deep like a nightmare coming to life. “Explanations later,” Ronan said quickly. “Fighting now!” “You don’t understand,” Evelyn shook her head. “The Devourer feeds on magical energy. Every magic we cast makes it stronger. That’s why it’s waking now—all the power we’ve been using has been feeding it.” “Then how do we stop it?” Elara asked. Evelyn looked at her three sons with love and fear mixed in her eyes. “There is a way. But it takes something I swore I’d never do p>
“What?” all three triplets asked together. “I have to unlock your true heritage,” she said quietly. “You’re not just Alpha boys. You’re part Lunar Priest too.” The ground burst upward. A massive claw burst through the ground, black as midnight and sharp as razors. The Devourer was crawling out of its prison. “Do it!” Kael yelled. “Whatever it takes!” Evelyn nodded, tears running down her face. She placed one hand on each of her boys’ foreheads. “This will change you forever. You’ll never be normal wolves again.” “We were never normal anyway,” Ronan grinned, even with fear in his eyes. White light poured from Evelyn into her sons. Kael’s protective ice powers turned into something new—he could make barriers that blocked not just attacks, but evil itself. Ronan’s courage fire became holy flames that burned away darkness and fear. Darian’s healing energy changed into the power to see truth and break illusions. “Whoa,” Darian gasped, his green eyes now sparkling with gold. “I can see everything. The past, the present, possible futures “And I can feel everyone’s emotions,” Ronan said, his hands wreathed in silver fire.
“The pack isn’t just afraid—they believe in us.” “I can shield us from anything,” Kael stated, a dome of pure light forming around the group. “Nothing evil can touch us while I’m here.” The Devourer’s head broke through the surface—a dragon-like monster with too many teeth and eyes like burning fire. It was bigger than any building, and its very presence made the air thick with fear. “FINALLY,” it growled, its voice shaking mountains. “CENTURIES OF HUNGER. CENTURIES OF WAITING. NOW I WILL FEAST ON ALL YOUR MAGIC AND GROW STRONG ENOUGH TO DEVOUR WORLDS.” “Not if we stop you first,” Evelyn said, moving forward. Her quiet, gentle nature was gone. In its place stood a fighter who had fought monsters before. “EVELYN MOONBORN,” the Devourer hissed, recognizing her.
“THE LAST PRIESTESS. I WONDERED WHEN YOU WOULD REVEAL YOURSELF.” “You know each other?” Marcus asked in shock. “We have history,” Evelyn said sadly. “I helped seal it away twenty-five years ago. Right before I met you, Marcus.” “Is that why you came to our pack?” he asked, hurt in his voice. “Was our marriage just part of some plan?” “No,” Evelyn said strongly, looking at him with love. “I came here running from this fight. I was tired of being a fighter. I wanted a normal life, a family, peace.” She looked at their sons. “But I should have known peace never lasts.” The Devourer laughed, a sound like broken glass. “YOU CANNOT SEAL ME AGAIN. I AM TOO STRONG NOW. YOUR MAGIC WILL ONLY MAKE ME STRONGER.” “That’s what you think,” Evelyn said with a strange smile. “But you forgot something important.” “WHAT?” “I’m not fighting alone this time.” She motioned to her sons, to Elara, to the entire pack watching from behind Kael’s protective barrier. “Every person here who believes in protecting others, who chooses love over fear, who stands up to evil—they’re all part of my power now.” “We’re with you, Mom,” Kael said strongly. “All the way,” Ronan nodded. “Until the end,” Darian added. Elara stepped up beside them. “You’re not the last Priestess anymore. You have us.” Even Celeste, still weak from her offering, raised her hand. “Count me in too.” The Devourer’s eyes widened as it understood what was happening. The pack wasn’t just standing together—they were becoming something more.
Their combined belief, their shared resolve, was creating a new kind of magic. “IMPOSSIBLE,” it snarled. “MORTALS CANNOT—” “We’re not just mortals,” Evelyn interrupted. “We’re family.” She began to glow brighter, and that light spread to her sons, then to Elara, then to every member of the pack. They were all linked now, all part of the same protective force. “This is it,” Darian said, his truth-seeing eyes wide. “This is how we win.” “Together,” Ronan said, his spirit fire burning bright. “As one,” Kael agreed, his barriers spreading to protect everyone. The Devourer reared back, ready to strike with all its ancient power. But as it moved, something else stirred in the distance. More red eyes. Dozens of them. “Oh no,” Evelyn breathed, her face going pale again. “It wasn’t alone. The Devourer had children.” “How many?” Elara asked, fearing the answer. Darian’s golden eyes saw the truth, and his voice cracked with fear. “All of them. Every monster we’ve ever put away. They’re all waking up.” The realm shook as old evils began to rise from their prisons. The final fight wasn’t just against one monster—it was against every nightmare that had ever threatened their world.
And in the chaos, nobody spotted the small figure creeping toward them from behind. Tobias Grey’s eyes had turned black as midnight, and he was smiling a smile that didn’t belong on his face. “Thank you,” he whispered in a voice that wasn’t his own, “for gathering all the magical power in one place. This will make getting it so much easier p>