Chapter 67

For a long, breathless moment, I am paralyzed by uncertainty. How can I possibly free him from whatever darkness has its claws in him? The shadow's grip runs deep—so deep it seems impossible to break. Around me, the chaos of battle rages on, but I feel numb to it. None of it matters. Not now. Not when he’s slipping away.
I force my legs to move and sprint after the dark-haired man as he weaves through the fighting, his every step putting more distance between us. He’s running—but not out of fear for battle. No, it’s as if he knows. As if he senses that I might be his undoing. Maybe our mating bond is strong enough to tear through the veil that controls him. I can’t let him escape.
With a powerful leap, I launch into the sky, wings slicing through the air. The wind howls around me as I beat my wings with force and land squarely in his path, cutting off his retreat.
I have to break whatever darkness has taken root in him.
A growl rumbles from deep in my chest, low and threatening. I bare my teeth. He halts, staring at me as though he sees two different creatures—surprise flickers in his eyes, but it is quickly drowned by hatred.
This might be my only chance.
I lunge.
My jaws snap just inches from his throat, but he dodges with infuriating agility. He remains in human form—a bold move. My wolf form is massive in comparison, and the sheer size of me could be an advantage. But his speed? His precision? That could be my downfall.
I pivot sharply, wings slicing through the air—and strike. One heavy blow knocks him off balance. He staggers, and I pounce, snarling in his face, issuing a warning to stay down.
Instead, his expression hardens.
His fist connects with my snout—hard. Pain flares through me, hot and immediate, and I feel blood drip from my nose. Before I can recover, a brutal kick slams into my ribs, knocking me off my feet. Seraphina, my wolf, whimpers at the blow—not just from pain, but from the heartbreak of being struck by our mate.
I scramble to rise, but he’s already on me. His hands—too large, too strong—grab the scruff of my neck, and with terrifying ease, he hurls my body like a ragdoll. I crash into a tree with bone-jarring force, a sharp yelp tearing from my throat.
Damn it. I can’t beat him. I’m only a Gamma. I’m not strong enough to take on Alpha blood.
He doesn’t stop. He charges and delivers a savage barrage of kicks to my side. The taste of blood floods my mouth, metallic and hot.
Then—relief.
A Lunar warrior tackles him, dragging him away from me, halting the onslaught. But the damage is done. My wolf body can’t take much more. As a defense mechanism, my form begins to shift—bones cracking and reshaping. I shrink, shrinking down into my human self: bruised, bloodied, and broken.
And helpless.
My mate—my tormentor—stands not fifty feet away, breathing heavily, his fists still clenched. The pack warrior positions himself between us, growling in warning.
I try to rise, but pain flares through me, white-hot and merciless. My ribs, my arm—they’re broken. I collapse again with a cry.
My eyes lock on his. He grips his head and lets out a tortured scream.
He’s fighting it.
Gods, he’s still in there.
I reach out through the bond with all the strength I have left. Seraphina joins me, pushing with me, anchoring me to him. We reach for the fading spark buried beneath the darkness and *pull*—hard. We tug on constraints, desperate to free it from the black chains strangling it.
**Please, Goddess. I swear I’ll never ask for anything again. Just let me save him. Let me save my mate.**
A glow forms around my hand—brilliant, golden, and divine. Power surges through me, burning hot and bright with purpose. I grasp the chains and yank with everything I have. They shatter—and the light bursts free, a blinding flame. His pitch-black wolf howls in joy for freedom.
My senses crash back into me. I blink, trying to dispel the black spots clouding my vision.
And then I realize—I’m in his arms.
The shadow is gone. His eyes, now clear, stare down at me with pure horror, and his voice rises in frantic desperation as he shouts for help. The warrior who once defended me now looks between us, confused and unsure.
My mate is no longer the monster who struck me.
Suddenly, a white flash bursts into view—a storm of wings and ice.
My Luna.
She charges forward like an avenging angel, radiant and terrifying. The perfect counterpart to my Alpha. She skids to a stop, her gaze locking onto the man holding me.
She freezes and her eyes mist.
He clutches me tighter, his voice breaking. “I’m so sorry, sister. Please, she needs your help. I didn’t know—I couldn’t stop it.”
Sister.
Of course. The power, the aura—it all makes sense. Damon must have captured him, twisted him into a weapon against his own blood.
The Luna nods, and without hesitation, shifts back into her human form. She pays no mind to her nakedness as she kneels beside me, her hands already glowing.
Warmth flows into me—soothing, healing. Bones knit, pain fades. My ribs and arm snap back into place with a strange, distant numbness.
And just like that, the agony fades.
I am whole again.
I stare at her, this woman of ice and fire, and whisper with awe, “incredible.”
Then I look up—past the soft glow of healing hands, past the fierce love in my Luna’s eyes—and find him watching me.
Her brother.
My mate.
His expression is awash in pure, bone-deep relief, like a man who’s just surfaced from drowning. His hands tremble as he reaches for mine, fingers curling gently around my bruised, dirt-smeared hand.
“You saved me from that dark pit,” he breathes, voice barely above a whisper. “What’s your name?”
His question catches me off guard, piercing through the fog of everything that just happened.
“Charlotte,” I answer, steadying myself. “As much as I’d love to stay here and unpack all of this, we still have a battle to win.”
I squeeze his hand once before pulling away and rising to my feet with renewed purpose. My voice is smooth, clear, unshaken—despite the ache buried beneath my ribs.
“Right,” he says, and there’s a faint flush of color that warms his pale, blood-smeared cheeks as he helps me up. For a moment, I see something new in him—vulnerability. The man that was buried so far beneath the shadow.
I step back, give him one final glance, then shift.
My body snaps forward with bone-breaking force, fur replacing skin, pain forgotten beneath the rush of adrenaline. Seraphina lets out a low, determined growl.
Together, we rush back into the fray.
As I sprint toward the heart of the chaos—toward my allies fighting off the enemy—I can’t help but think:
There’s no way all of that just happened.
And yet…
It did.