Chapter 68 Tragic Loss
POV: Luna
The creature blocking Miguel's path doesn't move.
It just stands there in the darkness, red eyes glowing.
Miguel backs up slowly, his breathing ragged with terror.
"Luna," he whispers. "I know you're watching. I can feel you."
I am. I'm trapped in this dream-link, forced to witness whatever happens next.
"I'm here," I say, even though I know he can barely hear me. "Miguel, I'm here."
"I love you," he says to the empty air. To me. "I need you to know that. Whatever happens, I love you."
Tears stream down my face in the real world. I can feel them even through the dream.
"I love you too."
Miguel looks around desperately. The mill is behind him, the creature ahead. No escape route.
"I'm going to try to run past it," he says. "If I don't make it—"
"Don't talk like that!"
But he's already moving.
He feints left, then breaks right, trying to get around the creature.
It's fast.
Faster than he is.
It lunges, and Miguel barely dodges. But there are more of them now. I can see them emerging from the shadows.
Three rogues. All with those glowing red eyes. All hungry.
They were waiting. This was a coordinated hunt.
"No," I whisper. "No, please."
Miguel runs, but he's exhausted. Days of being hunted have worn him down.
The rogues are fresh. Relentless.
They corner him against a fallen tree.
"LUNA!" Miguel screams. Not in the dream. In reality. I can hear it echoing through the bond.
He's calling for me as they close in.
And I can't do anything.
I'm trying to wake up. Trying to break the link. Trying to channel that Eclipse power I felt earlier.
But nothing works.
I'm locked in. Forced to watch.
The first rogue attacks.
Miguel throws up his arms to defend himself, but he's human. Fragile.
The rogue's claws rake across his chest.
Blood. So much blood.
Miguel falls, gasping.
"No, no, no!" I'm screaming now, both in the dream and in reality.
The second rogue moves in.
Miguel tries to crawl away, but he's too weak. Too injured.
"Luna," he gasps one last time. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
"For what? Miguel, what are you sorry for?"
But I know.
He's sorry for loving me. For not being strong enough. For dying when I need him.
The third rogue lunges for his throat.
And the dream-link goes white.
Not dark. White.
Blinding, searing white that feels like it's burning through my soul.
Pain explodes through me. Not physical pain. Emotional pain so intense it feels like dying.
The bond between us. The dream-link. The connection we've shared for months.
It's shattering.
Breaking apart like glass.
I feel the moment Miguel's heart stops.
I feel his last breath.
I feel him slip away from me forever.
And I wake up screaming.
"MIGUEL!"
I'm in my bed at the Academy. Nova is shaking me, crying, calling my name.
But I can't stop screaming.
Because I can still feel it. The emptiness where Miguel used to be. The hollow ache where our bond existed.
He's gone.
Really gone.
"Luna, please!" Nova begs. "You're scaring me!"
I can't breathe. Can't think. Can't do anything but feel this crushing, suffocating grief.
My mark is burning. Not with power. With pain.
The Eclipse symbol on my wrist is cracking. Fracturing. Like something inside it broke when Miguel died.
"Get help!" Nova shouts to someone in the hallway. "Get Ryder! Get someone!"
But I don't want Ryder.
I don't want anyone.
I want Miguel.
And I can never have him again.
I stumble out of bed, ignoring Nova's protests. I need air. Need space. Need something.
I run.
Through the hallways. Down the stairs. Out into the night.
Students call after me, but I don't stop.
I run toward the forest. Toward the Moon Circle. Toward the only place that feels right.
The full moon is still overhead, huge and mocking.
All that power I channeled earlier. All that strength.
And I couldn't save him.
I reach the Moon Circle and collapse in the center.
The standing stones tower around me, ancient and uncaring.
And I scream.
Not words. Just raw, primal grief that tears its way out of my throat.
My mark flares one last time, bright and violent.
Then it goes dark.
The glow fades completely, leaving only the scarred outline of the crescent moon.
The bond is truly broken.
Miguel is dead.
And part of me died with him.
I don't know how long I kneel there, sobbing.
Could be minutes. Could be hours.
Eventually, I hear footsteps.
Ryder.
He doesn't say anything. Just kneels beside me and pulls me against his chest.
I want to push him away. Want to be angry at him for not being Miguel. For being alive when Miguel isn't.
But I can't.
I just cling to him and cry.
"He's gone," I finally manage to say. "He's really gone."
"I know. I'm so sorry."
"It's my fault. They were hunting him because of me. Because of what I am."
"That's not—"
"It is! He would be alive if he'd never met me. If I'd just stayed away from him."
Ryder holds me tighter. "You can't think like that."
"Why not? It's true."
Other people are arriving now. Nova. Professor Cael. Even the Headmaster.
They all keep their distance, giving me space to grieve.
The forest around us is completely silent.
No birds. No wind. No sounds at all.
Like the world itself is mourning.
I look up at the moon through my tears.
That same moon that gave me power just hours ago. That marked me as Eclipse. That made me special.
And I hate it.
I hate all of it.
The power. The destiny. The responsibility.
Because what good is any of it if I couldn't save the one person I actually cared about?
"I can't do this," I whisper. "I can't keep fighting. Keep pretending I'm strong enough for this."
"Luna—"
"He's dead, Ryder. Miguel is dead. And I watched him die. I felt him die."
My voice breaks completely on the last word.
The moon seems to pulse overhead, and I feel something shift inside me.
Not my wolf. Not my Eclipse power.
Something deeper.
Something breaking.
Or maybe something dying along with Miguel.
I collapse completely, my body giving out.
Ryder catches me before I hit the ground.
"Get her to the medical wing," Professor Cael orders. "Now."
But I don't want to go to the medical wing.
I don't want to go anywhere.
I just want this pain to stop.
I want to not feel anything ever again.
As Ryder lifts me, I take one last look at the Moon Circle.
At the stones. At the moon. At the place where I felt so powerful just hours before.
And I scream one final time.
A sound of pure despair that echoes through the forest.
And then silence.
Complete, absolute silence.
As the forest falls still around my grief.