Chapter 78 – The Price of Power

Chapter 78 – The Price of Power


JOHN

The scent of smoke still clung to me long after the ruins had fallen silent. Every breath I drew felt heavier, thicker, as though the air itself refused to forgive me for what I’d done.

The wolves followed at a distance, keeping their heads low, their eyes red with the reflection of the blood moon. They no longer looked like the pack I once led; they were twisted shadows of what they’d been, their bodies trembling with the energy that now pulsed from the Beacon’s aftermath.

I’d given them freedom.
At least, that’s what I told myself.

But as I stared into their restless, hollow eyes, I began to wonder if I’d only given them my curse.

A gust of wind blew through the trees, carrying the faintest echo of her scent Scarlett.
Moonlight and warmth. The one thing the darkness still couldn’t devour.

I clenched my fists until the marks on my wrists burned. The bond between us was faint, fragile, like a thread stretched to its breaking point. She was alive. I could feel her heartbeat erratic, furious, and far too bright for this world.

She’d chosen the light.
And I’d chosen everything that lived beneath it.

“Alpha,” came a voice behind me. It was Garron, my lieutenant, though even he was barely recognizable now. The veins in his neck pulsed black, his voice deeper, strained. “The eastern pack awaits your command. They’re restless.”

I turned slowly. “Restless?”

“They want to hunt. The scent of Luna is still in the wind. They think she’ll lead us to the Third Moon.”

The Third Moon. The very name of it sent a chill through my bones. Even now, I could feel its pull distant but inevitable. The final stage of what the Seer had whispered, the culmination of everything I’d destroyed to reach this moment.

“Tell them to stand down,” I said coldly. “Not until I say so.”

Garron hesitated, his jaw tightening. “Forgive me, Alpha, but they don’t listen like they used to. The darkness it’s… alive in them. It whispers.”

“Then silence it,” I snapped, the words edged with power.

Garron bowed his head but didn’t move. The hesitation in his posture gnawed at me.
Once, my commands were law. Now, even obedience came with hesitation.

As he turned to leave, I caught a flash of movement beyond the mist, a figure stepping between the trees, too quick to track. My instincts flared. I followed.

The forest closed around me, shadows shifting like a living thing. The whispers grew louder the deeper I walked, threads of half-heard voices that slithered through my mind.

“You’ve gone too far…”
“You were never meant to bear it…”
“She will unmake you…”

I pressed my palms against my temples. The voices weren’t new. They’d been with me since the Beacon burst open, since the night I tore the light from Scarlett’s hands and claimed the shadows as mine.

But lately… one of them had changed.

It wasn’t the voice of the darkness.
It wasn’t the echo of the Goddess.

It sounded… familiar.

“John.”

I froze.

The voice came again, softer, clearer, threading through the mist. “You don’t have to do this.”

My chest tightened.
It couldn’t be.

“Kael,” I whispered.

The forest still. Even the shadows seemed to hold their breath.

Then, between two twisted trees, he appeared pale, flickering, like a reflection in water. His eyes glowed faintly with that same stubborn calm that used to drive me mad.

“You’re dead,” I said. The words came out hollow. “You’re nothing but memory.”

“Maybe,” Kael said quietly. “Or maybe not. The bond doesn’t end when blood spills. It only changes form.”

I took a step forward. “You think I regret it? What did I do?”

He tilted his head, and that ghost of a smile touched his lips. “No. You regret what came after.”

Rage flared hot in my chest. “You think you understand me? You think you know what it’s like to carry her name in your bones, to feel her slip away every time you close your eyes?”

Kael didn’t move. “I think you’ve mistaken possession for love.”

The world seemed to tilt, the shadows pulsing with my heartbeat. “Careful, ghost.”

He stepped closer, his form flickering with each movement. “You can destroy me again if you want, John. But every time you bury me, I rise in her heart. Every time you twist her light, it burns brighter. You’ll never win that way.”

“Then I’ll take her heart with me,” I hissed.

For a moment, silence hung between us thick, suffocating.

Then Kael smiled. It wasn't a mockery. It was a pity. “You already have. That’s why she can’t kill you.”

The words struck like a blade.

For the first time in years, my resolve faltered.
The darkness inside me stirred, sensing weakness.

Kael’s form began to fade, his voice echoing as he disappeared. “She’s coming, John. And when she finds me, you’ll wish she hadn’t.”

The forest fell silent again. Only my own ragged breathing filled the air.

I sank to my knees, pressing a hand against my chest. Beneath the steady thrum of shadowfire, there was something else: a flicker of light. A foreign pulse that didn’t belong to me.

“Impossible…” I muttered, but even as I said it, I knew the truth.

I hadn’t destroyed Kael. I’d absorbed him.
He was inside me.

The realization spread like poison.
His presence had been there all along buried deep beneath the rage and the darkness, whispering when I least expected it, resisting when I tried to summon my full power.

I hadn’t just taken Scarlett’s bond.
I’d taken his soul.

The world tilted. I staggered to my feet, clutching my chest, as the whispers in my mind turned into screams. Light and darkness, love and hate, all tearing at the same fragile vessel.

Behind me, Garron and the wolves began to howl, a deep, guttural chorus that shook the night. The ground split beneath their paws, black flame rising in columns.

And above us, the moon began to bleed again not red this time, but a strange, shimmering gold.

The Third Moon was waking.

And with it, every lie I’d told myself was about to unravel.