Chapter 161 What Ethan Chose

Chapter 161 What Ethan Chose
Ethan’s POV

The mark on Kai’s collarbone burned into my head long after I left the nurse’s office. I couldn’t stop seeing it, couldn’t stop hearing Luna’s heartbeat change when he touched her, and I couldn’t stop remembering the way she looked at him.

It was no longer confused and no longer resisting. It was certain the bond had completed. And I was too late.
My hands shook as I pushed through the empty school parking lot.
Sirens echoed somewhere farther downtown and there were more animal attacks and more disappearances.

Crescent Valley was falling apart fast. And somehow Kai still looked calm.
As if he could protect her and as if he deserved her.
A bitter laugh escaped me.
“He can’t even protect himself,” I muttered.

But the worst part, was that part of me knew that wasn’t true.
Kai would die for Luna without hesitation. That was the problem. Because Luna would die for him too. And if that happened, everything Selene warned me about would become real. The seal would break completely and the thing under the town would wake fully. And Luna…

Luna wouldn’t survive becoming its anchor. I stopped walking, because I was breathing hard. Because that thought still destroyed me.
Not the bond and not Kai. It was the fear of losing her. I closed my eyes. And heard the voice again. “You cannot save her halfway.”

My jaw tightened instantly. “I didn’t ask for your advice.”

The voice chuckled softly inside my head. It was odd, patient, and amused.
“No,” it agreed. “You asked for power.”

I looked around sharply even though I already knew nobody was there.
The parking lot remained empty. Rain dripped softly from the gray sky.
That was normal. Too normal for the conversation happening in my skull.
“You said there was another way,” I muttered quietly.

“There is.”

My fingers tightened around the small black book hidden under my jacket.
The ritual text. It was forbidden and ancient. It was stolen from under Professor Hale’s office two nights ago.

I hadn’t meant to steal it at first. But then I’d opened it.
And the pages had recognized me. Not Luna.

Me.

That should’ve terrified me more than it did. “You’re getting stronger,” the voice whispered.

“No,” I snapped. “I’m getting desperate.”

“Good. Desperation is useful.”

I hated how calm it sounded. Like this was inevitable. Maybe it was.
Because every path kept leading back to the same thing:

Luna was losing control.
Kai was tied to her now and Selene was preparing something. And nobody else was willing to do what needed to be done.
But I was. Even if Luna hated me for it later and even if Kai tried to kill me.
I would save her. No matter what it turned me into.

Thunder rolled overhead, as I turned toward the forest automatically.
The woods looked wrong now and bigger somehow and darker.
The trees at the edges of town had started spreading unnaturally over the last week, with roots breaking sidewalks, branches growing too fast and animals watching from shadows with glowing eyes. People noticed.
They were scared. Good.
They should be.
I started walking toward the tree line. Toward the old church ruins hidden deep beyond Crescent Forest. The one place nobody went anymore. It was the one place the wolves avoided. Even Kai…. Especially Kai.

The rain got heavier as I crossed into the woods. Cold mud soaked through my shoes, as branches scraped my arms.
And still….The forest opened for me. That should’ve been impossible.
But the trees kept shifting aside as if something deeper inside them recognized me now and welcomed me. A chill crawled up my spine.
“You’re sure this can stop the bond?” I asked quietly.

The voice answered immediately.
“Yes.”

My chest tightened painfully. Because that was the first thing I’d asked.
Not how to save the town and not how to stop the creature under Crescent Valley. But how to stop Luna from belonging to Kai?

That was pathetic and obsessive. Maybe even selfish. But I didn’t care anymore.
The ruins appeared through the rain thirty minutes later with broken stone, a collapsed bell tower, and an ancient symbol carved into black rock below the vines. And in the center was a circle. Already waiting. My stomach dropped.
“You prepared this?”

“We prepared this.”
The voice sounded different now. Plural. I should’ve run.
Every instinct screamed at me to run. Instead….I stepped into the circle.
The moment I did, the symbols ignited deep red and pain slammed through my body instantly.
I dropped to one knee gasping. “What the hell….”

“Power requires sacrifice.”

The markings spread under my skin like burning wires. My vision blurred violently. And suddenly…I saw them. Not clearly, but shapes. Tall and ancient.
Standing around the circle watching me silently. They were not wolves.
It was something older. My pulse thundered. “What are you?”

There was no answer. Only pressure. It was heavy and impossible.
One of the figures stepped closer and its eyes glowed deep silver under the hood. Then slowly….It held out a blade. Black metal and it was covered in shifting symbols identical to the ones in the ritual book. My breathing became uneven.
“What do I do with that?”

The figure tilted its head slightly. And the voice inside me answered.
“Cut the bond.”

Cold flooded my chest. “You mean Kai.”

“Yes.”

I stared at the blade. Rain hammered the ruins around us and thunder shook the sky. And somewhere deep down….I realized the truth. This was no longer about saving Luna cleanly. There was no clean path anymore. It was only choices. Terrible ones and if Kai stayed bonded to her, Luna would become stronger and wilder and more connected to the thing under Crescent Valley.
Eventually unstoppable. But if the bond broke violently enough…Maybe the transformation could still be interrupted, maybe the seal could stabilize and maybe Luna could survive. Even if Kai didn’t. My hand closed around the blade slowly and the metal burned instantly against my skin.
The hooded figures watched silently. Waiting and judging. And as blood slid down my fingers onto the ancient stone….The forest answered.
Howls erupted across Crescent Valley.

That was not a warning and not fear. It was recognition.
Something had just chosen me too.
And deep down….
I think part of me chose it back.