Chapter 73 Blood of the First Alpha

Chapter 73 Blood of the First Alpha
Deborah's POV

Deborah woke up to silver light. Everything she knew was gone. She couldn't feel her heart beating or her breath. There was no ground, but she wasn't falling. The world around her moved like water, shimmering and strange. 

When she tried to move, her body felt slow, like smoke. Panic filled her. She wondered where she was and how she got there.

Her mate bond was silent.

This hit her harder than anything else. Deborah looked inside herself for the golden thread that always linked her to Erick, the feeling of him that was as normal as breathing. There was nothing. Just a space where he should have been. 

This emptiness was so complete that it made her try to gasp, but no sound came out. 

The strange air swallowed it. She was alone, completely and terribly alone. And she didn't know how to get back to Erick.

The silver light got brighter. Deborah's body, which felt half-real, flickered like a candle. She could see through her own hands now; her skin was clear, showing only light underneath. 

This had to be the spirit world. It smelled like moonlight and ozone, sharp and old. 

Time felt strange here. 

Minutes seemed to last forever or pass in an instant. She couldn't tell if she'd been there for seconds or hundreds of years.

She tried to call out. "Erick!" Her voice echoed oddly, bouncing off unseen walls. It didn't go anywhere. It stayed in this strange place. 

Deborah's wolf felt restless and confused inside her, but even that connection felt weak. Far away. Like trying to touch something through thick glass.

Think. She made herself focus, pushing past the fear. The last thing she remembered was the ritual. The barrier. Malachai's face was angry as power burst from her. 

She had been trying to protect Erick, trying to stop the bad energy in the pack. And then, she was here.

The silver light pulsed. Deborah felt a presence. It was huge, ancient, and so powerful it would have made her knees give out if she had real legs. 

The weight of it pressed on her mind. It wasn't meant, but it was too much. Like standing in front of a vast ocean and feeling tiny.

You are awake. The words weren't spoken out loud. They just filled her with a feeling, a vibration, and a sudden understanding. 

Deborah's mark on her shoulder felt cold, and ice spread through her body.

"Who?" Her voice broke. "What are you?"

The presence moved. Suddenly, she could see, but not with her eyes. It was a deeper, older kind of sight. Visions came to her quickly. 

She saw a huge wolf with fur like stars, standing at the start of everything. 

The Goddess's hand reached down to touch its head. Power flowed between them on purpose. 

Then the wolf changed, splitting into something new. Something that held both light and dark, moon and sun, life and death.

The First Alpha. Deborah understood. She was with the first werewolf, the one all others came from. 

But it wasn't the wolf itself. It was its spirit, its mind, the memory of power so old it was now part of their world's spirit.

"Why am I here?" Deborah whispered.

Another pulse of silver light. More visions. She saw the First Alpha with the Goddess, heard their talk that shaped all werewolves. 

The Goddess spoke of balance, of links between worlds, of children with different bloodlines who would bring together what was split. 

The First Alpha understood and agreed. 

And when it mated with a vampire, the first, very old and strong, their children were not mistakes. They were meant to be.

"But everyone thinks," She couldn't finish her sentence. The truth she just learned weighed heavily on her.

They were made to think that. The First Alpha's presence grew darker. Deborah felt its anger strongly. Fear. Control. Power. 

Those who came later hid the truth. It's easier to control people if they are split up. It's easier to keep power when mixing bloodlines is not allowed.

Malachai. The Council. How many others had known and kept this secret? How many had spread the lie that hybrids were wrong, dangerous, less than pure-blooded wolves?

The visions changed again. Deborah saw the Lunar Bloodline, how it held the most potential for hybrid children. She saw Eclipse Alphas born over time, most killed before they grew up. 

A few lived, hidden and safe, but never got to use their full power. Never got to do what they were meant to do.

Until now.

Until her.

The silver light moved, and Deborah could suddenly see through it. A wall opened, showing her the real world beyond this spirit place. Her body lay on the ground, surrounded by pack members. And Erick...

Her heart broke.

Erick knelt beside her body, his hands pressed against an invisible wall that separated them. His face was twisted in pain, mouth open in what had to be a scream, though she couldn't hear it. 

Blood ran down his arms where he'd clawed at the wall, trying to break through. 

Trying to reach her. His eyes were wild with desperation, with fear, with a pain so deep it made Deborah's chest ache.

"Erick," she breathed, reaching toward the wall. Her fingers passed through it like smoke. She couldn't touch him. Couldn't let him know she was still here, still fighting.

The mate bond was quiet, but she could feel him anyway. Could feel his strong will, his refusal to give up. He would do anything to bring her back. 

Would give up everything, risk everything. The thought filled her with warmth and terror at the same time.

She had to get back to him. Had to find a way through.

As if answering her strong need, the First Alpha's presence grew stronger. The silver light came together before her, taking shape. 

Not a real body, but something close to a shape of pure power, glowing and terrible and beautiful. 

At its center burned a flame that held all colors and none, flickering with old, raw energy.

There is a way.

Deborah's wolf rushed forward, eager and afraid. "Tell me."

I can give you what you need to break through. The raw Eclipse power that flows through your bloodline. The strength of the first hybrids is pure and strong. The flame pulsed, and Deborah felt heat wash over her. You would be able to return to your body. To him.

Hope flared bright and desperate in her chest. "Yes. Please."

But power needs a price.

The heat turned to ice. Deborah's spirit-like body became a little more solid, enough that she could feel her heart stutter. "What kind of price?"

The First Alpha's presence came around her, and she saw the cost in quick flashes. Her soul breaking apart, part of her forever stuck in this spirit place. 

Or the power bringing worse enemies than Malachai, very old things that had slept for thousands of years. 

Or the future speeding up, things going wrong before she was ready. 

The visions came too fast to understand, but the message was clear.

This gift would save her. But it might ruin everything else.

"I don't." Deborah looked back at the wall, at Erick still fighting to reach her. His hands were bloody now, his face pale with tiredness. He wouldn't stop. Would keep trying until it killed him.

Choose quickly. The First Alpha's voice sounded urgent. This place isn't stable. You cannot stay much longer. Either accept the gift and return, or disappear completely.

The flame burned brighter, closer. Deborah could feel its power calling to her, promising strength and survival. Promising she could go back to Erick, could hold him again, could finish what they'd started. But the cost...

Through the wall, Erick's eyes met hers. For just a moment, she thought he could see her. Thought their connection had gotten past the wall between them. His face changed from pain to strong hope, and his mouth formed her name.

Deborah's hand lifted, trembling, reaching toward the flame. The power gave off heat that made her skin prickle despite her spirit form. This close, she could feel what it would do to her. How would it change her? The heavy power pushed on her mind, old and hungry and huge.

Accept, and she could save herself. Could return to Erick's arms.

Accept, and she might ruin everything they were fighting for.

Her fingers stretched toward the flame, inches away. Time stopped, and the spirit world waited. Tears streamed down Deborah's face, or the feeling of tears, since she wasn't sure she had a real face here. Her heart stuttered again, caught between strong need and terrible fear.

The flame pulsed, waiting.

Erick's face filled her vision through the wall, full of pain and strong will and love so strong it shone brighter than any old power.

Deborah's hand trembled, hanging there, between her choice and what would happen, between being saved and being cursed.

And the First Alpha watched, silent and patient, as the moment felt like forever.