Chapter 143

Chapter 143
  Laura fell through endless darkness. Her body felt weightless, like she was drowning in black water.
  Then she felt herself hit something solid.
  She opened her eyes slowly and took in her surrounding. She was standing in a place that wasn't real. The ground beneath her feet looked like broken glass. The sky above was bleeding red.
  "Welcome to my domain," a voice said.
  Laura turned. A woman stood behind her. But it wasn't Elise. Not anymore.
  This thing was taller. Her skin was pale as bone. Her eyes were empty holes that seemed to go on forever that staring in it made Laura's head hurt. And when she smiled, her teeth were black, like a void.
  "You must be Kragoth," Laura said.
  "I am," the entity said. "And you're the little queen who thinks she can save everyone."
  Around them, the world shifted. One moment they were in a forest. The next, on a mountain. Then in a cave filled with bones.
  "This is Elise's mind," Laura realized.
  "Was," Kragoth corrected. "Now it's mine. I've been living here for months. Feeding on her pain."
  The ground beneath Laura's feet cracked. She looked down. She could see memories playing out like movies in the glass.
  Elise as a child. Playing with her brothers, laughing without a care in the world. She was happy here.
  Then.
  Elise hiding in the root cellar. Listening to her family die.
  Elise as a slave. Being beaten and starved.
  "She had so much pain," Kragoth said. "So much anger and It was so delicious."
  Laura's hands clenched into fists. "You used her."
  "I fed her," Kragoth said. "I gave her power. I gave her purpose."
  "You gave her revenge."
  "The sweetest kind." Kragoth's eyes gleamed. "Do you know how long I've been waiting? How many generations I've been planning?"
  The world around them changed again. Now they were in a throne room. Ancient and crumbling.
  "I planted the seeds long ago," Kragoth continued. "Zephyr's bloodline. Cursed for seven generations. Nikolai's ancestor's betrayal. Kieran's weakness. All of it leading to this moment."
  Laura felt sick. "You've been controlling everything."
  "Not controlling but guiding. I whisper in dreams. I feed on broken hearts. I turn love into hate."
  Images flashed around them. Nikolai as a young man. Making choices that would destroy Elise's family. Kieran growing up with a hunger for power beyond the four great alphas. Zephyr's ancestor making the cursed bargain.
  "You're a parasite," Laura said.
  Kragoth laughed. "I'm a force of nature. I am hunger. I am the dark spaces between stars. I am what happens when love dies."
  She stepped closer. Her form began to change. Growing taller. Her skin became shadow. Her eyes became burning coals.
  "I feed on betrayal," she said. "On corruption. On the moment when someone you trust breaks your heart."
  Laura backed away. But there was nowhere to go.
  "Every broken bond makes me stronger," Kragoth continued. "Every act of revenge feeds me. Every time love turns to hate, I grow."
  The entity was huge now. Her shadow covered the sky. Her voice came from everywhere at once.
  "And you, little queen, you're going to give me the feast of a lifetime."
  "I won't," Laura said.
  "You will. Because I'm going to corrupt your precious mate bonds. I'm going to turn your Alphas against you. Make them hate you. Make them hurt you."
  "They would never—"
  "They already are," Kragoth said. "Right now, in the real world, they're dying. And it's your fault."
  Laura's heart stopped as dread began to fill it. "What?"
  "You left them to come here. You abandoned them to save a woman who's already dead. How does that feel?"
  Irrational pain shot through Laura's chest
  "That's it," Kragoth said. "Feed me your pain."
  The entity grew bigger. Her shadow touched Laura's mind. Laura felt her thoughts getting darker.
  Maybe it was her fault. Maybe she should have stayed. Maybe she was selfish for trying to save Elise.
  "No," Laura said. She shook her head. "I won't let you in."
  "You can't stop me," Kragoth said. "I'm older than your Moon Goddess. I'm stronger than your precious bonds."
  Laura felt the entity's power pressing against her mind. It was like being crushed by a mountain.
  But then she remembered something. Her mates. The way they looked at her and the way they loved her, their touches, sex.
  Silver light suddenly burst forth from her tattoos. 
  Kragoth hissed and stepped back. "Impossible."
  "You're wrong," Laura said. "Love isn't weak. It's the strongest thing in the universe."
  She thought about Lucian. The way he protected her. The way he gave up his control for her.
  She thought about Dante. His fire. His passion. The way he'd die for her.
  She thought about Zephyr. His brilliant mind. The way he fought his own curse to be with her.
  She thought about Nikolai. His pain. His guilt. The way he was trying to be better.
  The silver light grew brighter. Kragoth's shadow began to fade.
  "You think that will save you?" the entity snarled. "I've had centuries to perfect my power. You've had minutes."
  Kragoth raised her hand. Dark energy poured from her fingers. It hit Laura like a truck.
  Laura flew backward. She crashed into the glass ground. It shattered beneath her.
  "I am hunger itself," Kragoth said. "I am the void between worlds. I am what waits in the dark when all hope dies."
  She stepped closer. Her form was massive now. Like a mountain of shadow.
  "Your love makes you weak," she said. "Because love means you have something to lose."
  Laura tried to stand. But her body felt broken. The silver light was fading.
  "I'm going to take everything from you," Kragoth continued. "Your mates. Your power. Your sanity. And when you're nothing but pain and madness, I'll wear your body like a coat."
  "Never," Laura gasped.
  "Always," Kragoth said. "It's what I do. What I am. I've done it before. I'll do it again."
  The entity reached down. Her shadow fingers wrapped around Laura's throat.
  "Any last words, little queen?"
  Laura looked up at the thing that had destroyed so many lives. That had turned love into hate. That had made good people do terrible things.
  "Yeah," she said. "I have something you don't."
  "What's that?"
  "Hope."
  Laura grabbed Kragoth's shadow hand. Silver light exploded from her touch.
  The entity screamed. Her form wavered. For a moment, she looked almost human.
  "You can't!" Kragoth said. "I'm eternal!"
  "So is love," Laura said.
  She poured everything she had into the silver light. All her love for her mates. All her hope for the future. All her determination to save the world.
  The light spread up Kragoth's arm. Where it touched, the shadow burned away.
  "No!" Kragoth screamed. "I won't let you!"
  The entity's power hit Laura like a tsunami. Dark energy flooded through her. She felt her mind cracking.
  But she didn't let go.
  Around them, the mindscape began to collapse. The glass ground shattered. The bleeding sky fell in pieces.
  "You're killing us both!" Kragoth said.
  "I know," Laura said.
  She could feel it. The silver light was eating her alive. Her body was burning from the inside out.
  But it was working. Kragoth's hold on reality was breaking. The shadow wolves. The corruption. All of it was connected to her.
  If Laura could destroy Kragoth, she could save everyone.
  But she would die in the process.
  "Laura!" a voice called.
  She looked up. Elise stood at the edge of the collapsing world. The real Elise.
  "Don't do it," Elise said. "There has to be another way."
  "There isn't," Laura said. "This is the only way to stop her."
  "You'll die," Elise said. "Your mates will lose you forever."
  Laura's heart broke. She thought about Lucian. About Dante. About Zephyr and Nikolai.
  They would be devastated. They would blame themselves. They would carry the guilt forever.
  But if she didn't do this, Kragoth would destroy everything. The entire world would fall to shadow.
  "I have to," Laura said.
  "No," Elise said. "Let me help you. We can fight her together."
  "You're not strong enough," Laura said. "Neither am I. But maybe... maybe if I give everything..."
  She looked at Kragoth. The entity was fighting the silver light. But she was losing, slowly.
  Laura could feel the power building inside her. Like a star about to explode.
  If she let it go, it would destroy everything. Including herself.
  But it would save her mates. It would save the world.
  "Choose," Kragoth said. Her voice was weaker now. "Save yourself or save them. You can't have both."
  Laura closed her eyes. She thought about her Alphas. About their love. About the life they could have together.
  Then she thought about all the people who would die if Kragoth escaped.
  The choice was impossible.
  But she had to make it.
  Right now.
  Laura opened her eyes. She looked at Elise. At Kragoth. At the collapsing world around them.
  And she made her choice.