Chapter 100 Protecting Darkfang
Kael pov
"We do not want you, child." The shadow almost laughed. "We want what was taken. Pack, family, home, peace. We want the living to feel what we felt as we died."
"You want suffering." Lira said quietly. "Because you suffered."
"We want balance." The shadow drifted closer. "An eye for an eye. A pack for a pack, a bloodline for a bloodline."
"Then you'll have to go through me first." She raised her hands. "Because I won't let you hurt them."
"Brave." The shadow considered. "Foolish. But brave. Just like your mother."
"My mother died protecting me." Lira's flames burned white-hot. "And I'll die protecting them if I have to."
"You may get your wish." The shadow began dispersing. "Three weeks, Moonblood. When the eclipse comes, we will rise fully. And then we will take everything."
It vanished, leaving only the smell of rot and the sound of Marcus gasping for air.
"Is it gone?" He coughed, the black veins fading slowly. "Did you"
"For now." Lira sagged but caught her before she fell. "But it'll be back."
"What was that thing?" Thomas helped Marcus to his feet.
"The curse manifested." Aria examined Marcus quickly. "Given form by the collective rage of murdered wolves."
"They want vengeance on the bloodlines." I looked around at our pack. "How many of us are descended from the five alphas?"
"At least forty." Thomas counted mentally. "Maybe more if we include Beta lines and other conspirators."
"Forty potential vessels." Lira leaned heavily against me. "Forty chances for that thing to possess someone and attack from within."
"We need to identify everyone at risk." I started toward the packhouse. "Isolate them if necessary"
"No." Lira stopped me. "Isolation is what the curse wants. That's how it wins—by making us fear each other, separate from each other."
"Then what do you suggest?" I asked. "Let it possess whoever it wants?"
"I suggest we stick together." She straightened with visible effort. "The curse feeds on broken bonds, remember? If we stay united, stay connected, it has less power."
"And if it possesses someone anyway?" Marcus rubbed his chest where black veins had been. "What then?"
"Then I burn it out." Lira's flames flickered weakly. "Again and again, as many times as needed."
"You'll kill yourself." I gripped her shoulders. "You're already exhausted."
"I'm the only one who can fight it." She met my eyes. "My mother's journal said Moonblood fire purifies dark magic, It's why they wanted my bloodline eliminated. We're the natural counter to what they created."
"There has to be another way." I refused to accept this. "Some other defense"
"The claiming ceremony." Aria said quietly. "That's the other way. If Lira claims you properly, the curse can't touch you. And if she claims you, others might be protected by extension."
"Might be." Lira repeated. "Not 'will be.' Might."
"Better than nothing." Thomas argued. "Better than watching her burn herself out saving us one by one."
"The ceremony requires preparation." Aria counted on her fingers. "Ritual purification, three days of fasting, the full moon gathering. We'd need at least two weeks."
"We don't have two weeks." I pointed at the corrupted tree. "We have three weeks until the eclipse, but the curse is already active. It could possess someone else tonight."
"Then we do a modified ceremony." Lira decided. "Skip the formalities, keep the essentials. Tonight, under the waning moon."
"That's not proper" Aria started.
"Nothing about this situation is proper." Lira cut her off. "But if there's even a chance it protects Kael and others, we try it."
"You don't have to do this." I turned her to face me. "Not for me. Not if you're not ready."
"I'm not ready." She admitted. "I'll never be ready but that doesn't matter anymore."
She looked past me at the pack. At Marcus still recovering, at Joren and the others trapped in nightmares, at the corrupted tree bleeding darkness.
"They need protection." Her voice steadied. "And I'm the only one who can give it. So tonight, we do the claiming. Tonight, I tear down every wall I've built and hope I survive it."
"And if you don't?" I asked quietly.
"Then at least I died trying to save you." She squeezed my hand once. "Instead of hiding behind my fear."
She walked away, heading toward the temple ruins. Preparing for the ceremony that would expose everything she'd spent years protecting. I watched her go, feeling pride and terror in equal measure through our bond.
"She's going to break." Marcus said beside me. "That kind of vulnerability, in front of the whole pack? She's not strong enough."
"She's stronger than you think." But doubt crept in anyway.
"For all our sakes." Thomas clapped my shoulder. "I hope you're right."
As the sun climbed higher, the corrupted tree began to rot faster. By noon, it had collapsed into black sludge that poisoned the ground beneath. And from somewhere in the darkened territory, I heard laughter.