Chapter 148 Princess in Danger
POV: Luna
We reached the northern convergence just as the ritual began.
The clearing was lit by dark magic. Symbols carved into the earth glowed with sickly green light.
And in the center, bound by magical chains, was Selene.
"Luna!" she shouted. "It's a trap! Don't—"
Cole appeared, cutting her off. "Too late, Your Highness. She's already here."
Around the clearing, It-Girls emerged from the shadows. At least twenty of them.
We were surrounded.
"Let her go, Cole," I said.
"Why would I do that? I finally have everything I need. The Eclipse wolf. The royal bloodline. The full convergence of ley line energy."
"This is insane. Opening the otherworld seal will destroy everything!"
"Not everything. Just the current power structure. And from the ashes, we'll build something better."
"We?"
"The It-Girls. The Thornheart clan. Everyone who's been oppressed by the old hierarchies." His eyes were wild. Fanatic. "Don't you see, Luna? This is liberation. Freedom from the chains of destiny and prophecy."
"This is madness."
"That's what they always say about revolutionaries."
My pack arrived. Nova, Aria, Sienna, Lyric. All of them ready to fight.
And Liam. My mate. Standing beside me.
"You're outnumbered, Cole," Liam said.
"Am I?" Cole smiled. "I don't think so."
More figures appeared. Students I recognized. People I'd thought were friends.
All wearing the It-Girls' mark.
"You've been recruiting," I breathed.
"For months. Everyone you see here has been oppressed. Used. Manipulated by those in power." Cole gestured to Selene. "By people like her. Royal wolves who rule by birthright instead of merit."
"I've never oppressed anyone!" Selene shouted.
"Your existence is oppression. Your bloodline gives you power you didn't earn."
"And your solution is to destroy reality? That's insane!"
"That's revolution."
The ritual symbols pulsed brighter.
"We need to break the circle," Sienna whispered. "Disrupt the ley line connection."
"How?" Nova asked.
"Physical force at the convergence points. All of them simultaneously."
"We can't reach them all," Aria said.
"We don't have to," Liam said. "We just need to reach the primary node. The one in the center."
Where Selene was.
"I'll go," I said. "You guys handle the It-Girls."
"You can't fight them all alone," Nova protested.
"I'm not alone. I have you. Through the pack bonds."
I looked at my friends. My family.
"When I give the signal, push power through the bonds. Everything you've got. We'll break this ritual together."
They nodded.
"What about me?" Selene called.
"When the chains break, run. Don't look back. Just run."
"I'm not leaving you!"
"You have to! If they complete the ritual with you there, they'll use royal magic to stabilize the portal. We can't let that happen!"
She understood. Nodded reluctantly.
I looked at Liam. "Stay alive."
"Same to you."
He kissed me. Quick. Fierce.
Then we moved.
I shifted fully and charged the center. Cole tried to block me, but Liam tackled him.
My pack engaged the It-Girls. Fighting with everything we had.
I reached Selene and started tearing at the magical chains.
They were strong. Reinforced with dark magic.
"Luna, behind you!" Selene shouted.
I spun. An It-Girl was casting a spell directly at me.
I dodged and countered with Eclipse power.
She went down.
But more were coming.
I couldn't fight them and free Selene at the same time.
Then I felt it. The pack bonds flaring to life.
Nova sent strength. Aria sent strategy. Sienna sent magical knowledge. Lyric sent speed.
And Liam. My mate sent everything. All his power. All his love. All his faith in me.
The combined energy flooded through me.
My mark blazed with silver light.
I channeled it all into the chains.
They shattered.
Selene stumbled free. "Go!" I shouted.
She ran.
The ritual symbols flickered. Weakening without their royal anchor.
But Cole wasn't done.
He appeared in the center of the circle. "If I can't use royal magic, I'll use something better."
He pulled out a crystal. Inside, I saw something horrifying.
Souls. Trapped spirits. Dozens of them.
"The Eclipse wolves you killed," I breathed. "You kept their essence."
"Not just killed. Collected. Every Eclipse wolf the Thornheart clan has eliminated over the centuries. All their power. Stored. Waiting."
"That's evil."
"That's pragmatic."
He crushed the crystal.
The spirits erupted outward. Screaming. Furious.
And they were all looking at me.
"They blame you," Cole said. "For surviving when they didn't. For having power they lost. Use that anger. Feed the ritual."
The spirits surged forward.
I tried to fight them off, but they were too many. Too strong.
They wrapped around me. Pulling at my mark. Trying to tear Eclipse power from my soul.
Pain exploded through me.
Through the pack bonds, I felt my friends' horror.
Then I felt something else.
Miguel.
His essence. Still woven into my mark.
He pulsed with warmth. With love. With protection.
You're not alone, his voice whispered. You've never been alone.
The trapped spirits were angry. Vengeful.
But they were also scared. Hurt. Used.
Just like me.
I stopped fighting them.
Instead, I opened my mark. Let them see the truth.
That I wasn't their enemy. I was their legacy.
That I carried Eclipse power not to dominate, but to protect.
That I understood their pain because I'd felt it too.
One by one, the spirits stopped attacking.
One by one, they turned toward Cole.
Toward the person who'd actually trapped them. Used them. Destroyed them.
"No," Cole said. "You're supposed to attack her! Not me!"
But the spirits didn't listen.
They descended on him like a storm.
He screamed.
The ritual circle collapsed. Dark magic dissipated.
The trapped souls, finally free, dissolved into light and disappeared.
Leaving Cole on the ground. Alive. But powerless.
His magical core was burned out. Empty.
He'd used the souls as a weapon. And they'd destroyed him in return.
The It-Girls, seeing their leader fallen, started to scatter.
My pack and I let them go. We were too exhausted to chase.
I shifted back to human and collapsed.
Liam was beside me instantly. "You did it. You stopped them."
"We stopped them. Together."
Faculty arrived. The Headmaster. Professor Cael. Security forces.
They arrested Cole and the It-Girls who'd stayed to fight.
"Miss Eclipse," the Headmaster said. "Are you injured?"
"Just tired."
"The princess?"
"Safe. She ran when I freed her."
"Good. We'll find her and make sure she's secure."
I looked around the clearing. At the broken ritual circle. At the aftermath of battle.
Then I saw it.
A dark figure. Standing at the edge of the trees.
Watching.
They raised a hand. A sigil appeared in the air.
The same symbol I'd seen before. Tied to Cole. Tied to the It-Girls.
But this was different. More powerful. More ancient.
Then the figure disappeared.
"Did you see that?" I asked Liam.
"See what?"
I pointed. But the figure was gone.
"Nothing. Never mind."
But I knew what I'd seen.
Cole wasn't the mastermind.
He was just a pawn.
Someone else was pulling the strings.
Someone still out there.
Still watching.
Still planning.
And they'd left a calling card.
A sigil that pulsed with dark magic.
A warning.
And a promise.
This wasn't over.