Chapter 265 Jealousy Sparks
POV: Luna
We reached the portal site just as everything went wrong.
The otherworld energy had intensified. Reality was barely holding. The barrier between worlds looked like fabric stretched too thin, moments from tearing completely.
Liam stood at defensive perimeter. Blood seeping through fresh bandages. Injuries from earlier battle reopened. He was barely standing but refusing to sit. Refusing to rest. Refusing to let weakness prevent him from protecting me.
Through the mate bond, I felt his exhaustion. His pain. His absolute determination to keep fighting despite body screaming to stop. Despite every rational instinct demanding retreat. Despite love making him suicidal in ways that terrified me.
"Liam, you need to rest," I said. Reaching for him through the bond. "You're hurt. You're bleeding. You're going to collapse if you don't—"
"I'm fine," he lied. Voice tight with pain. "Just need to stay between you and portal. Need to keep you safe. Need to prove I'm still useful despite injuries. Despite being weaker than Caleb. Despite not having Miguel's memories or magical expertise or perfect synchronization with your Eclipse power."
Through the bond, I felt his jealousy flaring. Raw. Painful. Honest. Watching Caleb coordinate with me effortlessly while Liam struggled to keep up despite being my first mate. Despite our bond being older. Despite choosing him before divine design insisted I needed two.
"You're not weaker," I said firmly. "You're different. Complementary. Necessary in ways Caleb isn't. You're my foundation. My anchor. My first choice and forever choice regardless of how many additional mates prophecy demands."
"That's sweet. But doesn't change reality. Doesn't change that you synchronize with him in ways you don't with me. Doesn't change that when portal crisis hit, you reached for Caleb instinctively instead of me. Doesn't change that divine design paired you with Miguel's returned soul in ways it didn't pair you with me."
His voice cracked. Vulnerability showing through Alpha authority. Pain breaking through protective facade. Love warring with jealousy in ways that created impossible internal conflict.
Caleb stood near portal's edge. Studying energy patterns. Analyzing otherworld mechanics. Understanding things through Miguel's memories that rest of us could only guess at.
My wolf instincts flared unpredictably around him. Not just attraction. Recognition. Like my deepest nature understood that Caleb was designed for me in ways that transcended conscious preference. That divine will had blessed our bond before either of us existed. That fighting connection was fighting goddess herself.
Through our fractured bond, I felt his awareness of my approach. Felt him turning before I spoke. Felt Miguel's memories recognizing pattern. Understanding that Luna seeking proximity meant needing reassurance. Needing connection. Needing anchor when circumstances overwhelmed.
"Portal's almost ready," Caleb said. Not looking at me. Focusing on energy readings. "Whatever Cole's planning. Whatever sacrifice prophecy demands. Whatever choice fourth way requires. It's all coming together now. Minutes instead of hours. Moments instead of minutes. Everything we've survived has been building toward this."
"What do you know?" I demanded. "What did you discover in that archive? What makes you so certain about what's coming? What aren't you telling me?"
He finally turned. Miguel's eyes in Caleb's face. Lifetimes of accumulated wisdom combined with present awareness. Creating synthesis of experience and innocence that made him both ancient and young simultaneously.
"I know that Cole needs vessel," he said quietly. "Perfect vessel. Someone designed by divine will and forged by impossible circumstances to contain power that would destroy anyone unprepared. You're that vessel. Everything you've become. Everything you've survived. Everything you've integrated. It's all made you exactly what he needs for purposes that go beyond personal ambition or magical enhancement."
"You knew this before," I realized. "Before leaving. Before investigating archive. You knew I was target and went looking for confirmation instead of warning me immediately. Instead of prioritizing my awareness over your need for proof."
Through our bond, I felt his guilt. His recognition that withholding information had been strategic error. That choosing investigation over communication had damaged trust in ways requiring more than pretty words to repair.
"I didn't want to terrify you without evidence," he said. "Didn't want to create panic based on Miguel's suspicions instead of confirmed facts. Didn't want to burden you with possibilities instead of certainties. I was wrong. Should have trusted you with suspicions. Should have communicated fears immediately. Should have chosen transparency over protecting you from uncomfortable truths."
Liam approached. Moving carefully. Injuries limiting mobility. Pain evident in every step. Jealousy radiating through mate bond despite efforts to suppress it.
"You two need to stop," he said. Voice hard. "Stop synchronizing. Stop connecting. Stop doing whatever magical resonance thing creates that visible harmony everyone sees. Portal is feeding on it. Using your bond as amplifier. Making itself stronger every time you interact. Every time you prove you're designed for each other. Every time you demonstrate that divine will blessed your connection in ways it didn't bless ours."
Through the mate bond, I felt his pain underneath anger. Felt his terror that Caleb's bond was stronger. More important. More divinely favored. That being second mate instead of first meant more power. More significance. More essential role in whatever transformation was approaching.
"That's not true," I said. Reaching for Liam. "Your bond is equally important. Equally blessed. Equally necessary. First doesn't mean less. Original doesn't mean weaker. Chosen before divine design revealed itself doesn't mean less divinely approved."
"Tell that to portal using Caleb's connection as gateway while ignoring mine completely. Tell that to prophecy demanding his sacrifice instead of mine. Tell that to reality itself treating him as more important component of your divine design."
"Prophecy doesn't demand my sacrifice specifically," Caleb interjected. "It demands sacrifice of love's choice. Could be either of us. Could be both of us. Could be Luna herself if fourth way requires marked one dying instead of mates. We don't know. We're guessing. We're interpreting based on incomplete information and desperate hope that someone else pays price instead of person we love most."
The portal pulsed violently. Energy spiking. Reality thinning. Barrier between worlds becoming transparent. Almost permeable. Almost breached.
Through the portal's unstable energy, I felt presence. Not Cole's shadow. Not entity. Not mysterious patron. Something else. Something that radiated familiarity despite being impossible.
Hunter.
The mate who'd disappeared after first year. The one everyone assumed was dead. The one prophecy suggested might return when timing was perfect. When four mates instead of two became necessary. When divine design revealed full scope instead of partial implementation.
"Do you feel that?" I gasped.
Both Liam and Caleb went rigid. Sensing what I sensed. Understanding that portal wasn't just threatening. Was offering. Was creating opportunity. Was potentially returning what had been lost if we were brave enough to reach through barrier instead of just defending against breach.
"Hunter's in there," Liam breathed. "In otherworld. Trapped. Waiting. The portal isn't invasion attempt. It's rescue opportunity. It's chance to reclaim what was stolen. It's Cole offering bargain instead of demanding surrender."
Through my Eclipse mark, I felt entity's recognition. Understood Cole's strategy. He wasn't just threatening invasion. He was offering trade. Hunter's return in exchange for my compliance. Fourth mate in exchange for becoming vessel. Everyone I loved surviving in exchange for sacrificing myself to purposes I didn't fully comprehend.
"Don't," Caleb warned. "Don't even consider it. Cole's bargains always have hidden costs. Always come with strings. Always destroy more than they save. Hunter might be in there. Might be retrievable. But price for retrieval will be more than you want to pay. More than anyone should pay. More than love justifies despite how much losing him hurt."
"But what if we can save him?" I asked. "What if portal really is opportunity? What if refusing rescue because we're scared of cost means abandoning mate who's been suffering in otherworld for years while we moved on? While we built bonds with others? While we forgot about him?"
Through the mate bond with Liam, I felt his conflict. His desire to reclaim Hunter warring with certainty that attempting rescue was trap. That Cole was manipulating emotions. That love was being weaponized against strategic thinking.
"We need to decide," I said. "Portal's destabilizing. Window is closing. Either we attempt rescue now or we lose chance. Either we risk everything for possibility of reclaiming Hunter or we accept his loss as permanent. Either we trust Cole's offer or we assume everything is manipulation designed to destroy us."
The portal pulsed again. More violent. More urgent. More insistent.
And through unstable energy, I heard voice. Faint. Desperate. Unmistakably Hunter calling my name. Begging for rescue. Pleading for us to save him instead of abandoning him to otherworld torment.
Real or manipulation? Truth or illusion? Hunter actually trapped or Cole creating perfect bait using memories and emotional vulnerabilities?
No way to know. No certainty. No guarantee.
Just choice. Just risk. Just love demanding we try despite odds being terrible and strategic thinking screaming this was trap.
Through both mate bonds, I felt Liam's and Caleb's awareness. Felt them understanding decision was mine. That they'd support whatever I chose. That love meant trusting me even when they disagreed. Even when they thought I was wrong. Even when supporting my decision might destroy everything.
The portal's energy reached critical mass. Threatening to pull in artifact energy. Threatening to drag rogue wolves through breach. Threatening to overwhelm Silverwood through sheer otherworld contamination.
Decision time. Right now. No more delays. No more analysis. No more safe deliberation.
Risk everything attempting rescue. Accept Cole's apparent bargain. Reach through portal trying to reclaim Hunter despite knowing it could be trap. Could be manipulation. Could be exactly what Cole wanted me to do.
Or refuse. Accept Hunter's loss as permanent. Focus on surviving with mates I had instead of risking them for mate I'd lost. Choose certainty over hope. Choose safety over rescue. Choose protecting what remained over reclaiming what was gone.
My grandmother's words echoed. Fourth way exists. Goddess must approve. Synthesis instead of binary.
What if rescue wasn't either-or? What if attempting didn't mean abandoning safety? What if reaching through portal while maintaining defensive position created balance instead of forcing choice?
What if fourth way meant trying everything? Risking everything? Trusting that divine design would provide means to succeed when love was genuine and determination was absolute?
Through my Eclipse mark, entity pulsed. Understanding. Acknowledging. Recognizing that I was approaching moment of truth. That choice couldn't be delayed. That fourth way would either manifest or fail based on decision made right now.
No pressure. Just everything. Forever. With portal threatening. With Hunter calling. With mates supporting. With prophecy demanding. With fourth way requiring goddess approval that might or might not come depending on whether I proved worthy. Whether love was sufficient. Whether synthesis was achievable or just impossible dream that had killed my grandmother and would kill me too.