Chapter 93 Common Room Confessions
POV: Luna
Late that night, I can't sleep again.
The ethereal glow from my mark lights up the whole room. Pulsing. Warning.
"You're not sleeping either?" Nova asks from her bed.
"Can't. Too much energy. Too much worry."
"Want to go to the common room? We could make tea. Talk. Anything's better than lying here staring at the ceiling."
"Yeah. Okay."
We head down to the second year common room.
It's empty this late. Just us and the dying fire in the hearth.
Nova makes tea while I curl up on one of the couches.
The warmth of the fire is comforting. Grounding.
"You know what I keep thinking about?" Nova says, handing me a mug. "How fast everything changed. Last year we were just trying to survive classes and social drama. Now we're facing blood curses and rogue attacks and corrupted former students."
"I'm sorry I brought all this to you. To everyone."
"Stop. You didn't bring anything. This was waiting for you. Destiny or prophecy or whatever. We just happened to be here when it arrived."
We sit in comfortable silence for a while.
Then Aria appears in the doorway, followed by Sienna and Lyric.
"Saw your lights on," Aria says. "Figured you were having a midnight worry session. Thought we'd join."
They settle in around the fire. All of us in our pajamas. Looking exhausted but unable to sleep.
"This is becoming a habit," Lyric observes. "Late night friend gatherings while the world falls apart around us."
"Better than facing it alone," Sienna says.
We sit for a while longer. Then Aria speaks.
"Can I be honest about something?"
"Always," I say.
"What if we're not strong enough when it matters?" Her voice is quieter than usual. Vulnerable. "We're training. Preparing. Acting confident. But what if the attack comes and we just... fail? What if we're not ready?"
The question hangs heavy in the air.
"I think about that too," Nova admits. "Every day. What if I freeze? What if I'm too scared to help when Luna needs me?"
"I'm terrified of losing control of my magic," Sienna adds. "What if I panic and my spells go wild? What if I hurt one of you instead of helping?"
They're all sharing their deepest fears. Being vulnerable. Honest.
So I should be too.
"I'm scared I'll become exactly what everyone fears," I say. "That the power will corrupt me. That I'll choose shadow. That I'll turn into the monster they expect."
"You won't," Aria says firmly.
"But how do you know? The shadow caller was Eclipse too. He chose corruption. What makes me different?"
"Because you're asking the question. Worrying about it. Monsters don't question themselves."
That helps. A little.
"We need to make a pact," Sienna says suddenly. "Something binding. To keep us together. To protect each other."
"What kind of pact?" Lyric asks.
"A blood oath. Ancient pack tradition. Very serious. Magically binding."
"Like a friendship bracelet but with more blood?" Aria jokes.
"Exactly like that. But it means something. It creates a bond. Makes us pack. Real pack. Not just friends."
"I'm in," I say immediately.
The others agree.
Sienna pulls out a small knife from her bag. "Always prepared," she explains.
She lights candles in a circle. Draws symbols on the floor. Creates the ritual space.
"Everyone comfortable with this?" she asks. "Once we do this, we're bound. Pack. For life."
We all nod.
One by one, we prick our fingers. Let a drop of blood fall onto a shared cloth in the center.
Sienna chants in that ancient language. The one used for important magic.
The blood on the cloth begins to glow. Silver. Like my mark.
Then it spreads. Connecting to each of us. Creating invisible bonds.
I feel it. The moment the oath takes hold.
Suddenly I can sense them. All of them. Like background awareness. Always there. Always connected.
"We are pack," Sienna says formally. "Bound by blood. By choice. By oath. What threatens one, threatens all. What protects one, protects all."
"We are pack," we echo.
And I feel something shift. Fundamentally. Permanently.
These aren't just friends anymore. They're pack. Family. Bound to me and to each other through magic.
"That's intense," Lyric says. "I can feel you all. Like you're in my head but not intrusively."
"That's the pack bond," Sienna explains. "It fades with distance. But when we're close, we'll always know if someone's in danger. In pain. In need."
"That's actually really useful," Aria says. "Tactical advantage."
Leave it to Aria to find the combat application of emotional bonding.
But she's not wrong.
We sit for a while longer. Adjusting to the new bond.
Then Lyric speaks up.
"Can I share something? About why I transferred here?"
"Of course," Nova says.
"My parents expect me to join the family pack business. Tech development for wolf packs. Very profitable. Very prestigious. Very boring."
"You don't want to do it?"
"I want to choose my own path. Make my own decisions. But family pressure is intense. They've already planned my whole life. Internships. Connections. Eventually taking over the company."
"So what do you want?" I ask.
"I don't know yet. But I want the freedom to figure it out." She looks at us. "That's why I came to Silverwood. To get away from that pressure. To find myself without their expectations crushing me."
"Then we'll help you," Aria says. "Pack protects each other's right to choose. Your path. Your decision. Not your family's."
Lyric smiles. Actually smiles. "Thanks."
"My turn," I say. "For confession."
They all turn to me.
"Sometimes I just want to be normal again. Before Eclipse. Before trials. Before any of this." I wrap my arms around myself. "I know that's selfish. I know my power could help people. Save people. But part of me just wants to be a regular teenage wolf worrying about grades and boys and normal things."
"That's not selfish," Nova says. "That's human. Or wolf. Whatever. It's normal to want an easier life."
"But I don't get that choice. The goddess marked me. The prophecy named me. I'm stuck with this whether I want it or not."
"Maybe," Sienna says. "But you get to choose how you carry it. With resentment? With grace? With rebellion? That's your choice. Not the goddess's. Not the prophecy's. Yours."
She's right.
I can't choose whether to have Eclipse power. But I can choose how I use it. Who I become with it.
That's my power. My agency.
And no one can take that away.
We're settling into comfortable conversation when it happens.
The lights flicker.
Once. Twice. Then steady.
And the temperature drops.
Suddenly. Dramatically.
I can see my breath in the air.
"What the hell?" Aria stands, immediately alert.
We all feel it.
A presence.
Cold. Wrong. Malevolent.
It passes through the common room like a wave. Touching each of us. Examining us.
Then it's gone.
The temperature returns to normal. The lights steady.
But we're all shaken.
"What was that?" Lyric whispers.
"I don't know," Sienna says. "But it was powerful. Ancient. And it was looking for something."
"Or someone," I add.
My mark is burning. Hotter than ever.
The ethereal glow pulsing frantically.
"It's happening," I say. "The attack Miguel warned about. It's starting."
"Now? Tonight?"
"Maybe. Or soon. Very soon." I stand. "We need to tell faculty. Warn them."
But even as I say it, I know it might be too late.
Whatever that presence was, it found what it was looking for.
It found me.
And now the real danger begins.