The promise

The promise
"But Grandpa said if the bond doesn't restore, you have to leave the pack," Lucas said, tears forming. "He said you won't be Luna anymore. That I might not be able to see you."
Elena felt her heart shatter. She looked at Marcus through the open door and saw guilt written across his face. He'd tried to prepare Lucas for the worst-case scenario, and in doing so, had terrified him.
"Baby, listen to me," Elena said, tilting Lucas's face up. "No matter what happens with the bond, I am always your mother. Always. No one can take that away from us. Not the Moon Goddess, not the pack, not anyone."
"Promise?" Lucas asked.
"I promise," Elena said, and prayed it was a promise she could keep.
A commotion outside made Marcus tense. Voices were shouting, and Elena recognized one of them.
Harrison was back.
She handed Lucas to Marcus. "Keep him here. Lock the door behind me."
Elena stepped out and came face to face with her mate. Harrison looked furious, his clothes disheveled, his eyes wild.
"Where have you been?" he demanded. "I leave for one Council meeting and come back to find our gates destroyed, protesters subdued by mysterious magic, and you unconscious in the medical wing?"
"It's complicated," Elena said.
"Then uncomplicate it," Harrison growled. "Elena, the Council is calling for your immediate removal as Luna. They're saying you're unstable, possibly compromised. They want me to choose a new mate."
Elena felt like she'd been slapped. "Already? The test isn't even half over."
"They're saying the test is irrelevant if you're a danger to the pack," Harrison said. "And after what I just heard about you using some kind of compulsion magic on dozens of people, they might have a point."
"You think I'm dangerous?" Elena asked, her voice dangerously quiet.
"I think I don't know what you are anymore," Harrison admitted. "That power you displayed, that wasn't Luna magic. That wasn't anything I've ever seen before. And you won't even look at me, won't talk to me, won't let me help you figure this out."
"Because I don't know if I can trust you!" Elena shouted, and the words echoed in the hallway. "Harrison, everything I thought I knew about us is a lie. Our bond was artificial. We were never fated mates. The Moon Goddess manufactured our connection for her own purposes."
Harrison went very still. "Where did you hear that?"
"Does it matter? Is it true?"
"I don't know," Harrison said. "Maybe. Probably. Elena, I've suspected something was wrong with our bond for years. The way it formed so fast, so intensely. The way we never fought it even though we barely knew each other. But I convinced myself it didn't matter because we made it real over time."
"Did we?" Elena challenged. "Or did we just get good at playing the roles the bond assigned us?"
"That's not fair," Harrison said.
"Fair?" Elena laughed bitterly. "Nothing about this is fair. I just found out I'm descended from a psychotic ancient wolf who wants to destroy the world. I'm apparently cousins with Katherine. My magic is trying to turn me into a puppet for an imprisoned monster. And my mate, my supposedly fated mate, is at a Council meeting where Alphas are discussing my replacement!"
"I defended you!" Harrison roared. "I told them you were under stress, that you'd never intentionally harm the pack. But Elena, you have to give me something to work with here. You have to let me in."
"I can't," Elena said, and heard her voice break. "Harrison, if I let you in, if I let myself need you, I'm choosing you out of fear and desperation. And that's exactly what the Moon Goddess wants. She needs me to be weak, to be dependent, so the bond reforms under coercion. But that won't hold against what's coming."
"What is coming?" Harrison demanded.
"The First Luna," Elena said. "She's waking up. And unless I can figure out how to genuinely want you, want us, without any external pressure or manipulation, she's going to break free and use me to destroy everything."
Harrison looked at her for a long moment. Then he said, "Maybe the Council is right. Maybe you should step down as Luna."
Elena felt the words like a physical blow. "What?"
"Not permanently," Harrison added quickly. "Just temporarily. Until we figure out what's happening with your magic, with the First Luna, with all of it. Let Isabella take over Luna duties. That removes the pressure, gives you space to think clearly."
"Isabella is the traitor," Elena said.
"We don't know that," Harrison countered. "David suspects her, but he has no proof. And right now, she's the strongest pack member we have besides you. If you step aside temporarily, it shows the Council that we're taking their concerns seriously."
"It shows weakness," Elena corrected. "It shows that the moment things get difficult, I fold."
"It shows wisdom," Harrison argued. "Elena, you're drowning. Let someone else carry the weight for a while."
"And what happens when day twenty-eight arrives and I'm not Luna anymore?" Elena asked. "What happens when the test concludes and I have no official standing in the pack?"
Harrison didn't have an answer.
"That's what I thought," Elena said. She turned to go, then stopped. "For what it's worth, I do love you. Or at least, I love who I remember you being before all this. But I don't know if that's enough anymore."
She walked away before he could respond, her heart breaking with every step.
Elena spent the next three days avoiding everyone. She holed up in a guest room, refusing visitors, trying to understand the magic growing inside her. Every time she slept, the First Luna's voice whispered in her dreams.
You cannot fight what you are, granddaughter. You are my vengeance made flesh. Accept it.
On the fourth morning, Morgana broke through Elena's isolation by simply teleporting into the room.