# Chapter 251:

# Chapter 251:
Melinda's POV

I looked at Michael standing beside his father's fresh grave, his shoulders squared despite the grief I knew was crushing him. He hadn't shed a tear during the burial, but I could see the pain etched into every line of his face. The soil was still fresh, dark against the lighter forest floor. Richard Stone, once the powerful Alpha of the Crescent Moon pack, now lay beneath that mound of earth.

"We need to go back," Michael said, his voice steady despite everything. "Now."

My friends looked as exhausted as I felt. Olivia's usually perfect hair hung in limp strands around her face, dirt smudged along her cheek.

Zoe's dark makeup had smudged beneath her eyes, giving her a haunted appearance.

Matthew's athletic frame was slumped with fatigue, his jacket torn at one sleeve. Even Marcus, who technically didn't need rest, looked worn down to his bones, the temporary human appearance showing the strain of the night's events.

But Michael was right. We couldn't wait. If we didn't move quickly, we'd never stop Selena. And I had a terrible feeling she would come after us in revenge. She would open a portal and kill everyone except me—she'd keep me alive just to make me suffer. The thought of losing my friends, of losing Michael, made my chest tighten painfully.

My friends had already been through so much. I didn't want to put them in danger again. They deserved to go back to their normal lives—or as normal as they could be now that they knew about werewolves and magic.

"We can go with you," Matthew said, stepping forward. His voice was hoarse from exhaustion, but his eyes were determined. "At least, I will."

I looked at him with gratitude and sadness. Despite the bruises still visible on his face from the basketball court fight and the dark circles under his eyes, he was volunteering to face more danger. That was just who Matthew was—loyal to a fault.

Michael shook his head. "You need to stay here and protect the campus."

Matthew's jaw tightened. "You want the two of you to go alone? Selena is insane!"

"We're coming with you," Zoe declared. She swayed slightly on her feet, the purple tips of her black hair disheveled, but her eyes were fierce with determination.

Olivia nodded. "We won't let you—"

"As your Alpha, I command you." Michael's voice cut through the air, sharp and unyielding. The pine trees around us seemed to grow silent at his tone.

His expression softened slightly, his shoulders dropping a fraction. "You're my Beta," he said to Matthew, his voice firm but gentler. "I need you here, protecting the rest of our pack."

Matthew considered this for a moment before nodding, shoving his hands into the pockets of his Pine Ridge University basketball team jacket.

Zoe and Olivia looked at me with shock and sadness. I could feel their understanding, but also their desire to come with us. I wondered if I would ever see them again. The weight of that thought made my heart ache.

Should I tell them I might not come back? The words caught in my throat. Maybe it was better not to say a real goodbye. Better not to make this feel too real for any of us.

If Selena and I were truly twins, connected by magic and blood, then maybe the only way to stop her was... No. I couldn't finish that thought. I would cross that bridge when I came to it. For now, my friends didn't need to know what I might have to do.

"What do we do after you leave?" Marcus asked. He was always the practical one, the one who needed structure and order to keep from dwelling on darker thoughts.

Michael looked to me. My throat felt dry.

I thought of the strange scream I'd let out earlier, the one that had created a shockwave powerful enough to knock Selena and the witch backward. I still didn't understand where it had come from. It had felt instinctual, like something buried deep inside me had awakened. How much power was lurking within me that I didn't know about?

"The antidote..." I managed to say. "I... I saved the formula on the computer in the medical school lab. You need to make more."

My friends' faces fell almost in unison as they realized what I was implying—that I might not be coming back soon, or at all.

"We'll take care of it, Melinda," Olivia said softly.

I forced a smile.

Olivia tried to smile back, but tears glistened in her eyes. My roommate, who had always been the bubbly, optimistic one, looked moments away from breaking down.

Zoe was watching me with her all-seeing, serious gaze, her black-painted nails digging into her palms. She'd always been the perceptive one, seeing through lies and half-truths. I wondered if she could see right through me now, if she knew exactly what I was planning.

Matthew walked up to Michael and me. He punched Michael's shoulder with a hint of his usual mischief.

"See you soon, guys... soon," he said. But when he looked at me, I could see he didn't entirely believe it would be soon. He didn't say anything else though.

Michael nodded in response, then turned to look at me. His golden eyes were burning with determination.

It was time.

I took a deep breath and extended my hand, feeling Leah's power surge through me. The portal opened more quickly this time—I was getting better at this, or maybe the portal was waiting for me. I barely needed to complete the motion; it was almost as if I could open it with my thoughts alone. The green light swirled before us, beckoning like a living thing.

Would the portal take us straight to Selena and the witch? Or somewhere else entirely? I supposed it didn't matter. Either way, we'd end up fighting Selena to the death. The thought should have terrified me, but instead, I felt strangely calm. Maybe I'd finally accepted my fate.

I took one last look at my friends, raising my hand in farewell. My eyes were blurry with tears as I tried to memorize their faces—just a blur of shadows now. I thought I heard Olivia's quiet sobs, but maybe they were my own.

Michael took my hand, his palm warm and steady against mine.

Together, we stepped into the swirling green vortex, leaving the protected forest of Pine Ridge University behind.