Chapter 219 Elara's POV

Chapter 219 Elara's POV


I left the pack house at midnight.

Kaden was asleep. Adrian was with Kara. The guards were posted at their stations, unaware I was slipping out the back entrance.

I had to find Nyx had to talk to her without Kaden or the warriors or anyone else interfering. This was between sisters. Between twins who should have grown up together but were torn apart by fear and prophecy.

I followed the trail Marcus had mentioned. The eastern border where his patrol had encountered her. If Nyx was staying nearby, that's where I'd find her

The forest was dark. Silent except for night creatures and rustling leaves. 

I walked for an hour, using the lunar pulse to light my way. The crescent mark on my shoulder glowed softly, pushing back shadows.

Then I felt her presence, that connection I had felt in the garden.

"I knew you would come." Nyx's voice came from behind me.

I turned. She stood there in the darkness, her black eyes reflecting no light. "You couldn't resist, could you? Had to come find me and had to try to fix things like the perfect Luna you are."

"I came to talk, just talk, no fighting no violence."

"Everything between us is violence  we are opposites. Light and shadow can't exist in the same space without conflict."

"That is not true, the prophecy says we're meant to be together united not fighting."

"The prophecy says a lot of things, it doesn't mean any of it is true." 

She moved closer. "Did you come alone? No Alpha backup? No warrior escort?"

"Just me this is between us no one else."

"How noble. Or how stupid I could kill you right now. Take your place, live the life that should have been mine."

"You could try but you won't."

"So certain of yourself."

"Certain of you, you are angry, hurt, seeking revenge. But you're not a killer, not really. Erebus trained you to be one, but it's not who you are at your core."

Nyx laughed bitterly. "You don't know anything about my core, you don't know me at all."

"I know you are my sister. My twin. I know we shared a womb. We shared our mother's heartbeat. We shared the same beginning even if our paths diverged."

"Diverged? Is that what you call abandonment? Our paths diverged?"

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for what happened to you. For what our parents did, for every moment of pain and loneliness you suffered. I would take it all away if I could."

"But you can't, the past is fixed and unchangeable. All we have is now and right now, I hate you. Hate everything you represent."

"Then fight me, get it out. Release all that anger and pain and hatred. Fight me and let's end this one way or another."

"You want to fight?"

"I want you to do whatever you need to do to move forward. If that means fighting, then let's fight."

Nyx's expression shifted. Surprise mixed with respect. "You are serious."

"I won't let you destroy the pack. Won't let you hurt innocent people but I also won't abandon you again. So if we have to fight to reach understanding, then that's what we'll do."

She smiled genuinely this time, not cruelly. "Alright, sister let us see what the blessed twin can really do."

She attacked.

Shadows erupted from her hands, physical darkness that moved with intent. I dodged, calling on the lunar pulse. Light met shadow in the space between us.

We fought trading blows testing each other's strength and skill.

Nyx was fast trained and deadly every move calculated. Every strike is precise.

But I had something she didn't. I had people to protect. A son to return to a mate who loved me a pack depending on me.

I fought not with hatred but with purpose not to destroy but to defend.

The lunar pulse responded to that intention. Growing stronger and brighter pushed back the shadows Nyx created.

She came at me with a blade of solid darkness. I blocked with a shield of light, the two forces collided, sending shockwaves through the forest.

"Is that all you have?" She taunted. "The great blessed Luna? I expected more."

"I'm holding back, I don't want to hurt you."

"Don't insult me with mercy!" She attacked harder faster desperation creeping into her movements.

I could see it now. The cracks in her armor. The pain beneath the anger of the little girl who'd been abandoned and never stopped hurting.

I let the pulse surge. Let it fill me completely. Then I released it in a focused beam directly at Nyx.

Not to kill, to immobilize to end the fight without ending her.

The light wrapped around her like chains. She struggled, but the more she fought, the tighter they became.

"Let me go! Fight me properly!"

"No. This isn't how this ends, not with one of us dead and the other victorious. That's not what the prophecy meant."

I walked closer, maintaining the light chains. Looked into those black void eyes.

"You want to know the difference between us? It's not the crescent mark. It's not light versus shadow. It's a choice. I choose to use my power to protect. You're choosing to use yours to destroy but it doesn't have to be that way."

"Easy for you to say! You weren't the one abandoned!"

"You are right I wasn't and that's completely unfair.”

‘You deserved parents and love and a childhood where you felt wanted. You deserved everything I got and more."