Chapter 20 THE POWER SHE DIDN’T KNOW
MONTY’S POV
Alicia weighs nothing in my arms, but the power spreading out from her skin feels like I am holding lightning.
I carry her through the destroyed packhouse, stepping over debris and blood. Ray leads the way, barking orders at shell-shocked wolves. Kai guards our rear, eyes scanning for threats. Logan limps beside me despite his wounds, refusing to leave Alicia's side.
The black veins have spread from her neck down both arms now, pulsing faintly with each heartbeat. They look like cracks in porcelain; beautiful and terrifying and so very wrong.
"Is she dying?" I ask, not sure I want the answer.
"No." Elder Pascal appears from the shadows, moving faster than his ancient frame should allow. "But she's burning herself out from the inside. Her power awakened without proper preparation. Like asking a child to lift a mountain."
We reach Alicia's room, the one Ray gave her. It's one of the few spaces still intact, tucked in the eastern wing away from the fighting. I lay her carefully on the bed, smoothing hair back from her too-pale face.
"What do we do?" Ray's voice is rough with fear and exhaustion. Blood still seeps from the wounds on his shoulder and side.
Pascal moves to Alicia's side, placing his wrinkled hands on her forehead and chest. His eyes close, and power, old, and deep power flows from him into her. The black veins pulse once, twice, then slowly begin to reduce.
"She'll live," Pascal says after a long moment. "But this changes everything."
"What changes?" Logan leans against the doorframe, holding his ribs. "She used power she didn't know she had to defend herself. That's good, isn't it?"
"Good?" Pascal's laugh is bitter. "She just killed three wolves with a thought, boy. Erased them from existence without touching them. That's not good.
That's terrifying." He looks at each of us in turn. "Alicia isn't just any True Luna. She's the first in a thousand years. The prophecies spoke of her coming, a Luna born of forbidden love, bonded to four, capable of uniting or destroying all wolf packs."
The room goes silent.
"Uniting or destroying," Ray repeats slowly. "Which will she do?"
"That depends on who reaches her first. Who trains her. Who controls her." Pascal straightens, his joints make a cracking sound. "Right now, she's a weapon that doesn't know its own trigger. She is dangerous to everyone, including herself."
"She saved us tonight." I can't keep the defensive edge from my voice. "Jake would've killed us all if she hadn't intervened"
"Yes. And in doing so, she announced herself to the entire supernatural world." Pascal moves to the window, looking out at the forest. "True Luna power has a signature. Anyone sensitive to power felt what she did tonight. They know she's awakened. They know where she is." He turns back. "And they're coming."
Kai speaks for the first time. "Who's coming?"
"Everyone. Those who want to use her power. Those who fear it. Those who want her dead before she reaches her full potential." Pascal's expression is grim. "The True Luna is both freedom and curse. She can unite fractured packs or tear them apart. Can heal the supernatural world or burn it to ash."
"How do we protect her?" Ray asks.
"By helping her control the power before it consumes her. By teaching her what she is before others twist her purpose." Pascal pauses. "And by keeping her alive long enough to complete the mate bonds. Only then will she be stable enough to begin proper training."
A knock at the door. Three pack elders enter, the same ones who witnessed the claiming ritual explanation days ago. Their faces are hard, fearful.
Elder Margaret speaks first. "Alpha Ray. We need to discuss the girl."
"Her name is Alicia."
"The abomination," Margaret continues as if Ray hadn't spoken. "She killed three wolves tonight with uncontrolled power. She's a danger to the entire pack."
"She saved the pack," I counter.
Margaret's cold eyes shift to me. "Did she? Or did she simply kill indiscriminately, and we happened to benefit?" She looks back at Ray. "She needs to be contained. Locked in silver chains until we understand what she is."
Ray's Alpha power floods the room, making the air thick and heavy. "No."
"Alpha…"
"I said no." His voice drops dangerously low. "She's my mate. She's under my protection. Anyone who tries to chain her answers to me."
"She's a threat."
"She's a young woman who's been thrown into an impossible situation and is doing her best to survive it." Ray moves between the elders and Alicia's bed, physically blocking their view of her. "She didn't ask for this power. Didn't ask to be True Luna. She just wants to live. And I'll be damned if I let fear turn us into the kind of pack that imprisons scared girls."
Elder Malik, quieter than Margaret, steps forward. "We understand your protective instinct, Alpha. But what if she loses control again, if her power breaks out like it did tonight, she could kill us all. She could destroy the entire territory."
"Then we help her learn control," Logan says from the doorway. "We don't cage her like an animal."
Margaret's lip curls. "You're biased. All four of you. Blinded by mate bonds and lust. You can't see clearly."
"I see perfectly clear." I stand, moving to Ray's side. "I see a girl who's been betrayed by her family, hunted by her own brother, forced into bonds she didn't choose, and is now being blamed for having power she didn't ask for." My voice hardens. "What I don't see is any of you offering actual solutions. Just fear and chains."
"The solution," Margaret says coldly, "is to end the threat before it grows. Kill her now, while she's weak. Before she becomes unstoppable."
The room went cold with silence.
Ray's wolf is so close to the surface that his eyes are completely black. "Say that again. I dare you."
Margaret doesn't back down. "For the good of the pack"
"Get out." Ray's Alpha command cracks like a whip. "All of you. Out of my sight before I forget you're elders and tear your throats out."
Malik moves immediately, pulling at Margaret's arm. But she shakes him off, standing her ground.
"This isn't over, Alpha. The pack will demand answers. Demand protection from her." Margaret's eyes are filled with righteous certainty. "You can't protect her from everyone. Eventually, you'll have to choose the pack's safety or your mate's life."
"I choose both." Ray's voice is absolute. "Now get out before I make you."
The elders leave, but their fear hangs in the air like poison.
Pascal watches them go, expression unreadable. "They're not wrong to be afraid. Uncontrolled True Luna power has destroyed entire territories before."
"But they're wrong to want her dead," I say firmly.
"Are they?" Pascal looks at me. "What if she loses control tomorrow? Next week? What if her power breaks out again and kills dozens instead of three?" He turns back to Alicia's unconscious form.. One wrong step, and she falls."
"Then we make sure she doesn't fall." Kai's voice is cold, certain. "We train her. Protect her. Keep her balanced."
"Noble words." Pascal moves toward the door. "Let's hope they're enough."
"Wait." Ray stops him. "You said her power will attract ancient enemies. Who?"
Pascal pauses at the threshold. "The last True Luna, thousand years ago, united the wolf packs under her rule. She brought peace for a generation. But her power also drew the attention of beings older than wolves. Beings who saw her as a threat to their own dominance."
"What kind of beings?"
"Vampires. Witches. Fae. And worse." Pascal's voice drops. "They tried to kill her before she reached full power. Nearly succeeded. She survived by binding herself to the moon itself, becoming something more than mortal." He looks back at us. "But the binding drove her mad. In the end, she destroyed three territories before her mates put her down."
The words hang heavy.
"You're saying Alicia will go mad?" Logan's voice is tight.
"I'm saying the power is too much for any mortal to contain safely. The True Luna always ends in tragedy, either from external enemies or internal destruction." Pascal meets Ray's eyes. "The question is whether you four can do what her previous mates couldn't; keep her grounded enough to survive the power without losing herself to it."
"We will," I say with more confidence than I feel.
Pascal almost smiles. "Perhaps. But know this, one of you will betray her before the end. The prophecy is clear on that point. Four mates, but only three will stand with her when the final choice comes."
Ice floods my veins. "Which one?"
"That's not written. Just that betrayal is inevitable." Pascal's eyes are ancient, sad. "Love and power rarely coexist peacefully. One always corrupts the other."
He leaves, closing the door softly behind him.
The four of us stand around Alicia's bed, looking at each other with new suspicion. One of us will betray her. One of us will break the bonds. One of us will fail when she needs us most.
"It won't be me," Ray says quietly.
"Or me," Logan adds.
"Not me," Kai's voice is flat, certain.
They all look at me.
"I volunteered to save her," I say, meeting their eyes one by one. "I've wanted her for three years. I'm not betraying her now."
But doubt has been planted. We all feel it, the question of who will break first under the pressure. Who will choose themselves over her when the moment comes?
Alicia stirs, a soft moan escaping her lips. Her eyes flutter but don't open. The black veins have receded completely now, leaving only faint traces on her skin.
"She needs rest," Logan says. "And we need to heal."
"I'm staying." I move to the chair beside her bed, settling in despite my exhaustion. "Someone should be here when she wakes."
"We're all staying," Ray corrects, claiming the opposite side of the bed.
Kai takes position by the window, watching the forest. Logan slides down the wall near the door, eyes already closing despite his determination to stay alert.
Four mates. One True Luna. And a prophecy that promises betrayal.
I watch Alicia's chest rise and fall, steady and alive. My mate. The woman I've wanted for three years. The girl who might destroy us all or save us.
Either way, I'm not leaving her side.
The room settles into uneasy quiet. Outside, wolves patrol the damaged territory. In the forest, threats gather.
And somewhere in the darkness, Pascal's words echo: One is already here, disguised within the pack.
An ancient enemy. Hidden among us. Waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
I look at Ray, at Kai, at Logan. Brothers in this impossible bond. Rivals for Alicia's heart. Protectors of a power we don't understand.
And potentially, one of us a traitor.
I tighten my hand around Alicia's, feeling her pulse steady and strong.
I won't betray you, I promise silently. No matter what comes. I won't be the one who breaks.
But in the back of my mind, doubt whispers: That's what they all think. Until the moment of choice arrives.