Chapter 76 Chapter Seventy six

Chapter 76 Chapter Seventy six
LILA’S POV

The golden chains around me burn so painfully like fire, but it’s nothing compared to the searing sensation in my chest as I feel Draven’s magic reaching inside me and pulling at the power that’s been sleeping deep in my bones my whole life. 
His eyes glow with my light with my starborn power twisted into something dark and cruel, and I can feel him digging into my mind, trying to root out every thought, every memory and every ounce of strength I have left.

Fight him, my wolf growls, her voice sharp and urgent inside my head. He can’t take what’s yours unless you let him. 
Push back and find the light, find what makes you who you are.

I close my eyes, ignoring the pain of the chains, ignoring Draven’s triumphant laughter as he steps closer. 
I reach deep inside myself, searching for something familiar, something real. And then I feel it, the warm, steady presence that’s been with me since I was a child, the same one that woke up two years ago on that rainy mountain road.

Walter.

I can feel him even through the dark magic, feel the bond between us humming like a live wire, strong and unbroken despite everything we’ve been through. 
I can feel his pain, his fear, but more than that, I can feel his love that has been buried deep under years of anger and misunderstanding but still burning bright.

I think of the rainy night he saved me, throwing himself in front of a truck without a second thought. I think of the way he looked at me when he finally realized the truth, the regret and guilt in his blue eyes. 
I think of how he’s been pushing through agony every single day just to protect me, even when he thought I’d betrayed him.

This is what love is, my wolf whispers softly. Not just warmth and kindness, but the strength to fight for what matters, even when it hurts.

I open my eyes, and the starlight gold in them blazes brighter than the rising sun. The chains around me begin to crack, small lines spreading through the glowing metal as my power surges to the surface. 
Draven stumbles back, his eyes wide with shock as he feels my magic pushing against his.

“What… what are you doing?” he snarls, his voice no longer confident but strained with effort.
“You can’t resist the binding circle because it’s an ancient magic!”

“You’re right,” I say, my voice clear and steady to my ears, despite the fire coursing through my veins.
“It is ancient magic, but you forgot one thing, the circle was meant to bind the Star Born to her chosen mate and not to someone who steals her power.”

I hold out my hand toward Walter, who’s pushing himself up from where he’d fallen against the tree, his face was very pale but his eyes were still locked on mine.
The golden light streams from my palm, forming a bridge of pure starlight between us, and I feel the bond snap into place fully and completely, for the first time.

The silver poison in his veins glows bright for a moment, then it begins to fade away, the burn leaving his body as my light purifies him from the inside out.
He stands tall with no sign of his limp left, his dark hair was streaked with silver catching the sunlight as his own wolf eyes begin to glow with gold and blue mixing together, a sign of the bond we’ve forged.

Draven roars in rage, sending a wave of dark magic crashing toward us, but Walter moves faster than I’ve ever seen hum, stepping in front of me and raising his hand.
A wall of golden light springs up between us, reflecting the dark magic back at its source.

“You can’t have her,” Walter says, his voice sounded low and dangerous, the voice of a true Alpha.
“She’s mine. Always has been and always will be.”

But Draven isn’t done yet. He looks around at his warriors, who are now being pushed back by Caelum and the Fairmoon pack, and his face twists into a snarl of pure hatred.
“If I can’t have her, then no one will!”

He raises both hands, and the ground begins to shake violently. The stones of the circle start to crack with dark violet smoke pouring out from the gaps as he calls up power I can feel is ancient and forbidden, it's the kind of magic that could tear the whole forest apart, taking us all with it.

“The circle is collapsing!” Mirabel shouts, running toward us with the scroll held high. 
“Lila, you have to finish the bond fully, because only your combined power can stop this!”

I look at Walter, his eyes full of determination and love, and then at Draven, who’s lost in his rage with his magic spiraling out of control. 
The ground shakes harder, and stones begin to fly through the air, one striking Elara’s shoulder and sending her crumpling to the ground with a cry.

I ran to Walter and took hishand, and our power merges instantly with golden light wrapping around us both as we step forward together. 
But as we raise our joined hands to push back Draven’s magic, I see something that makes my blood freeze, hidden beneath the stone circle and glowing with dark magic, is a second binding mark… one that links Draven’s life to every member of the Fairmoon pack.

“If I die,” he laughs, even as our light begins to burn away his dark magic. 
“They all die with me! Every man, woman, and child in your precious estate, they’ll all fall when I do!”

I stare at the mark, my heart sinking as I realize what this means. We can’t destroy him without destroying everyone we’ve sworn to protect. 
But if we let him live, he’ll keep coming for us, keep trying to take my power and destroy everything we hold dear.

Walter squeezes my hand, his eyes meeting mine. “We’ll find a way,” he says quietly. 
“Together.”

But as Draven’s magic explodes outward in a final, desperate wave, I feel the bond between us flare to life, and a vision flashes before my eyes, it's one I’ve never seen before, of a young woman with my same golden hair and blue eyes, standing in this very circle a thousand years ago, facing down a darkness just like Draven’s.

And in her hand, she holds a silver dagger, my dagger, the one marabel once told me she heard my dad saying my mother left me before she disappeared, it's the same one I’ve been with me in my my whole life without knowing why.

I pull it from the sheath at my waist, and it glows with golden light as I raise it high. Draven’s eyes widen in terror as he sees it, recognizing it for what it is, it's the only weapon that can sever his dark bindings without killing him, or us.

But as I prepare to strike, the ground gives way beneath us, and we all tumble into the darkness below, the dagger slipping from my grasp as Draven’s voice echoes above us.

“YOU CAN’T SAVE THEM ALL, STAR BORN! CHOOSE YOUR MATE, OR YOUR PACK!”