Chapter 24

A cold fear crept over Alena. Ariel didn't have much time.

Alena tried to pull herself from the vision, but it gripped her, forcing her to look deeper. She saw another shadow in the ruins, a faint, flickering shadow, as if from the past, yet connected to the present. The silhouette of Alpha Kael, entangled in dark energy, then exploding into fragments of light. Then, Draven, standing there, watching Kael's destruction, his blazing red eyes full of satisfaction. He not only knew about Kael's death, he witnessed it and perhaps... caused it?

No, not directly caused it, but Draven had manipulated Kael. He had led Kael to that destruction, waiting for the right moment to take what was left. Draven had learned the ritual from Kael's death. He wasn't just power-hungry; he was a master manipulator who had been preparing this for years.

The vision climaxed with a deafening roar, not from Ariel, not from Kael, but the roar of surging primal energy, ready to explode. Then, darkness.

Alena gasped, thrown back into the chaotic square. The smell of gunpowder, blood, and despair assaulted her senses. She stumbled backward, gasping for breath, the air thinning in her lungs. Ariel's doll slipped from her grasp, falling to the ground. Her legs gave way, her knees buckled, and she collapsed to her knees, her hands clutching her throbbing head.

"Alena!" Orion's voice thundered, yet distant, as if she were underwater.

The vision had drained her, sucked every drop of her energy, yet also implanted so much information, so much horror. Ariel. The ritual. Tonight. Draven.

Orion's pack warriors fought bravely, but they were outnumbered. Arrows continued to rain down on them. Some of Draven's warriors had managed to breach the defensive line, fighting viciously among the houses. Screams of civilian women and children began to be heard from within the settlement.

Orion, who had now pulled himself free from Liam and Lena's grasp, stared at the collapsed Alena. His face was pale. The power Draven wielded, Ariel's hair in his hand, the threat... he had almost given in to despair, to the blind instinct to save his sister. But seeing Alena fall, seeing the suffering clearly etched on her face, stopped him. He knew Alena had just experienced something horrible.

"What did you see, Alena?" Orion shouted, his eyes wide, trying to find answers on Alena's convulsing face.

Alena tried to speak, but the words choked in her throat. Her throat felt dry and hoarse. The vision still swirled in her mind, the details dancing in chaos. Cave. Hill. Stone River. Ritual. Dagger. Tonight.

"Ritual... Ariel..." Alena whispered, her voice barely audible, trying to convey the deadly urgency. She pointed east, towards the Stone River. "There... cave... Draven... he wants... her blood..."

Draven, observing from the front line of his troops, sneered. He knew what had just happened to Alena. He knew Alena's power now gave her an advantage. He swung Ariel again, making her wince. "You know too much, Luna," Draven mocked. "But that won't save anyone. Orion, you can never save both. Choose! Is it yourself or your pack... or the Luna you refuse to acknowledge!"

Orion glared at Draven, his blind rage now mixed with cold terror as Alena's disjointed words began to sink in. He knew Alena wouldn't speak carelessly. Something far more terrible was happening. He glanced at Liam, who also looked at Alena with concern.

"He's performing a ritual... tonight!" Alena managed to scream, her voice finally finding strength, though still hoarse and broken. Her eyes were wide open, staring at Orion, full of warning. "In the cave... by the Stone River... Ariel's blood... to bind my power...!"

A deafening explosion hit the side of the pack gate, followed by the roar of a falling warrior. Draven had launched an even more brutal attack.

"Time's up, Orion!" Draven shouted, his laughter sounding like a symphony of hell amid the chaos. "Look around you! Your pack is crumbling! I will take everything! And you will see your sister die by my hand before your Luna becomes my puppet!" Draven raised a glittering dagger in his other hand—the ritual dagger from Alena's vision—and aimed it at Ariel's neck.

"No!" Orion roared, his golden eyes blazing with a terrifying light, a mixture of rage, fear, and despair. He couldn't save his pack from this sudden attack and at the same time save Ariel from that horrific ritual.

Amidst it all, Alena, gasping and faint, struggled to rise, her eyes still gazing in horror at Draven, ready to act on Ariel. She knew she had to do something. She was the only one who knew the details of the location and time. She had to tell him. She had to force him to listen.

She gathered the remnants of her strength, the surging primal energy within her, the energy she had feared and tried to control. This was no longer about control. This was about saving lives. She had to... she had to force Orion to see.

With strong determination, Alena once again pointed at Draven, at Ariel, at the glittering dagger. "Orion, listen to me! Draven doesn't just want Ariel dead! He's going to use her blood to bind my power, the power of the old moon, to the ancient altar! Alpha Kael..." Alena paused, a wave of pain hitting her head. This was too much, too fast.

"Alpha Kael died there!" Alena cried, her voice returning to a hysterical pitch. "Draven was there! It's a trap!"

Orion froze. His father's name, Ariel in terrible danger, a threat that imperiled not only his sister but also Alena and the power destined for his pack. All of it hit him at once. His eyes darted to Draven, then to the pale Alena, then to his desperately struggling pack. He had to make a decision.

Draven, seeing Orion's hesitation, laughed. "Choose, Orion! Now!"

Alena felt the world spin again, the power of her vision still churning, forcing her to remain conscious. She saw blood. She saw destruction. She saw... Draven swing the dagger.

"Orion, you have to save Ariel!" Alena cried, her voice weakening. She felt something cold and sharp pierce her, not a dagger, but the weight of everything she had seen, everything she had felt. The power was too great, too fast, and she... she felt herself falling... falling into darkness. She could only see Draven, smiling cruelly, and his glittering dagger nearing Ariel's neck. She had to say it. She had to... she had to save Ariel. She had to...

"Draven will..." Alena's eyes closed, and her body collapsed completely to the ground, right in the middle of the battle-torn square, her last vision cut off by the consuming darkness, leaving only unspoken words, and... a name frozen on her lips.

"Draven will use Ariel to bind... Seraphina..."