Elder Luna Seraphine's POV
The old stones beneath my feet were screaming.
I pressed my hands against the sacred altar in my private room, feeling the vibrations of dark magic that had been building for weeks. But tonight, after Morgana's defeat, something was badly wrong. The magic wasn't disappearing like it should have been.
It was getting stronger.
"Impossible," I whispered, my seventy-year-old bones aching as I reached for the crystal that showed me hidden facts. "Morgana is dead. The dimensional tear is healed. Why do I still feel..."
The crystal sparked to life, and what I saw made my blood turn to ice.
Three dark figures stood around a ritual circle that looked exactly like the one Morgana had used. But this wasn't a memory or an echo from her magic. This was happening right now, somewhere close to our area.
"The Shadowlands Council," I breathed, remembering Morgana's final threat. "They're already here."
I had to warn Zander and Kira instantly. But as I turned to leave my room, a soft knock came at my door.
"Elder Seraphine?" Kira's speech was tired but respectful. "I'm sorry to bother you so late, but I need to ask you something important."
My heart clenched. The poor girl had just said goodbye to her sister again, had just helped save both our worlds, and now more danger was coming. She earned peace, not more supernatural threats.
"Come in, child," I said, quickly hiding the crystal.
Kira entered, looking tired but determined. Her mate bond with Zander was finally starting to heal properly now that he'd stopped practicing dark magic, but I could see she was still holding so much pain.
"I keep thinking about what Morgana said," Kira started, sitting down heavily in the chair across from my desk. "About there being others like her. And about them knowing about our united power."
"What exactly are you asking me?" I said carefully, though inside I was proud of her sharp senses.
"I'm asking if you knew this would happen. If you've been watching me for reasons that have nothing to do with helping Zander find his mate."
Smart girl. Too smart for her own good sometimes.
I studied her face, seeing not just the broken rogue who'd arrived six months ago, but the powerful woman she was becoming. Her shadow-walking abilities had grown stronger during the fight with Morgana. Soon, she'd be one of the most magically gifted wolves living.
Which meant she'd also be one of the most hunted.
"Kira," I said slowly, "what do you know about your real parents?"
She blinked in surprise. "My real parents? Alpha Marcus and Luna Elena are my real parents. What kind of question is that?"
"That's what Marcus and Elena believe too. But twenty-eight years ago, a pregnant wolf appeared at their borders during a terrible storm. She was dying, and she begged them to take her baby and raise it as their own."
The color drained from Kira's face. "No. You're lying."
"The woman said her name was Sarah Moonwhisper, and that her child would grow up to have powers that could either save the supernatural world or destroy it completely." I pulled out an old picture I'd hidden for nearly three decades. "This is your birth mother, Kira."
Kira took the picture with shaking hands. The woman in the picture looked exactly like an older version of her - same dark hair, same green eyes, same stubborn jaw.
"She was a member of the Shadowlands Council," I continued gently. "One of their most powerful witches. But she fell in love with a werewolf and tried to leave their organization to start a normal life."
"They killed her for it," Kira whispered, understanding filling her eyes.
"They killed both your parents. But not before your mother escaped long enough to give birth to you and get you to safety." I reached across and touched her hand. "You're not just a werewolf with shadow powers, child. You're half Council witch. That's why your skills are so strong, and why they want you so badly."
Kira stood up so fast her chair fell over. "All these years, I thought I was doomed because I couldn't save Mira. But really, I was dangerous because of what I am."
"You're not dangerous," I said firmly. "You're powerful. There's a difference."
"Is there?" Kira's voice was angry. "Because it feels like everyone around me gets hurt. Mira died, my father rejected me, Zander used me, and now you're telling me that some old magical council wants to either control me or kill me."
Before I could answer, the crystal on my desk began glowing bright red - the warning signal for immediate magical danger.
"Elder Seraphine," a cold voice spoke from the crystal, "we know you're listening."
My worst fears were proven. The Shadowlands Council wasn't just watching us anymore. They were here.
"We've come to collect what belongs to us," the voice continued. "The daughter of Sarah Moonwhisper has grown strong enough to be useful. She can join us freely, or we can take her by force."
Kira grabbed my arm. "How are they talking through your crystal?"
"Council magic is older and stronger than anything we have here," I whispered back.
The voice from the crystal laughed. "We're giving you until sunrise tomorrow. Bring the girl to the Whispering River where her foster sister died, and we'll make her transformation quick and painless."
"And if we refuse?" I asked, though I already knew the answer.
"Then we'll burn your entire territory to the ground and take her from the ashes."
The crystal went dark.
Kira and I stared at each other in the sudden quiet. Outside, I could hear regular pack sounds - people laughing, children playing, wolves running through the forest. All of it would be destroyed if the Council carried out their threat.
"I have to go with them," Kira said quietly. "I can't let everyone die because of what I am."
"Absolutely not," I said strongly. "There has to be another way."
"Like what? You just told me they're older and more powerful than anything we have. How do we fight that?"
I was about to answer when something crashed through my window in a burst of glass and dark magic.
A Council assassin materialized in my room - tall, hooded, and radiating the kind of power that made the air itself feel heavy.
"Too late," the person said in a voice like grinding stone. "We've decided not to wait until sunrise after all."
The assassin raised one hand toward Kira, and I saw magical links forming around her wrists - chains made of shadow that would drag her back to the Council whether she wanted to go or not.
But just as the chains were about to snap shut, Kira's own shadow powers flared to life in a way I'd never seen before.
Instead of just walking between shadows, she seemed to become one with the darkness itself. The Council's magical chains passed right through her like she wasn't even there.
The assassin stepped back in real surprise. "Impossible. She shouldn't be able to resist Council magic."
That's when I discovered the truth that would change everything.
"She's not just Sarah's daughter," I whispered in surprise. "She's also the child of Marcus Shadowbane - the only Council member who ever successfully broke free from their control."
The assassin's hood fell back, showing a face twisted with rage. "The Shadowbane bloodline died twenty-eight years ago!"
"No," I said, understanding flooding through me like sunshine. "It just went into hiding."
Kira looked between us, her shadow form flickering as her feelings ran wild. "What does that mean?"
"It means, child," I said, feeling hope and terror in equal measure, "that you might be the one person powerful enough to destroy the Shadowlands Council forever."
The attacker screamed in fury and lunged at us both with magic crackling around their hands.
But in that moment, as death magic filled my chamber and Kira's true heritage awakened something ancient and terrible in her blood, I understood we'd all been asking the wrong question.
We'd been wondering if Kira was strong enough to survive the Council.
We should have been asking if the Council was strong enough to survive her.