(Aria's POV)
Violet light explodes from my hands before I even think.
The blast hits Morrigan's front line of soldiers, sending them flying backward. But more keep coming. Dozens of them. Maybe hundreds.
"Get behind me!" Lyric shouts, shifting into his wolf form. His rogues do the same, forming a defensive wall around the sanctuary.
But we're outnumbered. Badly.
Morrigan floats above the battle, dark magic swirling around her like a storm. Her eyes lock on me through the chaos.
"There you are," she purrs. "The last little Thorneblood. I should have killed you nineteen years ago when I had the chance."
Rage burns through my veins. "You murdered my family!"
"I did the world a favor." Morrigan raises her hands, and dark energy crackles between her fingers. "Your kind were a disease. Too powerful. Too dangerous. The natural order requires omegas to submit. But Thornebloods never learned that lesson."
She releases the dark magic. It shoots toward me like a spear.
I throw up my hands instinctively. Violet light forms a shield. Morrigan's attack hits it and deflects, exploding against the sanctuary wall.
"Impressive," Morrigan says. "You're stronger than I expected. But you're still untrained. Still weak."
Another blast. This one shatters my shield and throws me backward. I hit the ground hard, tasting blood.
"Aria!" Seren runs toward me, but a soldier tackles her.
Everything is chaos. Fighting everywhere. Lyric's rogues are brave but they're falling. We can't win this.
Then a voice cuts through the battle like thunder.
"ENOUGH!"
Zander Corvus steps into the center of the yard. Shadows writhe across his skin from the curse, but his Alpha power still radiates like a physical force. Every wolf in the vicinity—friend and enemy—instinctively stops and turns toward him.
"Morrigan." His voice is ice and fury. "Stand down."
She laughs. "Or what? You'll command me? You're dying, Zander. Everyone can see the curse consuming you. In days, you'll be dead and I'll rule the Shadow Realm unopposed."
"You cursed me." It's not a question. Zander's eyes narrow. "You've been planning this all along."
"Of course I did." Morrigan descends until she's floating just above the ground. "I raised you to be strong, ruthless, perfect. But then you found your fated mate and I saw weakness in your eyes. Love makes Alphas soft. So I planted the curse years ago—insurance that would activate if you ever showed that weakness."
"You made me reject her," Zander says quietly.
"I suggested it. You chose it." Morrigan shrugs. "Either way, my plan worked perfectly. The rejection triggered her Thorneblood powers, identifying her for me. Now the curse is killing you. And once you're gone, I'll eliminate her and finally secure my control over all five realms."
She's confessing everything. Which means she doesn't plan to let any of us leave here alive.
I struggle to my feet, violet light flickering weakly around my hands. I'm exhausted. I've barely trained for three days. I can't fight someone like Morrigan.
But I have to try.
"Aria, run!" Cassian grabs my arm. "Get out of here while—"
"No." I pull free. "I'm done running."
Morrigan turns her attention back to me. "Brave. Stupid, but brave." She raises her hands again. "Let me show you how your parents died. Screaming. Begging. Burning."
Dark magic gathers around her, massive and terrible. This blast will kill me. I know it.
I raise my hands anyway, calling up every bit of violet power I have left.
It won't be enough.
Then Zander moves.
He steps directly in front of me, putting his body between Morrigan's attack and mine. The shadows from his curse flare outward, forming a shield of darkness.
"Zander, don't—" I start.
Too late.
Morrigan's dark magic slams into Zander's shadow shield. The collision creates an explosion of black and purple energy. Zander screams as the curse accelerates, shadows consuming more of his body.
But he doesn't move. Doesn't let the attack through.
He's protecting me.
"You fool!" Morrigan shrieks. "Using curse energy as a shield will kill you faster!"
"I don't care." Zander's voice is strained but firm. Through our bond, I feel his determination. His acceptance. He's willing to die to keep me safe.
The man who rejected me is sacrificing himself for me.
Something cracks inside my chest. Not the mate bond—something deeper. All my rage and hurt and betrayal start to crumble.
No. I can't forgive him. I won't.
But I can't let him die like this either.
I step forward and press my hands against Zander's back. Violet light pours from my palms into his body. I don't know what I'm doing—I'm working on pure instinct.
The light flows through him, mixing with the curse shadows. Instead of fighting each other, they start to swirl together. Purple and black. Light and dark. My power and his curse, combining.
"What are you doing?" Zander gasps.
"Saving you, apparently." I grit my teeth. "You're welcome."
The combined energy explodes outward in a shockwave. Morrigan's attack shatters. She's thrown backward, slamming into her own soldiers.
For a moment, everything goes quiet.
Zander and I stand back-to-back, my violet light and his curse shadows swirling around us both like a shield. Through our broken bond, I feel our powers connecting. Balancing. Strengthening each other.
We're not supposed to be able to do this. Curse energy and Thorneblood magic shouldn't mix.
But they are.
Morrigan picks herself up, fury twisting her face. "Impossible. You can't merge curse magic with—"
"Apparently we can." I raise my glowing hands. Beside me, Zander raises his shadow-covered ones.
"Together," he says quietly.
I should refuse. I should let him die and deal with Morrigan alone.
But looking at the army surrounding us, at my friends bleeding on the ground, at Cassian trying to protect the younger rogues—I know I can't win this alone.
Sometimes survival means accepting help from your worst enemy.
"Together," I agree.
We release our combined power at the same time.
Violet light and curse shadows spiral together into a massive blast. It hits Morrigan's forces like a tidal wave. Soldiers fly in every direction. The ground cracks. The sanctuary walls shake.
Morrigan herself is thrown a hundred feet back. She crashes through trees and doesn't get up.
Silence falls over the battlefield.
Then Lyric starts laughing. "Did you two just—did you just merge your powers?"
I stare at my hands. The violet light is still there, but now it has streaks of shadow running through it. Beside me, Zander's shadows have violet light pulsing inside them.
We're connected. Not through the mate bond—through our actual powers.
"How did we do that?" I whisper.
Before Zander can answer, Morrigan rises from the wreckage. Her perfect appearance is ruined—hair wild, clothes torn, face bleeding. But her eyes glow with pure hatred.
"You think you've won?" She laughs, high and broken. "This changes nothing. The curse will still kill you, Zander. And I have armies. Resources. Time." She points at me. "I will hunt you across every realm. I will destroy everyone you love. And I will finish what I started with your family."
She raises her hands, and dark portals open around her remaining soldiers.
"Run while you can, little Thorneblood," Morrigan says. "Because when I come back, I'm bringing an army that will burn this entire sanctuary to ash."
The portals swallow her and her forces. Then they're gone.
I collapse to my knees, exhausted. Zander drops beside me, breathing hard. The shadows still writhe under his skin, but slower now. Our combined power bought him time, but the curse is still active.
"Is everyone okay?" I call out.
Lyric limps over, bleeding but alive. "We're battered, but we'll survive. Thanks to you two." He looks between us with a knowing smirk. "So... want to explain how you just did that?"
I don't have an answer. I look at Zander. He looks back at me.
Through our broken bond, I feel his emotions: gratitude, wonder, confusion. And underneath it all, that constant current of regret.
"We need to leave," Cassian says, helping Seren to her feet. "Morrigan will be back with reinforcements. This sanctuary isn't safe anymore."
"Where do we go?" Seren asks.
"The Veil Woods," Zander says. "We need to complete the curse-breaking ritual anyway. We might as well leave now."
He's right. We just made an enemy of the most powerful person in the five realms. Our only chance is breaking the curse so Zander can fight at full strength.
Which means seven days alone with him in a magical forest.
"Fine," I say. "We leave in one hour. Pack light."
As everyone scrambles to prepare, Zander touches my arm gently.
"Thank you," he says. "For saving me. You could have let Morrigan kill me."
"I didn't do it for you." I pull my arm away. "I did it because we need you alive to fight her."
"I know." Something sad flickers in his eyes. "But thank you anyway."
I turn away before I can see more emotion in his face.
Before I can feel the broken bond trying to pull us back together.
One hour later, we're ready. Zander, me, Lyric, Cassian, and Seren. Five of us against an ancient curse, a powerful enemy, and seven days in the most dangerous magical forest in existence.
As we step into the forest's edge, the trees seem to whisper.
And deep inside the Veil Woods, something stirs. Something that's been waiting for us
.
Something that knows our deepest secrets and darkest fears.
The real test is about to begin.