Aria's POV
The light is tearing us apart from the inside.
I can feel it—the curse pulling at our life forces, trying to decide which one to take. It's like invisible hands reaching into my chest, squeezing my heart, testing to see if I'm the weakest link.
"Let go!" I scream at Thorne and Kira. "Both of you, let go right now!"
"Not a chance," Kira grunts through clenched teeth. She's glowing so brightly I can barely look at her. "We're a package deal, remember? You, me, and terrible decisions."
"This isn't funny!"
"Who's laughing?"
The curse surges harder. I feel it pull at Kira—she gasps and stumbles. Then it pulls at Thorne—he drops to one knee but doesn't release my hand. Then it pulls at me, and I taste blood.
It's testing us. Trying to find which one of us is willing to die.
And the horrible truth is: we all are.
"There has to be another way," Thorne gasps. "Some loophole, some trick—"
"There isn't!" I try again to break free, but our hands are fused together by the magic. "The Guardian said someone has to die willingly. That's the price. That's always been the price!"
"Then maybe no one dies," a new voice says.
We all turn—as much as we can while being stuck together—and I see Elder Magnus pushing through the crowd. He looks ancient and tired, but his eyes are sharp. Clear.
"What are you talking about?" Beta Raymond snarls at him. "You said someone has to die! You said—"
"I said what the curse demands," Magnus interrupts. "But I never said we have to give it what it wants."
He stops a few feet away from us, studying the silver light connecting the three of us. Then he does something shocking.
He smiles.
"You clever children," he murmurs. "You did exactly what your ancestors hoped for. You found the fourth path."
"There is no fourth path!" I shout. "The Guardian showed me three futures, and they all end in death!"
"The Guardian showed you what would happen if you chose alone," Magnus corrects. "But you're not alone anymore, are you? You have your mate—broken bond and all. You have your best friend. You have each other. That changes everything."
The curse pulls harder, like it's angry we're not cooperating.
"Explain faster!" Kira screams as her knees buckle. "Because I don't know how much longer we can—"
"The curse demands a willing sacrifice," Magnus says quickly. "One life to anchor the transformation. But what if instead of one person dying completely, three people each give part of their lives? Share the death equally?"
Silence. Then:
"That's insane," Thorne says.
"That might work," I breathe at the same time.
"Might?" Kira laughs hysterically. "Oh good, I love 'might.' 'Might' is my favorite word when deciding whether to die or not!"
But Magnus is right. I can feel it in the magic connecting us. The curse doesn't actually care WHO dies or HOW MUCH they die. It just needs death. Needs sacrifice. Needs willing payment.
"How do we do it?" I ask Magnus urgently. "How do we split the death?"
"You're already doing it," he says, gesturing at our connected hands. "The three of you are sharing the burden. Now you just need to accept it together. Agree to give up part of yourselves—part of your lives, your power, your futures—to fuel the transformation."
"What does that mean?" Thorne demands. "What are we giving up exactly?"
"I don't know," Magnus admits. "The magic will take what it needs from each of you. Could be years off your lives. Could be your strength. Could be your memories. There's no way to predict—"
"I accept," I say immediately.
"Aria, wait—" Thorne starts.
"I accept too," Kira interrupts him.
We both turn to Thorne. He's staring at us like we've lost our minds. Maybe we have. But at least we'll lose them together.
"You don't have to do this," I tell him quietly. "This isn't your burden. You can let go. Let me and Kira handle it—"
"Shut up," he says. Then, louder: "I accept."
The moment the words leave his mouth, everything changes.
The silver light explodes outward in a shockwave that knocks the entire mob off their feet. The blood moon above us flares so bright it turns night into day. And the three of us—still connected—drop to our knees as the curse begins taking its payment.
I feel it leaving me first. The power—that beautiful, terrible power I've had for less than a day—flows out through my hands. But not all of it. Just enough. Just the stolen magic that never really belonged to me anyway.
What's left behind is something else. Something older and purer. My birthright. The true Moonshadow magic that can't be stolen or shared. It's smaller, quieter, but it's MINE.
From Thorne, the curse takes something different. I feel it through our connection—his Alpha dominance, that overwhelming force that makes everyone submit to him. It drains away like water through a sieve. Not all of it, but enough that he'll never be the same kind of Alpha again.
And from Kira... oh, Kira.
The curse takes her wolf.
"No!" I scream as I feel it happening. "Not that! Take something from me instead!"
But it's too late. Kira's wolf—her other half, her partner, her strength—is ripped away. She'll still be pack, still be one of us, but she'll never shift again. Never run on four legs. Never hunt under the moon.
She's screaming. We're all screaming.
And then, finally, mercifully, it stops.
The light fades. Our hands separate. We collapse in a heap, gasping and sobbing and alive.
All three of us. Alive.
The blood moon begins to fade, returning to normal silver.
Around us, the curse's victims start to heal. Black veins disappear. Fevers break. Children wake up crying in their mothers' arms.
The dead forest begins to regenerate. Green shoots push up through the ash. Trees crack back to life.
The curse is transforming. Becoming something new. Something that heals instead of destroys.
We did it.
We actually did it.
"Is everyone okay?" Magnus asks, kneeling beside us. "Can you speak?"
"Kira," I gasp, turning to my best friend. "Kira, I'm so sorry—"
"Don't." She's crying, but she's smiling too. "Don't you dare apologize. I chose this. I'd choose it again."
I hug her so hard we both can't breathe.
Thorne sits up slowly, looking dazed. "The Alpha power. It's... different. Smaller. I can still feel it, but—"
"You're still Alpha," Magnus assures him. "Just not the kind who rules through domination anymore. You'll have to lead through respect now. Through choice."
"Good," Thorne says hoarsely. "I never wanted to rule through fear anyway."
The pack is stirring now, standing up, checking on each other. Some are crying with relief. Others look shocked, like they can't believe they're still alive.
Beta Raymond pushes to the front of the crowd. He looks awful—still sick, but healing. And his face is twisted with something ugly.
"This isn't over," he snarls, pointing at me. "She still has power! She's still dangerous! We should—"
"We should thank her," a voice interrupts.
Selene steps forward. Her silver dress is torn and dirty, her perfect hair a mess. But her eyes are clear. Honest.
"She could have let us all die," Selene continues, her voice shaking. "She should have let us die after what we did to her. After what I..." She swallows hard. "After what I did. But she saved us anyway. Sacrificed her power. Risked her life."
She drops to her knees in front of me.
The entire pack gasps.
"I'm sorry," Selene whispers. "For everything. For lying about you. For turning Thorne against you. For trying to kill you in the vision you saw." Tears stream down her face. "I don't deserve your forgiveness. But I'm asking for it anyway."
I stare at her, stunned. This is Selene. Perfect, cruel, ambitious Selene. The girl who's hated me my entire life.
And she's actually sorry.
"I..." I don't know what to say. "I don't know if I can forgive you yet. Maybe not ever. But I won't kill you. I won't hurt you. That's the best I can offer right now."
"That's more than I deserve," Selene says quietly.
One by one, other pack members start kneeling too. Not everyone—some still look suspicious or angry. But enough. Enough to show that something has changed.
Magnus helps me to my feet. "You should address them," he murmurs. "They need to hear from you."
"I'm not their Luna," I protest.
"No. You're something more important. You're their savior. Whether you want to be or not."
I look at the kneeling wolves. At the children now healthy and playing. At the forest returning to life. At Thorne and Kira beside me, alive despite everything.
And I realize Magnus is right.
Everything has changed. Including me.
"Stand up," I tell the pack, my voice carrying across the clearing. "All of you. Stand up."
They obey slowly, uncertainly.
"I'm not your Luna," I continue. "I'm not your Alpha. I'm not your ruler or your savior or your enemy. I'm just Aria Moonshadow. And I'm tired."
Some wolves look confused. Others nod like they understand.
"The curse is broken," I say. "Transformed. You're all cleansed of the stolen magic. What you have now is yours—earned through survival, through change, through choosing to be better. Don't waste it."
I turn to leave, done with speeches and crowds and this entire nightmare.
But then the ground starts shaking.
Not like before. This is different. Worse.
The earth splits open in the center of the clearing—a massive crack that glows with red light from deep below. Heat pours out of it, making everyone stumble back.
"What's happening?" Kira yells over the rumbling. "I thought we broke the curse!"
"We did!" Magnus shouts back, looking terrified. "This is something else! Something old!"
From the crack in the earth, something rises.
A figure. Tall and cloaked in shadows. Its eyes glow the same crimson as the blood moon.
When it speaks, its voice makes my bones vibrate:
"The curse is broken. The debt is paid. But now, little Moonshadow heir, you face a greater test. Your ancestor didn't just create a protection curse. She opened a door. And I've been waiting seventy years for someone strong enough to walk through it."
The figure reaches toward me with a skeletal hand.
"Come, child. It's time you learned
what your bloodline was really protecting. And why your family's true enemies are just now waking up."