The falling bridge shuddered beneath the triplets’ feet. Kael grabbed his brothers as chunks of starlight fell around them. "We need to get ho now!" he yelled.
"The bridge is falling apart!" Ronan yelled back. "How do we—" "Through the mate bond," Darian interrupted. "Elara showed us the way here. We can reverse it."
Above them, Elara’s silver form pulsed with unstable energy. Every pulse sent another wave of deadly magic toward their world. She was losing control totally.
"Elara!" Kael called out. "You have to stop! You’re killing our people!" Her voice echoed from everywhere at once.
"I can’t control it! The power is too strong!" Vex, the ancient Guardian, laughed coldly. "She will destroy everything she loves.
This is what happens to those who defy us." Another massive wave of silver energy burst outward. The triplets felt it hit their pack lands like a nuclear bomb.
Back ho, the second wave was even worse than the first. Pack mbers who had survived the original blast were now changing into sothing inhuman. Their eyes turned fully silver.
Their words beca echoes of Elara’s anguish. "Help us," they whispered in unison, their separate personalities fading away. Alpha Marcus, still struggling with his shadow-creature form, tried to keep order.
But when the second wave hit him, sothing inside snapped. His love for his kids twisted into burning hatred. "This is their fault!" he roared, his voice carrying supernatural authority.
"The triplets brought this curse! They must die!" Every afflicted pack mber heard the order. Those who could still move began looking for Kael, Ronan, and Darian with murderous intent.
Dr. Sarah’s burning touch had grown so hot that she lted everything around her. "I can’t stop," she sobbed, leaving pools of liquid tal where she walked.
Young Marcus broke free from his chains with a sound like thunder. His increased strength had doubled again.
When he punched the ground in anger, the entire pack house shook. "Everyone stay away from !" he scread.
But it was too late. The building started to collapse. Pack mbers stuck inside cried for help, but anyone who tried to rescue them only made things worse with their uncontrolled abilities.
Elder Thompson, overwheld by everyone’s worried thoughts, suddenly stood up with silver fire in his eyes. "I see the truth," he announced in a voice that wasn’t fully his own.
"The oga must be stopped. She is the source of all pain." The surviving pack mbers turned toward the forest where they felt Elara’s energy.
But they couldn’t reach her. She was between worlds, invincible. So they did the next best thing.
They began hunting for anything connected to her. The twins. Luna Evelyn clutched the babies to her chest as the mob neared the nursery.
"Stay back!" she warned. "These children are innocent!" "They carry her blood," soone growled. "They’re part of the curse."
Evelyn’s own maternal instincts, boosted by the magical chaos, turned her into a fierce protector. Her eyes blazed with silver light as she stood between the mob and her grandkids.
"You’ll have to kill first." On the bridge, the triplets felt their mother’s terror through the pack bond. "Mom’s in danger," Darian gasped. "The twins—" "We have to get back now!"
Ronan’s berserker rage exploded, but instead of destroying things, it did sothing surprising. His fury produced a pathway of red energy leading back to their world.
"How did you do that?" Kael asked. "I don’t know! I just wanted to get ho so badly—" "Emotions," Darian realized. "Strong feelings can bridge realities.
That’s how Elara’s power works." Kael focused on his ice-cold resolution. Blue energy joined Ronan’s red route. Darius channeled his strategic thought and protective instincts.
Dark purple shadows wove between his brothers’ energies. Together, they created a rainbow bridge heading ho. "You cannot leave!" Vex ruled.
"You belong to the between now!" "Watch us," Kael growled. The three brothers ran down their energy pathway as it started dissolving behind them. Above them, Elara’s silver form was getting brighter and more unstable.
"I’m sorry," her voice whispered after them. "I’m so sorry." They crashed back into their world just as the mob reached their mother.
The triplets appeared in the nursery, their combined energy sending the attackers flying backward. "Boys!" Evelyn cried with relief. But their eting was cut short.
The pack mbers who’d been thrown back got up with silver eyes and inhuman snarls. "The cursed ones have returned," they hissed in unison. "Destroy them." "They’re not themselves anymore," Darian noted.
"Elara’s power is controlling them." "Then we fight our own people?" Ronan asked, terrified. "We stop them without killing them," Kael decided. "There has to be a way." The first wave of controlled pack mbers charged.
The triplets fought desperately, trying to subdue their friends and family without causing lasting harm. Kael used his ice skills to freeze attackers in place.
Ronan relied on accurate strikes to knock people unconscious. Darian used his ghosts to bind and confuse rather than hurt. But there were too many of them.
And with each passing mont, more pack mbers succumbed to Elara’s out-of-control impact. "We can’t keep this up," Ronan panted, avoiding Dr. Sarah’s lting touch.
"The source," Darian said suddenly. "We have to stop Elara herself." "She’s between worlds!" Kael objected. "How do we reach her?" "The sa way we got back. Through the mate bond."
Above them, Elara felt her mates’ presence return to their world. Relief flooded through her, but it was quickly replaced by fear as she saw what her power was doing to them.
They were fighting for their lives against their own pack. All because of her. "I have to end this," she whispered. "Yes," Vex agreed. "Surrender to us fully. Beco our servant, and we will end your people’s pain." "What’s the catch?"
"You will never return to your world. Never see your mates or children again. You will spend forever as our weapon." Elara looked down at the chaos below.
Her children were being overwheld. Her kids were in danger. Her pack was destroying itself. "I accept," she said.
"No!" The triplets’ voices rang out in unison. They had felt her choice through the bond. "Elara, don’t!" Kael shouted upward. "We’ll find another way!" "There is no other way," she answered sadly. "This is the only choice that saves you all."
She began to surrender her will to Vex, feeling her awareness start to fade into sothing cold and obedient. But just as the transformation started, sothing unexpected happened.
The twins, who had been sleeping happily in their grandmother’s arms, suddenly opened their eyes. Both babies looked up at the space between worlds with perfect clarity. And they smiled.
Silver light began spilling from their tiny hands—not chaotic and destructive like their mother’s power, but calm and controlled. "Impossible," Vex breathed. "They’re too young to have abilities."
The twins’ power reached up through the barriers between worlds and touched their mother’s soul. Suddenly, Elara could feel them.
Not just their presence, but their personalities, their love, their total faith that everything would be okay. Through her children’s innocent power, she glimpsed sothing Vex had kept from her.
A way to control Bridge Walker powers without surrendering to the Guardians. She just had to trust in ties stronger than magic. Family ties. "I change my mind," she told Vex. "Too late," the Guardian growled.
"The bargain is sealed." But Elara was already pulling away, following her babies’ light back toward her world. Vex reached for her with claws of pure darkness. "You cannot escape us forever," he warned.
"We will find you. And when we do, your sentence will be a thousand tis worse." Below, the triplets felt Elara’s consciousness returning to their world. But they also felt the ancient evil following close behind.
"She’s coming back," Darian said with relief. "Sothing else is coming too," Ronan added grimly. In the nursery, the twins’ silver light was getting brighter. Luna Evelyn stared at her grandchildren in wonder.
"What are they?" she whispered. Outside, the controlled pack mbers suddenly stopped striking. Their silver eyes cleared as Elara’s chaotic impact withdrew.
But their relief was short-lived. A new threat was rising from the forest. Dark forms moved between the trees—creatures that didn’t belong in any world.
The Guardians’ hunting party had arrived. And they were bringing sothing with them that would change everything. The real war was about to begin.
Reviews
All reviews (0)