"Stop!" Elara’s sound was like a blade cutting through the air. Ronald’s flas stopped spreading and hung just above the main house.
When he looked at her, his eyes were like they were on fire for no reason. He looked confused. He cocked his head and asked, "You want to let them live?"
"Even though they’re too weak to protect you?" "They’re our pack," Elara said over and over. "Our family." When Ronan said, "Family doesn’t matter," his voice was tense.
"Only you matter." Beside him, Darian’s truth-sight blazed as he scanned the area. "I can see seventeen threats to your safety," he said quietly. "Should I eliminate them now or wait?" It broke Elara’s heart.
These weren’t her mates anymore. They were weapons shaped like the guys she loved. "Magnificent, isn’t it?" the old Alpha purred. "Pure loyalty. Absolute safety. This is what real love looks like."
"This isn’t love," Elara spat. "This is slavery." "Is it?" The old Alpha’s eyes glead. "Then break free." Elara reached for her silver light, but the old magic pressed down on her like a mountain.
Every ti she tried to use her Bridge Walker skills, they fizzled out. "The holy grounds are my domain," the ancient Alpha stated. "Here, I control everything. Including you." Kael stepped forward, ice forming around his hands.
"Let her go." "Oh, the loyal son speaks," the old Alpha mocked. "Tell , boy, how does it feel knowing you delivered her to ?" "I didn’t know—" "Didn’t you?" Ronan’s flas flickered toward his brother. "Darian, show him the truth."
Darian’s gaze fixed on Kael, and his words turned cold. "You knew bringing her to the holy grounds was dangerous. You felt the old magic stirring. But you did it anyway."
"I was trying to help her access her full power!" Kael objected. "Were you?" Darian’s truth-sight burned brighter. "Or were you hoping she’d beco powerful enough to choose only you?" Elara felt the mate bond fracturing totally.
The old Alpha’s corruption was working exactly as planned. "Enough gas," Alpha Marcus stepped forward. "Ancestor, bind her to us now. Make her our weapon."
But the old Alpha held up his hand. "Patience, relative. The best part is yet to co." He pointed toward Darian. "Truth-seer, show her what you found in the old records. The ones hidden in the Alpha’s secret vault." Darian’s eyes went wide.
"How did you—" "Know about your midnight research sessions?" The old Alpha smiled. "I’ve been watching through the holy stones for weeks. Preparing. Learning. Tell her what you learned about her bloodline." Elara’s blood turned to ice. "What records?"
Darian looked torn, the corruption warring with his original identity. Finally, he spoke, his voice hollow. "I found papers in the vault. Ancient treaties. Marriage contracts.
Bloodline deals going back centuries." "What kind of agreents?" Elara whispered. "The Moon family and the Blackwood family have been bound together for generations," Darian said automatically. "Every few centuries, a Bridge Walker is born to connect the lines.
To strengthen both clans’ power." "That’s impossible," Kael breathed. "Bridge Walkers are myth—" "Are they?" The old Alpha interrupted.
"Tell them the rest, truth-seer." Darian’s corrupted eyes fixed on Elara. "Your parents didn’t hide you to protect you from a promise. They hid you because they were breaking a deal. You were promised to the Blackwood line before you were even born."
The world turned around Elara. "Promised?" "An arranged mating," Darian continued, his voice getting stronger as the corruption took hold.
"Your Bridge Walker skills were ant to bind with our Alpha power. To make a new type of werewolf. One that could control all magical beings." "No," Elara shook her head. "My parents loved each other. Their mating was real." "It was," Darian agreed. "But it was also banned.
They were supposed to wait until you were born. Then your mother would mate with Alpha Marcus, and you would be raised as his daughter. When you ca of age, you’d mate with his kids." Alpha Marcus stepped forward, his eyes sparkling.
"The deal still stands. You belong to the Blackwood line. Always have." Elara felt sick. Everything she thought she knew about her life was a lie. "But here’s the beautiful part," the old Alpha continued.
"Your parents’ revolt actually made the plan work better. By suppressing your gifts and letting you grow up as an oga, they made you humble. Grateful. Perfect for molding." "I’m not perfect for anything," Elara said furiously. "I’m my own person."
"Are you?" Ronan’s flas danced around her, not burning but caging. "You ca back for us. You’re here, trying to save us. You’re already exactly what we need."
"A protector who needs protecting," Darian added, his truth-sight showing her every escape route and blocking them with shadows. "Soone worth dying for." "Soone worth killing for," Ronan finished, his flas growing hotter. Elara recognized the horrible truth.
The ancient Alpha hadn’t just warped her mates. He’d improved the parts of them that already existed. Ronan’s protective reflexes.
Darian’s loyalty. Even Kael’s wish to be worthy of her. "Now you understand," the old Alpha said softly. "I didn’t change them. I just removed their doubt. Their fear. Their humanity." "Change them back," Elara ordered. "Why would I do that?
They’re finally being honest about what they want. Complete possession of you." "That’s not what they want," Elara maintained. "They want to be happy." "Do they?" The ancient Alpha pointed to his corrupted grandsons. "Boys, what would make you happiest?"
"Keeping her safe forever," Ronan said instantly. "Even if it ans locking her away from everyone else." "Making sure no one else can ever hurt her," Darian added. "Even if it ans hurting them first."
"Being the only one she needs," Kael said quietly, his ice spreading across the ground. "Even if it ans destroying everyone else she cares about." Elara’s heart broke completely.
These were her mates, sharing their deepest truths under the ancient Alpha’s influence. "Perfect," Alpha Marcus breathed. "Now bind her to them permanently. Make the deal unbreakable." The old Alpha raised his hands, dark energy swirling between his fingers. "As you wish, descendant.
Though I think you’ll find the results... interesting." "Wait," Elara said desperately. "Before you do this, I want to see the records myself. If I’m truly bound by contract, I have the right to read the rules." The old Alpha paused, considering.
"An funny request. Very well." He gestured, and ancient papers materialized in the air, glowing with supernatural light.
As Elara read them, her blood turned to ice. The deal was real. But there was sothing else. Sothing that changed everything. "Darian," she said carefully, "did you read the entire docunt?"
His truth-sight flickered. "I... what do you an?" "The last page. The escape clause." The old Alpha’s smile faltered. "What escape clause?" Elara looked directly at him, her silver light finally breaking through his control.
"The one that says if the Blackwood line ever corrupts the sacred bond for personal gain, all contracts beco void." "That’s impossible," Alpha Marcus growled. "Is it?" Elara’s power glowed brighter. "Darian, use your truth-sight.
Read the last page." Darian’s corrupted gaze fixed on the floating papers. His face went white. "She’s right. The deal is broken. It was broken the mont you tried to use her as a weapon."
"No," the old Alpha hissed. "I won’t allow it." But Elara was already moving, her silver light cutting through his dark magic like sunlight through darkness. The corruption around her mates started to crack.
"The bond was never about possession," she stated, her Luna authority ringing through the courtyard. "It was about balance. Choice. Love freely given." "ENOUGH!" the ancient Alpha roared, his form getting massive and monstrous.
"If I cannot have you willingly, I’ll take you by force!" Dark magic burst outward, but instead of consuming Elara, it hit sothing else. Sothing that made the old Alpha scream in rage and disbelief. Behind Elara stood a person she thought she’d never see again.
Soone who should have been dead. Soone whose presence changed everything. "Hello, daughter," her father said quietly, silver light blazing around him. "Did you miss ?"
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