Kira's POV
Two weeks until the Void Wolf returns.
Two weeks to master powers I barely understand.
Two weeks left with Kieran before goodbye becomes permanent.
I stare at Selene's journal, reading the final ritual description over and over.
The Moon Child must stand alone. No pack. No mate. No help whatsoever. The Void Wolf feeds parasitically on connection sever all ties before the final battle, or it will consume everyone you love through those bonds.
Sever all ties. Including the mate bond that just became complete.
My hand touches Kieran's mark on my neck unconsciously. The bond pulses with his constant presence.
He doesn't know I'm reading about breaking our bond.
He doesn't know killing the Void Wolf requires me to die alone.
Still reading that depressing book?
Vera stands at the tent entrance, arms crossed.
Trying to understand what I'm supposed to do.
Die heroically? She sits across from me. I read that part too. Selene was convinced. But there's another way.
My heart jumps. What?
She pulls out an older, more fragile book. Records from the first Moon Child. She didn't die. She survived because she didn't sever bonds she strengthened them dramatically. Used the combined power of every wolf to create the original seal.
She shows me an illustration. Hundreds of wolves connected by intricate light patterns to a central glowing figure.
If that actually worked before
Maybe you don't have to die. Vera grins. Maybe Selene was wrong about everything.
Hope flares. Dangerous, intoxicating hope.
But you'd need every pack to participate willingly. United. And Cassius wants you isolated and weakened.
Then we don't ask his permission.
Over the next week, Vera secretly sends messages through Torin's network. To every pack. Every territory.
Seven days before return: Silver paw Pack arrives with their Alpha.
Six days: Winterfang Pack and their warriors.
Five days: Three more packs with hidden moonmarked members.
Four days: All packs train together, learning to channel power through me.
Three days: Cassius discovers our unauthorized gathering.
What is this? he storms in with fifty armed warriors.
Preparing to fight the Void Wolf, I step forward confidently. Together. United.
I forbade unauthorized gatherings!
We're not asking permission anymore. We're sealing the Void Wolf. Exactly like it was done a thousand years ago.
Kieran appears beside me. She's not your prisoner or your weapon.
If I refuse to allow this?
We fight you first, then fight the Void Wolf after. Kieran's voice is pure ice.
Five packs shift to wolf form simultaneously. A unified force of two hundred.
Cassius looks at his fifty versus our two hundred.
The math is simple.
This is treason against the Council.
This is survival. Help us or get out of our way.
He laughs bitterly. Fine. Face your doom together. I won't stop you.
They leave.
That was extremely risky, Kieran says quietly.
Everything's risky now. I look at the assembled packs. But together, we have a real chance.
Through our bond, hope and fear mix equally.
Maybe I don't have to die after all.
A scout bursts in, completely breathless.
The Void Wolf. It's coming. Not three days. Not tomorrow.
My blood freezes solid. When?
Tonight. Midnight. It's coming tonight.
Panic ripples through the packs.
We're not ready!
Need more time!
We're all going to die!
Kieran grabs my shoulders firmly. What do we do?
We fight anyway. Ready or not.
Organized chaos follows. Packs positioning. Elena teaching ritual basics frantically. Kieran organizing multi-layered defenses.
I stand in the ritual circle center, trying desperately not to vomit.
Through the bond: I love you. No matter what happens tonight.
His immediate response: I love you too. We survive this. Together.
I almost tell him the truth. About death. About severing bonds.
But I can't break his heart before the battle.
Sun sets. Darkness falls like a shroud.
The Void Wolf howls in the distance. Closer.
Elena positions twenty-three moonmarked wolves around me in careful formation.
Channel your power when Kira signals. Give everything.
What about the rest of us? asks Winterfang Alpha.
Form defensive lines. Keep it occupied during the ritual. Buy her time.
Suicide mission. No one backs down or retreats.
11:47pm. The Void Wolf appears from living darkness.
Bigger than before. Stronger. Red eyes fixed on me with burning hatred.
You've gathered an army. How touchingly futile. More meals for me.
You'll have to go through them first.
Starting with your mate specifically.
It looks directly at Kieran with deliberate malice.
My heart stops completely.
The Wolf moves with impossible speed.
Kieran shifts and meets it head on.
They collide with devastating force.
The Wolf's claws rake across Kieran's chest. Deep. Too deep. Mortal.
Through our bond, I feel his pain. His blood. His life draining rapidly.
KIERAN!
I run toward him instinctively. Elena grabs me hard.
Stay in the circle! If you leave now, the ritual fails completely!
He's dying!
If it kills you, everyone dies! You must choose!
Through the bond, Kieran's thoughts bleeding through: Save them. Let me go. Save everyone.
No
Make the choice! Vera shouts desperately. NOW!
The Wolf tears into Kieran again viciously.
The mate bond flickers. Weakening rapidly.
This is the severance Selene wrote about.
The Wolf is deliberately destroying my bond.
Forcing me to choose.
Kieran's eyes meet mine across the battlefield.
He mouths: I love you.
His eyes close.
The mate bond shatters completely.
Something inside me shatters with it.
But instead of breaking down
It transforms into pure power.
Grief. Rage. Fury all becoming concentrated energy.
My moon mark ignites with blinding light.
Silver fire erupts, blindingly bright.
The twenty-three moonmarked wolves gasp as power rips from them involuntarily, flowing into me like a river.
Every ability. Every strength combined.
I rise into the air, levitating.
When I speak, my voice echoes with the Moon Goddess herself.
You killed my mate.
The Void Wolf looks genuinely afraid for the first time.
You made a fatal choice. Now face
I'm not alone.
I feel them. Every wolf. Every pack. Every ally present.
Not through bonds. Through deliberate choice. Through love freely given.
And I'm not powerless anymore.
I throw my hands forward with everything.
Every single bit of power becomes a devastating weapon.
The blast physically unmakes the Void Wolf.
It screams as silver fire burns through its very existence.
Impossible! You can't
I'm the Moon Child. You just made your final mistake.
It disintegrates. Piece by piece. Until only ash remains.
Complete silence.
I drop from the air, power completely spent, barely conscious.
Someone help! Kieran's not breathing!
No.
I crawl desperately to him. Our broken bond is pure agony.
Please don't leave me.
His chest isn't moving. No pulse.
KIERAN!
Impossibly, miraculously, he gasps.
Eyes open slowly.
Kira?
You're alive. Tears stream down my face.
Barely. He touches his chest where the wounds are rapidly closing. What happened?
You died. The bond broke. Then I killed it.
The bond broke completely?
We both feel the terrible absence simultaneously.
It's gone.
Then how am I still alive? When mate bonds break, both mates die.
Elena studies us with confusion. Unless it didn't actually break. Just... paused somehow.
What?
She points at my mark. Then Kieran's heart.
Look carefully.
A thin silver thread connects us. Barely visible. Fragile.
The bond didn't break. It evolved into something new.
What does that mean?
The ground shakes violently.
No. That's impossible.
From the massive ash pile, black smoke rises.
Reforming. Growing larger.
The Void Wolf's voice echoes everywhere.
Did you really think it would be that easy? I am eternal darkness. I am the void incarnate.
The smoke solidifies rapidly. Bigger. Angrier. More dangerous.
You just made me considerably stronger.