Chapter 8 The Moondust Sisters

Elara's POV

The trees of the Moonwood were wrong.

Too tall. Too still. Their branches didn't sway with the wind, they listened to it. Watch us. Judged us.

We'd crossed the border at dawn, after walking for hours under silence broken only by Kalen's shallow breathing and the distant echo of wolves we couldn't see.

Even the birds avoided this place.

"Are you sure about this?" Kalen asked as we passed beneath a gnarled archway of bark and bone.

"No," I said. "But I need answers."

He looked at me from a long distance, his wound was wrapped in cloth, and the blood was still dark and fresh. He hadn't complained once.

I hated how much I noticed him now, how even his pain felt shared. Like the mate bond had wrapped itself around my ribs and refused to let go.

"Moonwood doesn't follow our laws," he warned. "It answers only to itself."

"I was never meant for the laws anyway," I muttered.

We kept walking until the path simply disappeared.

And that's when they appeared.

One by one.

Like shadows made flesh.

Three women, cloaked in frost and mist, stepped from the trees.

They don't looked alike, except for their silver eyes.

The youngest was pale and sharp-boned, her hair was white-gold, her feet bare on the frozen ground. Her eye held curiosity and cruelty in equal measure.

The second had a full lush figure, a wild mane of midnight curls, and a smile that never reached her eyes.

The third was ancient, her face creased like tree bark, her hair braided with bones, her mouth a thin, hard line.

"The Maiden."

"The Mother."

"The Crone."

They speak in unison, though their mouths barely move.

"Elara of no pack. Moonborn. Twice-marked. You come seeking truth."

I nodded, though my throat had gone dry.

The Crone's gaze pierced through me.

"Truth is never free."

Kalen stepped forward. "She's not here to make bargains."

The Mother smiled. "She already has. The moment her soul reached for yours, Alpha's Curse, she entered the path that ends in blood."

The Maiden circled me, touching a lock of my hair. "So fragile. So full of fire."

"What am I?" I asked, louder than I intended.

They paused.

Then the Crone spoke.

"You are what should not exist. A vessel of two legacies, light and ruin."

The Mother added, "Daughter of the Moon's chosen and the Wolf King's exile."

And the Maiden whispered, "Born from love. Bound by fate. Destined to break the world or save it."

The ground seemed to tilt beneath me.

Kalen cursed under his breath. "You're speaking in riddles. Explain."

The three turned to him in eerie unison.

"You are the cursed child of a cursed line," the Crone said.

"The wound in your soul was never yours," the Mother added. "It was given."

"The bond between you was not fate," the Maiden finished, eyes glittering. "It was designed."

Silence.

I felt the air leave my lungs.

"Designed... by who?" I asked.

"By the Moon herself," Crone said. "And by the one who defied her."

I staggered back. "But... I thought the Moon chose us."

"She does," the Crone whispered. "But sometimes, she uses us."

My skin crawled.

"What do you mean 'vessel'? What am I supposed to do?"

The three witches looked at each other.

Then the Mother stepped forward.

"You carry a power older than Alpha law. A fire sealed away by your mother. That fire can unbind the curse in him," she nodded toward Kalen, "but to do so will awaken something darker."

"The Beast," the Maiden said, delighted.

"The Devourer," the Crone hissed.

"The Moon's first mistake," they said together.

I wrapped my arms around myself. "What happens if I don't break the curse?"

"He dies," the Crone said flatly. "The curse will consume him. And you... you will burn with him."

"And if I do?"

"You both live," the Mother said. "But at a cost."

"What cost?"

The Maiden leaned in close, her smile like frostbite.

"You will have to become something else. Something more than human. More than wolf."

A flicker of silver light flared from my chest.

They all inhaled.

"She's already changing," the Crone whispered.

Kalen stepped between us. "Enough. We came for answers, not a prophecy."

"You came for power," the Maiden sneered.

Kalen bared his teeth. "I came for her."

For moment, none of them spoke.

Then the Mother nodded slowly.

"We will give you what you need to survive," she said. "But only one of you may enter the Grove. Only one will return changed."

"What Grove?" I asked.

The trees behind them parted.

And beyond them, bathed in moonlight, was a stone circle.

At its center: a pool of glowing water.

"Drink, child," the Crone said. "And face the truth inside you."

I stepped forward, heart hammering.

Kalen grabbed my wrist. "You don't have to do this."

"I do," I said.

He held my gaze.

Then let go.

I crossed into the Grove.

The light shifted around me. Warped. Time slowed.

I kneel at the edge of the pools and looked into the water.

At first, seeing nothing.

Then, I saw myself.

But not me.

A woman with my face. Golden eyes. Fangs bared. Surrounded by fire.

Behind her stood wolves. Hundreds. Maybe thousands.

They bowed.

To me.

Then the vision shattered.

Elara?" I whispered again, heart pounding.

But the creature wearing her skin only stepped closer, moonlight coiling around her like smoke.

"She can't hear you," it said, voice laced with power. "But she remembers you."

I reached for her, gently, like touching fire. "Then let her remember who she is."

Her fingers brushed mine. For a split second, I saw her, Elara, flicker behind those glowing eyes.

Then her body arched violently, magic surging from her like a tidal wave.

The Temple trembled. Cracks spread through the stone beneath us.

"Elara, fight it!"

She screamed a sound made of pain, fury, and something divine.

The stars above shattered.

And in the silence that followed... she whispered my name, just before her pulse stopped.

And the ground opened to swallow me whole.

A voice, my voice, but not, echoed through the trees:

"Alpha of Fire. Queen of Ruin. Breaker of the Curse."

I screamed as the power surged into me, silver and red, ancient and endless.

And everything went white.