The moment my hands pressed into my stomach, the world shifted.
A golden light erupted from my skin not the harsh glare of fire, but something warmer. Something alive. It spilled through my fingers, dancing across the cavern floor like liquid sunlight.
The Shadow Alpha hissed, recoiling as the light licked at his shadowy form. "Impossible."
I didn't have time to question it. The light pulsed, a wave of energy rolling outward
And the root impaling Callum shattered.
He dropped to the ground with a grunt, the black veins receding from his chest as the light touched him. His eyes met mine, wide with shock.
Our child had just saved his life.
And the Shadow Alpha looked furious
*The Betrayal*
The cavern trembled as the Shadow roared, his form swelling into something monstrous a towering mass of teeth and smoke. "You think light can banish me?" His voice shook the roots. "I am the first sin! The oldest hunger!"
Callum staggered to his feet, blood still dripping from his shoulder. "Rhea"
A blur of motion to my left. Lysandra stepped from the shadows, her milky eyes glowing. "Enough."
The Shadow Alpha froze. "You."
The seer smiled, her wrinkled hands clasped before her. "Me."
Before I could process what was happening, she moved faster than any human should. Her hand plunged into the Shadow's chest, her fingers closing around something that glowed sickly green.
The Shadow screamed.
Lysandra yanked her hand back, holding a pulsing, emerald stone. "The heart of the Vale," she whispered. "And mine."
The Shadow's form began to unravel, his edges fraying like burnt paper. "Traitorous witch," he snarled.
She crushed the stone in her palm.
The Shadow Alpha exploded into a storm of ash.
Silence.
*The Witch's Truth*
Callum was at my side in an instant, his arm around my waist. "Explain," he growled at Lysandra.
The seer sighed, brushing ash from her robes. "I was the first Gatekeeper." Her voice was softer now, younger. "The first Alpha's mate."
My breath caught. "That was centuries ago."
"And I've been trapped here ever since." She opened her hand, revealing the shattered remains of the stone. "He bound my soul to the Vale. To feed the old gods. To keep the gate closed." Her milky eyes flicked to me. "Until you."
The light from my hands had faded, but the warmth remained, a gentle hum beneath my skin.
Callum's grip tightened. "You used us."
Lysandra didn't deny it. "I needed a child of the bloodline and the gate to break the curse." She nodded to my stomach. "That baby is the first pure soul born to your line in a thousand years. Its light can sever the bond."
A chill ran down my spine. "You want to use my child to"
"To free us all," she interrupted. "Or the cycle continues. More deaths. More sacrifices." Her gaze hardened. "Choose."
*The Broken Circle*
The carvings on the floor began to glow, the runes lighting up one by one. The gate at the center shimmered, the shadows beyond it stirring hungrily.
Lysandra stepped into the circle. "The ritual requires three things." She held up a finger. "The blood of the Alpha." Another finger. "The tears of the Gatekeeper." A third. "And the light of the innocent."
Callum bared his teeth. "You're not touching our child."
"You misunderstand." Lysandra smiled sadly. "I don't need to harm the babe. Its light is already here." She pointed to my stomach, where a faint glow still pulsed. "But the ritual will hurt."
The ground trembled. The roots groaned.
The gate was opening on its own.
Lysandra's voice turned urgent. "Now, or never."
Callum looked at me.
I nodded.
*The Ritual*
We stepped into the circle.
Lysandra sliced Callum's palm with a claw, his blood dripping onto the carvings. Then she turned to me. "Your tears."
I thought of everything we'd lost. Everything we'd suffered. A single tear rolled down my cheek.
She caught it on her finger, pressing it to the gate.
The moment it touched, the glow in my stomach flared, a beam of light shooting straight into the shadowy void beyond the gate.
The response was immediate.
A howl not of pain, but of rage. The shadows recoiled, thrashing like wounded animals. The roots around us withered, the faces in the wood finally falling still.
Lysandra exhaled, her form beginning to fade. "It's done."
Callum grabbed her wrist. "Wait. What happens now?"
She smiled. "Now, I rest." Her body dissolved into golden dust, her voice echoing as she disappeared. "And you live."
The cavern collapsed around us.
*The Aftermath*
We barely made it out.
The Vale crumbled behind us, the trees uprooting themselves as the curse unraveled. By the time we reached the border, there was nothing left but a smoking crater.
Callum sank to his knees, dragging me down with him. His hands trembled as they cradled my stomach. "Are you?"
"Fine," I promised, pressing my forehead to his. "We're all fine."
For the first time in centuries, the bloodline was free.
But as I looked back at the ruins of the Vale, I couldn't shake the feeling
Something had watched us leave.