Kaelen burned.
Not with the flames of the mortal world, but with fire born of memory and consequence. The agony was not of the flesh—it was of the soul.
He saw it all.
The night he left Elara behind in the shadowlands to face the wrath of the Bloodbane alone.
The pact he sealed with Selene beneath the Hollowed Moon, trading his loyalty for knowledge forbidden.
The moment he stood silently and watched her sacrifice her wolf to save a dying child—because he had already turned his back.
And worst of all, the moment he told her, with lips cold as stone, "You were never meant to be Luna."
She had shattered then, but never showed it.
And now, the Veil made him live it all—again and again—each time the flames devouring another lie he'd built to protect himself.
"Stop!" he cried.
But the forest around him—the truth realm—did not yield.
A voice echoed in the fire:
"This is the cost of redemption, Betrayer. To walk through your own hell. And survive."
Meanwhile, Elara drifted deeper into the heart of the Veil.
The Temple of Eyes had collapsed behind her. Now, she stood in the Mirror Womb—the oldest sanctum of creation, said to have been carved from the breath of the first moon goddess.
Here, truths weren't shown. They were birthed.
She walked among floating shards of time—each one reflecting a different version of her:
One where she accepted Aiden's bite and became his Luna.
One where she died in childbirth, leaving a cursed heir.
One where she never met either of them and lived a peaceful, loveless life as a healer.
And one—horrifying and blood-soaked—where she embraced the darkness and ruled all packs by force, Kaelen her mate and general.
Elara stumbled away from that shard.
"I don't want this," she whispered.
A figure stepped out from the reflection.
Herself—but with black eyes and a wolf made of smoke at her side.
"You already chose," the dark version said. "You just don't remember."
In the real world, the Blackmoon Pack trembled under a rising storm.
Lightning split the skies. Winds howled with the voices of the ancient pack ancestors.
Aiden stood at the edge of the Vale, his armor scorched from training, his body nearly broken from constant battle drills. He hadn't slept. He hadn't eaten.
All he could feel was the bond.
And it was fading.
"Suri," he said, his voice hoarse, "She's slipping. I can feel it."
Suri looked grim. "If Kaelen fails—"
"He won't bring her back," Aiden snapped. "He doesn't know her anymore."
"Then what do we do?" she asked.
Aiden looked toward the Veil, jaw clenched.
"I go in."
Suri grabbed his arm. "The Moon said only one—"
"She lied," Aiden growled. "Or maybe the rules changed. Elara's rewriting everything. And I won't lose her without fighting for her."
Without another word, he summoned his inner wolf, summoned Lupin, the guardian spirit of his bloodline, and whispered the ancient words of severance.
The Veil cracked open for him.
And he leapt in.
Back in the Mirror Womb, Elara stood frozen between herself and her darker self.
"Why are you showing me this?" she asked.
"Because you are me," the darker Elara replied. "The Oracle died the moment you refused the Oath. Now all that remains... is power. And you need it."
Elara turned. "No. I'm not like you."
Dark Elara smiled. "Not yet."
Suddenly, the mirror shards pulsed and shattered.
A new presence entered the realm.
Elara gasped.
"Aiden?"
He stepped from the swirling fog, his eyes blazing gold, power radiating from him like wildfire.
"You shouldn't be here," she said, stepping back.
"I had to," he said. "I felt you slipping away."
She looked between him and her darker self. The entire realm trembled—unable to hold both her soul's light and shadow in balance.
Aiden stepped forward. "Come with me, Elara. Come home."
Her hands trembled.
And then—Kaelen burst through the flames, his body charred, eyes feral.
"Elara!" he roared.
The three stood in a triangle now.
Aiden.
Kaelen.
Elara.
And between them, the soul of the Oracle—fractured.
Dark Elara reached into Elara's chest—and pulled out a glowing silver flame.
Her true wolf.
"You must choose," Dark Elara whispered. "One love must die. One path must burn. One Oath must be broken... forever."