ISLA POV
The corrupted water closed over my head, and every cell in my body screamed WRONG.
This wasn't water. It was pure corruption made liquid—thick, oily, ALIVE. It burned like acid and froze like ice at the same time. I felt it trying to force its way into my mouth, my nose, searching for entry into my body.
Kael thrashed beside me, his hand locked in mine. His eyes were wide with panic and confusion. Why did you pull us under? they asked. We were dying UP there!
But my scientist brain had seen something in that split second before I dove. The corruption in the pool wasn't random—it had STRUCTURE. Patterns. Like a chemical compound or a virus, it had rules it followed.
And if it had rules, I could break them.
I pressed my free hand against Kael's chest, finding his corrupted core beneath his skin. The black rot inside him was connecting to the corruption in the pool—feeding it, strengthening it, using Kael as a bridge.
That's what Morana wanted. She'd turned the bonding pool into a weapon that would use our connection to kill us both.
But connections work two ways.
I stopped fighting the corruption and instead PULLED it into me. All of it. From Kael, from the pool, from every drop of poisoned water touching my skin.
Pain exploded through every nerve. It felt like dying in the lab fire all over again, except this time I was drowning in darkness instead of flames.
I'm sorry, Marcus, I'd thought as the fire consumed me. I wasted so much time trusting you.
NO. Not this time. This time I wasn't the victim.
My power erupted from my core—not just golden light but something deeper. I felt my biochemistry knowledge merge with Heartweaver magic in ways that shouldn't be possible. My mind saw the corruption as molecules, as proteins, as cellular structures that could be CHANGED.
I grabbed the corruption at its base level and started rewriting it.
Breaking down the poisonous compounds. Neutralizing the toxic energy. Converting death into life.
The corrupted water around us started glowing gold. Then silver. Then pure white.
Kael's eyes went wide as the black rot was RIPPED from his core—not gently like before, but completely. Violently. Every trace of twenty years of poison extracted in seconds.
His core blazed pure amber, bright as a star.
The purified energy exploded outward in a shockwave that shattered the corrupted pool and sent Morana flying backward.
I broke the surface gasping, Kael beside me. The temple chamber was transformed—where corrupted vines had been crawling up walls, now glowing flowers bloomed. The poisoned pool had become crystal clear, reflecting actual starlight.
"Impossible," Morana breathed. She was slumped against the far wall, looking shocked for the first time. "You just purified two centuries of my work in SECONDS. How?"
"Because you think like a Heartweaver," I said, my voice steady despite my shaking hands. "You use magic and emotion and ancient power. But I'm a SCIENTIST. I see your corruption as a disease, and diseases can be cured."
Morana's face twisted with rage. "You arrogant child. You think you've won? That was ONE pool in ONE temple. I have corruption seeds planted in every territory. Thousands of warriors are already infected. You can't save them all."
"Watch me."
"Even if you could," Morana stood, her eyes glowing darker, "you'd have to bond with them. Every single one. And bonding means sharing your power, your life force, your SOUL across multiple mates. The more bonds you create, the more you'll be stretched thin. Eventually, you'll break. Just like I did."
"I'm not you," I said firmly.
"No. You're weaker." Morana smiled cruelly. "I survived seventy years before my mates destroyed me. How long do you think you'll last? A year? Five? They'll consume you, little scientist. Their need will drain you dry, and when there's nothing left, they'll fight over your corpse."
"That won't happen," Kael growled. He'd pulled himself from the pool, and his beast core was blazing with renewed strength. "We're not—"
"You say that NOW." Morana's voice went soft, almost pitying. "But wait until her power is the only thing keeping you alive. Wait until you NEED her touch like air, and another male is getting her attention. Wait until your beast instincts override your pretty promises. Then tell me you won't destroy her to keep her."
Silence fell. Heavy and horrible.
Because I could see doubt flicker across Kael's face. Just for a second. Just enough.
He was a good man. An honorable Chief. But he was also a dying warrior who'd just been given hope. How far would he go to keep that hope alive?
"They'll prove you wrong," I said, but my voice wavered.
"They'll prove me right. They always do." Morana turned toward the shattered entrance. "Enjoy your victory, little Heartweaver. You've bought yourself time. But time just means more opportunities for betrayal."
She walked out calmly, leaving her corrupted beasts behind.
They didn't attack. They just stood there, watching us with dead eyes.
Then, one by one, they collapsed. Dead.
"She killed her own beasts," Kael breathed. "Just to make a point."
"No." I knelt beside the nearest one—a wolf barely older than a puppy. "She killed them because they were witnesses. She doesn't want anyone to know I purified the pool. If other warriors find out I can cure corruption completely..."
"They'll all come for you," Kael finished grimly. "Every infected male in the Beastworld."
Thousands. Morana said thousands were already infected.
My knees went weak. "I can't bond with thousands of males. I can't even wrap my head around bonding with FOUR."
"You don't have to bond with everyone," Kael said quickly. "Just... just the ones whose cores resonate with yours. That's how it works. That's how it's supposed to work."
"And if hundreds of cores resonate with mine? What then?"
Kael had no answer.
A roar echoed from outside. Then another. The males who'd been chasing us hadn't given up.
"We need to leave," Kael said. "Now. Before—"
The temple walls started SHAKING.
Not from the males outside. From something worse. The corruption Morana had planted for centuries was fighting back against my purification. The temple itself was tearing apart as ancient magic warred inside the stone.
"It's collapsing!" I grabbed Kael's hand. "We have to—"
A section of ceiling crashed down, blocking the entrance.
Another section fell behind us, cutting off the back exit.
We were trapped in a collapsing temple with hundreds of males outside who wanted to claim me, Morana plotting somewhere in the shadows, and my power apparently strong enough to purify centuries of corruption but not strong enough to know HOW to do it safely.
"The pool," Kael said suddenly. "The purified pool. It's a portal."
"A WHAT?"
"Ancient Heartweaver magic. They could create doorways between sacred sites. If you activate it—"
"I don't know how to activate it! I don't even know what I'm DOING half the time!"
The ceiling groaned ominously.
Kael pulled me toward the crystal pool. "Then guess. Because staying here means dying, and I just got my life back. I'm not ready to lose it yet."
I looked into the purified water. Saw stars reflected impossibly deep. Felt something calling to me from within.
A doorway. A escape. A chance.
Or a trap.
"Trust me," Kael said softly. "Like I trusted you."
I took a breath. Pressed my hand to the water.
And fell through reality itself.
When I opened my eyes, we weren't in the Shadow Temple anymore.
We were in a massive throne room made of ice and starlight.
And sitting on the throne, with silver eyes that looked straight into my soul, was Theron Frostborn.
"Welcome to the Frost Palace," he said calmly, like we hadn't just fallen through a magic portal while running for our lives. "I was wondering when you'd arrive."
Behind him, winter wolves lined the walls.
And every single one of them was staring at me like I was their salvation.
Or their next meal.