Luna's POV
Get away from my brother! I scream at Kael.
Kael's black wolf has Jason pinned to the temple floor, teeth at his throat. But he doesn't bite down. He looks at me with those golden eyes, asking a silent question.
Do you want me to kill him?
Don't hurt him, I beg, even though Jason just tried to kill me. Please, Kael. He's my brother.
Kael shifts back to human form, still holding Jason down. He tried to murder you!
I know! Tears stream down my face. But there has to be another way!
Jason shifts back too, blood on his face from Kael's attack. There is no other way, Luna. The curse needs a blood sacrifice. Either you die, or I die. Those are the only options.
That can't be true, I say desperately. I turn to Margot. Tell me there's another way to break the curse!
The old Moon Priestess looks at me with sad, ancient eyes. The curse is bound by dark magic. It requires death. Your mother designed it that way no loopholes, no escape.
So my choices are to die in childbirth, or kill my own brother? My voice breaks. That's not a choice!
There's a third option, Jason says quietly. He's stopped struggling against Kael's grip. Let me take the curse willingly. Let me die to save you and your baby.
No! I shout. I won't let you sacrifice yourself!
Why not? Jason asks. I'm the one who helped kill our parents. I'm the one who kept the secret about Mom being a dark witch. I deserve this, Luna. Let me do something good for once.
You were eighteen years old! I argue. You were trying to save the pack from our mother's dark magic! You didn't deserve to carry that guilt for twenty years!
Kael's phone buzzes. He pulls it out with one hand while still holding Jason with the other. His face goes pale as he reads.
What? I ask. What is it?
Tobias just sent this. Kael shows me the phone. He found more information about your mother's dark magic. Luna, there might be a fourth option.
I grab the phone and read frantically. It's a page from an ancient book about curse breaking.
A blood curse can be broken by the pure sacrifice of true love. If someone willingly gives their life out of love not guilt, not duty, but genuine love the dark magic is cleansed and the curse dies with them.
I don't understand, I say. What does that mean?
It means someone who truly loves you can take the curse, Margot explains. But they have to do it willingly, with pure intentions. Not to pay a debt. Not to fix a mistake. But because they love you more than their own life.
Everyone goes silent.
Then Kael says, I'll do it.
My heart stops. What?
I'll take the curse, Kael says, looking at me with those golden eyes. I love you, Luna. I've loved you since the moment I met you. I rejected you because I was scared, but I never stopped loving you. Let me prove it. Let me save you and our daughter.
No! I back away. Kael, you can't
I can and I will, Kael says firmly. He releases Jason and stands up. How do we transfer the curse to me?
Are you insane? Jason shouts. You're the Alpha! The pack needs you!
The pack can get a new Alpha, Kael says. But Luna only has one mate. Our daughter only has one father. I'm not letting them die when I can stop it.
Kael, please, I beg. Think about what you're saying. If you die, our daughter grows up without a father. I raise her alone. Is that what you want?
Better that than her growing up without a mother, Kael says. Or not growing up at all because the curse kills her at birth.
Margot stands up from the altar. The ritual must be performed on the Blood Moon. That's in twenty-three days. You have until then to decide who will bear the curse.
I've already decided, Kael says.
So have I, Jason argues. I'm the one who caused this mess. I should fix it.
You're both wrong, I say angrily. Nobody is dying for me! There has to be another way!
There isn't, Margot says gently. I'm sorry, child. Dark magic demands balance. A life for a life. That's the only way.
She walks toward the temple door, moving surprisingly fast for someone so old. You have twenty-three days to choose. Choose wisely.
Then she's gone, vanishing into the forest.
I sink to the floor, my hands on my pregnant belly. My daughter kicks inside me, strong and healthy, completely unaware that her existence might cost someone's life.
Kael kneels beside me. Luna, let me do this. Please.
How can you ask me that? I whisper. How can you ask me to watch you die?
Because I love you, Kael says simply. And this is how I prove it.
Jason crouches on my other side. Or let me do it. I owe this to our parents. To you. To the pack I endangered with my silence.
I look between them my mate and my brother. Both willing to die for me.
I need time to think, I say, my voice breaking. Twenty-three days. We use that time to find another way.
Luna they both start.
No! I stand up, anger giving me strength. I'm not choosing who dies tonight. We have three weeks. We're going to spend every second of it looking for a way to break this curse without anyone dying. Understood?
They exchange looks but nod reluctantly.
Tobias appears at the temple entrance with five enforcers. Alpha, we secured the perimeter. Are you He stops when he sees Jason. Should we arrest him?
No, I say before Kael can answer. Jason stays free. He's helping us break the curse.
Luna, he tried to kill you, Kael argues.
He was trying to save the pack from dark magic, I correct. Same as he did twenty years ago. Same as he's been doing his whole life.
I walk over to Jason and hug him tight. He stiffens in surprise, then hugs me back.
I forgive you, I whisper. For everything. For helping Cyrus. For keeping secrets. For trying to sacrifice me. I forgive you.
Jason starts crying. I don't deserve your forgiveness.
Maybe not, I say. But I'm giving it anyway. Because you're my brother, and I love you.
We drive back to pack house in tense silence. Kael keeps glancing at me like he's afraid I'll disappear.
When we arrive, Elena is waiting on the porch, looking panicked.
Thank god you're back, she says, rushing toward me. Luna, we have a problem.
Another one? I ask wearily. What now?
I did a routine ultrasound on your baby this afternoon while you were gone, Elena says. I found something. Something impossible.
My blood runs cold. What's wrong with my daughter?
Nothing's wrong, Elena says quickly. But Luna, she's not just carrying Blackwood and Thorne bloodlines. There's a third bloodline mixed in. One that shouldn't exist.
What does that mean? Kael demands.
Elena pulls out her phone and shows us an image. According to the DNA markers, your daughter has genetic traits from a bloodline that's been extinct for over a hundred years. The Nightshade bloodline.
Nightshade? Jason repeats, his face going white. That's impossible. The Nightshades were wiped out in the Great War.
Apparently not all of them, Elena says grimly. And Luna, the Nightshades were known for one thing they were the most powerful dark witches in werewolf history. More powerful than even the Blackwoods.
Understanding crashes over me like a wave.
My mother wasn't just a Blackwood witch, I whisper. She was part Nightshade too. And she passed that bloodline to me. And now to my daughter.
Which means your daughter isn't just an Alpha heir, Margot's voice says from the shadows.
We all spin around. The old Moon Priestess is standing at the edge of the forest, her eyes glowing with an eerie light.
Your daughter is the first Nightshade born in over a century, Margot continues. And according to ancient prophecy, the first Nightshade child will either save the werewolf world... or destroy it completely.
She pulls out an old scroll and reads: When the cursed bloodlines merge Blackwood, Thorne, and Nightshade child will be born with power to reshape reality. On the night of her first shift, she will choose: become the greatest healer the world has known, or the darkest destroyer it has ever feared.
My daughter kicks hard inside me, like she heard the prophecy.
What does this mean? I ask, my voice shaking.
It means every supernatural being in the world will want your daughter, Margot says. Some to use her power for good. Others to corrupt her into evil. And some...
She pauses, her face grave.
Some will want to kill her before she's ever born. To prevent the prophecy from coming true.
My phone buzzes. Another unknown message.
I open it with shaking hands: The prophecy must not be fulfilled. Your daughter dies tomorrow at midnight. We're coming for her. And this time, nothing will stop us. - The Council of Shadows
Below is a photo of fifty wolves in black robes, their eyes glowing red with dark magic.
All of them heading toward Silverpine.
They're coming, I whisper. They're going to kill my baby.
Kael pulls me close. Over my dead body.
That's exactly what they're planning, Margot says darkly. The Council of Shadows doesn't negotiate. They eliminate threats. And your daughter is the biggest threat they've ever faced.
Thunder rumbles in the distance even though the sky is clear.
They'll be here by midnight tomorrow, Margot says. That gives you twenty-four hours to prepare for war.