I was beyond exhausted. Every muscle in my body ached, my limbs felt like lead, and my brain was struggling to keep up with reality.
Eira had put us through hell today–scorching deserts, frozen tundra, and shadow–infested forests–all to test our adaptability. I had fought under the relentless sun, my body dehydrated and burning. I had battled through a storm of ice and snow so bitterly cold that my bones felt like they would crack. And I had braved the suffocating darkness of the shadow–infested forest, where unseen horrors whispered my name and tried What to break my mind I wanted was food, water, and a bed. I sighed, running a hand through my tangled hair as we walked down the hallway, my mates flanking me.
“I swear, if she makes us fight fire creatures in the middle of a blizzard tomorrow, I’m going to lose it,” Alex grumbled, rolling his shoulders.
“She might,” Austin mused, smirking. “Wouldn’t put it past her.”
I chuckled tiredly, shaking my head.
But first…..
“I really have to pee,” I muttered, breaking away from them.
Elijah raised a brow, smirking. “Want an escort, Princess?”
I shot him a glare. “I think I can handle a trip to the bathroom on my own.”
“Famous last words,” Isaiah quipped.
I rolled my eyes. “I’ll be fine. Just wait here.”
I made my way toward the nearest restroom, one of the older wings near the library. The castle’s endless corridors were eerily quiet at this hour, the sconces casting flickering shadows against the cold stone walls.
The bathroom was dimly lit, the air thick with silence. I did my business quickly and moved to the sink, letting the cool water run over my hands.The cool sensation was soothing, grounding.
Then-
The lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then total darkness.
A strange, cold sensation crawled up my spine.
Then–flicker–the lights came back on.
And I saw it.
My reflection was smiling at me.
But I wasn’t smiling.
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The grin stretched too wide, its edges curling unnaturally. My reflection’s eyes darkened, swallowing all light.
I froze, my heart hammering against my ribs.The lights flickered ag. For a split second, I saw something move behind me.
Then–darkness.
I spun on instinct.
A figure emerged from the shadows.A woman, her robes billowing like liquid smoke, her skin deathly pale. Her eyes were pure black voids, her lips curled in a cruel smirk. One of the children of the Eclipse.
“So this is where you’ve been hiding little silver wolf,” she murmured, tilting her head.Her voice was velvet and poison.
“Where is it?” she demanded.I knew what she was asking for.The Lunar Keystone.
I knew exactly what she was talking about. The Moon Keystone.
I bared my teeth. “Not something I plan on sharing.”
She sighed, almost disappointed. “Shame. I thought we could do this the easy way.”
Then she attacked.
dodged, narrowly avoiding the blast of dark energy she hurled at me. The impact shattered the sink, sending shards of porcelain and water exploding in every direction.
Snarling, I shifted.
My bones lengthened, fur sprouting along my limbs as I shifted into my full wolf form, my silver fur glowing faintly under the flickering lights. My claws scraped against the stone as I planted myself firmly, growling in warning.
She was unfazed. She even laughed.
Then she struck again,sending another blast of magic toward me. I leapt to the side, my movements a blur, then countered with a swipe of my claws. The impact sent a shockwave through the room, shattering part of the wall.
The sounds of crumbling stone and the force of our battle must have alerted my mates because moments later, they stormed into
the bathroom.
Elijah, Austin, Alex, and Isaiah all moved instinctively into position, ready to fight.
The witch only laughed. “Adorable.“And vanished into the mirror.For a heartbeat, the room was silent.
Then–The mirror shattered.
A hundred shards scattered across the floor, each one pulsing with dark energy. And from every broken piece–She emerged.Not
one.Not two.
But twelve identical versions of herself.
Isaiah cursed. “That’s… new.”
“Twelve against five?” Alex muttered. “That hardly seems fair.”
“We need more power,” my wolf, Sky, murmured in my mind.
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Chapter 118
“How?” I asked, my body thruhming with tension.
“Let me in. Completely.”
I hesitated. My wolf and I were strong together, but this… this felt different.
“Trust me, Stormi. Let go. Let me in, and we will show them why the moon chose us.”
I took a breath. Then, I surrendered.
A pulse of silver energy exploded from my body, spreading outward, inking me to my mates. I channeled the moon’s essence I kept within me to them.I felt their power meld with mine, our bond strengthening, deepening.A new energy surged through me, ancient and overwhelming.
A blinding silver glow erupted from my body.
Armor materialized over me–silver plating, intricate and celestial, covering my massive wolf form like it had been crafted to fit me.
My eyes burned white, glowing like miniature moons.
I caught my reflection in the shattered glass–And my breath hitched
“Wow,” I said to myself.I knew this form.I had seen it before, carved into ancient murals–The Goddess’s form. This is how she is depicted in murals as a wolf.
“I know we look cool but lets get the little witch first“, Sky said.
Then–she attacked.Dark energy exploded toward us from twelve directions.I lunged, moving faster than ever before, my body nothing but a streak of silver light.
My mates followed, their attacks precise, brutal.
I ripped through one witch, my claws tearing through shadow, her body vanishing into smoke.
Elijah summoned his shield, incinerating another. Isaiah slashed through ad,
his shadow blades crackling with moon–forged
power.Austin and Alex fought side by side, their movements fluid and lethal.
The battle was chaos, the whole place felt like it was going to collapse on itself,a storm of winning.One by one, the witches fell. Until only one remained.
magic, claws, and blood.But we were
I pinned her beneath my massive paw, my teeth bared.She struggled gasping, eyes filled with fury.I pressed harder, my instincts screaming at me to end her.
“Do it,” Skye growled.
I could end her now. One bite. One slash.
“Do it,” my wolf growled.
But Eira’s voice cut through the haze.
“Don’t kill her. We need her alive. Let her go Stormi!”
I hesitated, then growled low in frustration. Slowly, I removed my paw from the witch’s chest.
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10
Eira and the other witches cast a binding spell, their voices ringing glowing chains.
The witches took her away.
And then-
Silence.
the air as magle wrapped around the prisoner, trapping her in
I turned, and only then did I realize what had happened.
The entire wing was destroyed.
Walls collapsed. Debris everywhere.
And I stood taller than everyone, my massive wolf form armored like celestial warrior, my glowing white eyes reflecting in the broken glass.
Then-
One by one-
The witches knelt.
Even Eira, her head bowed.
“You have taken the Goddess’s form,” she whispered.
And a shiver ran down my spine.
