CHAPTER 119: CHAPTER 119: RETURN JOURNEY

ARIA POV

I ripped the dark creature’s head clean off.

The eclipse was ending, and my strength was coming back stronger than ever. But it felt different now. Wild. Dangerous. Like something inside me had changed forever.

"Aria!" Zara ran to my side, blood on her face but living. "Your eyes are glowing silver!"

I didn’t have time to worry about that. Through our network, I could still feel the attack on my home area. Kael’s pain hit me like a punch to the gut. Jaxon was badly hurt. And Lucien... I couldn’t feel Lucien at all.

"We have to go," I said, taking Zara’s hand. "Now."

"It’s three hundred miles," she complained. "Even running as wolves, it would take us hours."

"Not anymore," I said, feeling the strange new force flowing through me.

I reached out through the network to the other remaining Moon Alphas. Only five of us were left living after the Shadow Lords’ attack.

"Everyone who can still fight, meet me at the old stone circle," I called through our link. "We’re going to try something that’s never been done before."

"What are you planning?" Raven asked. She sounded tired.

"I’m going to use the moonlight to transport us," I said.

"That’s impossible," another Moon Alpha answered. "Werewolves can’t teleport."

"Maybe regular werewolves can’t," I said. "But I’m not regular anymore."

Ten minutes later, the four surviving Moon Alphas who could still travel met me at the old stone circle. Zara, Raven, Marcus from the desert pack, and Elena from the coastal region. They all looked at me with a mixture of hope and fear.

"Your power feels different," Elena said nervously. "What happened during the eclipse?"

"I don’t know," I admitted. "But we’ll figure it out later. Right now, my family needs help."

I stood in the middle of the stone circle and looked up at the moon. The eclipse was fully over now, and moonlight poured down like silver water. But when it touched my skin, something incredible happened.

The light didn’t just make me stronger. It became part of me. I could feel every beam, every ray, like they were extensions of my body.

"Give me your hands," I told the others.

They made a circle around me, each one taking the hand of the person next to them. When our Moon Alpha powers linked, the silver light exploded outward.

"What’s happening?" Zara gasped.

"We’re going to ride the moonlight," I said.

I reached out with my new power and grabbed onto the beams of light spilling down from the moon. Then I pulled us all into them.

The world disappeared.

For a moment that felt like forever, we were flying through pure silver light. I could see the entire continent spread out below us like a map. Mountains, woods, rivers, all lit up by moonlight. And I could feel every werewolf down there, their life forces like tiny lights in the darkness.

Too many of those lights were going out.

"The Shadow Lords are everywhere," Marcus said in surprise. His voice sounded strange in the light-stream. "They’re attacking every pack at once."

"How are we going to stop them all?" Elena asked.

"One territory at a time," I said. "Starting with mine."

Through the network, I reached out to werewolves all across the continent. "This is Aria Moonstar," I called to them. "Moon Alpha and guardian of all packs. I need every fighter who can still stand to help plan our defense."

Hundreds of people answered at once. Pack leaders, fighters, even Omegas who had never fought before. All of them ready to follow my lead.

"Listen carefully," I said as we flew through the moonlight toward home. "The Shadow Lords are strong, but they have weaknesses. They can’t touch pure silver. They’re weaker in direct moonlight. And most importantly, they can be hurt by Moon Alpha power when we work together."

"How do you know all this?" Raven asked.

"Because when my power changed during the eclipse, I gained access to ancient memories," I explained. "Memories from the first werewolves who fought these creatures a thousand years ago."

Through the network, pack leaders began organizing their defenses based on my orders. Werewolves who had been enemies for generations started working together, sharing weapons and tactics.

But as we got closer to my area, the pain from my bond with the triplets got worse. Something was very wrong.

"There," Zara pointed ahead of us.

I could see my home area in the distance, and it looked like a war zone. Fires burned everywhere. Shadow monsters swarmed through the forest like ants. And in the center of it all, a huge dark shape that made my blood turn cold.

"That’s not a Shadow Lord," I whispered.

"Then what is it?" Elena asked.

As we got closer, I could see the truth. It was a dragon. A shadow dragon the size of a building, with wings that blocked out the moon and eyes like burning coals.

"The Shadow Lords have a dragon," I said, my heart sinking. "How are we supposed to fight that?"

But even worse than the dragon was what I saw when we landed at the edge of my area. The triplets were there, fighting furiously, but they weren’t fighting the dragon or the Shadow Lords.

They were fighting each other.

"What’s happening?" I screamed, running toward them.

Kael had his sword raised against Jaxon. Jaxon was growling at Lucien. And Lucien was backing away from both of them, his hands glowing with healing power.

"They can’t see us," Zara realized. "They’re under some kind of spell."

Through our link, I tried to reach the triplets’ minds. But instead of their usual thoughts, I found something else. Something dark and twisted that was making them see enemies instead of brothers.

"Shadow magic," I growled. "The Shadow Lords are controlling them."

I reached out with my power to break the spell, but the moment I touched their minds, pain shot through me. The dark magic fought back, trying to invade my thoughts too.

"Aria!" Raven grabbed my arm. "Don’t let it in!"

But it was too late. The shadow magic was already in my head, showing me horrible images. I saw the triplets dead. I saw every werewolf I’d ever cared about torn apart by shadow monsters. I saw myself failing everyone who depended on me.

"It’s not real," I told myself, but the images felt so true.

Through the network, I felt other Moon Alphas crying out as shadow magic struck their minds too. The Shadow Lords weren’t just using physical weapons anymore. They were trying to drive us crazy.

"Focus on my voice," I called out to the network. "Remember who you are. Remember why we fight."

One by one, the other Moon Alphas pulled themselves free from the shadow magic. But the triplets were still stuck, still fighting each other while shadow creatures closed in around them.

I had to choose between saving them and losing my mind to shadow magic, or defending myself and watching them kill each other.

But as I stood there, torn between impossible decisions, something new happened. The strange power that had awakened during the eclipse suddenly flared to life.

And for the first time, I heard a voice that wasn’t the Moon Goddess.

"Hello, daughter," it said. "I’ve been waiting so long to speak with you."

"Who are you?" I whispered.

"I’m your real father," the voice answered. "And I’m not a werewolf at all."

The shadow dragon roared overhead, and everything I thought I knew about myself broke into pieces.