CHAPTER 78: CHAPTER 78: THE FINAL BETRAYAL

"I’ll do it." Celeste took a step forward. Her voice was shaky, but she was determined. Everyone was shocked and looked at her. This was the same girl who had been trying to kill Elara for months because she had teamed up with enemies to take Luna’s job.

Her dad, Beta James, yelled from behind the crowd, "Celeste, what are you doing?" She said, "The right thing," but she didn’t look at him back. "For once in my life, I’m doing the right thing."

Elara’s heart was racing as she saw her old foe walk toward the changed being. "Celeste, you don’t have to—" "Yes, I do." Celeste had tears in her eyes, but her voice was calm. "I’ve been terrible to you. I’ve hurt people. I’ve made mistakes that I can’t take back." She turned to face the pack. "But I can make this choice. I can save the brothers who died saving all of us." The changed being nodded slowly. "The trade needs a willing heart. Are you certain, child?" "I’m certain." Celeste looked at Elara one last time. "I’m sorry. For everything. You were always meant to be Luna, and I was too jealous to see it." "Celeste, no!" Beta James pushed through the crowd, his face twisted with rage. "You will not throw away everything I’ve worked for!" "What you’ve worked for?" Celeste spun around, her eyes blazing. "Or what you’ve destroyed? I know what you did, Father. I know about the deals you made, the people you hurt." James’s face went pale. "You don’t know what you’re talking about." "I know you made a deal with the Void Walker," Celeste said loudly enough for everyone to hear. "I know you promised to give Elara to it in exchange for power. I know you’ve been planning against Alpha Marcus for years." Gasps echoed through the pack. Alpha Marcus stepped forward, his eyes dangerous. "Is this true, James?" "She’s lying!" James snarled.

"My daughter has lost her mind!" "Have I?" Celeste pulled something from her pocket—a small silver device. "This recorded everything. Every secret meeting, every evil plan, every deception." She pressed a button, and James’s voice filled the air: "The Void Walker wants the girl. Once she’s gone, the pack will be weak. Then we strike." The pack broke in angry shouts. Several wolves shifted partly, their eyes glowing with fury. Beta James had misled them all. "You little witch!" James lunged at his own daughter, silver claws emerging from his hands. "I should have gotten rid of you years ago!" But Celeste didn’t run. Instead, she stepped in front of Elara, opening her arms wide. "If you want to hurt her, you’ll have to go through me first." "Gladly," James snarled, and struck. His claws tore across Celeste’s chest, sending her crashing to the ground. Blood pooled beneath her as she gasped for air. "Celeste!" Elara dropped to her knees beside her former enemy. "Why? Why did you protect me?" "Because," Celeste whispered, blood on her lips, "sometimes being brave means admitting you were wrong." The pack watched in fear as Beta James stood over his wounded daughter, his claws dripping red.

"Weak," he spat. "Just like her mother." "You monster!" Ronan’s dying voice rang out. Even as a spirit, his anger burned bright. "She’s your daughter!" "She’s nothing," James said coldly. "Just like all of you will be nothing when I’m done." That’s when Alpha Marcus moved. Fast as lightning, he pinned James to the ground. The two men rolled across the cracked ground, snarling and clawing at each other. "You betrayed our pack," Marcus growled. "You betrayed everything we stood for!" "I was saving us!" James yelled back. "You were too weak to do what needed to be done!" They fought with vicious fury, but James had been planning this for years. He pulled a secret silver blade and drove it toward Marcus’s heart. "Father!" Kael’s spirit form flared brighter, but he was too weak to help. The blade never hit its target. Tobias Grey came out of nowhere, catching James’s wrist and twisting it until he dropped the weapon. "Enough," Tobias said quietly. "This ends now." But James wasn’t finished. He pulled a second blade, smaller but just as dangerous, and spun toward Elara. "If I can’t have power, no one can!" Time seemed to slow. The blade flew through the air toward Elara’s heart. She couldn’t move fast enough to avoid it. Then Celeste, bleeding and broken, grabbed James’s ankle and pulled him down.

The blade went wide, missing Elara by inches. "You won’t hurt anyone else," Celeste gasped. "Not anymore." James kicked his daughter away and scrambled for another tool. But the pack had seen enough. They surrounded him, their eyes sparkling with judgment. "Beta James Rivers," Alpha Marcus said officially, "you are stripped of your rank and banished from this pack. You are no longer welcome among us." "You can’t do this to me!" James screamed. "I am Beta! I have rights!" "You have nothing," Marcus said bitterly. "Guards, remove him." As the guards dragged James away, he looked back at his daughter one last time. "You’re dead to me," he growled. "You were always dead to me." Celeste closed her eyes, tears running down her face. "I know," she whispered. "I’ve known for a long time." The changed being knelt beside Celeste, its starlight form gentle. "Child, you are dying. But your sacrifice has won you a choice. I can heal you, or I can still make the trade you offered." "Both," Celeste said weakly. "Can you do both?" "What do you mean?" Celeste looked at Elara, then at the disappearing triplets. "Take half my life force to fix me.

Use the other part to bring them back. Elara keeps her Luna powers, the boys live, and I... I get a second chance to be better." "Celeste, no," Elara protested. "You could die." "I might," Celeste agreed. "But at least I’ll die doing something good." The being considered this. "It is possible. But you would be forever changed. Half-human, half-wolf. Never fully belonging to either world." "I’ve never belonged anywhere," Celeste said with a sad smile. "Maybe it’s time to make my own place." The being nodded. "The choice is made." Light burst from its hands, washing over Celeste and flowing toward the triplets. Elara watched in wonder as the brothers began to solidify, their spirit forms becoming real again. But something was wrong. The light was too bright, too strong. It was ripping reality apart. "Something’s happening," Darian gasped as he became solid. "The magic is unstable!" "The realm can’t handle this much power," Kael realized. "It’s going to collapse!" "Everyone needs to get out of here," Ronan yelled. "Now!" But as the pack began to run, the ground beneath them cracked and split. They were stuck in a realm that was tearing itself apart. And in the background, something else was stirring.

Something that had been sleeping deep beneath the earth, awakened by all the magical energy. Something old. Something hungry. Something that made the Void Walker look like an innocent puppy. Red eyes opened in the darkness below, and a voice like grinding stone rang through the collapsing realm: "Finally... I am free."