CHAPTER 82: CHAPTER 82: ALPHA MARCUS’S LAST STAND

The First Dark chuckled, a sound like broken glass mingled with thunder. Its red eyes burned brighter as it stepped closer to Elara and the triplets. "You walked right into my trap," it stated with satisfaction. "Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for this moment?" But before anyone could answer, a new voice pierced through the darkness. "About as long as I’ve been planning to stop you." Everyone turned in shock. Alpha Marcus stood at the brink of the Void, his body shimmering with odd silver light. But this wasn’t the same Marcus they knew. His eyes carried old wisdom, and power radiated from him like heat from a fire. "Father?" Kael gasped. "How did you get here?" "The same way you did," Marcus murmured, striding into the abyss without fear. "Through love. Though in my case, it’s love for my sons and the pack I’ve protected for thirty years." The First Dark snarled. "Marcus Blackwood. I should have killed you when I got the chance." "You tried," Marcus responded gently. "Many times. But you never realized the genuine threat." Elara’s mind raced. "You two know each other?" Marcus nodded, his gaze never leaving the First Dark. "We’ve been enemies for decades. You see, this item didn’t just show up recently. It’s been trying to break into our universe for years, sending little fragments of itself via fractures in reality." "The rogues," Darian muttered, comprehension flooding his face. "The ones who went insane and assaulted other packs. They weren’t just sick wolves." "They were infected," Marcus verified. "Touched by shards of the First Dark’s power. I’ve been hunting them, attempting to keep the sickness from spreading." The First Dark’s form transformed, growing larger and more terrible. "You delayed the inevitable, old wolf. But now your lovely flock is doomed, and these four fools have surrendered themselves to me." "Actually," Marcus remarked with a frigid smile, "they’ve delivered you to me." He raised his palms, and the glittering light around him erupted outward. But this wasn’t just any light. It was pure pack magic, the combined strength of every Blackwood who had ever lived. "You see," Marcus continued as his power wrapped around the First Dark like chains, "I’ve been prepared for this fight my whole life. Every move I took, every harsh phrase, every moment I sounded cruel or calculated - it was all to build up enough power to face you." Elara glanced at him in disbelief. "The way you treated me..." "Was to make you stronger," Marcus murmured, pain in his voice. "I knew you were exceptional from the time you were born. Your parents brought you to me when you were a newborn, begging me to hide you from the prophecy." "My parents?" Elara’s heart hammered. "They’re alive?" "They died protecting you," Marcus replied gently. "But before they died, they told me the truth. You’re not just any Luna. You’re the offspring of the Moon God himself." The First Dark shouted in wrath, straining against Marcus’s silver shackles. "Lies! The Moon God is dead!" "No," the Moon God’s voice boomed through the Void as he appeared before them. "I’ve been hiding, waiting for the appropriate moment. And that moment is now." He looked at Marcus with reverence. "You’ve done well, old friend. Better than I hoped." Marcus nodded, but his countenance was bleak. "It’s not over yet. The chains won’t hold him for long." As if to confirm his thesis, fractures emerged in the silver light binding the First Dark. Its ruby eyes burned with wrath. "Even if you all work together," it growled, "you cannot destroy me. I am the original darkness. I existed before light, before hope, before love itself!" "Maybe," Elara murmured, stepping closer. "But you made one mistake." "What mistake could I possibly have made?" Elara grinned, and for the first time since entering the Void, she looked confident. "You brought us all together in one place. The Moon God, the triplets with their awakened power, Marcus with his pack magic, and myself." She raised her hands, and silver fire exploded around her. But this fire was different from before. It encompassed every emotion she’d ever felt - love, rage, fear, hope, determination. "You fed on emptiness and destruction," she continued. "But we’re the reverse of empty. We’re so full of love and loyalty and fierce determination that there’s no room for your gloom." The First Dark’s eyes expanded as it recognized what was happening. The silver fire was spreading, not only from Elara, but from all of them. Marcus’s pack magic, the triplets’ combined might, the Moon God’s old power - it was all connecting, forming something new. "No!" the First Dark yelled. "This is impossible!" "Nothing’s impossible when family works together," Marcus remarked firmly. His chains grew stronger, closing around the thing. But then something unexpected happened. The First Dark smiled. "You think you’ve won," it replied with evil delight. "But you’ve forgotten something important." "What?" Darian demanded, his truth-sight telling him danger but not its source. The First Dark’s form began to alter again, but this time it was decreasing instead of increasing. "I don’t need to destroy you here in the Void. I just need to keep you busy long enough for my actual plan to work." Horror filled Elara’s heart. "Your real plan?" "While you’re all here playing heroes," the First Dark laughed, "who’s protecting your precious pack back home?" Through the darkness, they could suddenly see Earth. The Blackwood Pack area was under attack, but not from the Void. By something worse. Hundreds of infected rogues were pouring out of the jungle, their eyes flashing crimson with the First Dark’s might. And leading them was a figure that made everyone’s blood run cold. "Celeste?" Ronan gasped. But this wasn’t the Celeste they knew. Her body was cloaked in shadows, her eyes glowed with crimson fire, and when she smiled, her fangs were sharp as knives. "Surprise," the First Dark remarked joyfully. "Did you really think she recovered from her injuries that easily? I’ve been inside her thoughts for weeks, waiting for the appropriate moment." On Earth, Celeste lifted her hands and said in a voice that wasn’t fully her own: "Blackwood Pack, surrender now or watch your children die." The pack members who had been left behind - the elderly, the young, the wounded - huddled together in horror as the infected rogues surrounded them. "Choose quickly," the First Dark instructed Elara and her mates. "Stay here and fight me, or go back and save your stuff. But you can’t do both." Marcus’s face grew pale. "Evelyn is back there. The children..." "This was always the plan," the First Dark continued. "Get the strongest fighters out of the way, then attack when they can’t interfere." Elara stared at her mates, finding the same hard choice reflected in their eyes. Save the world by ending the First Dark, or save their family by going back to Earth. "What do we do?" Kael asked frantically. Before anyone could speak, a fresh voice shouted from the darkness: "We do what Blackwoods have always done. We find a way to win everything." They turned to see a man stepping out of the darkness. An older woman with silver hair and eyes that glittered with force. "Grandmother?" Darian muttered in shock. The woman grinned. "Hello, my lovely ones. Did you truly think death would stop me from protecting my family?