CHAPTER 92: CHAPTER 92: KAEL’S PROMISE

Time slowed as Elara faced the impossible choice. Save her pack or stop the betrayer. Then Kael moved. Ice emerged from the ground in a perfect circle around Dream, trapping the Primordial in crystallized walls.

"Take the pack!" he yelled to Elara. "I’ll handle this!" But instead of striking Dream, Kael grabbed Elara’s hand. "Trust me," he said through their link. "I know what to do." Before she could reply, ice formed beneath their feet.

It shot upward like a frozen elevator, carrying them high above the fight. "Kael, what are you doing?" Elara gasped as they soared over the chaos below. "Our people need us!" "They need their Luna to be safe," Kael answered, his ice-slide carrying them toward the mountains.

"And there’s something I have to show you." Below them, Dream’s laughter echoed across the land. The ice prison shattered like glass, and the Primordial’s form changed into something with wings.

"Running already?" Dream called after them. "How disappointing!" Ronan and Darian were left fighting alone, flames and truth-light burning as they tried to protect the other pack members. "We can’t leave them!" Elara complained.

"We’re not leaving them," Kael said sadly. "We’re getting what we need to save them." The ice-slide took them higher into the mountains, past the normal pack borders.

The air grew thin and cold, but Kael’s power kept them warm. "Where are we going?" Elara asked. "The Sacred Alpha Grounds," Kael answered. "Where every Blackwood Alpha has made their most important decisions for three hundred years."

They landed on a flat plateau encircled by ancient stone circles. The rocks were covered in symbols that seemed to glow in the moonlight. "I’ve never seen this place," Elara breathed.

"Only the Alpha heir can bring someone here," Kael stated. "And only when the pack’s survival is at stake." He led her to the center of the stone circle.

The moment her feet touched the holy ground, power rushed through her. Ancient power, older than the Primordials themselves. "Feel that?" Kael asked. "It’s like... the moon’s heartbeat," Elara whispered.

"This is where the first werewolves made their pact with the Moon Goddess," Kael said. "Before Primordials. Before Dream. Before any of the ancient forces tried to control us."

He turned to face her, his ice-blue eyes fierce. "Elara, I brought you here because I need you to understand something. About me. About us. About what’s coming." Through their bond, she felt his nervousness. His fear. But also his drive.

"The betrayal Dream mentioned," she said softly. "Is it you?" Kael’s face went pale. "How did you—" "I felt it during the blessing. Someone’s been hiding things from me."

Kael closed his eyes, pain radiating through their link. "Yes. I’ve been hiding something. But not what you think." "Then what?" "My father," Kael said simply. "He’s been planning something. Something terrible. And he’s been using me to do it."

Elara’s heart sank. Alpha Marcus. She should have known. "What kind of plan?"

"He wants to use your Bridge Walker power to control the Primordials," Kael explained. "He thinks if he can bind them to the pack, he can rule over all supernatural beings." "That’s impossible." "Is it?" Kael asked. "You linked with three mates when it should have been impossible.

You survived the Luna gift when it should have killed my mother. You’re more powerful than any Bridge Walker in history." Through their bond, Elara felt his pain.

"He’s been making you spy on me." "He threatened my brothers," Kael said miserably. "Said if I didn’t report back to him about your skills, he’d hurt them. Or you."

"So you’ve been betraying me to protect me?" "I’ve been pretending to betray you," Kael corrected. "I’ve been giving him false information. Making him think you’re weaker than you are." "But now?"

"Now he knows the truth. Dream told him when it first woke up. My father has been working with the Primordial this whole time." Elara stumbled backward. "Your father is working with Dream?"

" He promised Dream that he could have the pack members to play with, as long as he helped kill the other Primordials. Then my father could rule over whatever was left." "That’s why some pack members aren’t responding to my Luna call," Elara realized.

"He’s been preparing them." "Exactly. And tonight, while we’re dealing with the attack, he’s going to make his move." "What move?" Kael’s face hardened.

"He’s going to try to bind you to his will. There’s an ancient ritual that can make a Luna to obey her Alpha fully. He’s been planning it since the day you were revealed as our mate." Rage flooded through Elara.

"He wants to turn me into a puppet." "He wants to turn you into a weapon," Kael amended. "One that he can use to control every supernatural being in existence."

"Why are you telling me this now?" "Because I’m done being his pawn," Kael said furiously. "I’m done pretending to be the cold, distant kid he wants me to be. I’m done letting him use fear to rule our family."

He stepped closer, his hands cupping her face. "Elara, I want to make you a promise. Right here, on holy ground, where lies can’t exist." "What promise?"

"That when I become Alpha, I will never rule through fear. I will never use our mate bond to control you. I will never put power above the people I love." His words rang with truth, amplified by the old magic of the sacred ground.

"I promise to lead with love, not fear," Kael added. "To protect our pack, not control them. To be the mate you deserve, not the son my father wants." "Kael..." "I know you felt deception in our bond," he said quickly. "But it wasn’t betrayal.

It was safety. I’ve been lying to my father, not to you. Everything I’ve done has been to keep you safe."

Through their link, Elara felt the absolute truth of his words. The love behind every lie. The pain of trying to be someone he wasn’t. "I believe you," she said softly. "Then you’ll help me stop him?" "We’ll stop him together." Kael smiled for the first time since the attack began. "I was hoping you’d say that."

But their moment was broken by a sound that made both their hearts stop. Ronan’s voice, screaming in pain, carried on the wind from the estate below. "No," Elara breathed.

Through the mate bond, she felt Ronan’s pain. And Darian’s terror. And something else—a third presence, dark and familiar. "My father," Kael said sadly. "He’s made his move."

They could see fires burning at the house now. Not Ronan’s controlled flames, but wild, damaging blazes. "He’s hurting them," Elara said, silver light exploding around her.

"He’s hurting our mates." "The ritual," Kael realized. "He needs you weaker to perform it. He’s hurting them to break your spirit." "Then we go back. "Now." "Elara, wait. If we go back without a plan—" "I don’t care!" she yelled. "They’re dying!"

Through the bond, she felt Ronan’s life force quivering. Darian’s desperate attempts to protect his brother. The pack members turning against each other under Dream’s control.

"There has to be something we can do from here," Kael said desperately. "Some way to use the sacred grounds—" He stopped mid-sentence, his eyes widening.

"What is it?" "The Moon Goddess," Kael breathed. "We can call her straight. From here. But..."

"But what?" "But the price is steep. To call her, one of us has to offer their life as payment." Elara didn’t pause. "I’ll do it." "No!" Kael grabbed her hands.

"There has to be another way." "There isn’t time!" Below them, another scream echoed across the mountains. This time it was Darian. "I won’t let you die," Kael said furiously. "Not when I just found the courage to live."

"Then what do you suggest?" Kael looked at the old stones around them, his mind racing. "What if we don’t call the Moon Goddess? What if we call something else?" "Like what?" "Like the part of Dream that’s still good," Kael said slowly.

"Every Primordial has opposite forces within them. Dream generates nightmares, but also beautiful dreams. What if we can reach the part that wants to protect instead of destroy?" It was a crazy plan. But as another scream echoed from below, Elara knew they had to try something.

"How do we do it?" "Together," Kael said. "Our tie is stronger than any single power. If we can show our love instead of our fear—" "We might be able to remind Dream what good dreams feel like," Elara finished.

They joined hands in the middle of the sacred circle, closing their eyes and reaching out through their bond to their suffering mates. But as their power began to build, Elara felt something else stirring in the old stones around them. Something that had been sleeping for ages.

Something that was definitely not the Moon Goddess. "Kael," she whispered, "I don’t think we’re alone up here." The stone circle began to glow with an eerie light that had nothing to do with the moon.

And from somewhere in the old magic, a voice whispered: "Finally. I’ve been waiting so long for the Bridge Walker to come home."