Page 85 of My Fated Mate

The enemy pack, the Dark Moon Pack, emerges from the treeline, their bloodthirsty howls echoing through the forest.

My heart hammers a frantic drumbeat against the backdrop of chaos.

Thorne stands beside me, his fur bristling in a display of dominance. His eyes lock on mine, a silent reassurance passing between us.

We may not know what the coming battle holds, but we will face it together.

The clash of claws against metal signals the start of the war.

The wolves of our allied packs surge forward, a tide of fur and fury against the encroaching darkness.

My own pack, led by the formidable Koda and my father, joins the fray with a savage battle cry.

But a part of me remains anchored to the spot, a chilling realization dawning on me.

The night sky, once bathed in the soft glow of the full moon, is now shrouded in unnatural darkness—a suffocating blackness that obscures the stars, leaving us in an eerie twilight.

Oh no!

Panic claws at my throat.

My power. The amplified strength I could bestow upon the wolves. It's useless without the moon's light.

The prophecy, the belief that my abilities would be the key to victory, is shattered by a single act of utter darkness.

"The moon!" I scream over the din of battle. "It's gone!"

Thorne whirls around. Understanding dawns on him in an instant. Someone – a traitor in our midst – must have tipped off the Dark Moon Pack about my dependence on moonlight.

A primal growl erupts from Kain, who stands beside us, his dark eyes blending seamlessly with the encroaching shadows. "A spy!" he snarls, his fangs glinting in the dim light. "We need to find them, now before they do more damage!"

But amidst the chaos, searching for a traitor feels like a futile endeavor. Our focus needs to be on immediate survival. Without the moon, our advantage is gone.

Despair threatens to engulf me, but I force it down. Panic will not win this battle.

Thorne throws me a reassuring glance. "Elowen," he barks, "we need another plan. Find the source of the darkness. That's our key to victory."

His words spark a glimmer of hope. If we can disrupt the source of this unnatural eclipse, the moon's light might return and, with it, my power. But where do we even begin?

My mind races, searching for answers.

The darkness feels oppressive, like a living entity. I focus on that sensation, trying to use it as a guide. With a deep breath, I close my eyes, tapping into the raw energy pulsing around us.

Images flash before my inner vision—swirling darkness, tendrils of shadow-like writhing serpents, and at the heart of it all, a figure cloaked in obsidian robes, chanting in a guttural language.

The chanting—that's the key.

The darkness isn't natural. It's a spell. A dark magic being channeled by someone powerful. And if that's the case, then there must be an anchor, a source of power for the spell.

Opening my eyes, I find Thorne and Kain staring at me expectantly. "There's magic at play," I explain. "A dark spell that's blocking the moon. We need to find the anchor, the source of the magic."

Thorne looks determined. Kain lets out a low growl, his claws scraping impatiently against the earth. "Then lead the way, Elowen.”

I try to lead the way, but the way is through a tunnel of snarling fur and flashing steel. Thorne and Kain surge forward, clearing a path through the chaos.

My legs pump, fueled by a frantic desperation. We can't win without the moon's light, and without the moon's light, I'm just another terrified and useless wolf caught in the middle of a nightmare.

I am not the source of a prophecy. All of the trauma Thorne and I have been through will have been for nothing.

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