Page 90 of Rising Luna
There’s a reason I came, Dylan. If you doubt your capacity for goodness, now is your chance to prove, even to yourself, you have what it takes to overcome even the darkest foes.
I moved away from her and looked into her silver eyes.What do you mean?
You have a choice to make. The serum is still in your body, fighting for the chance to take over. You are a key, just like you thought. Lupe has managed to lace her serum with spellwork where she can snap her fingers, and it will flow through your bonds. Without the spellwork, it could only take over the current body. Through you, she would gain control of the strongest Shadowborn pack known to our world.
This didn’t surprise me. I knew something had to be making Lupe think she could win this. She wanted to come after me for a reason, and, through me, she would get to my pack.
Then why didn’t she go after my parents? They are also a way into the pack bonds. Or even someone lower in my pack and probably could bargain with them.
She smiled.You’re special, Dylan. It’s in your bonds. It’s in the way your mates strengthen you, shaping something rare, something powerful. The academy aimed to reunite those who rejected their fated connections, but increasingly, more mates are left behind. But an alpha-female with powerful mates like yours? That’s almost unheard of.They warned Lupe before your arrival about the coming of an alpha-female Shadowborn, someone destined to shift the balance and change the Shadowborns forever.The Great Moon sighed, a quiet exhale of certainty.You were the first alpha-female Shadowborn ever to stand in that place, the first to cross that threshold. And in that moment, she knew—it was you.
Even when I was told I was special as a kid, I didn’t believe anyone who said it. I knew it was something all kids were told when they were younger, but hearing the one who created me say it sent a shiver down my side as my heart rate skyrocketed.
How the hell was I supposed to go back to regular life knowing the damn Moon Goddess told me I was special?!
You’ve got to be kidding me. There’s no way...
You must make a choice, Dylan. I am running out of time. I don’t even have enough time to explain.
Great. A choice? This won’t end well. Being given a choice while I sit on the edge of death...I’m pretty sure I know where this is going.
What choice?
Reject the shadows or embrace them.
Chapter Thirty-One: Dylan
The goddess disappeared, and my wolf remained illuminated enough to keep the creatures at bay. I wasn’t sure what her choice meant as I stared at the dark wall pushing on my wolf’s magic and light to get to me. Reject the shadows or embrace them? That couldn’t mean what I thought it meant, right? She wasn’t telling me I had to decide on embracing those shadows, could she? I glanced at my wolf, her badass shadowy light flaring around her, and smiled.
You chose me because of this choice, didn’t you?
Her head bowed and then looked up at me.I knew before I even saw it that you would make the right choice.
It wasn’t a hard choice. A scary as fuck choice given what I was about to do, but one I knew would do exactly what I needed to win this fight. I let out a sigh before sucking in a deep breath. It would not be an easy one to deal with, but I think I even knew what she was talking about. A way to tip the scales in my favor and win this war with Lupe.
Drop the light. It’s time for me to embrace the shadows.
My wolf obeyed without hesitation, and I watched as the wall of darkness surged forward, relentless and consuming. It was going to be close. I reached for her, our connection as instinctive as breath—just as it had been since the moment she chose me. She had never failed me, and this time was no different.
Power flooded through me as she merged into my being, her strength threading through every fiber of my body. The darkness swallowed me whole; the creatures lurking within its depths, but they no longer mattered. I pushed my power outward, calling upon the astral force that thrummed in myveins. The shadows passed through me, dissolving as they should, and with that knowledge... I knew.
This battle was mine.
I watched them swirl, weightless and powerless against me.
Although everything was shrouded in darkness, the figures remained visible, yet powerless against me. They couldn’t touch me. I pressed deeper into my power, letting it thread through me, knowing exactly what would happen if I surrendered fully to the shadows. The more I merged, the more I faded, until the last tether to me loosened, and I vanished into the void.
I closed my eyes, drawing in a deep breath, and let the shadows flow into me—claiming them as my own. They curled and twisted, but my power surged, swallowing them whole. My shadows overpowered theirs, consuming every fragment until they shattered, dissolving into nothing.
When my eyes fluttered open, I found myself sprawled on the ground, the vast night sky looming above me. I didn’t remember collapsing—not after forcing the serum from my body, not after reclaiming myself. The moon shimmered, its silver glow washing over me, and for a fleeting moment, I swore I could feel its strength humming in my veins.
Then came the snarls—low, guttural, closing in.
In an instant, I was on my feet, scanning the chaos around me. The battle raged on, unrelenting, but I had no time to falter. My mind reached through the bonds, searching—first for my mates. Strength pulsed from them, steady, fierce, and the relief that flooded me nearly sent me to my knees. But I couldn’t stop.
I stretched my senses farther to my parents. They were still fighting, still holding their ground. Another breath of relief coursed through me.
Then came the others. The pack. Loss seeped through the bond, faint but undeniable, and my wolf keened, the sound a mournful echo of my own heartbreak. Some had fallen. Andbefore this battle was done, I knew the weight of it would only grow heavier.
