Caelan's POV
"Seven... six... five..."
Seraphina's countdown echoed through the chamber like a death sentence.
I moved to stand in front of Lyanna, my wolf howling inside me to protect her. Twenty cursed Alphas surrounded us, their red eyes locked on their target. My warriors formed a tight circle, but I knew the truth—we couldn't win this fight.
Not against this many.
"Don't," Lyanna whispered behind me. "Caelan, don't sacrifice yourself for me."
"Four... three..."
I'd spent ten years as Alpha King, ruling through fear and strength. I'd hunted down my father's killers one by one. I'd searched endlessly for my missing sister. I'd built walls around my heart so high that nothing could touch me.
But this omega-turned-judge with silver eyes and a gentle heart had broken through those walls in days.
I couldn't let her die.
"Two..."
"I'll go with you," Lyanna said, her voice steady despite the fear I could smell on her. "Let them live, and I'll surrender."
"NO!" The word tore from my throat. "You can't trust her! She'll kill you and everyone here anyway!"
Seraphina laughed. "The Winter King is right, of course. But at least surrendering buys them a few more seconds of life. Isn't that worth something, little judge?"
"One—"
"STOP!"
The voice that rang out wasn't Lyanna's or mine.
It was Cole Riversong.
The cursed young Alpha stood in the center of the chamber, his body shaking as he fought against the dark magic binding him. His mouth moved, words finally breaking free from the curse's hold.
"The... curse... can be... broken," he gasped, each word clearly causing him pain. "Not with... divine power... but with..."
Seraphina's expression darkened. "Silence him!"
Three cursed wolves lunged at Cole. I moved to intercept, but Lyanna was faster.
Silver light exploded from her hands—not aimed at the cursed wolves, but at Cole. The light wrapped around him like a shield, and the attacking wolves bounced off it like they'd hit a wall.
"Speak!" Lyanna commanded. "Tell me how to break it!"
Cole's eyes met hers, desperate and grateful. "Willing... sacrifice. Someone... not cursed... must willingly... take the curse... into themselves. It will... break the connection... to her."
Horror flooded through me as I understood what he was saying.
Someone had to accept all twenty curses into their own body to break Seraphina's control. Twenty curses that would drive even the strongest wolf mad, consume them from the inside out, and probably kill them.
"Clever boy," Seraphina purred. "Yes, that's technically true. Anyone want to volunteer for a slow, agonizing death?" She looked around the room with mock concern. "No? I didn't think so."
"I'll do it," Lyanna said immediately.
My heart stopped.
"Absolutely not," I growled, grabbing her arm. "You're the Moon Judge. If you die, there's no one to stop her from cursing more Alphas. No one to bring justice."
"And if I don't, everyone in this room dies," Lyanna said, her silver eyes meeting mine. "Including you. I won't let that happen."
"There has to be another way—"
"There isn't." She pulled free from my grip, her face set with determination. "This is what the Moon Goddess chose me for. Not just to judge, but to protect."
"How noble," Seraphina mocked. "But there's a problem with your heroic sacrifice, little judge. You're divine. The curse can't fully take root in you—it would just make the cursed wolves stronger, like before. You need someone completely mortal."
She was right. I could see it in Lyanna's face—she'd realized the same thing.
"Then I'll do it," I said.
Every head in the room turned toward me.
"You're the Alpha King," Thorne protested. "The wolf world needs you—"
"The wolf world needs the Moon Judge more," I interrupted, looking only at Lyanna. "I've spent ten years ruling through fear and strength. She can build something better—a world where justice actually exists. Where power serves instead of dominates."
Lyanna's eyes filled with tears. "I barely know you. Why would you die for me?"
Because my sister dreamed of you. Because you're the first person in years who made me remember what hope feels like. Because in the few days I've known you, you've shown me what true strength looks like—not domination, but mercy.
But I didn't say any of that.
"Because it's the right thing to do," I said simply.
"How touching," Seraphina said, her voice dripping with false sympathy. "But I'm afraid I can't allow the Alpha King to play hero. That would complicate my plans."
She gestured, and the cursed wolves attacked.
Everything happened at once.
I shifted into my wolf form, catching the first attacker mid-leap. Thorne and my warriors engaged the others. Lyanna raised her hands, silver light blazing, trying to protect everyone without making the curses stronger.
But we were losing. Too many enemies, too much dark magic.
Then Lyanna did something I didn't expect.
She stopped fighting.
She stood completely still in the center of the chaos, her eyes closed, her hands at her sides. Silver light began to build around her—not the aggressive power she'd used before, but something different. Softer. Warmer.
"What is she doing?" Thorne shouted, blocking a cursed wolf from reaching her vulnerable form.
I felt it then—a pulse of pure energy radiating from Lyanna. Not divine combat power. Not judgment magic.
Moon's Blessing.
The healing power the Moon Goddess had given her.
"She's not trying to fight the curses," I realized, understanding flooding through me. "She's trying to heal them!"
Seraphina's eyes widened. "No! That's not possible! The curses are too strong—"
But Lyanna's power kept growing, brighter and brighter. The silver light expanded outward, touching each cursed wolf one by one.
And where it touched, the dark magic began to crack.
Not breaking—not yet—but weakening. Like ice under warm sunlight.
"It's working!" Cole gasped. "She's doing it!"
But the effort was destroying her. I could see Lyanna's body shaking, silver light bleeding from her eyes, her nose, her ears. She was pouring everything she had into the healing, burning herself up from the inside.
"Stop!" I shifted back to human form, running to her side. "You're killing yourself!"
"Almost... there..." she whispered, her voice barely audible.
Then Seraphina screamed—a sound of pure rage.
"If I can't have their power, NO ONE CAN!"
She thrust both hands forward, and dark magic erupted from her palms. Not aimed at Lyanna.
Aimed at all twenty cursed wolves at once.
"I'll detonate the curses," Seraphina snarled. "Kill everyone in this chamber. You want to save them, little judge? Then stop healing and start defending. Choose—heal the wolves and let everyone die in the explosion, or protect the chamber and let my curses remain."
Lyanna's eyes snapped open, horror written across her face.
She couldn't do both. No one could.
The dark magic built and built, a deadly spell seconds from detonation.
In that frozen moment, I saw our deaths. Saw the chamber exploding. Saw Lyanna's dream of justice dying with her.
Then I heard a voice—soft, feminine, ancient.
"You are not alone, my chosen judge."
The Moon Goddess.
Silver light erupted from the floor, from the walls, from the air itself. But it wasn't coming from Lyanna.
It was coming from me.
I looked down and saw my hands glowing with the same silver light as Lyanna's. Saw divine power flooding through my veins, wrapping around my heart.
"What—" I started.
"The Judge needs a protector," the Moon Goddess's voice whispered. "And you chose to sacrifice everything for her. That choice has awakened what was always sleeping inside you. Use it now. Save them both."
Understanding crashed through me like a wave.
I raised my hands, and silver chains of pure moonlight shot forward, wrapping around Seraphina. She shrieked, trying to break free, but the chains held.
"Caelan?" Lyanna whispered, staring at me with wide eyes.
"Keep healing," I told her, my voice steady despite the shock. "I'll protect you."
Together, we moved as one. Her power healing the cursed wolves. Mine defending against Seraphina's attack.
The dark witch screamed in fury as her detonation spell dissolved against my chains. The cursed wolves collapsed one by one, the dark magic leaving their bodies under Lyanna's gentle touch.
Finally, only Seraphina remained—bound, powerless, her plans crumbling.
"This isn't over," she hissed. "You think you've won? This was just the beginning. When the eclipse comes, you'll understand what real power looks like."
Then she dissolved into shadow, escaping through the cracks in the floor.
The chamber fell silent.
Twenty Alphas lay unconscious but breathing, the curses broken. My warriors stood stunned, staring at the silver light still glowing around my hands. Lyanna looked at me like she was seeing a stranger.
"You have divine power," she whispered. "But how? You're not the Moon Judge."
Oracle Mira stepped forward, her expression grave.
"No, he's not the Judge," she said quietly. "He's something else. Something the prophecy mentioned but I didn't understand until now."
"What?" I demanded.
Mira's eyes met mine, filled with an emotion I couldn't name.
"You're the Moon's Champion, Caelan. The Judge's destined protector and equal. And according to the prophecy..." She hesitated. "You and Lyanna aren't just meant to work together. You're meant to be bound—mind, soul, and power. The only way to defeat what's coming is if you both become something more than you are separately."
"You mean..." Lyanna started.
"A true mate bond," Mira confirmed. "Not the flawed connection she had with Dante. A bond forged by the Moon Goddess herself, linking the Judge and Champion into one force."
I looked at Lyanna. She looked at me.
"But I barely know him," she protested.
"And I've never wanted a mate," I added.
"Nevertheless," Mira said, her voice grim, "if you want to stop Seraphina before the eclipse, you have three days to forge a bond strong enough to combine your powers. Or the wolf world ends."
The weight of those words settled over the chamber like a shroud.
Three days to forge an unbreakable bond with a woman I barely knew.
Three days to become something neither of us wanted to be.
Three days to save everything.
I met Lyanna's silver eyes and saw my own fear reflected back at me.
And one terrible question neither of us could answer:
What if we fail?