CHAPTER 88: CHAPTER 88: THE LAST STAND

Elara was standing in a place that shouldn’t have been there when the white light went out.

However, she was still linked to the Shadow Goddess, even though they were not on the blood moon.

Thoughts and starlight made up the space between worlds where they were.

"That girl is smart," the Shadow Goddess growled. "But you cannot escape what you’ve started." Images flashed around them like TV screens that were broken.

Elara saw the Blackwood Pack fighting for their lives. She heard her friends calling her name. She saw the portal getting larger, swallowing everything. "Let me show you the truth," the goddess whispered.

Things looked different. Elara saw other packs all over the world now. When wolves go crazy, they kill their own families.

Vampires burning in sunlight they couldn’t avoid. Witches whose power had turned against them. "This is what your Quad Bond has done," the Shadow Goddess said.

"Every supernatural being on Earth is slowly losing their mind because of the resonance you’ve created." Elara’s heart broke as she watched a mother wolf attack her own cubs, her eyes wild with rage.

"Stop it," she begged. "I cannot. Only you can, by giving me your link." "There has to be another way!"

That’s when Celeste’s words echoed through the space between worlds: "The prophecy was wrong! There’s another way!" The Shadow Goddess spun around, her form quivering with anger. "Impossible.

That mortal cannot speak here." But Celeste’s voice came again, stronger this time. And with it came something else – the words of others.

"The Council of Alphas has assembled," came a deep, authoritative voice. "We invoke the Ancient Right of Intervention."

"Council?" the Shadow Goddess laughed. "What can a handful of Alphas do against a goddess?" The space around them began to shift. Suddenly, Elara could see Earth below them.

But not just Blackwood land. The entire continent was visible, and on it, she saw something incredible. Hundreds of packs were moving.

Not running away from the chaos, but running toward it. Alphas, Betas, Omegas – all of them converge on a single point. "The Grand Assembly," Elara breathed.

"It hasn’t been called in over a thousand years." "And it won’t save you," the Shadow Goddess growled. But her faith was cracking. Below them, the blood moon was flickering, its red light getting weaker. "Luna Elara," came another voice.

This one she recognized – Alpha Magnus Ironhold, the most powerful Alpha in North America. "Can you hear us?" "Yes!" she called out.

"The Council has made its choice. The Quad Bond is not a curse – it’s progress. The supernatural world isn’t going crazy because of your bond. It’s going insane because it’s trying to fight change." The Shadow Goddess’s eyes widened. "No. That cannot be."

"We have proof," came another voice – Alpha Vera Nightshade, the oldest living werewolf. "The craziness only affects those who reject the new order. Those who accept it grow stronger." Through the space between worlds, Elara saw the truth.

The packs that had accepted change, that had welcomed new ways of doing things, were fighting alongside the Blackwoods. They weren’t going crazy – they were changing. "The Quad Bond isn’t breaking reality," Magnus added. "It’s showing us what we could become.

Four brains working as one. Four hearts beating together. Four souls sharing one purpose." "Lies!" the Shadow Goddess screamed.

But her form was already becoming transparent. The blood moon above them was turning silver again.

"The Council recognizes the Blackwood Quad Bond as legitimate," Vera stated. "We name Elara Moon as Luna Prime, first of her kind. We name Kael, Ronan, and Darian Blackwood as her Alpha Consorts, equal in power."

"Furthermore," Magnus added, "we make new law. Any pack that wants to form unconventional bonds may do so, with Council approval. The age of rigid custom is ending."

The Shadow Goddess let out a shriek that broke stars. "You dummies! You have no idea what you’re releasing!" "We’re unleashing the future," came a new voice. Young, but filled with power.

"And we’re not afraid of it." Elara gasped. The voice belonged to her younger brother, Adrian, who she’d thought was dead. "Adrian?" she whispered. "Hello, sister. Sorry I’m late."

Through the vast space, she saw him. But he wasn’t alone. Behind him stood dozens of young wolves, all of them shining with the same silver light that surrounded her.

"The next generation," Adrian said with a grin. "We’ve been waiting for someone to show us the way."

"How are you alive?" Elara asked, tears running down her face. "The same way you’re alive right now," he said.

"Love. The bond you share with your mates didn’t just save you – it saved everyone linked to you. Including me." The Shadow Goddess was fading fast now, her link to the blood moon severed by the Council’s declaration. "This isn’t over," she hissed.

"There are older forces than me. Ancient things that will not accept this change." "Let them come," Elara said, her silver light burning brighter.

"We’ll be ready." The goddess dissolved into mist and memory, her final scream echoing across realms. Elara felt herself falling, but it wasn’t scary.

She was falling toward home, toward her mates, toward her pack. She landed in Kael’s arms just as the blood moon finished its transformation back to silver.

The portal to the Void Realm snapped shut, cutting off Alpha Prime’s escape path. "Did we win?" she asked softly. "We won," Kael said, his voice thick with excitement.

"The Council’s ruling is binding. Our bond is known. You’re safe." Around them, the Blackwood Pack was cheering.

But Elara noticed something else – wolves from other packs were emerging from the bush. Not as enemies, but as partners. "Luna Prime," said a voice behind her.

She turned to see Alpha Magnus Ironhold himself, a huge man with silver hair and eyes like steel. Behind him stood the other Council members, their faces polite.

"The formal ceremony will be held at the next full moon," Magnus said.

"But your authority starts now. What are your orders?" Elara looked around at the destroyed territory, at the hurt pack members, at the fear still lingering in everyone’s eyes.

"We rebuild," she said simply. "But not the way things were. We build something new. Something better."

"And if the old powers the Shadow Goddess mentioned come for us?" asked Alpha Vera. Elara smiled, feeling her mates’ strength flowing through their bond. "Then they’ll discover what happens when love refuses to bow to fear." The assembled Alphas nodded their agreement. One by one, they knelt, showing their acceptance of the new order.

But as the ceremony continued, Celeste neared Elara quietly. "There’s something you need to know," she said. "Something I learned from the Crimson Peak Pack’s prophet." "What?" Celeste’s face was grave.

"The Shadow Goddess was right about one thing. There are older skills. And they’re already moving against us." "What kind of powers?" "The kind that existed before the Moon Goddess. Before monsters.

Before any of this." Celeste looked up at the newly silver moon. "They call themselves the Primordials. And they view our development as a threat to their rule." Elara felt ice in her veins. "How long do we have?"

"According to the prophecy? Three days. Maybe less." Through the Quad Bond, she felt her mates’ fear. But also their drive. "Then we’d better get started," Elara said.

"Because if the Primordials want a war, they’re going to get one they’ll never forget." As if called by her words, the ground beneath their feet began to tremble.

Not with earthquake, but with something far more threatening. In the distance, where the opening had been, reality was bending again. But this time, what emerged wasn’t shadow or darkness.

It was pure, old power. Power that had existed since the beginning of time. And it was very, very angry. "Elara," Kael said quietly, "I think our three days just became three minutes."

The silver moon above them suddenly flashed, as if something was trying to block its light.

Something vast and terrible and older than memory. "Everyone fall back to the sanctuary," Elara ordered.

"Now!" But as they ran, she couldn’t shake the feeling that there was nowhere on Earth they could hide from

what was coming. The real war was just starting.