Chapter 7 Chapter 7

I wake up screaming.

The nightmare was so vivid, so real. I saw the temple burning. Saw our children crying. Saw Dante's lifeless body on the ground.

"Aria! Aria, I'm here!" Dante's arms wrap around me, pulling me against his chest. "It was just a dream. Just a dream."

But it wasn't. Through the bond, I can feel his fear too. Because he knows what I know—my visions are never just dreams.

"Tell me," he says quietly, stroking my hair.

I'm shaking so hard I can barely speak. "Something's coming. Something bad. I saw... I saw you dead, Dante. And the children were screaming."

He stiffens. "When?"

"I don't know. Soon. Maybe days. Maybe weeks." I pull back to look at him. The moonlight streaming through our window illuminates his worried face. "We need to tell Elder Moira."

"It's three in the morning."

"I don't care. This was different from my other visions. This felt like a warning."

Dante doesn't argue. He knows better than to dismiss my premonitions. In the five years since we mated, my visions have saved lives countless times. If I say something bad is coming, he believes me.

We dress quickly and head to Elder Moira's chambers. She answers the door in her nightclothes, looking surprisingly alert for someone we just woke up.

"I felt the disturbance in the spiritual realm," she says before we can speak. "Come in."

Her room is filled with candles and herbs. She gestures for us to sit while she prepares tea with shaking hands.

"Tell me everything you saw," she instructs.

I describe the vision in detail. The burning temple. The screaming children. Dante's body. And something else—a figure in the shadows, watching it all with glowing red eyes. Not wolf eyes. Something else.

Elder Moira's face grows pale. "Red eyes that aren't a wolf's?"

"Yes. They were... wrong. Evil."

She sets down her tea cup with a trembling hand. "I had hoped we had more time."

"More time for what?" Dante demands.

"The demon," Elder Moira says quietly. "The one we banished five years ago during the battle. It's coming back."

My blood runs cold. I remember that creature—the shadow demon that fed on hatred and fear. We thought we destroyed it.

"How is that possible?" I whisper. "I banished it to the void."

"You banished it, yes. But demons like that can't be truly killed. Only delayed." Elder Moira stands and begins pacing. "It's been gathering strength for five years, feeding on darkness from the void. And now it's strong enough to return."

Dante's hand finds mine, gripping tight. "Why come back now?"

"Because of the children." Elder Moira looks at me with sad eyes. "Blood moon children are powerful, yes. But that power can be corrupted. The demon wants to possess them, use their abilities to break free from the void permanently and consume our world."

"Our children," I breathe. "It's coming for Maya and Marcus."

"And the other blood moon children at the temple. All of them." Elder Moira sits back down heavily. "If the demon possesses even one of them, we're all doomed. Their combined power under demonic control would be unstoppable."

Dante stands abruptly, already in Alpha mode. "Then we evacuate. Get the children somewhere safe. Fortify the temple and the fortress."

"Running won't help," Elder Moira says. "The demon can track blood moon children anywhere. It's drawn to their power like a moth to flame."

"Then what do we do?" I ask desperately.

Elder Moira is quiet for a long moment. Then: "There might be a way. An ancient ritual that can permanently destroy the demon. But it requires tremendous sacrifice."

"What kind of sacrifice?" Dante's voice is dangerous.

"The ritual needs a blood moon child to serve as a vessel. They must absorb the demon's essence and then... they must die. Taking the demon with them to true death, not just banishment."

The room falls into horrified silence.

"No," Dante says flatly. "Absolutely not. We're not sacrificing anyone, especially not a child."

"There may be no other choice—"

"There's always another choice!" Dante's eyes flash red. "We'll fight. We'll find another way."

"I've been searching for another way for five years," Elder Moira says tiredly. "This is the only method that works. It's in the oldest texts, written by the first werewolves who faced this demon before."

I feel numb. One of the children must die? How can that be the only answer?

"What if..." I start, then stop.

"What if what?" Dante looks at me.

"What if the vessel isn't a child? What if it's me?"

"No." Dante's response is immediate and fierce. "Don't even think it."

"I'm a blood moon child too. I'm the strongest one. It makes sense that I'd be the vessel."

"You're also a mother. A Luna. My mate." Dante grabs my shoulders. "I won't lose you."

"And I won't let our daughter die! Or our son, or any of those children at the temple!" Tears stream down my face. "If there's a chance I can save them—"

"By dying? That's not a chance, that's suicide!"

Elder Moira clears her throat. "There might be another factor to consider. The ritual requires the vessel to willingly accept the demon. To open themselves completely and let it in. Most people can't do that—their survival instinct is too strong."

"But Aria could," Dante says bitterly. "Because she'd do anything to protect others, even destroy herself."

He's right. I would. Without hesitation.

"How long do we have?" I ask Elder Moira.

"Based on your vision? Days. Maybe a week at most."

"Then we have time to prepare. Time to research and see if there's truly no other way." I squeeze Dante's hand. "And if there isn't... then I know what I have to do."

"No." Dante pulls me against him fiercely. "I just found you. I just built a life with you. I won't let some demon take you away."

Through our bond, I feel his terror, his desperation, his love. It mirrors my own feelings. The thought of leaving him, leaving our children, breaks my heart into pieces.

But the thought of watching our children die—of watching Maya's silver eyes fill with demonic red, of seeing Marcus twisted into something evil—that's worse than death.

"Let's not give up yet," Elder Moira says gently. "I'll search the archives again. Maybe there's something I missed. And Dante, you should gather your strongest warriors. If we can't find another way, we'll need to defend the temple when the demon comes."

We leave Elder Moira's chambers as the sun begins to rise. Dante hasn't let go of my hand since we sat down.

"I can't lose you," he whispers as we walk through the empty halls.

"You won't. We'll find another way."

"Promise me you won't do anything stupid. Promise me you won't sacrifice yourself without talking to me first."

I want to promise. But I can't lie to him. Not through the bond that connects us so deeply.

"I promise I'll try my best to find another solution," I say carefully.

It's not the promise he wants, but it's the only one I can give.

We check on the children before going back to bed. Maya is curled up with her stuffed wolf, peaceful and innocent. Marcus has somehow ended up upside down on his bed, blankets tangled around his legs.

They're so small. So precious. So worth protecting.

I kiss both their foreheads and send a silent prayer to the Moon Goddess: Please. Please let there be another way.

But in my heart, I already know the truth.

There isn't another way.

And when the time comes, I'll do what needs to be done.

Even if it destroys me.

Even if it destroys Dante.

Because that's what mothers do. We protect our children, no matter the cost.

Dante and I lie in bed, wrapped around each other but unable to sleep. Through the bond, I feel his mind racing, searching desperately for solutions.

"What if we leave?" he suddenly says. "Take the children and run to another country. Somewhere far from here."

"The demon will follow."

"Then we fight. All of us together. You, me, Kade, every warrior in the pack."

"And risk everyone? Risk the children getting caught in the battle?"

He has no answer to that.

As dawn fully breaks, I hear a commotion outside. Shouts. Running footsteps.

Dante and I bolt out of bed and rush to the window.

The sky above the Blood Moon Temple is dark. Not night-dark, but wrong-dark. Swirling shadows that block out the sun.

And in the center of those shadows, two massive red eyes stare down at us.

The demon is here.

Not in days or weeks.

Now.

"Get the children!" Dante roars, already shifting into his black wolf.

I run to Maya's room, but when I burst through the door, my heart stops.

The window is open.

Maya is gone.

And on her bed, written in shadows that smell like sulfur, is a message:

Come to the temple alone, or I take them all.