Chapter 20: Blood Moon Rising
1218words
The blood moon hung low and heavy in the twilight sky, its crimson glow casting the world in shades of red as I prepared for the ritual that would determine not just my fate, but the future of three alphas and possibly their entire species. In Damian's bedroom, I stood before the mirror, barely recognizing the woman who stared back.
Gone was the confused, frightened bride who had awakened in a blood-soaked wedding dress. In her place stood someone new—a Balancer awakened, with amber-flecked eyes and an aura of power that seemed to shimmer around her like heat waves.
"It suits you," Damian said from the doorway, his gaze taking in the simple white dress I'd chosen for the ritual. "Power."
I touched my mother's pendant, drawing strength from its balanced energy. "I never wanted power."
"Which is precisely why you wield it so well." He approached, stopping just close enough that I could feel his heat without touching. "Have you decided? What you'll do tonight?"
"Yes." I met his eyes in the mirror. "But I can't tell you."
"Can't? Or won't?"
"Both." I turned to face him directly. "The ritual requires genuine choice, uninfluenced by prior agreements."
His jaw tightened, but he nodded. "I trust you, Elena. Whatever you decide."
The simple statement carried more weight than any passionate declaration could have. Trust from an alpha—particularly one as dominant as Damian—was rarer than moon blood itself.
"Even if I don't choose you?" I challenged softly.
Pain flickered across his features before he controlled it. "Even then. Though I won't pretend it wouldn't destroy me."
He reached out, fingers brushing my cheek with exquisite gentleness. "These past weeks—finding you, losing you, finding you again in a different way—they've changed me. Whatever happens tonight, know that."
I leaned into his touch, memorizing the feel of his skin against mine. "No matter what happens at the ritual, what I feel for you is real. Remember that."
His eyes darkened with emotion as he leaned forward, pressing his lips to mine in a kiss that felt like both promise and farewell. When he pulled away, resolve had replaced vulnerability in his expression.
"It's time," he said. "Jackson and your father are waiting."
The drive to the ritual site was silent, tension thick enough to cut. My father sat beside me in the back seat of Damian's SUV, his hunter's instincts clearly on high alert despite the temporary truce. Jackson drove, while Damian stared out the passenger window, his profile sharp against the darkening sky.
"You can still change your mind," my father said quietly, for my ears alone. "We could leave now, tonight. I have contacts who could help us disappear."
I squeezed his hand. "Running won't solve anything. Mom tried that approach."
"And she died for it," he reminded me, voice tight with old grief.
"She died because she had no support," I corrected. "I do."
I glanced meaningfully at Damian, whose slight nod confirmed he'd heard every word despite my father's attempt at privacy. Werewolf hearing—something I was still adjusting to in my own partially transformed state.
The ritual site looked different under the blood moon's crimson light—older, more primal. The three ancient stones seemed to pulse with energy, their carved symbols glowing faintly as if illuminated from within. At the center, the altar stone waited, its surface already prepared with three chalices and the ritual knife.
Victor emerged from the shadows as we arrived, his amber eyes gleaming in the darkness. "The gang's all here," he observed dryly. "How touching."
"Let's get this over with," Jackson said, positioning himself by one of the three stones.
Victor took his place at another stone, leaving the third for Damian. I moved to the center, beside the altar, my father hovering uncertainly at the edge of the clearing.
"The ritual requires privacy," Victor said, eyeing my father with distaste. "No human observers."
"He stays," I said firmly. "Or I walk."
Victor's jaw tightened, but he nodded curtly. "Very well. Shall we begin?"
I took a deep breath, centering myself as I'd practiced all day. My mother's pendant warmed against my skin, its energy flowing through me like liquid light.
"Three alphas," I began, reciting the ancient words I'd memorized from Damian's texts. "One choice. Blood freely given under the moon's crimson eye."
I picked up the ritual knife, its blade gleaming red in the moonlight. Without hesitation, I cut my palm, letting blood drip into each of the three chalices.
"Moon blood offered," I continued. "Now alpha blood to meet it."
One by one, the three men approached, each cutting their palms and allowing their blood to mingle with mine in their respective chalices. The air grew thick with power, the pendant at my throat pulsing in time with my heartbeat.
"Blood calls to blood," I said, my voice stronger now. "Power recognizes power. The choice must be made."
This was the moment—the point where I was supposed to drink from one chalice, binding myself to that alpha and granting him dominance over the others. Victor watched with hungry anticipation, Jackson with resigned curiosity, and Damian with carefully controlled hope.
Instead, I lifted all three chalices and poured their contents onto the altar stone.
"What are you doing?" Victor demanded, alarm replacing anticipation. "That's not the ritual!"
"It is now," I said, my voice carrying an authority that silenced him. "I am a Balancer, daughter of hunter and hunted alike. I choose balance."
The mingled blood began to glow on the altar stone, the three-spiral symbol appearing within it as if drawn by an invisible hand.
"The pact was created to bind three alphas in hierarchy," I continued. "I rewrite it to bind you in equality."
"Impossible," Victor snarled, starting forward only to freeze as my eyes flashed amber.
"Nothing is impossible for a Balancer under the blood moon," I countered. "My mother couldn't see this path because she rejected her wolf nature. I embrace both sides of my heritage."
I placed my bleeding palm on the glowing symbol. "By blood and choice, I bind the three wolves in balance. Equal power, equal responsibility. No alpha above the others."
The ground beneath us trembled as ancient magic responded to my command. Light erupted from the altar, spiraling upward toward the blood moon before splitting into three streams that connected to each alpha.
"What have you done?" Victor gasped, staggering under the force of the magic flowing through him.
"Created true balance," I answered. "The pact remains, but transformed. No more fighting for dominance. No more need for a moon blood sacrifice every fifty years."
Damian's eyes met mine across the clearing, understanding dawning in their blue depths. "You've freed us," he realized. "All of us."
"And bound you in a new way," I added. "To each other, in equality."
As the magic settled, I felt something shift inside me—the dual nature of my blood finding its own balance, neither wolf nor human dominant, but harmonized into something new.
The ritual was complete. The choice made. But one question remained unanswered—one that Damian's eyes asked silently across the clearing:
Where did this leave us?
