Bound By Moonlight to My Mates (by Sofange Daye) novel Chapter 82

Chapter 82

Charlotte

The world stops. The dagger is sticking out of Theo’s chest, and I resist the urge to pull it back. His hand wraps around mine, and he drives the dagger in further, until his blood coats my hand. Pain sears through my head, and I whimper, but he won’t let me pull my hand away. His hand twists, dealing the final blow, and 1 know the damage is beyond any repair.

Theo gasps, eyes wide, but there’s no anger in them, only relief. His hand finally drops from mine, but I can’t seem to take my hand from the blade. I look at it in disbelief. He reaches for me, blood on his hand, and cups my face with a tenderness that undoes me. “Thank you,” he whispers.

Then the light swallows him whole.

The temple shakes. The dagger dissolves in my hand, turning to ash. I scream his name, clutching his body as it crumbles into starlight and fades between my fingers. My fingers scrape against the marble, searching for him, but there is nothing left. He is gone.

“Tala,” I call out, but my mind is empty.

“No!” I scream out in fear. “No, not her too.”

I slam my fists against the floor until they bleed. My blood seeps into the cracks of the floor, leaving stains of what happened here today. My arms burn with each hit to the ground, but I don’t stop, until I am too tired to

move.

Flopping onto the ground, I roll onto my side and try to listen beyond the crackling of the fire. It sounds like the fighting has stopped, but I can’t be sure. It wouldn’t matter either way. I am trapped among the flames, unable to escape.

The fire continues to burn around me, and I am sure it will consume me. I squeeze my eyes shut and wait for the flames to touch my skin.

It never comes, and then there is silence.

The air stills. The oppressive weight that has smothered the world for centuries lifts. I can feel it, the sickness breaking, the bonds unraveling. But I can’t move.

The moonlight thickens, wrapping around me, and the world falls away.

When I open my eyes, I am standing in a place made of light. The Moon Goddess stands before me, radiant and terrible. Her eyes are silver storms, her gown woven from the night sky itself. She is just as beautiful as she was in Tala’s memories, and yet I can’t bring myself to look upon her face.

“Selene,” I mutter her name.

“Daughter,” she says, her voice both distant and close. “You have done what your soul has fled from for ages.”

The pain has finally become too much and I drop to my knees. “He’s gone.”

“He is free.”

My hands tremble. “And what about me?”

“You have carried Tala’s spirit across lifetimes. You have suffered for her choice. Now that choice has been undone.”

Something flickers beside her, a woman made of moonlight, her face achingly familiar. Tala. She smiles softly, eyes full of peace.

“Thank you,” she whispers. “For setting me free.”

The Moon Goddess turns her gaze back to me. “You are no longer bound by her curse. But your path has not yet ended. You have saved the werewolves from their sickness, and now you must choose how to live without it.”

“You mean I am to return without Tala?” I ask, my voice is no more than a whisper.

“Yes,” the Moon Goddess replies. “Now that the curse is broken, there is no need for her suffering to continue. Not only did you set Theo free, but you also set Tala free.”

I shake my head. “I don’t know who I am without her. Am I to live as a human now?”

“No,” she smiles softly. “You will not be forced to live as a human. I shall grant you this.”

She steps forward and touches her hand to my chest. Light blooms there, warm, new, alive.

“A new wolf,” she says. “Born of you, not of the curse. May she guide you where Tala could not.”

“A new wolf,” I repeat, both in awe and fear.

The Moon Goddess pulls her hand away from me. “Do you not wish for a new wolf?”

“My mates?” I ask. “Will they still know me?”

“They will,” she smiles. “Not even a new wolf can break the magnificent bond you have created. Unless… you would like new mates?”

“No!” I shout a little too loudly. “I can’t lose them, too.”

“Very well,” she laughs. “Your new wolf will guide you.”

The light spreads through me until I can barely breathe. I feel the pulse of something wild, something whole, awakening inside me. My new wolf howls in my mind, sounding feral and demanding to be set free. She fights against my mind, trying to take control, but I do my best to hold her in place.

“This one is spirited,” the Moon Goddess laughs. “But if anyone can handle her, it is you.”

I struggle to stay on my feet, and a hand steadies me at my elbow. I look to my left and see Theo standing beside me. Long gone are his demon–like eyes, and he is looking down at me with beautiful amber eyes.

“Theo,” I whimper his name.

“Look at you, Little Cricket,” he muses. “You saved the world.”

I swallow down the sadness blooming in my chest. “I saved you.”

He presses a kiss to my forehead and takes his place beside Tala. Their fingers lace together, and he presses a kiss to the back of her hand. I squeeze my eyes closed, trying not to mourn the loss of my wolf and my mate, knowing that I set them free.

When I look up again, Tala and Theo are gone. The Moon Goddess fades with them, leaving only her voice echoing in the void.

“Run free, daughter of moon and fire. Your story begins anew.”

The world bursts into white, and then I am falling.

Chapter 83