<h4>Chapter 68: Chapter 68: The Blood Moon</h4>


    Time froze as Darian held up the real bottle. The ck liquid inside swirled like a live thing, hungry and waiting. "What is that?" ra whispered, backing away from the brother she’d trusted most. "Your freedom," Darian said softly. "And my destiny." Kael stepped forward, his silver knife shining.


    "Put it down, Darian. Don’t do this." "You don’t understand." Darian’s voice cracked. "She’s dying. Each curse she breaks takes more of her life. I’m trying to save her." "By stealing her power?" Ronan growled, his wolf still close to the surface. "By taking the burden she can’t handle!" The argument shattered when Kane yelled from the edge of town. "Marcus’s soldiers! They’re here!" Through the woods, torches zed like angry stars. Hundreds of them.


    Maybe thousands. "We need to move," Celeste urged, but her voice sounded strange. Distant. That’s when ra looked up at the sky and gasped. The moon was changing. What had been silver white moments before now glowed deep red. Blood red. The color of suffering and truth. "No," she breathed. "Not now." "What’s happening?" Kael demanded. "Blood Moon," ra whispered. "I read about it in the ancient books. It only happens once every hundred years." The red light bathed them all, making their skin look like they were covered in blood. "So what?" Ronan asked. "During a Blood Moon, mate bonds are tested." ra’s voice shook. "If the love is real, the tie bes unbreakable. If it’s not..." "It breaks forever," Darian finished. "I know. That’s why this has to happen now." He raised the vial to his lips. "Stop!" ra lunged forward, but Kael caught her arm. "Don’t," he said grimly. "Look at the moon. It’s already started." The Blood Moon pulsed like a heartbeat. Each pulse sent waves of red energy rushing over them. ra felt it first. The mate tie, which had always been strong, suddenly became a living thing. It stretched between her and the three brothers like silver threads, but now she could see them clearly. Kael’s thread burned bright gold. Strong and steady. True love mixed with duty and respect. Ronan’s thread med red.


    Wild and intense. Love that would die for her without question. Darian’s thread... Darian’s thread was ck. Not the ck of evil, but the ck of hunger. Want. Obsession. He loved her, but he loved her power more. "You can see it now, can’t you?" Darian asked, watching her face. "The real ties. The real truth." ra stumbled backward. "You don’t really love me. You love what I can do." "I love you enough to save you from yourself!" "By taking everything that makes me who I am?" The Blood Moon pulsed again, stronger this time. The ck thread linking her to Darian began to fray. "It’s breaking," Kael said in wonder. "The false bond is breaking." "No!" Darian uncorked the vial. "I won’t let her suffer anymore!" He threw the liquid at ra. Ronan moved like lightning, throwing himself between them. The ck potion hit his chest instead, soaking through his shirt.


    For a moment, nothing happened. Then Ronan screamed. The sound wasn’t human. It was pure agony as the dark magic tried to rip ra’s power from her soul through their mate bond. But Ronan’s love was too strong. Instead of stealing her power, the potion backfired. It tried to take his own life force instead. "Ronan!" ra caught him as he fell, his body convulsing. The Blood Moon pulsed a third time, and suddenly she could feel everything. Every emotion. Every thought. Every secret. Kael’s intense guilt about wanting to reject her at first. His desperate love now that he knew her worth. Ronan’s absolute devotion. His willingness to die for her happiness. And Darian... Darian’s twisted love that had be mania. His hatred of his brothers. His hunger for power disguised as safety. "I can feel it all," she whispered. "The real ties. The lies. The truth." The ck thread to Darian snapped totally. He cried out as if he’d been stabbed, falling to his knees. "No," he gasped. "I did this for you. I did this for us!" "You did this for yourself," ra said sadly. "And now you’ve lost everything." The Blood Moon reached its peak, bathing them all in red light. The real mate ties, the ones between ra, Kael, and Ronan, zed like fire. Stronger than ever. Unbreakable. But Ronan was dying in her arms, the poison eating him from the inside. "Stay with me," she begged, her healing power flowing into him.


    But the dark power fought against her, trying to corrupt her gift. "Can’t," Ronan whispered. "Hurts too much." "Then take some of my strength. Take whatever you need." "No. Won’t make you weak." Kael knelt beside them, his hand on Ronan’s shoulder. "Take mine too. We’re brothers. We share everything." Even through their broken bond, Darian crawled closer. "Take mine. Please. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry." But it was toote. The evil had spread too far. Ronan’s eyes found ra’s. "Love you," he breathed. "Both of you. Always." His eyes closed. The Blood Moon pulsed one final time, and ra felt something amazing happen. The mate bond didn’t break when Ronan died. Instead, it changed. His love, his very soul, flowed into the bond itself. Making it stronger. Making it forever. "He’s not gone," she whispered in surprise. "I can still feel him. He’s part of the link now." Kael’s tears fell on his brother’s face.


    "What does that mean?" Before ra could answer, the ground shook. Marcus’s army had reached the town. "We need to go," Kane called out. "Now!" But as they prepared to run, ra looked at the Blood Moon one more time. Something was wrong. The red light was getting darker. Deeper. "That’s not right," she said. "The Blood Moon should be fading." Darian, still on his knees, looked up with fear in his eyes. "The potion. It wasn’t just meant to steal your power." "What?" "It was meant to summon something. Something that feeds on mate ties during the Blood Moon." As if his words had called it forth, a shadow fell across the moon.


    Something huge and hungry, blocking out the red light. "What is that?" Kael demanded. Darian’s voice was barely a whisper. "The thing Mordecai really serves. The reason he wanted your power." The shadow began to descend, and ra realized the truth. The Blood Moon hadn’t been a test. It had been bait. And they’d walked right into the trap.