A thin shield slowed her enough for Ellie to get an arm around her throat from behind.
Ellie locked her grip as hard as she could. Felicity wed at her, roared in rage. When she couldn''t throw Ellie off easily and fell straight back, mming Ellie onto the ground andnding on top of her.
Ellie groaned at the impact, and her grip faltered.
Felicity jumped to her feet again and looked down at Ellie, her face twisting in malicious delight at seeing her vulnerable state.
She took a step closer. Ellie struggled to get up. Her legs gave out. She was an easy target. Panic surged through her, but she just couldn''t get her limbs to move fast enough.
She threw her head back and screamed-a sound so raw and unhinged it silenced even the storm for half a heartbeat. Her body convulsed, bones shifting violently as her form warped between human and wolf, neither fully settling.
Her gaze locked on Ellie.
Pure fixation.
Ellie pushed away from the wall, lifting her hands even as her vision swam. "Felicity," she said hoarsely. "Stop. This ends now."
Felicityughed.
It was a broken, fractured sound, stripped of anything human. “You hear them?" she snarled. "They''re calling for blood."
Then she moved.
Sheunched herself across the space between them with terrifying speed, all fangs and ws and annihting rage, a living weapon aimed straight at Ellie''s heart.
Ellie felt it felt the inevitability of it-too exhausted, too slow, magic ring toote to form a proper shield.
This is it.
Time fractured.
A blur of motion cut through her peripheral vision.
Light red-silver-white, unmistakable.
And ric stepped into the path of death.
He didn''t hesitate.
Didn''t shout.
Didn''t look back.
He simply moved.
Felicity''s ws struck home with bone-shattering force, tearing through flesh, through Moonstone armor, through a body that had already chosen this ending.
The sound was awful-wet and final.
ric staggered once.
Then fell.
The world seemed to inhale sharply.
Blood-dark and unmistakable-spilled across the stone floor, steaming faintly as it soaked into ancient runes etched deep into the packhouse foundation.
Moonstone blood.
The storm screamed.
Magic surged violently, ripping outward in a blinding wave that mmed Felicity back like a physical blow. She howled in fury and pain, skidding across the floor as power she couldn''t control tore free from her grasp.
Ellie screamed.
"NO-!"
Cassian felt it like his heart had been torn from his chest.
“Dad!” he roared, breaking from the doorway despite Rae''s cry, stumbling toward ric''s fallen form.
Nn froze at the top of the stairs.
For the first time since the battle began, disbelief cracked through his fury. "ric-!"
The goddess''s presence expanded.
The storm faltered.
For one impossible moment, everything stilled.
And then-
The vision came.
Cassian and Ellie saw it at the same time.
Not with their eyes.
With their souls.
ric stood upright, whole and uninjured, gazing down at his own still body with
quiet eptance. There was no pain in his expression. No regret.
Only peace.
214
Beside him stood their mother.
Selene.
She held his hand, fingers inteced, her face radiant and soft with love that had never faded.
She leaned into him, forehead resting against his shoulder, and smiled at her children with infinite tenderness.
You are not alone.
Then light folded inward.
They were gone.
The vision vanished like mist in sunlight.
The goddess withdrew, power settling into something vast and satisfied.
The storm outside began to break.
Thunder rolled one final time-then faded, rain easing from a torrent to a steady fall. Felicity screamed again, but this time it wasn''t rage.
It was loss.
Something essential had been ripped away, leaving her shrieking and unmoored as
the force that had driven her finally abandoned its vessel.
She copsed to her knees, wing at the floor, sobbing and snarling in equal
measure.
The
rogues faltered.
Then broke.
Across the packhouse and beyond, their resistance crumbled; bodies dropping weapons as fear finally took hold. Without the storm''s unnatural fury driving them, they were only what they had always been-
Defeated.
Cassian dropped to his knees beside ric''s body, hands shaking as he pressed them uselessly against a wound that was already beyond healing.
Ellie copsed beside them, tears blinding her as she reached out, fingers brushing her father''s blood.
It was warm.
Real.
Final.
Around them, the battle ended.
The prophecy had been fulfilled.
The blood of Moonstone had been spilled.
And the storm-
Atst-
Was over.
+2
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Cede is a passionate storyteller known for her bold romantic and spicy novels that keep readers hooked from the very first chapter. With a ir for crafting emotionally intense plots and unforgettable characters, she blends love, desire, and drama into every story she writes. Cede''s storytelling style is immersive and addictive—perfect for fans of heated romances and heart-pounding twists.