ALPHA DINERO'S POV.
The pain still gripped my ribs like a vice and I wasn't surprised that such energy would be so effective on me because this is one of the reasons it's been banned here in the werewolves pack.
If any wolf should make use of such magic, the energy consumes the soul of a werewolves and makes the wolf more powerful.
But at least this is the case of mine as the magic shouldn't be used on a wolf but it was nothing compared to the sight that unfolded before me.
A sudden blast of energy crackled through the air and hurled Lycan backward with enough force to send him crashing into the old iron statue behind the courtyard.
The sound of the impact echoed like thunder.
I blinked hard, still groggy, trying to understand what just happened. Then my heart stopped.
It was her, Irish, my Luna.
Her eyes glowed with a defiant silver light, her palms still raised, the air around her charged with a fierce energy I hadn't seen in years. She had thrown him back. She had saved me.
Lycan groaned and rolled over on the ground, his expression twisted in shock and fury. He pushed himself up with a growl, his cloak now torn and caked in dust.
"You?" he hissed, his voice venomous. "You dare touch me?"
Without wasting a second, he charged at her, faster than lightning.
"Irish!" I tried to rise, but pain seared through my spine. I could barely lift my arm.
In a blink, Lycan was upon her. He threw a sharp gust of dark energy that lifted her off the ground by sheer force. Her body rose several feet into the air, her feet dangling, her neck caught in the invisible grip of his twisted magic.
She gasped, hands clawing at the invisible hold around her throat.
"WHERE WERE YOU?!" Lycan's voice was a roar now, shaking the trees, the walls, the very sky above us. "Where were you when the Moon Goddess stole my destiny?! You daughter of a bitch."
His eyes burned with a fire I'd never seen before.
" Yes, we're twins but I was the first born," he shouted, shaking with rage. "The first! Five minutes older and I was meant to lead. I was the next Alpha!"
Irish struggled in the air, her hands glowing faintly as she tried to counter his hold.
"And what did the Moon Goddess do?" Lycan continued, pacing beneath her like a mad prophet.
"She looked at us… and chose you, Dinero, my weaker half, my second breath, my shadow as she gave you the Alpha title."
He tightened his hold, and Iris cried out.
My heart shattered.
"You think that's fair?" Lycan spat, his voice cracking.
"You think it's fair that my fate was taken from me? That you, my twin, the one who always trailed behind me, now leads the Crystal Pack while I… I was cast out like filth?"
His voice broke into a low snarl. "I lost everything, respect, pride and my own name."
I dragged myself up, bracing on a broken post, my body screaming in protest as blood dripped down my chin, but none of it mattered.
Because, Irish…were still in the air as she is still struggling with real bad and still suffering from lack of breathing.
"Lycan!" I shouted, my voice hoarse. "Let her go! Face me! Leave a fragile woman out of this!"
Lycan's head slowly turned toward me. The grip on Irish loosened just slightly…but not enough to let her go.
His eyes gleamed as he took slow, deliberate steps toward me, his boots crushing the gravel beneath him.
"You think I don't want to face you?" he asked, tilting his head. "Oh, I've dreamed of this moment. But first…"
He smirked. "First, I want you to understand what you did to me."
I tried to stay strong, but there was something different about Lycan now. This wasn't the same brother I once sparred with. Something dark, ancient, and wrong coursed through him.
"You should've rejected the Alpha title," he growled. "You knew how much it meant to me. I told you how I wanted to lead. How I was born to lead. But what did you do?"
He paused, then clenched his jaw.
"You accepted it. Proudly. Without hesitation. You stood in the circle and let the pack bow to you…knowing it would kill me inside."
I opened my mouth, but he cut me off.
"And when I confronted you… when I lost my mind and attacked you out of rage…what did you do?" His voice dropped, bitter and cold.
"You defeated me in front of the entire pack. Banished me. Make a spectacle of your own brother."
His eyes glazed over for a second, like he was drifting through memories. Then he blinked, snapping back to the present.
"I was laughed at, mocked and forgotten."
The wind shifted suddenly and the trees bent as if to make way for something unnatural. The clouds above twisted into spirals, whispering of dark omens.
Lycan's voice lowered to a whisper. "But I found something, beyond the mountains. Deep in the caverns of the cursed lands as I found power. Power stronger than the Moon Goddess herself. Power that can tear reality apart."
My throat went dry as he had done the unthinkable.
He had crossed into the underworld. He had embraced dark magic.
Even our ancestors had feared that path.
And now, he stood before me, stronger than ever, more dangerous than anything I'd ever faced.
"I ask you one last time, brother," Lycan said, his tone now dangerously calm. "Will you surrender your Alpha title… and bow before me?"
I looked at Irish, still suspended in the air, her face pale, her body trembling. I looked at my brother, consumed by hatred, no longer the boy I once shared a womb with.
And then I looked inward and fear crawled up my spine…but not for myself.
For my people, my pack, my daughter and my Luna.
I clenched my fists, wiped the blood from my lips, and met his gaze.
"Over my dead body," I said, voice firm, steady. "Will I ever surrender my title to you?"
He smiled, not the smile of a brother.
The smile of a monster.
"So be it," Lycan whispered.
Then he turned, walked back to where Irish hung in the air, and looked up at her with twisted delight.
"Then watch," he said, voice cold as death, "as I kill your wife… before I kill you."
And in that moment he used his dark abilities to pick up a dagger from his cloak as the dagger traced each part of Irish body as if looking for a good place to stab her.