BOUND TO THREE ALPHAS
Chapter 54: BENEATH THE EARTH

Chapter 54: BENEATH THE EARTH

Chapter 54: Beneath the Earth

The tunnel smelled like death and old secrets. Liana’s silver light pushed back the darkness as their group went deeper underground. Kael’s wheelchair squeaked with each turn of the wheels. Behind them, explosions shook dirt from the roof. "How much farther?" Jace whispered, his guns ready. "The temple should be just ahead," Elder Mira answered, studying her old map.

Talia grabbed Liana’s arm suddenly. "I’m getting another vision," she gasped. Her eyes rolled back, showing only white. "Seven wolves... screaming... blood on stone..." "What else do you see?" Liana asked quickly. "She’s waiting for us. She knows we’re coming." Talia blinked, her normal eyes returning. "And she’s happy about it."

The tunnel opened into a huge underground chamber. Liana’s jaw dropped. This wasn’t just a cave. It was an ancient building, older than anything she’d ever seen. Stone pillars reached toward a roof lost in shadows. Carved wolves chased each other around the columns in endless loops. But it was the paintings on the walls that made everyone stop breathing. "These paintings..." Rowan whispered, moving closer to study them. The first painting showed seven wolves standing in a circle. Their eyes glowed silver-white like stars. Above them, a woman with long dark hair and blood-red eyes floated in the air, her mouth open in a scream of rage. "That’s Mara," Elder Mira confirmed. "Before her imprisonment." The next picture showed the same seven wolves, but now their eyes were dim. Their bodies lay crushed around a black altar. The woman was gone, replaced by a swirling vortex of shadow caught inside a silver cage. "They died to seal her away," Liana realized. "Seven royal wolves gave their lives." "And now she wants out," Jace whispered. The final painting made Liana’s blood turn to ice. It showed the same procedure, but this time six wolves stood around the altar instead of seven. One space stayed empty. Waiting. "That’s us," Talia breathed. "That’s why she needed us here."

A slow clap rang through the temple. "Very good, little seer." Celeste stepped out from behind the obsidian altar at the chamber’s middle. Her once-beautiful blonde hair now hung in greasy knots. Dark veins pumped under her pale skin. Her ice-blue eyes had turned completely black. But it was the man beside her that made Kael snarl. "Darius." The rogue Alpha stood motionless next to Celeste, but something was badly wrong. His eyes stared straight ahead without blinking. Drool ran down his chin. His hands hung limp at his sides. "What did you do to him?" Rowan demanded. "Nothing permanent," Celeste laughed. "Just borrowed his mind for a while. Amazing what a little shadow magic can accomplish." The altar behind her was covered in patterns drawn in fresh blood. Candles made of black wax burned at each corner, their flames dancing without any wind. In the middle sat a bowl filled with liquid darkness that moved on its own. "You’re too late anyway," Celeste continued. "The rite is almost complete. All I need now are the finishing ingredients." "Which are?" Liana asked, though she already knew the answer. "Royal blood, freely given in sacrifice."

Celeste’s black eyes gleamed. "Your blood, specifically. And the blood of your mates." "We’re not her mates," Jace argued. "Aren’t you?" Celeste tilted her head like a curious bird. "The bond may be complex, but it’s real. I can smell it on all of you." She was right. Despite everything that had happened, despite the fake potion and the confusion, something linked Liana to each of the triplets. Something bigger than magic. "Even if that’s true," Kael said from his wheelchair, "we’re not giving you anything." "Oh, but you will." Celeste raised her hand. Dark energy crackled between her fingers. "Because if you don’t, everyone upstairs dies. Right now." The temple shook as something huge hit the mansion above them. Dust rained down like snow. "The shadow army isn’t just attacking randomly," Celeste stated. "They’re following my orders. And right now, I’m telling them to burn everything. Everyone you care about will be ash in five minutes." "Unless?" Liana asked. "Unless you take their place on the altar." Elder Mira stepped forward, her face grim. "The forecast spoke of this moment. A choice between love and duty." "What prophecy?" Talia demanded. "The one I’ve been hiding," Mira revealed. "The Moon Goddess showed me this exact scene in dreams for months. Liana standing before the altar, choosing the fate of two worlds." "Two worlds?" Rowan questioned. "If Mara breaks free, she won’t stop with our pack," Mira stated.

"She’ll tear apart the barrier between the spirit world and ours. Every dead thing that ever existed will walk among the living." Another blast above them. This time, chunks of stone fell from the roof. "Time’s running out," Celeste sang. "Decide now, or watch everyone burn." Liana looked at her friends. Talia, scared but trying to be strong. Elder Mira, carrying the weight of her hidden information. The triplets, each one ready to die for her. "There has to be another way," she said. "There is." The voice came from Darius, but his mouth didn’t move. His empty eyes suddenly flashed with silver light. "The wolf spirit inside you," he continued in a voice that wasn’t his own. "The reborn Luna. She knows the truth." Celeste spun around, anger twisting her features. "Impossible! I control him completely!" "You control his mind," the voice replied through Darius. "But Luna’s spirit lives in his heart now. Just as she lives in Liana’s." Liana felt something stir inside her wolf.

Memories that weren’t hers. Knowledge from a time before time. "What truth?" she asked. "The seven wolves didn’t die to imprison Mara," Darius/Luna stated. "They died to become her jail. Their souls still guard the seal, but they’re weakening." "So?" Celeste shrieked. "That changes nothing!" "It changes everything." Luna’s voice grew stronger. "Because if seven spirits can hold her, then seven spirits can banish her forever. Not just jail her. Destroy her." Understanding hit Liana like lightning. "The royal bloodline. That’s why my blood is special. I can call on those seven souls." "But you need help," Luna continued. "You need the strength of your pack link. The link between you and the triplets." "Even if that works," Jace said, "we still don’t know how to do it." "I do." Talia stepped forward, her eyes starting to glow with seer magic. "I’ve been seeing it in dreams for weeks. The ritual. The words. Everything."

Celeste let out a scream of rage that broke half the candles. The liquid darkness in her bowl began to boil and rise, taking shape. "No!" she shrieked. "I won’t let you ruin this! Mara, come to me now!" The shadow in the bowl burst upward, forming into the shape of a woman. Red eyes blazed in a face made of living darkness. When she spoke, her voice was like breaking glass. "Sister, you have done well. Now step away while I reclaim my world." But as Mara fully appeared, something went wrong. Instead of stepping away, Celeste began to scream. Dark veins spread across her skin like illness. Her blonde hair turned white, then black, then fell out totally. "What’s happening to her?" Rowan gasped. "Mara isn’t giving her a reward," Liana realized with fear. "She’s taking over her body." "Of course," Elder Mira whispered. "A spirit needs a vessel to live in our world. Celeste was never her partner. She was always meant to be her home." Celeste’s screams cut off suddenly. When she raised her head, her eyes burned red like fire. When she smiled, her teeth had become fangs. "Much better," she said in Mara’s voice. "Now, where were we?" She pointed casually, and Darius collapsed, the silver light leaving his eyes. Dark magic burst from her fingers, racing toward Liana and her friends. "Move!" Kael shouted. They scattered just as black lightning burned the stone where they’d been standing.

The temple filled with the smell of burned rock. "You cannot run forever, little Luna," Mara called, her voice booming from the walls. "I have waited ages for this moment. I will not be denied again." Liana helped Kael from his wheelchair as more dark magic flew around them. They took cover behind one of the stone pillars. "Talia," Liana whispered quickly. "The ritual you saw. How do we start it?" "We need to reach the altar," Talia answered. "And we need to do it together. All of us." "Bit of a problem there," Jace panted, avoiding another bolt of shadow magic. "She’s standing right in front of it." "Then we make her move," Rowan offered. "How exactly?" Kael demanded. Another blast from above shook the entire temple. Cracks formed in the ceiling. "The mansion’s collapsing," Elder Mira noted. "If we don’t act soon, we’ll be buried alive." Mara laughed, the sound sharp enough to hurt their ears. "Perfect. Let the earth itself become my tool." She raised both hands, and the cracks in the ceiling began to widen. Stone dust fell like rain. "Now or never," Liana decided. She stepped out from behind the pillar, silver light blazing around her like armor. "Mara! You want me? Come and take me!" The old spirit turned toward her, red eyes gleaming with hunger. "How brave. How foolish. How perfectly predictable." "Maybe," Liana agreed. "But I’m not alone." The triplets emerged from their hiding spots, moving to flank Mara from three sides.

Talia and Elder Mira began chanting in the old language. "You think six wolves can defeat me?" Mara sneered. "Seven couldn’t manage it before." "We’re not trying to defeat you," Liana answered, taking another step forward. "We’re trying to send you home." Mara’s face changed. For the first time, anxiety flickered in her red eyes. "Impossible. The way is sealed." "Not anymore." Liana smiled sadly. "Thanks to you, actually. By breaking into our world, you opened a door. And doors work both ways." "Liar!" But Mara’s voice cracked with sudden fear. The shouting grew louder. Ancient power stirred in the air around them. The paintings on the walls began to glow with soft silver light. And somewhere in the distance, seven voices joined the chant. The original royal wolves, their souls finally free to act. Mara’s face went white with fear. "No. NO! I will not return to that jail!" She released everything she had, dark magic exploding outward like a bomb. The world went black. When Liana opened her eyes, she was lying on her back looking up at a ceiling that was seconds away from collapse. Around her, her friends were trying to stand. Blood ran down Kael’s face. Jace clutched his left arm. Rowan’s eyes flashed between blue and silver. And at the altar, Mara was getting stronger by the second. "The ritual," Talia gasped. "We have to complete the ritual now!" But as Liana tried to stand, pain shot through her leg.

She looked down and saw a jagged piece of stone sticking out of her leg, blood pooling around it. "I can’t walk," she whispered. "Then we carry you," Kael said firmly, pulling himself up. "There’s no time!" Elder Mira shouted. "Look!" Mara was changing again. Her stolen body was getting taller, more terrible. Wings of shadow spread from her back. Her fingers became claws that could tear through steel. "Too late," she laughed, her voice now coming from everywhere at once. "I am free. I am whole. And I am very, very angry." She looked directly at Liana with eyes that burned like burning stars. "Shall we finish what we started, little Luna? Just you and me?"