MATED TO THE SECRET ALPHA
Chapter 99: Possibilities Are Endless

Chapter 99: Possibilities Are Endless

The bright sky had turned a deep, foreboding grey, as if the very light itself was being extinguished by the growing darkness. The stars twinkled like ice chips in the somber canvas, and the moon, once a fading silver crescent, now hung low in the sky, a blood-red orb that seemed to pulse with a malevolent energy.

The air was heavy with an unnatural, electric charge, and the wind whispered an ominous melody that sent shivers down Reana’s spine as she gathered her pack members inside one tent, but Ryder was not in sight. She’d searched for him earlier, when trouble was brewing, but he was nowhere to be found.

Reana’s heart racing with worry, scanned the surrounding area, her eyes straining to pierce the darkness. The howling wind and creaking trees made it impossible to hear any signs of Ryder’s whereabouts.

She growled with frustration, her instincts on high alert, as she turned to her pack members. "Stay here, I’ll find Ryder," she ordered, her voice firm and commanding. With a swift nod, she slipped out of the tent, into the tempestuous night, but a few meters away, she was stuck, unable to move forward.

"What the hell is this?" she reached out to touch the space in front of her, but found there was a barrier stopping her movement.

As if to confirm it, a furious thunder struck a nearby tree and the sound shook the ground beneath Reana’s feet. The flash of lightning illuminated the dark sky, and for a split second, Reana saw a shimmering, ethereal dome covering her and the camp behind her.

The barrier pulsed with an otherworldly energy, and Reana’s instincts screamed at her to retreat, but before she could, the tree struck by the thunder, broke and fell right over her, its massive trunk crashing against the dome, but it couldn’t break it, instead, the trunk was scorched into dust.

Reana stumbled backward, her eyes wide with shock and fear, as she realized that the barrier was not just impenetrable, but also deadly. Her pack members, who had been watching in horror, rushed to her side, helping her to stumble away from the barrier.

Ryder stood atop a hill, his dark robe billowing behind him like a dark cloud. But it was his appearance that was most striking - his once-black hair now blazed with fiery red locks, and his deep blue eyes glowed with an eerie, otherworldly red light. His gaze was fixed intently on the sky, brows etched with deep lines.

The air beside Ryder seemed to shimmer and distort, like the surface of a pond struck by a stone. Then, in an instant, a figure fused from the ripple, its presence seeming to draw the very light out of the air.

Clad in black robes that hung like dark wings from its shoulders, the figure stood tall and imposing, its face hidden behind a hood that seemed to swallow all light. The aura of death and decay emanated from it, like a dark scent that clung to its very being.

"The dome has been erected," the figure in black declared, its voice low and gravelly, like the rustling of dry leaves.

Ryder’s gaze remained fixed on the dark sky, another flash of anger thunder lighting the sky for a split second, illuminating his red-glowing eyes that were tainted with an almost fanatical interest. "What is happening up there?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper, yet laced with an undercurrent of anticipation and enjoyment.

"The Celestial Palace is collapsing," the figure in black announced, its voice devoid of emotion, yet seeming to tremble with the weight of the words.

Ryder’s gaze snapped back to the figure, his red-glowing eyes locking onto it with an unnerving intensity. "Who?" he demanded, his voice low and menacing.

The figure’s hooded head tilted slightly, as if acknowledging the complexity of the question. "I don’t know," it admitted. "But only when the powers of the moon goddess go haywire, disrupting the celestial balance, can the palace collapse."

Ryder’s brow subtly lifted, a hint of intrigue dancing across his face. His eyes snapped back to the sky, his gaze burning with a mixture of fascination and trepidation. He would want nothing but for the moon goddess to cease to exist, but then, he had reservations.

"What happens to the world if the Celestial Palace collapses?" Ryder asked, his voice tinged with a thread of caution, his eyes never leaving the sky.

"The werewolf world would cease to exist," the figure in black replied, its voice devoid of emotion. "The collapse of the Celestial Palace would unravel the fabric of your worlds, erasing all werewolves. But other creatures would still exist, for they have different gods and goddesses, their own celestial anchors that hold their realities will protect them."

Ryder’s eyes narrowed, his gaze intensifying as he pondered the fate that hung in the balance. He pursed his lips, lost in thought, the silence between him and the figure in black stretching out like a challenge.

"What if I don’t want to be erased?" Ryder finally asked, his voice low and deliberate, a hint of defiance creeping into his tone.

The figure remained silent for a while, the only sound the soft rustling of leaves in the wind. Then, it slowly turned its head towards Ryder, its hooded face a dark, featureless void. Their eyes would have locked had the person’s face not been shrouded in shadows, hiding their gaze from Ryder’s piercing stare.

"Your only choice would be to become wolfless. Kill your wolf." The figure declared.

As if sensing danger, Ryder’s wolf growled, shifting uncomfortably inside him. "That would make me human," Ryder stated matter-of-fact, his brows creased in displeasure.

However, the figure shook its head, a slow, deliberate movement that seemed to underscore the gravity of its words. "It’s not a fact," it corrected, its voice low and enigmatic. "You could be anything," it added, the phrase hanging in the air like a promise, or a threat, leaving Ryder’s fate shrouded in uncertainty.

"A monster, a human, a god, a creature beyond mortal comprehension," the figure continued, its voice weaving a spell of intrigue and foreboding. "The possibilities are endless, Snow. The only certainty is that you will be remade, reborn into something new, something unknown."