The Alphas Triplets

The Mark of Balance - Part 2

We reached the Moonstone Pool two nights later., guided by the elders and the faint pull of our marks.

It lay deep in the western woods, past the ridges where the trees grew thin and the ground shimmered with flecks of quartz. The pool wasn’t large-no wider than a clearing-but it glowed from beneath, pale and cold. The surface didn’t reflect the moon above; it reflected the soul that looked into it.

Father stood on the edge, his breath silver in the night air. “This place was here before the packs,” he said quietly. “Before the first Luna bound herself to the Moon. Whatever you see, remember-it shows truth, not future.”

We stepped forward together. Lilly first, then James, then me. The moment our feet touched the water’s edge, ripples spread outward, bright as molten light. The reflection that firmed there weren’t ours.

Lilly gasped. “That’s me-but not me.” In the water she shone gold, radiant and untouchable, her eyes glowed with compassion that looked almost divine. But behind her reflection stood another shape-shadowed, reaching toward her like a ghost of the same self.

James cursed under his breath. His reflection showed him crowned and armored, his eyes ringed with violet fire. His double smirked from behind the surface, whispering words he couldn’t hear.

And then there was mine.

Two versions, just as in my dreams. One silver, steady and calm; the other black-eyed and wild, power rolling off her like smoke. When I moved, she didn’t follow. She waited.

Dominic’s voice came from behind us. “What do you see?”

I couldn’t answer. The dark reflection tilted her head, mirroring his voice instead of mine. “She sees the truth,” it said. The tone was almost playful, but something inside it was wrong-too familiar.

The air rippled. Carter’s laughter rolled out of the water, echoing across the clearing. The shadows behind our reflections begun to merge into one.

“Back away!” Father shouted.

Too late. The water burst upward in a column of light and darkness both. The pool’s surface shattered, freezing midair like shards of glass. Carter’s face appeared between them-pale, hollow-eyed, the veins at his temples black as ink.

“You think you can balance what was never meant to be whole?” He hissed. “The curse in mine now-and yours.”

The air turned to frost. Lilly cried out as the golden threads of her light flickered. James reached for the journal, but it burned his hand, it’s pages turning black.

The dagger at my side pulsed, the same heartbeat that had haunted me since the Star Chamber. I drew it, and the Moon above answered-its light narrowed into a beam that struck the blade, wrapping it in silver fire.

“Enough!” I shouted. My voice wasn’t entirely mine; it Carried the echo of the First Luna, deep and ancient. “You were part of this blood once, Carter. The Moon still remembers you.”

For a heartbeat his expression changed-fear, sorrow, something human. Then the shadows swallowed him. The water stilled. The reflections vanished.

Silence fell across the clearing. The elders murmured prayers. Father’s hand shook where it held his sword. I sheathed the dagger and turned toward the pool. It’s surface had returned to normal, smooth and calm, but the Moon’s glow had dimmed.

Dominic moved to my side. “What did you do?”

“I didn’t do anything,” I said. “I think… the Moon did.”

He looked at me, eyes searching. “And if she asks for more?”

I glanced down at my reflection, now only one instead of two. “Then I’ll decide what balance means before she does.”

That night we returned to the packhouse under a silent sky. The relics hummed faintly through the walls again, softer now, almost content. But when I closed my eyes, I could still hear Carter’s voice in the dark water:

The curse is mine now-and yours.

And somewhere deep inside me, a part of my wolf stirred, wondering if he was right.