Rejected And Reborn As The Alpha King's Luna

Chapter 33: "A Brother's Sacrifice"

POV: Thelma

The moment Marcus's blood touched the ritual circle, I felt everything shift. The dark energy that had been pulling at my life force reversed direction, and suddenly, instead of draining me, it was exploding outward in waves of uncontrolled magic.

"No!" Morgana screamed, her hands raised as she tried to contain the backlash. "NO! This can't be happening!"

But it was happening. Marcus's willing sacrifice, his choice to give his life to save mine, had done something to her spell. Something she hadn't anticipated. Elena's sobs filled the air as she held Marcus's body, rocking back and forth. "You fool," she wept. "You stupid, stubborn fool. Why would you do this? Why?"

I wanted to say something to her, to comfort her somehow, but words felt impossible. This man had murdered my birth parents. He'd raised me as a tool, poisoned me, tried to steal my power. He'd been my enemy in every possible way.

And yet, in his final moment, he'd saved me.

"Thelma, we need to move!" Theo grabbed my arm, pulling me away from the ritual circle. "The magic is unstable. This whole place could.."

The explosion cut him off. Dark energy erupted from where Marcus had fallen, and I watched in horror as it shot upward, forming a dome of pure magical force. Morgana shrieked as the dome enclosed her, trapping her inside a prison of her own making.

"What's happening?" I gasped, watching the witch pound against the invisible walls of her cage.

"A willing sacrifice," Elena said through her tears, looking up at us. "In dark magic, when someone willingly gives their life to break a spell, the spell's power turns against its caster. Marcus knew. He knew what would happen."

Morgana's face was twisted with rage and disbelief. "You can't do this!" she screamed at Marcus's corpse. "I spent three hundred years planning this! THREE HUNDRED YEARS!"

But the magical prison only grew stronger, fed by the power of Marcus's sacrifice. I watched as it began to shrink, compressing around the witch until she could barely move.

"I will find a way out," Morgana snarled, her eyes finding mine through the magical barrier. "And when I do, Thelma, I will make you suffer for eternity. You and everyone you love. This isn't over!"

Then the prison compressed completely, shrinking down to the size of a crystal that clattered to the stone floor. Inside, I could still see Morgana's tiny form, frozen in her rage.

"Is she dead?" Theo asked, staring at the crystal.

"No," Elena said quietly. "Trapped. Conscious. Aware of every second passing. But unable to move, unable to act, unable to escape. It's a fate worse than death for a witch like her."

I should have felt relief. Victory. The witch who'd manipulated everything, who'd orchestrated my parents' murder and controlled my entire life, she was finally defeated.

But then I felt it. A cold sensation starting in my fingertips.

"Thelma?" Theo's voice sounded far away. "Thelma, what's wrong?"

I looked down at my hands and gasped. My fingers were turning gray. Not just gray, they were hardening, becoming stone.

"No," I whispered. "No, no, no!"

Elena stumbled to her feet, her eyes widening as she saw what was happening. "The backlash. Oh gods, the magical backlash caught her!"

"What does that mean?" Theo demanded, grabbing Elena's shoulders. "What's happening to her?"

"When a dark ritual is broken by sacrifice, sometimes the residual magic needs somewhere to go," Elena explained frantically. "It's looking for a vessel. And Thelma, she was at the center of the ritual. She was supposed to be the sacrifice. The magic is still trying to complete its purpose."

The stone was spreading up my arms now. I could feel it moving through my veins, replacing blood with something cold and hard. I tried to use my Alpha power to fight it, but the magic was too strong, too ancient.

"How do we stop it?" Theo asked desperately. "There has to be a way to stop it!"

Elena was crying again, shaking her head. "I don't know. Marcus was the one who studied curse breaking. I only know the basics of dark magic, not how to reverse it."

"Then we find someone who does!" Theo turned to me, his hands cupping my face. Through our twin bond, I felt his terror. "Thelma, stay with me. Fight it. You've survived everything else. You can survive this."

"I'm trying," I gasped. The stone had reached my elbows now, and my legs were starting to stiffen. "Theo, I can't, I can't feel my legs."

"Thelma!" He caught me as I collapsed, lowering me gently to the ground. The stone continued its relentless spread, crawling up my neck, across my chest.

"It's moving toward her heart," Elena said, her voice hollow. "Once it reaches her heart, she'll be completely petrified. Stone all the way through."

"How long?" Theo demanded.

"Minutes. Maybe less." Elena knelt beside us. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. This is all our fault. Marcus and I, we.." Her voice broke. "We destroyed so many lives. And now you're paying the price for our sins."

The stone reached my shoulders. My chest. I could barely breathe now, each breath more difficult than the last.

"There has to be something," Theo insisted. "Some way to break a curse. Fairy tales always talk about.." He stopped, his eyes widening. "True love's kiss. That breaks curses, doesn't it?"

Elena's expression turned even more hopeless. "In theory, yes. True love's kiss is one of the most powerful forms of magic. It can break almost any curse. But.."

"But what?" Theo snapped.

"But it has to be true love. Real, pure, selfless love. And it has to be given freely, willingly, without expectation of reward." Elena looked at me with pity. "Thelma's mate—Xavier—he's still recovering from Neon's poison. Even if we could get him here in time, would his kiss be enough? Does he truly love her? Or does he just love the idea of having a powerful mate?"

"He loves her," Theo said fiercely. "I saw it when he came to Luna's territory. He fought his own father for her. He came for her knowing it was dangerous. That's real love."

"Then we need to get him here," Elena said. "Now. Before it's too late."

Theo gently laid me down and stood up. "Watch her. I'll.."