Chapter 5

Luna's pov: 

Violet flame collides explosively with my own blazing light. The force of it drives me back a step, boots skidding in the dirt. Across from me, Willow advances with hands wreathed in swirling fire, eyes alight with menace.

"Is that the best you can do, little witch?" she taunts. "You'll have to tap deeper if you want to survive the night."

With a scream of effort I push back, driving my palms forward. Daggers of light streak from them, piercing Willow's defenses. She cries out as one sears past her shoulder.

"You lied to me!" I shout, grief and betrayal still choking my throat. "I thought you were my friend!"

Willow lifts her lips in a snarl. "Friendship makes you weak. Boris knew you needed to learn that lesson the hard way."

She whips her arms in a circle, gathering power. A spinning orb of violet energy forms between her palms. With a savage cry, she hurls it at me.

I throw up a shield of light just in time. The orb explodes against it in a blinding flash, making me grit my teeth from the impact. Anger and stubborn determination rise inside me. I will not fail this test.

As the smoke clears, I see Willow preparing another attack. But this time, I strike first. I draw deep from my inner well of power, feeling it surge fiery and bright. When I release it in a sweeping arc, the blast of light and heat drives Willow back with a shocked cry.

Before she can recover, I press my advantage, fists raining blows of pure energy. "You taught me well," I yell furiously. "Now feel the consequences!"

Battered by my relentless assault, Willow's knees buckle. She throws up her hands in surrender, chest heaving. I halt my attack, palms still simmering with power as I watch her warily.

Slowly, Willow lifts her head. To my shock, she smiles. "Well done, Luna. I knew you had it in you."

I stare, confused and still breathing hard. "What? I don't..."

Willow rises unsteadily to her feet. "You needed a true test of your abilities, in life-or-death circumstances. A threat you could fight with all your soul. I provided that test."

Understanding crashes over me. "You mean...this was all just training?"

Willow inclines her head, still smiling. "I had to be sure you could embrace the fierceness within you. And you passed, spectacularly." 

Relief and chagrin war inside me. I was so ready to despise her, to write her off as a traitor. But she only wanted to prepare me for true enemies like Boris.

As if reading my thoughts, Willow steps closer, expression solemn now. "When it is real, they will show no mercy. You must be ready to strike to kill. Can you?"

I remember Boris's icy threat, his obsessive hold over me in another life. My resolve hardens. "Yes. For my pack, for those I love? Without hesitation."

Willow grips my shoulder firmly. "Then you are ready."

We make our way back down the mountainside slowly, wounds still stinging. I feel myself standing taller. Ready to share this newfound confidence with Cole and our allies.

But as we near the main village, a prickle on my neck makes me halt. Something is wrong. The cabins are too dark, too silent. My heart rate spikes.

Exchanging an alarmed glance with Willow, we creep forward cautiously. Then I smell it - the iron tang of fresh blood hangs heavy in the air. I stifle a horrified gasp.

In the moonlight I now see smears of crimson painting the ground, leading towards the central meeting hall. My throat tightens as I follow them up the steps. Inside, a devastating scene awaits. 

Bodies I recognize as packmates lie torn and still, their life's blood spilled and soaking the floor. And slumped against the back wall, flanked by more corpses - Cole.

A feral cry rips from my throat as I rush to him. He lifts his head weakly, lips trying to curve into a smile despite the pain glazing his eyes.

"Luna...you're safe," he rasps.

"Who did this?" I demand, cradling him desperately. Around us, Willow moves among the dead and wounded with glowing hands, providing what little healing magic she can.

Cole's fingers grasp mine with fading strength. "Boris," he forces out. "Came without warning...we were unprepared..." His words fade as his eyes drift closed.

Rage and anguish churn within me until I feel I might burst into flame. I lay Cole gently down and stand, letting the furious power rise. I welcome it now like an old friend.

"Willow," I call sharply. Her head jerks up, eyes widening at the inferno blazing around my clenched fists. She does not need to ask what comes next.

Without another word, we stride out into the blood-soaked night together. Boris will pay for this brutality. I will rain fire and vengeance upon him until there is nothing left but ashes. He took my family once before. It ends tonight.

****

Willow and I stride towards the forest, fury fueling my every step. Around my clenched fists, flames swirl and crackle, responding to the tempest of rage inside me. Boris will regret returning here tonight.

"Luna, wait," Willow calls out. I halt, impatience simmering through me. We don't have time for hesitation with Cole and the others clinging to life. 

Willow turns me gently to face her, expression solemn. "You have every right to your anger. But don't let it control you, consume you." Her lavender eyes bore into mine intently. "Fight with focus and purpose, not blind vengeance. That is what separates us from monsters like Boris."

I force myself to take a deep breath, letting it calm the churning inferno within. Willow is right - if I lose myself to vengeance, I am no better than the evil I seek to destroy. My pack deserves justice, not indiscriminate violence.

"Thank you," I say quietly. Willow squeezes my shoulder in support. Together, we continue into the forest with renewed clarity of purpose. Boris must be stopped, but we will remain measured in our retaliation.

It isn't long before we pick up the trail of destruction left in the wake of Boris's assault. Broken branches, blood smears, and distant agonized howls of wounded packmates guide us steadily closer.

Soon flickering firelight filters through the trees ahead. I exchange a tense nod with Willow. The final confrontation is close. I center my breathing, gathering my power under tight control.

We creep forward carefully until the trees thin out to reveal a clearing. A makeshift camp has been erected, with various rough structures and cages clearly meant to imprison and torment. Horror rises in my throat at the sight of packmates chained inside them.

In the center stands Boris himself, facing away from us as he shouts orders to the other wolves flanking him. His ruthless band of followers, who enabled his twisted ambitions against me, against my home. Blind devotion corrupted into cruelty.

Everything in me yearns to unleash the full fury of my gifts upon them all. To make them burn and suffer as we have. But I hold back, turning instead to Willow.

"Can you get the prisoners away safely?" I whisper. She gives a short nod, already moving silently around the edge of the clearing.

I focus everything on Boris's hulking back, power coalescing in my palms. "You shouldn't have come here," I call out sharply.

Boris whirls, shock flashing across his face before his mouth splits into a gruesome grin. "My precious mate returns to me. We will finish what fate started."

My answering smile holds no warmth, only purpose. "Yes. We will finish it."

I release the power building inside me in a blinding arc, aimed straight at the monster's blackened heart. His time in this world ends tonight.

The battle that will decide everything is upon us at last.