POV: Xavier

"How many?" Luna asked.

"At least a dozen. Maybe more."

"We can handle a dozen," I said grimly.

We circled around, staying low. The mate bond pulled at me, telling me Thelma was moving toward the central chamber. I felt her determination through our connection, and underneath it, the growing pressure of Morgana's corruption.

We found a side entrance, poorly guarded. I took out the first guard silently, snapping his neck before he could sound an alarm. Luna handled the second with a spell that stopped his heart.

Inside, the temple was cold and dark. The walls were covered in old bloodstains, centuries of sacrifices performed in Morgana's name.

"This way," Elena whispered, leading us through twisting corridors.

We encountered more guards. Fought them quietly, efficiently. I was operating on pure instinct now, my wolf in control, focused only on finding Finn.

Then I smelled it. Children's fear, sharp and acidic in the air.

"There," I pointed to a heavy wooden door.

But standing in front of it, looking haggard and broken, was Neon.

"Hello, Xavier," he said, and his voice was dead. "I was told you'd come."

"Get out of my way, Neon." I didn't have time for this.

"I can't." He looked at me with hollow eyes. "I wish I could, but I can't. Blood magic compulsion. Morgana controls me completely. If you try to pass, I have to kill you. Or die trying."

"Then die trying," I snarled.

"Wait." Elena stepped forward. "Neon, blood magic compulsion requires a continuous link. If someone else absorbed the spell—"

"Don't," Neon said quickly. "Don't even think about it. The backlash would kill whoever took it."

"Good thing I'm already damned then." Elena's smile was sad. "I helped create this nightmare. Let me help end it."

"Elena, no," Luna grabbed her arm.

"It's my choice." Elena pulled free. She walked up to Neon, placed her hand on his chest. "I'm sorry. For everything Marcus and I did. For the lies, the betrayal, all of it. Let me do this one good thing."

She began to chant, and Neon's eyes went wide. "Stop! You'll die!"

"I know." Elena's hands started to glow, dark red light pouring from Neon into her. "Save the children, Xavier. Make my death mean something."

The blood magic transferred, and Elena screamed. Dark veins erupted across her skin, just like Thelma's but faster, more aggressive. She collapsed, convulsing.

Neon caught her as she fell, his face stricken. "Why? Why would you do that?"

"Redemption," Elena gasped. Blood poured from her nose, her eyes. "Has to count for something."

Then she went still.

Neon held her body, something breaking in his expression. "She's gone. The compulsion, it's gone. I can think again. I can—" He looked up at us, lost. "I don't know who I am without someone controlling me."

"Figure it out later," I said, not unkindly. "Right now, help me save those kids."

He nodded slowly, laying Elena's body down gently. Together, we broke through the door.

Inside, seventeen children huddled in a cell. When they saw me, several started crying with relief.

"Finn!" I spotted my brother and pulled him into my arms. "You're okay. You're all okay."

"Xavier!" Finn clung to me. "I was so scared. The witch, she said we were going to die."

"Not today." I looked at Luna. "Get them out. All of them. Back to Silver Moon territory."

"What about you?" she asked.

"I need to make sure Thelma's okay." The mate bond was pulling frantically, warning me something was wrong. "Neon, can you guide them?"

He looked at the children, then at Elena's body. "Yes. I can do that."

Luna started herding the children out. I turned to follow them, to make sure they got clear, when the mate bond suddenly went ice cold.

Thelma's terror flooded through our connection.

I ran, following the bond, racing toward the central chamber. Burst through the doors to find Theo and Kael standing in front of an empty ritual circle.

Yvonne's body lay in the center, unconscious and chained. But Morgana wasn't there.

Then I heard it. Thelma's voice, but wrong, echoing with magic.

"Welcome, Xavier. So glad you could join us."

A recorded message, playing from the empty air.

"Welcome, Thelma. I knew you'd absorb my dark magic like a good little vessel. Thank you for bringing me exactly what I need. My consciousness is inside you now, and in one hour, I'll take over completely. You'll become me, and I'll finally have the Alpha bloodline body I always wanted."

No. No, no, no.

"Your friends can't kill you without killing you," Morgana's recorded voice continued, amused. "And they love you too much to do that. I've already won. In one hour, Thelma will cease to exist, and I'll walk out of this temple in her body. The Alpha bloodline will finally be mine. The demon portal will open. And your world will burn."

The message ended, leaving us in terrible silence.

Thelma stood in the center of the chamber, the dark veins now covering most of her visible skin. Her eyes glowed pure black.

"Xavier," she said, and her voice was her own, desperate and terrified. "You have to do it. You have to kill me. Right now, before she takes over completely. Please."

Through the mate bond, I felt Morgana pushing, felt Thelma fighting a losing battle for control of her own body.

"I can't," I whispered.

"You have to!" She was crying now, tears streaming down her corrupted face. "I can feel her. She's so close. In sixty minutes, I'll be gone. Please, Xavier. Please don't let me become her."

Kael raised his sword. "She's right. It's the only way."

"No!" Theo moved between them. "There has to be another solution."

"There isn't," Thelma said. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. But you have to end this. End me. Before it's too late."

I looked at my mate, marked and claimed, the woman I loved more than life itself.

And I realized I couldn't do it. Couldn't kill her. Even knowing what would happen if I didn't. Through our bond, I felt her despair. And Morgana's triumph.