Elena's eyes blazed with anger as she stepped closer to Aria. "Ten years I've waited for this moment."
"Elena, please," Aria whispered, her heart breaking. "I never hurt you. I loved you."
"Liar!" Elena screamed. Black veins appeared on her arms, pulsing with dark power. "You held me underwater! You wanted me dead!"
Mara clapped her hands together. "Oh, this is great. Sister against sister while I harvest the delicious pain."
The purple flames around the room got brighter. Every Alpha backed away from the witch's power, but they couldn't leave. Some unseen force held them trapped.
"Fight her, Aria," Mara ordered. "Show me that spirit wolf hiding inside you."
"I won't fight my sister," Aria said strongly.
Elena lunged forward, her fingers turning into black claws. "Then you'll die!"
Caleb jumped between them, catching Elena's claws across his chest. Blood sprayed across the floor as he stumbled backward.
"Caleb!" Aria screamed.
"I'm fine," he gasped, but blood soaked his shirt. "Just stay back."
Mara waved her hand, and shadow creatures started pouring through the walls. They looked like dogs made of smoke and darkness, with glowing red eyes and razor-sharp teeth.
"Kill them all," Mara demanded. "Except Aria. I need her alive."
The shadow dogs attacked. Rowan shifted quickly, his massive black wolf tearing into the nearest creature. Other Alphas followed, the room filled with snarls and howls.
But there were too many shadow dogs. For every one they destroyed, three more appeared.
Elena advanced on Aria again, her blue eyes now totally black. "This is for all the years I spent thinking I was dead because of you."
She raised her clawed hand to strike.
Something snapped inside Aria's chest.
A roar unlike anything she'd ever heard burst from her throat. Power burst through her body like lightning. Her bones cracked and reformed. Her muscles stretched and grew.
The change was different this time. Stronger. Wilder.
When the shift finished, gasps echoed through the room.
Aria's wolf was huge bigger than any Alpha. Her fur was pure white, so bright it seemed to glow. Her eyes blazed silver like melted metal. Ancient symbols appeared on her face, glowing with moonlight.
"Impossible," Mara breathed, her confident smile disappearing.
A spirit wolf. The rarest of all werewolves. Legends said they died out ages ago.
Every wolf in the room Alpha, Beta, even the shadow creatures dropped to their bellies. Their heads pressed against the floor in submission. The power coming from Aria's wolf was overwhelming.
Elena stumbled backward, her black eyes flashing with confusion. "What... what are you?"
Aria's dog looked down at her sister with infinite sadness. When she spoke, her voice echoed with ancient power.
"I am your sister. And I love you."
The words hit Elena like a physical blow. She clutched her head, screaming as memories began fighting against Mara's fake ones.
"No!" Mara shrieked. "I won't let you break my spell!" She threw purple fire at Aria.
The flames struck her white fur and simply... disappeared.
Aria's dog turned to face the witch. "Your power cannot touch me."
"Impossible! I am the most powerful witch alive!"
"You are nothing," Aria said quietly. "Your magic is stolen. Mine flows from the Moon Goddess herself." She took one step forward.
The floors cracked under her massive paws. Mara's face twisted with rage and fear.
"If I can't have your power, then I'll destroy everything you love!" She pointed at the still-bleeding Caleb. Dark power shot toward him like a spear.
Aria moved faster than lightning.
Her wolf form blurred across the room, putting herself between Caleb and the deadly spell. The magic hit her chest and shattered like glass against stone.
"Impossible," Mara whispered.
"Nothing is impossible for a spirit wolf," Aria answered. She looked at each person in the room.
"I can break every curse she's cast. I can heal every hurt she's caused."
Rowan, still in wolf form, raised his head to stare at her. His silver eyes were wide with wonder and something else recognition.
The mate bond. It was there, burning between them like a golden thread. But it felt different now. Cleaner. The curse was breaking.
"Aria," he whispered through the pack link.
"I can feel it. The real bond. Oh God, what have I done?" But Aria wasn't looking at him. Her attention was on Elena, who was writhing on the floor as two sets of memories fought in her mind.
"The real memories are winning," Aria said softly.
"She's remembering the truth."
"Stop it!" Mara screamed. She raised both hands, gathering all her power.
"I'll kill you all before I let you ruin everything!"
Dark power swirled around her like a tornado. The shadow dogs howled and multiplied. The very air began to burn.
Elena's eyes suddenly cleared. The black disappeared, showing her natural blue. She looked up at Aria's massive wolf form with tears running down her face.
"Aria? Is that really you?"
"Yes, little sister. I'm here."
"I remember now. You didn't push me. You jumped in to save me. You almost drowned trying to pull me out." Mara's scream of rage shook the entire building.
"It doesn't matter! I have enough power to destroy this entire area!" She began singing in an ancient language. The shadow wolves merged together, making one giant creature with burning red eyes and teeth like swords.
"This ends now," Aria said. Her wolf form began to glow brighter.
The old symbols on her forehead blazed like stars. Power rolled off her in waves that made the air itself quiver.
"You want to see real magic?" Aria asked, her voice echoing with the power of centuries.
"Let me show you what a spirit wolf can do." She threw back her head and howled.
The sound broke windows throughout the pack house. But more than that it broke Mara's hold on reality itself. The shadow creatures screamed as they were torn apart by pure moonlight.
The purple flames died quickly. Even Mara's power began to unravel.
"No!" the witch shrieked.
"This can't be happening!" But Aria was just getting started. Her howl continued, getting stronger. The very roots of Mara's magic began to crumble. And then, just as success seemed within reach, Elena gasped.
"Aria, watch out! She's not trying to fight you anymore. She's trying to" Too late. Mara's lips bent in a final, desperate smile. "If I can't have your power, then I'll make sure no one can."
She plunged a silver knife into her own heart.
The moment her blood hit the floor, every window in the pack house burst outward.
A shockwave of dark magic exploded from her dying body.
And Aria realized with growing fear what the witch had done. She hadn't just killed herself.
She'd turned herself into a powerful bomb that would destroy everything for miles around.
Including everyone Aria loved.