"Fight her, Elena!" Aria shouted at her possessed sister. "I know you're still in there!"
Elena's body writhed as two consciousnesses fought for control. Her eyes flickered between blue and yellow like a broken light bulb.
"She's... too strong," Elena gasped in her own voice before Mara took over again.
"Foolish child," Mara sneered through Elena's lips. "Your sister belongs to me now. And soon, so will you." Rowan stepped forward, his hands changing into claws. "Release her, witch."
"I think not," Mara-Elena laughed. "But don't worry. This item won't last forever. I have a much better plan brewing."
Elena's possessed form suddenly relaxed, her yellow eyes gleaming with joy. "In fact, it's already in motion."
Before anyone could respond, Elena's body collapsed. Her eyes rolled back, showing only white. She began convulsing on the floor.
"Elena!" Aria rushed to her sister's side, but the moment she touched Elena's skin, visions flashed through her thoughts.
Marcus Thorn standing in a dark forest, tears running down his face.
"Please, I'll do anything to get my daughter back completely."
Mara's spirit, glowing and transparent, smiling coldly.
"Anything, Marcus? Even sacrificing your other daughter?"
Aria jerked her hand away from Elena, fear spreading across her face. "No. He wouldn't."
"What did you see?" Caleb ordered, moving to support Elena's unconscious form.
"My father," Aria whispered. "He's made a deal with Mara."
As if called by her words, Marcus appeared in the doorway. His face was tired, his eyes red from crying.
"Aria," he said softly. "We need to talk."
"Don't listen to him," Rowan growled.
"Something's wrong."
But Aria was looking at her father, seeing the guilt written all over his features. "What did you do?"
"I can bring Elena back completely," Marcus said desperately. "Mara showed me how. But she needs... she needs your help."
"Dad, no," Aria breathed. "Tell me you didn't"
"She's my baby girl!" Marcus exploded. "Elena is innocent in all this! You have power, Aria. You can save her!"
"By letting Mara use me to enslave every werewolf alive?" Aria shot back. "That's your brilliant plan?"
"Elena dies if we don't help Mara complete the ritual," Marcus said firmly. "The possession is killing her from the inside. Only by giving Mara what she wants can we save Elena's life."
Caleb snarled. "He's lying. Mara is manipulating him just like she manipulated Elena."
"Am I?" Marcus pulled out his phone, showing them a video message.
Elena showed on the screen, but she looked terrible. Her skin was gray, her eyes droopy. Dark lines covered her face like spider webs.
"Aria," video-Elena said softly. "If you're watching this, then Dad has found you. Please... the thing inside me is eating me alive. I can feel myself fading piece by piece. Mara says she'll let me live if you come freely. Please, sister. I don't want to die again."
The video cut off. Aria's heart broke into a million pieces.
"When was this made?" she asked.
"This morning," Marcus answered. "Before the pack meeting. Mara knew exactly how everything would play out."
Rowan stepped between Aria and her father. "It's a trap. Elena is asleep right here. How could she have made that video this morning?"
"Because Mara can project Elena's spirit into different places," Marcus explained desperately. "Elena's soul is stuck in Mara's lair. Only her body is here, fighting the ownership."
Aria looked down at Elena's pale, still form. It was true something felt wrong. Elena's body was here, but it felt... empty.
"Even if that's true," Aria said slowly, "helping Mara would doom everyone. I won't sacrifice the entire werewolf world for one person."
"Not even for your sister?" Marcus asked. "The sister you failed to save ten years ago?"
The words hit Aria like a physical blow. Caleb stepped forward angrily, but Aria held up her hand to stop him.
"That's not fair, and you know it," she said softly.
"Fair?" Marcus laughed bitterly. "Was it fair when Elena drowned because you weren't strong enough to save her?
Was it fair when I lost my youngest daughter and blamed my oldest? Nothing about this family has ever been fair, Aria."
"So you'll betray me to fix it?" "I'll do whatever it takes to get Elena back," Marcus said with certainty.
"Come with me freely, and Elena lives. Refuse, and watch your sister's soul disappear forever."
Aria closed her eyes, feeling the weight of an impossible choice. Save Elena and end the world, or save the world and lose her sister forever. "I need time to think," she said finally.
"Time is something we don't have," Marcus answered.
"Mara wants an answer by midnight. That's three hours from now." He turned to leave, then paused.
"There's going to be a family dinner at the old pack house. Just you, me, and Elena's body. Come alone, and I'll explain everything Mara told me about saving her."
After he left, the room went silent except for Elena's labored breathing.
"You're not seriously considering this," Rowan said. "She's my sister," Aria answered simply.
"And what about the thousands of other wolves who'll suffer if Mara gets your power?" Caleb demanded.
"I know," Aria said, her voice breaking.
"I know the choice I have to make. But I need to hear what my father has to say first." Three hours later, Aria sat across from Marcus at the old pack house dinner table.
Elena's limp body lay on the couch nearby, her breathing shallow and weak.
Marcus had made Aria's favorite meal roasted chicken with herbs, mashed potatoes, and green beans. It reminded her of better times, before Elena's accident tore their family apart.
"I'm sorry," Marcus said as they ate.
"I'm sorry for blaming you all these years. I was wrong."
"Why now?" Aria asked, taking a bite of the perfectly seasoned chicken.
"Because I finally understand what love really means," Marcus responded. "It means doing anything even terrible things to protect the people you care about."
Aria nodded, feeling sleepy. The food was excellent, but something felt off. Her eyes were getting heavy.
"Dad?" she said slowly. "Did you... did you put something in the food?" Marcus's face sagged with guilt.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart. But this is the only way to save Elena." Aria tried to stand, but her legs wouldn't work. The room spun around her.
"You drugged me." "Sleeping herbs," Marcus revealed, tears streaming down his face.
"Mara said it would be easier this way. Less upsetting for everyone." "How could you?"
Aria whispered as darkness closed in around her. "I'm your daughter too."
"I know," Marcus sobbed.
"And I'll never forgive myself. But Elena is innocent. You have power. You can handle whatever Mara does to you.
Elena can't." Aria's view blurred. The last thing she saw was her father's guilty, tear-stained face as he lifted her unconscious body.
When Rowan and Caleb burst through the door twenty minutes later, they found only Elena's empty body on the couch.
A note lay on the table in Marcus's handwriting:
"She's gone to save her sister. Don't follow us, or Elena dies. Marcus"
"We're too late," Caleb said, his voice hollow with failure. Rowan's wolf was clawing at his insides, trying to track Aria's scent.
But the trail stopped at the back door, where tire tracks showed a car had driven away into the night.
Somewhere in the darkness, Mara had Aria exactly where she wanted her.
And the final rite was about to begin.