Chapter 326: Then The Moon Goddess Is Cruel

"What does that mean?" Sebastian demanded.

"It means the mate bonds will start to kill her," Morgana said quietly. "Slowly. The supernatural connection between you will be too strong for a completely human body to sustain. She will weaken over time. Sicken. And within five years, maybe ten if she’s very strong, the bonds will burn her out from the inside."

The words hit Nicholas like a physical blow.

"So either way she dies," he said. "Either she dies now sacrificing herself to break the curse, or she dies slowly over five years because the bonds are too strong for a human to handle."

"Yes," Morgana said. "Unless you sever the bonds."

Silence.

"Sever the bonds," Nicholas repeated slowly. "After she sacrifices her magic to save us. After she gives up everything to break our curse. You want us to sever the mate bonds and leave her alone and human and defenseless."

"I’m not saying what I want," Morgana said. "I’m telling you the options. If Lilith becomes human and you keep the bonds intact, she will die within a decade. If you sever the bonds after she makes the sacrifice, she will live a normal human lifespan."

"Severing complete bonds would kill her," Sebastian said.

"Not if it’s done properly. Not if she’s already human when the bonds are severed." Morgana walked back to the table and sat down heavily. "The trauma of severing supernatural bonds kills because the magic backlash is too much for a body to handle. But if there’s no magic left in her body, there’s nothing to backlash. The bonds would simply... dissolve. It would hurt. But she would survive."

Nicholas felt like he was drowning. "So the choice is: she dies now, or she gives up her magic and we give up our mate bonds and she lives the rest of her life alone."

"Or," Morgana said, "you refuse to break the curse at all. You keep the bonds intact. You accept that you will go feral within the year. And you make peace with the fact that when you lose control, you will likely kill Lilith yourselves along with everyone else in your pack."

"That’s not a choice," Sebastian said, his voice hollow.

"No," Morgana agreed. "It’s a tragedy. But it’s the tragedy the Moon Goddess created when your ancestor destroyed her sacred grove."

Nicholas sank back down into his chair and buried his face in his hands.

They had come here looking for hope. Looking for a way to save Lilith without sacrifice.

Instead they had found three impossible options, none of which ended with everyone he loved surviving intact.

Option one: Lilith dies willingly to break the curse. They live. She does not.

Option two: Lilith surrenders her magic, becomes human, they sever the bonds and live separately. Everyone survives but they lose each other.

Option three: They refuse to break the curse, go feral, and kill everyone they love.

"There has to be another way," Nicholas said, his voice muffled against his hands. "There has to be something you’re not seeing. Some angle we haven’t considered."

"I have studied this curse for seven years," Morgana said gently. "I have researched every text, consulted every ancient source, looked for every possible loophole. These are the only options the Moon Goddess will accept."

Nicholas looked up at her with eyes that burned. "Then the Moon Goddess is cruel."

"Perhaps," Morgana said. "Or perhaps she is simply showing you the truth about sacrifice. That love requires loss. That redemption has a price. That you cannot destroy something sacred and expect to escape the consequences."

"We didn’t destroy anything," Sebastian said. "Our great-great-grandfather did. Why are we paying for his sins?"

"Because that’s what bloodlines mean," Morgana said. "We carry the gifts of our ancestors and we carry their curses. We inherit their power and we inherit their debts. It’s not fair. But it’s the truth."

Nicholas stood abruptly. "We need to go. We need to get back to Lilith."

"And tell her what?" Morgana asked.

"The truth," Nicholas said. "All of it. And then we let her decide."

"Are you prepared for what she might choose?" Morgana’s ancient eyes were knowing. "Are you prepared for her to choose death if she believes it’s the only way to save you?"

Nicholas felt his chest tighten. "We’ll make her understand that’s not an option we’re willing to accept."

"And if she makes it anyway?"

"Then we stop her," Nicholas said, and his voice was absolute. "Whatever it takes."

Morgana was quiet for a long moment. Then she stood and walked to a cabinet, pulling out a small wooden box.

"Take this," she said, handing it to Nicholas. "Inside are instructions for both rituals. The death sacrifice and the power sacrifice. Whichever path Lilith chooses, you’ll need to know how to complete it."

Nicholas took the box without looking at it.

"One more thing," Morgana said. "Victoria Morvaine knows about the death sacrifice. But even if she learns about the power sacrifice option, she won’t accept it. To her, asking Lilith to surrender her Morvaine magic, her birthright as the last of their bloodline.....is almost as terrible as asking her to die. Victoria’s solution has always been the same: sever the bonds, take Lilith away, and let the curse take you."

"Is she wrong?" Sebastian asked.

"No," Morgana admitted. "Because forcing Lilith to give up her magic to save your lives is still a form of manipulation. The sacrifice must be freely chosen or it won’t work."

Nicholas nodded and turned toward the door. "Thank you. For the information. For the honesty."

"I’m sorry I couldn’t give you better options," Morgana said.

"So am I."

Nicholas and Sebastian left the cabin and walked back into the forest. The moment they were clear of the wards, Sebastian grabbed Nicholas’s arm.

"What are we going to do?" Sebastian asked.

Nicholas looked down at the wooden box in his hands, two rituals, three impossible choices, and the weight of Lilith’s entire future resting on whatever decision they made in the next few hours.

"We go back to the estate," Nicholas said. "We tell Lilith everything. And we figure out how to save her even if it means losing her."

They shifted into Kael and Rhen and ran.

Behind them, Morgana stood in the doorway of her cabin and watched them disappear into the trees.

"I hope you choose wisely," she whispered to the wind. "Because the Moon Goddess does not offer second chances."

The forest swallowed her words.

And the countdown continued.

Twelve hours until Victoria’s deadline.

Twelve hours to make an impossible choice.

Twelve hours before everything changed forever.