The Rise

Chapter Sixty-Four

I was not going to waste any more time. Today was the day I was going to defeat Mother Nature for once and for all.

Over the past year, I had fought Alexandra, Aeron, and now I was going to fight Luca. Sure, it was really Mother Nature, but she was fighting in Luca's body. Luca had been the one to teach me how to fight. Now, I was going to have to destroy the woman inside of him.

Strength against strength, we would have to fight. But I was confident that I could destroy her without destroying him.

Mother Nature had been slowly weakening me throughout the centuries. But things were about to change.

We were two very different people with two very different strengths. The things that made her strong--Earth, plants, life--lived everywhere while my wolves weren't everywhere. They were always right where I needed them to be.

I gazed down at the Infected Protector in front of me, his body was nearly turned to bark, his pores were starting to sprout tiny little buds. I never thought I would have to kill one of my own wolves to fight against this darkness, but his mate signed off the papers and gave me permission to do so because he was too far gone to ever be returned to a werewolf again.

His mate, Roger, stood next to me with tears running down his cheeks. He reassured me, again, that this is what he would've wanted. He wanted to protect our species and this is a sacrifice that he would've made himself if he could.

I nodded to Roger and let him say his silent goodbyes to his mate. Even without touching him, it was such a heart wrenching moment. A Protector led him away and out of the woods, which left only Valerio and I in the entire forest.

Everything was too quiet for my liking. I had ordered all of the Protectors to exit the property immediately. They were all assigned to keep the nearby packs safe. Many of them protested, telling me they wanted to aid me with this, but this was my problem that I needed to face myself. I hated to say it but they would get in the way, especially when I needed to drain her powers.

We had transported Vihaan and Nakida to Samuel's prison this morning and made sure that Aaisha, Lucia, and Aaisha's whole pack were safe with Samuel. I was taking no risks, especially with the new-born pup.

Both Samuel and Aaisha were teary as they wished me good luck this morning, and I felt like I honestly would never see them again, even though I would. I was going to make sure of it.

"Are you ready, Valerio?" I asked quietly, gazing up at him.

Valerio stood there with the most frightened expression that I'd ever seen on him before. "Mae..." He shook his head, trying to wipe that expression off. He grabbed my hand. "I need to tell you something before we get into this."

My brows furrowed together. "What is it?"

He gazed down, then back up. "I know this is probably the worst time to tell you this, but I wanted you to know before you fight her... just in case something happens."

I shook my head. Nothing was going to happen to either of us. It couldn't. I couldn't even think about something like that. Memories of Damon's last day with me flooded my mind. He was so loving and caring and I was afraid that Valerio was going to say something adorable and then something would happen to him too.

"Valerio," I whispered. "Don't..."

He grabbed my hands tighter. "I love you."

I clenched my jaw so it wouldn't tremble. "Stop... Valerio..." But I didn't want him to stop. His words were so soothing to me.

"I love you so fucking much. I have for so long. And I know that you're going to be strong enough today to defeat her, but whatever the outcome, know that you never have and never will fail this species and you never have and never will fail me." Valerio smiled down at me, taking my face in his hands. "Do you understand?"

I wrapped one hand around the back of his neck and pulled him down to me, letting our lips meet in the middle. I pressed my lips onto his - hard - like I wouldn't be able to ever touch them again. When I finally pulled away, I didn't rest my head on his like I wanted to. Instead, I gazed up at the strong man in front of me and nodded my head. "Yes, I understand."

After one final embrace, Valerio waited for me to take my position where the Great Oak and the tree of pups once stood. The dirt still had a distinct scent to it - the scent of blood.

I watched Valerio depart from me and walk all the way to the edge of the forest. He shifted into his tan wolf. Even from afar I could see the scar that ran along the side of his face from our last fight with Mother Nature. I swallowed hard.

I loved that man. I really, truly loved him. And, for once, it wasn't because we were mates or because we had been friends for years.

I took a good look around at the trees and the dirt and the leaves on the ground. I would never see any of this for a long time. I didn't know if I was going to have to relocate, but I knew it was certain that Mother Nature would be destroyed today.

I knelt to the ground, next to the man who was now made of bark, and held my palms out. White and black leapt out of them. They had both been antsy inside of me for a while, begging to come out.

They both stood by my side, looking as strong as ever. In a few moments we would all fight together as the Moon and the Night, as the light and the dark, as the good and the bad. And we would win.

I gazed down at the man, smiled, and thanked him for serving under me. He would be more than commemorated for his service.

Without another second wasted, I closed my eyes, letting the darkness consume me. The snakes thrashed inside of my fingers and I willingly let them out. I finally knew how to control these things, Damon was there for that.

Through a hazy grey lens, I watched the snakes split the body of the man right open. The black mist immediately began devouring his body. When nothing was left - not a single piece of him, I grazed my fingers against Damon's mark and the snakes returned to my palm.

"Luna," Mother Nature called from behind me. I turned around to see her hovering above the trees. "You destroyed my creation."

It was finally time.