Bound to the Triplet Alphas
Chapter 150: The Ancient Pact

Chapter 150: Chapter 150: The Ancient Pact

ELDER COUNCIL LEADER MORGANA POV

The crystal shattered in my hands.

Blood ran down my fingers as the old communication stone broke apart. The message it brought made my thousand-year-old heart race with fear.

"The camp is under attack," I whispered to the other Elder Council members. "The Shadow Lords have begun their final assault."

Around the holy circle, eleven other ancient beings sat in their stone chairs. Some were vampires, others were witches, and a few were werewolves older than the mountains themselves. We were the Elder Council, the hidden guardians of the supernatural world.

And we were about to make the hardest choice in our long lives.

"How many are dead?" asked Elder Cornelius, a vampire who had lived through the fall of Rome.

"Too many," I said, wiping blood from my hands. "And more will die if we don’t act now."

Elder Freya, a Norse witch, leaned forward. "The time has come, hasn’t it? We must reveal the Ancient Pact."

The other adults fell silent. We had hoped this day would never come. For three thousand years, we had kept the secret locked away, hidden from the younger generations.

"Are you sure?" asked Elder Chen, a dragon shifter from ancient China. "Once we tell them, there’s no going back."

I closed my eyes and felt the weight of ages on my shoulders. "The Shadow Lords are too strong. They’ve tainted too many of our people. Normal guns won’t stop them anymore."

"Then we tell them," said Elder Dmitri, a werewolf who remembered when the first packs were formed. "We tell them about the Pact."

I stood up and walked to the center of our circle. With a wave of my hand, I opened a magical window that showed us the fight raging at the alliance camp. Young warriors were fighting and dying while dark magic tore through their barriers.

"Look at them," I said. "They’re so brave. So young. They have no idea what’s really at stake."

"They deserve to know the truth," Elder Freya said softly.

I nodded and began to speak the words I had hoped never to say.

"Three thousand years ago, when the first Shadow Lords rose to power, our ancestors made a deal with the Moon Goddess herself. They made the Ancient Pact."

The magical window changed, showing images from the distant past. Ancient werewolves, vampires, and witches stood together before a glowing figure.

"The Shadow Lords were winning," I continued. "They had tainted half the supernatural world. Our ancestors were desperate. So they made a deal."

"What kind of bargain?" Elder Chen asked, though he already knew the answer.

"They promised that if the Shadow Lords ever grew too powerful again, if they ever threatened to destroy everything we hold dear, then all the current supernatural leaders would give their lives to power a spell that would stop them forever."

The quiet that followed was deafening.

"All the leaders?" Elder Dmitri asked. "Every single one?"

"Every Alpha, every Vampire Lord, every High Witch, every Dragon King," I said. "And every member of the Elder Council."

"Including us," Elder Freya whispered.

"Including us," I confirmed.

Elder Cornelius laughed bitterly. "So our ancestors decided that future generations should die for their mistakes."

"They were desperate," I said. "The Shadow Lords had already killed millions. The choice was to let everyone die, or to make sure that someday, someone could stop them."

"But the young ones don’t know," Elder Chen said. "They have no idea that accepting leadership means accepting a death sentence."

"Which is why we’ve never told them," I said. "We hoped it would never come to this."

Through the magical window, I watched Aria fighting frantically against Shadow Lord attackers. She was so young, so full of life. And she had no idea that being Luna meant she might have to die to save everyone.

"The Pact is activated by blood," I continued. "The blood of every supernatural leader, freely given. Once the ritual starts, there’s no stopping it."

"How do we know it will work?" Elder Dmitri asked.

"Because our ancestors tested it," I said. "They made a smaller version of the spell and used it to bind the Shadow Lords for three thousand years. It worked then. It will work now."

"But at what cost?" Elder Freya said. "We’re talking about killing every boss in the supernatural world. That includes children who just became Alphas, new witches who barely know magic, young vampires who haven’t even lived a full century."

"I know," I said, my voice breaking. "But what’s the alternative? Let the Shadow Lords win? Let them turn everyone into monsters?"

"There has to be another way," Elder Chen said.

"There isn’t," I said strongly. "I’ve spent three thousand years looking for one. This is our only chance."

"When do we tell them?" Elder Cornelius asked.

"Now," I said. "We tell them right now."

I began to weave a spell that would send our word to every supernatural leader in the world. They would all hear the truth at the same time.

"Wait," Elder Freya said suddenly. "There’s something else. Something we haven’t told each other."

She stood up, her face pale. "I’ve been having dreams. Dreams about the Ancient Pact. And I think... I think our ancestors lied to us."

"What do you mean?" I asked, stopping my spell.

"The Pact doesn’t just require the leaders to die," she said. "It needs them to be sacrificed. Murdered. By their own people."

My blood went cold. "That’s impossible."

"The Moon Goddess demands willing sacrifice," Elder Freya continued. "But she also asks that the sacrifice be carried out by someone who loves the victim. The spell only works if the leaders are killed by people who care about them."

"No," Elder Dmitri whispered. "That means..."

"It means Aria would have to be killed by Kael or Lucien," I finished. "It means every Alpha would have to be killed by their own pack. Every witch would have to be killed by their own group."

The room fell silent as the horrible truth sank in.

"Our ancestors didn’t just condemn future leaders to death," Elder Chen said slowly. "They condemned them to be betrayed by everyone they trusted."

"And we’re about to ask them to do it," I said.

Through the amazing window, I watched Aria laughing as she fought beside her mates. She had no idea that in a few minutes, I would tell her that the only way to save the world was for the people she loved most to kill her.

"We can’t," Elder Freya said. "We can’t ask them to do this."

"We have to," I said. "Look at the fight. They’re losing. Without the Ancient Pact, everyone dies anyway."

"But this way, they die hating each other," Elder Cornelius said.

I finished making the spell and held it in my hands. One word from me, and every magical leader in the world would know the truth. _{free\we\bnov(e)(l).com}

"I’m sorry," I whispered to the magical window showing Aria. "I’m so sorry."

I started to speak the word that would send the message.

But before I could finish, the doors to our room exploded inward.

A person in a dark cloak stepped through the smoke. When she pulled back her hood, I saw a face I recognized but had hoped never to see again.

"Hello, mother," Lady Vex said with a cruel smile. "Did you really think you could activate the Ancient Pact without me knowing?"

My heart stopped.