The Alpha's Fated Outcast Rise Of The Moonsinger novel Chapter 425

Lyla

The silver light around Nanny was growing brighter by the second, and I could feel the air itself beginning to vibrate with the power she was calling forth. This was really happening. The woman who had raised me, who had been my anchor through every storm, was about to sacrifice herself to save us all.

"Mom," I whispered, reaching toward her with trembling hands.

She turned to me, and for a moment the terrible light dimmed enough that I could see her face clearly. Her eyes were filled with love and peace, the same expression she'd worn when she used to tuck me into bed as a child and tell me stories.

"My darling girl," she said softly, "Come here."

I moved toward her, and she pulled me into her arms the way she had countless times throughout my life. She smelled like lavender and home, and I buried my face in her shoulder as tears poured down my cheeks.

"I'm so proud of you," she murmured against my hair. "So proud of the woman you've become, the mother you're going to be. Your dad would be proud, too."

"Please don't leave me," I sobbed, clinging to her like the frightened child I suddenly felt like again. "I don't know how to do this without you."

"Yes, you do," Nanny said firmly, pulling back to look into my eyes. "You've always been stronger than you realised, Lyla. You defeated Xander, a feat none of the Moonsingers before you could achieve. You've survived everything life has thrown at you."

She reached up to touch the necklace at her throat. It was the pendant that she'd come with as a child and the only indication of her parentage.

Gently, she lifted it over her head and placed it around my neck.

"This is for you now," she said. "And for your daughters after you. The legacy continues, my sweet girl. You must always be happy."

"Mom, I love you so much," I whispered, the words felt inadequate for everything she meant to me.

"And I love you," she replied, pressing a kiss to my forehead. "More than all the stars in the sky. You gave me purpose, Lyla. You gave my life meaning. Raising you has been the greatest privilege of my existence."

"We need to move!" Kyren's voice cut through our goodbye with urgent necessity. "The spell won't hold them back much longer!"

Miriam's expression shifted. "Go," she said, pushing me gently but firmly toward Kyren. "Go and live the beautiful life you deserve."

"I can't—"

"You can," she said with absolute conviction. "You will. For your children. For Ramsey. For all of us."

Kyren's hands closed around my shoulders, pulling me back as Miriam moved to the centre of the stone circle. The light around her was becoming blinding now, and I could feel the energy building to a crescendo that would either save us all or destroy everything.

"Vis luminaris perpetua, sanguine cordis mei renovata," Kyren began to chant, his voice ringing through the clearing, "Let the bonds be broken, let the darkness fade, let love triumph over hate."

The incantation seemed to lock into place around Miriam like an invisible chain, and she nodded once at Kyren before closing her eyes and extending her arms toward the standing stones.

"By my blood, by my choice, by my love for those who will live on," she said. "I sever what was wrongly joined. I break what should never have been bound. I offer myself as the price for their freedom."

The world exploded into light.

White light poured from Miriam, swallowing everything up – the stones, the crowd of enemies, Delia and her siblings. I heard screaming, but it seemed to come from very far away, as if I were hearing it through water or thick glass.

Time seemed to slow and speed up simultaneously. I saw Delia's face contort in rage and horror as she realised what was happening. I saw her siblings trying to flee, their forms beginning to dissolve as the white light reached them. I saw the assembled crowd of followers collapsing.

And through it all, I saw Miriam standing serene and beautiful in the centre of the destruction, her face peaceful as she gave everything she was to ensure that Xander's legacy would finally, truly end.

The light grew brighter and brighter until I couldn't see anything at all, and then—

Darkness.

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