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Magic flared so violently it flattened the broken ritual circle, shoving the acolytes' bodies aside like dry leaves.

The force of it staggered them backward, scattering them around the edges of the clearing as they struggled to keep their footing, fighting the sheer weight of the power now pouring out of me.

They didn’t move toward me again.

They couldn’t.

Not when every instinct inside them screamed that whatever I had become was no longer something to be protected.

I was the storm now.

I was the end.

I bit again, devouring the dark magic she had hoarded for herself.Every bite tore another shred of stolen life from her body.

Her skin blistered.Her hair whitened.The glamour she had woven over herself for years peeled away in strips, revealing the shriveled, blackened husk beneath.She stumbled, sagged to her knees, clawing at the air as if she could pull the magic back.

"You wanted to steal my life," I said, my voice rising with the magic surging through me."You wanted my blood.My soul.Now you can have it… every poisoned drop."

I took a final bite.

The remains of the apple disintegrated into ash in my hand, the last of its power rushing into me like a drowning wave.I screamed, the sound ripped from my chest, too full of rage, of magic, of vengeance to contain.

My stepmother collapsed to the stones, robes puddling around her like empty skin.Her body crumbled into nothing… ash and mist carried away on the rising wind.

The forest itself seemed to sigh.

The chains binding me to the altar disintegrated, falling away in curling wisps of smoke.The runes carved around the clearing cracked and shattered, bleeding old magic into the soil.The weight that had smothered the clearing lifted, replaced by something raw and electric.

And then the curse broke.

The bonds between me and my mates snapped taut, surging with blinding force.I felt them all at once… every breath, every heartbeat, every emotion crashing into me like a second storm.

The cursed chains that had imprisoned them for centuries tore free like thread stretched too tight.

"Lunara," Ronan gasped, falling to his knees.His body convulsed, but not with the agony I had seen every time the curse forced their shifts.This was different.Smoother.Quieter.A shedding of chains instead of a tearing of flesh."What did you do?"

Bones shifted.But not with pain this time.With freedom.

Garrett shifted, massive hands curling into fists, his mouth open in a silent roar of triumph.Leif stumbled, golden feathers rippling along his arms before cleanly fading away.Kade emerged from the shadows, sleek and human and whole, his dark eyes burning.Ronan shifted his stance, wolfish grin curling his mouth as claws slid back into human hands.Cassian whooped, fox ears and tail flashing into existence before vanishing again.Evander straightened, antlers rising from his brow in a slow, regal arc, then fading as he breathed deep.Nikolai lifted his hand, scaled skin smoothing back into pale flesh with deliberate control.

They were free.All of them.No more forced shifts.No more cursed chains.No more stolen forms.

Leif laughed, wild and disbelieving."I can control it," he breathed, shifting his fingers to talons and back."Gods, I can actually control it."

Kade said nothing, but the shadows bleeding from his fingertips told their own story… his wonder as he flexed control he'd never been allowed to have.

Cassian spun in place, his grin wide and reckless."Fuck yes!Do you know how long I've wanted to do this?Centuries of pain, gone in an instant!"

Evander exhaled slowly, reverence shaping every line of his face."The land feels different," he murmured."The connection is...purified."

Nikolai watched me, scales flickering along his jaw before fading back into smooth skin.His voice was soft but full of terrible certainty."You’ve rewritten the magic itself."

I staggered forward, the magic inside me pressing against every inch of my skin, desperate for more space than my body could give.My limbs shook, my vision blurring.

Garrett caught me before I could fall, arms closing around me with a choked sound, something broken and sacred all at once.

"It's done," he whispered, voice thick with disbelief."You broke it."