Chapter 46 Surrender (2)

• SELENE'S WORLD had shrunk, narrowed to a single, agonizing point of focus: Waldemar. He lay at her feet, his once-powerful body limp and broken, a testament to his ultimate sacrifice. His golden eyes, filled with a silent, pleading light, were a beacon in the storm of magic and pain, a lifeline in the terrifying sea of unleashed power. The Moonbind, stretched so thin it felt like a single strand of silk, was now a whisper, a fragile thread connecting his fading life force to her. She could feel his strength ebbing away, a slow and terrible tide.
• The ancient voices of her ancestors were screaming in her mind, a final, furious cry of betrayal. They were a torrent of rage and disappointment, a screeching chorus of forgotten queens.
• "He is nothing! He is weak! You have the power! Finish the ritual! Let him die! A true goddess needs no Alpha!"