Fated Mate to the Triplet Alpha

Chapter 142: Chapter 142: The Price of Power

As the silver light went out, a teenage version of the angry little girl showed up where she had been.

She looked just like Elara, but her eyes were filled with pain from hundreds of years ago. "I remember now," the teen said in a low voice.

"I remember who I was before the darkness took me." "Who are you?" Elara asked as she held her new baby girl. The teen said, "My name is Luna."

"The daughter you would have had if you had made a different choice." I’m also something else now, though."

Elara’s baby began to shine brighter while she held it. "She’s my balance," the baby said.

"There can’t be light without darkness." Love needs pain to have meaning."

"What does that mean for us?" Kael asked. Before anyone could answer, the room shook fiercely. Outside, they could hear roaring and the sound of breaking glass.

"The other dark versions," Luna said quickly. "They’re angry that I picked healing. They’re coming to destroy everything." "How many?" Ronan asked, going to the window.

"All of them," Luna said. "Every broken path, every twisted reality. They want to drag me back to the darkness." Elara tried to stand but gasped in pain. The birth had weakened her more than she’d realized.

"I can’t fight," she said. "I can barely move." "Then we fight for you," Darian said.

"No," the baby said. "Fighting won’t work. They feed on violence." "Then what do we do?" Kael demanded.

"We heal them," the baby said. "All of them. But it will cost us." "Cost us what?" Elara asked. "Everything," Luna said softly.

"To save all the broken versions, we have to give up our powers. All of them." "That’s impossible," Ronan said.

"Without our powers, we can’t protect anyone." "Without our powers, we won’t need to," the baby said. "The darkness only exists because power exists. Remove the power, remove the darkness."

The building shook again, harder this time. They could hear voices outside—thousands of them, all screaming for justice.

"They’re almost here," Luna said. "We have to decide now." "What exactly are you asking us to do?" Elara asked. "Give up being Luna," the baby said.

"Give up being Alphas. Give up being anything special. Become normal." "Normal?" Kael asked. "What’s normal?"

"A family," the baby said. "Just a family. No prophecies, no curses, no cosmic duties. Just people who love each other." "But the pack," Darian said. "Who will lead them?" "Someone else," Luna said.

"Someone who wants power for the right reasons." "And if we refuse?" Ronan asked. "Then the darkness wins," the baby said.

"And every reality becomes like the one Luna escaped from." The front door burst inward. Dark figures poured in—twisted versions of themselves, all screaming with rage.

"Choose now!" Luna shouted. Elara looked at her three mates, at her three kids, at the newborn in her arms.

Everything she’d fought for, everything she’d become, would disappear. But her family would be safe. "I choose normal," she said. "Me too," Kael said instantly. "And me," Ronan added. "Us too," Darian said.

"Then join hands," the baby said. "And let go of everything else." They formed a circle—Elara, the twins, Luna, and the three babies in the center.

The baby in Elara’s arms raised her tiny hands. "Let go," the baby said. "Let go of power. Let go of fear.

Let go of everything that makes you special." Elara felt her Luna skills draining away.

The golden light that had always been part of her dimmed and vanished. Kael, Ronan, and Darian all gasped as their Alpha power left them.

They were just men now. Just ordinary guys. "It’s working," Luna said. "The darkness is fading."

But as their powers drained away, something unexpected happened. The baby in Elara’s arms began to fade too. "No," Elara said. "You can’t leave us."

"I was born from your power," the baby said sadly. "Without it, I can’t exist in this reality." "There has to be another way," Ronan said desperately. "There is," Luna said.

"But you won’t like it." "Tell us," Kael ordered. "One of you has to keep their power," Luna said.

"To connect the baby to this world. But that person will also hold the darkness." "I’ll do it," Elara said instantly. "No," all three brothers said at once.

"I’ll do it," Kael said. "No, me," Ronan countered. "It should be me," Darian said. "It can’t be any of you," Luna said.

"It has to be someone the darkness can’t corrupt." "Who?" Elara asked. Luna looked at the three babies—Truth, Love, and Wisdom—who had been quietly watching everything.

"One of them," Luna said. "One of your children has to carry the burden." "Absolutely not," Elara said.

"They’re just babies." "But they’re pure," Luna said. "The darkness can’t touch pure innocence." "I won’t let my children sacrifice themselves," Elara said.

"Then everyone dies," Luna said simply. "The darkness will consume everything." The dark forms were getting closer. They could hear them on the stairs now. "Me," said a small voice.

Everyone turned to look at baby Truth. She was standing now, even though she was only a few months old. "I do it," baby Truth said.

"I keep power. I keep baby sister safe." "No," Elara said, tears running down her face. "You’re too young." "I’m Truth," the baby said.

"Truth never too young. Truth always knows what right." "The darkness will try to corrupt you," Luna warned.

"Can’t corrupt Truth," baby Truth said simply. "Truth is Truth. Never changes." "But you’ll be alone," Elara said. "You’ll have to carry all that power by yourself."

"Not alone," baby Truth said. "Have family. Have love. Have everything need." The dark shapes reached their floor. They could hear them in the hallway.

"Now or never," Luna said. Baby Truth walked to the center of the circle. "I ready," she said. "Are you sure?" Elara asked.

"Sure," baby Truth said. "This my job. This why I born." She reached up and touched the disappearing baby’s hand. "I give you power," baby Truth said. "You stay with family."

Light poured from baby Truth into the newborn, and suddenly the baby was solid again. "Thank you," the baby said. "Welcome," baby Truth said. Then she looked at her family.

"I love you all. Always remember that." The door burst open, and the dark shapes poured in. But instead of charging, they stopped and stared at baby Truth.

"I am Truth," baby Truth said in a voice that rang with power. "I am what all of you forgot how to be." "We are darkness," the figures said. "We are stronger."

"You are lies," baby Truth said. "Lies always weaker than Truth." She raised her hands, and pure white light filled the room.

The dark forms screamed as they began to dissolve. "This is impossible," they said. "Truth cannot defeat us all."

"Truth already did," baby Truth said. "You just forgot." One by one, the dark forms faded away.

But as they faded, baby Truth began to change too. She was getting older, aging years in seconds. The power was consuming her youth. "No," Elara said, grabbing for her daughter.

"Is okay, Mommy," baby Truth said, now looking like a five-year-old. "I choose this. I choose to save everyone."

"But you’re supposed to be my baby," Elara said. "I still your baby," Truth said, now looking like a teenager. "Just different baby now."

"Will you..." Elara couldn’t finish the question. "Will I die?" Truth asked. "No. But I won’t be normal either. I’ll be guardian.

I’ll watch over family from far away." "How far?" Kael asked. "Between worlds," Truth said, now looking like a young lady.

"Where I can make sure darkness never comes back." "We’ll never see you again," Ronan said. "You’ll see me," Truth said. noveldrama

"Every time you tell truth. Every time you choose what’s right. Every time you remember that love is stronger than fear."

The last of the dark figures disappeared, and Truth was now a full-grown woman, beautiful and powerful and sad. "I have to go now," she said. "But first, I give you gift."

She touched each of them on the forehead. "You have normal lives now," she said.

"But you also have something special. You have family that nothing can break." "Will you be happy?" Elara asked. "I’ll be Truth," Truth said.

"And Truth is always exactly what it needs to be." She began to fade, becoming transparent. "Wait," Elara said. "What should we name the baby?" Truth smiled.

"Hope," she said. "Name her Hope. Because that’s what she is." And then she was gone.

The room was quiet now. They were just an average family—two parents, three children, and a newborn named Hope.

But as they held each other, they felt something they’d never felt before. Complete peace.

"What happens now?" Darian asked. "Now," Elara said, looking at her family, "we live."

But as she spoke, baby Hope opened her eyes and smiled. And in that smile, Elara saw something that made her heart stop. Hope’s eyes were changing color.

From silver to gold to black and back again. "She’s not just Hope," Luna said softly. "She’s every option. Every decision. Every future."

"What does that mean?" Kael asked. "It means," Luna said, "that your story isn’t over. It’s just beginning."

And as Hope’s eyes settled on a color none of them had ever seen before, they understood that giving up power might have been the most dangerous thing they’d ever done.

Because some skills don’t disappear. They just hide. And wait.