Chapter 166: The Vampire’s Departure

Words : 1128 Updated : Sep 19th, 2025

Chapter 166: The Vampire’s Departure DMITRI POV I grabbed Caleb’s shoulders as he tried to lunge at Lily. "Let me go!" he growled, his eyes wild with hurt and anger. "She’s not who we thought she was!" "Caleb, stop," I ordered, using the vampire authority I rarely showed. "Whatever you think you saw in there, you need to calm down and think clearly." "Think clearly?" He laughed bitterly. "I saw everything, Dmitri. Every lifetime. Every move she made. Every time she picked herself over Luna." Lily’s face went white. "What are you talking about? I would never—" "Wouldn’t you?" Caleb spun to face her, his look full of pain. "In 1847, when Luna was dying of fever, you had the medicine that could save her. But you kept it for yourself because you were scared of getting sick." "That’s not—" Lily started. "In 1623, when Luna was accused of witchcraft, you could have spoken up for her. You knew she was innocent. But you stayed quiet because you didn’t want to be accused too." Each word hit Lily like a physical blow. Tears streamed down her face, but Caleb wasn’t finished. "In 1205, when Luna was taken by raiders, you had the chance to rescue her. Instead, you ran. You saved yourself and left your sister to die." "Stop," I said strongly, but not to Caleb. I was looking at the void creature wearing Elena’s face. "Those memories are lies." The thing smiled coldly. "Are they? Or are they simply facts your precious omega was too ashamed to remember?" "They’re manipulations," I maintained. "Twisted versions of real events designed to break their bond." But uncertainty was already spreading through the room. I could see it in everyone’s faces. Even Brock and Aiden were looking at Lily with uncertainty. "How would you know?" Caleb demanded. "You weren’t there." He was right. I wasn’t there for those lives. But I knew something about being haunted by past mistakes, about having your worst moments used against you. "Because," I said quietly, "I’ve seen this kind of manipulation before. In my own memories." Everyone turned to look at me. I’d been fearing this moment for centuries, but now it seemed like the only way to save Lily and Caleb’s bond. "Five hundred years ago, I was different," I began. "Young, reckless, angry at the world. I made choices that hurt people I cared about. Terrible choices." I looked straight at Prince Ash, knowing he deserved to hear this from me. "I violated your grandfather’s trust. I stole ancient magical artifacts from your land to trade for vampire immortality. Good people died because of what I did." Prince Ash’s eyes widened in shock, but he didn’t stop. "For centuries, I’ve been haunted by those memories," I continued. "Every night, I see the faces of the people who suffered because of my greed. I’ve spent five hundred years trying to make up for it, trying to earn forgiveness I probably don’t deserve." "Dmitri," Lily whispered. "You don’t have to—" "Yes, I do," I cut her off. "Because that’s exactly what this thing is doing to you. It’s taking your worst times, your biggest regrets, and making them seem like the only truth about who you are." I turned back to Caleb. "But here’s what I learned after five centuries of guilt: we are not our worst times. We are the sum of all our choices, including the ones we make to be better." "Pretty words," the void entity mocked. "But the feelings are real. The betrayals happened." "Maybe some version of them did," I admitted. "But memories can be changed. Twisted. Made to seem worse than they really were. And even if they’re fully accurate, they’re still just part of the story." I stepped closer to Lily, who was shaking with shame and fear. "Tell me, when you regained your emotions earlier, what was the first thing you felt?" "Peace," she said barely above a whisper. "When I was sitting with Caleb, holding Luna’s hand, I felt like I was exactly where I belonged." "And why did you feel that?" "Because..." she looked up at me with dawning understanding. "Because I wasn’t thinking about myself. I was thinking about them. About how much I wanted to save Luna, how much I needed Caleb to be safe." "Exactly. The person you are now, in this lifetime, decided to sacrifice herself to save the entire pack. She decided to risk her life defending Luna, someone she thought was her enemy. She picked love over power, connection over safety." I turned to address everyone in the room. "I’ve been watching all of you for weeks now. I’ve seen how you treat each other, how you’re willing to die for each other. That’s not the behavior of selfish people." "But the memories—" Caleb started. "Are the void entity’s attempt to destroy your bonds," I finished. "Think about it. What’s the one thing that could break the pack unity you just achieved? Making you lose trust in each other." I saw understanding dawn in several faces, but Caleb still looked torn. "I can see those memories too now," he said. "They feel so real." "I’m sure they do," I answered. "But let me ask you something. In all those lifetimes of alleged betrayals, did you ever see what happened to Lily afterward? Did you see her grief? Her regret? Her tries to make things right?" Caleb’s face flickered with uncertainty. "Of course not," I continued. "Because showing you her pain, her growth, her efforts to be better wouldn’t serve the void entity’s purpose." The creature’s face twisted with rage. "Enough! Even if you break through the memory trickery, it changes nothing. The dimensional damage is already spreading. Soon, every world will—" It stopped mid-sentence, its black eyes going wide with something that looked like fear. "What?" Prince Ash commanded. "What’s happening?" The void entity backed away from us, genuine fear replacing its earlier confidence. "This is impossible. She’s meant to be contained. She’s supposed to be helpless." "Who?" I asked, but I was already getting a bad feeling I knew the answer. "Luna," the thing whispered. "She’s not just fixing her own memories. She’s taking back all the memories I stole from every world. Every lifetime. Every option." The basement began to shake, and through the dimensional cracks that were still healing, I caught glimpses of something that made my centuries-old heart race with fear. Luna was walking toward us through the space between realities, but she wasn’t the same broken girl who’d fallen earlier. She was every version of herself from every lifetime, all at once. And she looked absolutely angry. "Oh," I breathed. "We might have made a very big mistake letting Caleb wake her up."

Chapter 166: The Vampire’s Departure

Comments (0)