Chapter 65: The Hollow Victory

Words : 1204 Updated : Sep 12th, 2025

Chapter 65: The Hollow Victory Lily POV The Shadow Beast’s claws raked across my shoulder as I dove behind a fallen tree. Blood ran down my arm, but I barely felt the pain. Nothing hurt worse than the nothingness inside my chest. "Lily!" Caleb yelled, fighting the monster with his brothers. "Stay down!" I watched him throw himself between me and danger, just like he always used to. But now when I looked at him, I felt nothing. I remembered loving him - remembered the warmth, the joy, the feeling like my heart might burst with happiness. But the feelings themselves were gone, leaving only cold facts in my mind. We used to be mates. We used to love each other. We used to be happy. All true. All useless now. The Shadow Beast roared and swiped at Aiden, sending him flying into a tree. Brock charged from the left while Caleb struck from the right. They moved like they’d practiced this dance a thousand times, but the thing was too fast, too strong. "We can’t beat it!" Aiden yelled, blood dripping from his mouth. "It’s feeding off magical energy!" That’s when I realized something terrible. The beast wasn’t just hunting randomly. Every time it moved, it got a little closer to me. Its red eyes never left my face, even when the brothers were striking. "It wants me," I said, standing up despite Caleb’s shouts to stay hidden. "Lily, no!" Elder Iris grabbed my arm. "The Shadow Beast devours magic. If it touches you—" "I don’t have any magic left," I interrupted. "I used it all to save everyone." But even as I said it, I knew something was wrong. Because every time the beast looked at me, I felt a tiny spark in my chest. Not love or happiness, but something else. Something I couldn’t name. The thing lunged toward me, and instinct took over. I threw my hands up to protect myself, and silver light blazed from my palms. Not the wild fire from before, but something deeper. Colder. The Shadow Beast hit my barrier and bounced backward, screaming in pain. "Impossible," Elder Iris breathed. "You shouldn’t have any power left." I stared at my hands, watching the strange silver light fade. "I don’t understand." "The Triple Moon Mark," Caleb said, pointing at my wrist. "It’s different." I looked down and gasped. The three entwined crescents were still there, but now they were black instead of silver. Dark as midnight, they glowed with an energy that felt nothing like the warm power I’d had before. "What’s happening to me?" I whispered. The Shadow Beast ringed us like a predator playing with its food. Every few seconds, it would test my barrier, pushing against the dark light surrounding me. Each time, the black crescents on my wrist got a little brighter. "It’s feeding the mark somehow," Elder Iris said, her voice filled with fear. "The creature’s darkness is mixing with your emptiness." Emptiness. That’s exactly what it felt like. Where love used to live in my heart, there was just a hollow space. And something cold was starting to fill it up. "Lily," Aiden called from where he was helping Brock stand. "You need to get out of here. Run!" "I can’t." The words came out flat, lifeless. "If I leave, it’ll just follow me. It’ll hunt other wolves." "So what?" Caleb said desperately. "We’ll figure something else out. We’ll—" "No." I looked at him, this stranger who used to be everything to me. "I saved everyone else. I can save them from this too." "Not by sacrificing yourself!" he yelled. I almost smiled. He was trying so hard to care about someone he didn’t remember. It would have been sweet if I could still feel sweetness. "I’m not sacrificing myself," I said quietly. "I’m accepting what I’ve become." The Shadow Beast seemed to sense the change in me. It stopped circling and crouched low, ready to spring. But this time, instead of running or hiding, I stepped forward to meet it. "Lily, don’t!" Elder Iris screamed. The creature jumped, claws extended and mouth full of teeth. I reached out with both hands and caught it mid-air. The moment my skin touched its shadow-flesh, something incredible happened. I started absorbing it. The beast shrieked as darkness flowed from its body into mine. The black crescents on my wrist blazed brighter, and I felt strength rushing through me. Not the warm, loving energy I’d had before, but something hungry. Colder. More dangerous. "Stop!" Caleb grabbed my arm, trying to pull me away. "You’re taking its evil into yourself!" "I know," I said quietly, not even looking at him. The Shadow Beast was getting smaller, weaker. Its red eyes dimmed as I drained its power, feeding the increasing darkness inside me. Part of my mind screamed that this was wrong, that I was becoming something terrible. But the empty part of me, the part that couldn’t feel love anymore, welcomed the cold power. "This is what I am now," I continued. "The Triple Moon Bearer who gave up everything. I have no love left to lose, which means I can hold all the sadness without it corrupting me the way it would someone else." "That’s not true," Caleb said, and for a second he sounded like the boy who used to love me. "You’re not empty. You’re not dark. You’re—" "I’m nothing," I finished. "And that makes me perfect for this." The Shadow Beast gave one final shriek and dissolved totally, all its power flowing into my mark. The black crescents now blazed like dark stars, and I could feel shadows moving beneath my skin. Around us, the Sacred Grove went totally silent. Even the wind stopped blowing. I turned to face the others, and I saw fear in their eyes. Not fear or worry, but actual terror. They were looking at me like I was the monster now. Maybe I was. "The pack is safe," I stated, my voice echoing strangely. "The Shadow Beast is gone." "At what cost?" Elder Iris whispered. I tilted my head, considering the question. "No cost. I didn’t lose anything I hadn’t already given away." Caleb stepped toward me, hand extended. "Lily, let us help you. There has to be a way to fix this." "Fix what?" I asked. "I’m exactly what I chose to become." But as I said it, something moved in the trees behind them. More shadows, darker and hungrier than the beast I’d just swallowed. The Shadow Beast hadn’t been hunting alone. It had been running from something worse. "Oh," I said, as dozens of red eyes appeared in the darkness around us. "That’s not good." The pack pressed closer together as creatures started emerging from every direction. Not ghost beasts, but something else entirely. Something that made the air itself feel sick and wrong. And every single one of them was looking at me with what looked like worship. "What are those things?" Aiden breathed. I felt my new dark power reacting to their presence, calling to them like a beacon. The black crescents on my wrist pulsed in rhythm with their motions. "I think," I said slowly, "they’re my army now."

Chapter 65: The Hollow Victory

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