Chapter 70: The Moon Goddess’s Regret

Words : 1585 Updated : Sep 12th, 2025

Chapter 70: The Moon Goddess’s Regret Lily POV I woke up screaming. My hands clawed at my chest where my heart should be racing, but all I felt was nothingness. The dream had been so real - silver light everywhere, people calling my name, and something important I couldn’t quite remember. "Lily!" Morrigan rushed into my room, her shadow creatures whirling behind her like angry smoke. "What happened?" "I don’t know," I gasped, sitting up in the strange bed. We were in some abandoned cabin deep in the woods, far from Silver Peak. "It felt like someone was trying to tell me something, but every time I almost understood, it slipped away." Morrigan’s eyes narrowed. "Dreams can be dangerous for someone like you. The other Triple Moon Bearers I’ve gathered - they’ve all had strange dreams too." That caught my eye. "What kind of dreams?" "The kind that make them remember things they shouldn’t," she said coldly. "Things like love, hope, kindness. Feelings that will only make them weak when we begin the Gathering." I nodded, though something deep inside me twisted uncomfortably. Ever since losing my ability to feel love for Caleb, I’d felt hollow. Like I was walking through life watching someone else live it. Everyone kept telling me this was better - that love was a weakness that held me back from my true power. So why did I feel so lost? "The others are waiting," Morrigan added. "It’s time you met your sisters." She led me outside where three other girls my age sat around a dying campfire. Each wore the same blank expression I’d been practicing - no feeling, no weakness, no love. Each had the Triple Moon Mark on their wrist, just like mine. "Sarah from the River Pack," Morrigan introduced, referring to a girl with short brown hair. "Maya from the Mountain Clan, and Jessica from the Desert Wolves. All chosen, all strong, all ready to change the world." The girls nodded at me with cold politeness. No warmth, no friendship - just acknowledgment that we were tools for the same goal. "What exactly are we changing the world into?" I asked, though part of me wasn’t sure I wanted to know. Morrigan smiled, and it reminded me of winter - beautiful but dangerous. "A world where the strong rule without the weakness of feeling. Where packs aren’t held back by silly things like love or loyalty or hope." Maya spoke up, her voice flat. "My pack was destroyed because the Alpha loved his mate too much to make hard choices. Love makes leaders weak." "Mine fell because wolves cared more about protecting their families than winning battles," Sarah added. Jessica just stared at the fire. "Love is pain. It’s better this way." I found myself nodding along, but something inside me rebelled. If this was better, why did I feel like I was dying slowly from the inside out? "Tonight, we begin," Morrigan stated. "The Winter Solstice gives us the power we need to perform the Great Gathering. When the four Triple Moon Marks unite under the darkest moon, we’ll have enough magic to strip every wolf of their ability to feel love." "All of them?" I asked, surprised by how small my voice sounded. "Every last one," Morrigan revealed. "No more wars fought over mates. No more packs destroyed by foolish feelings. Just pure, efficient strength." As the other girls prepared for whatever ritual was coming, I walked away from the camp. The mountain air was cold, and snow crunched under my feet. I found a small opening and sat on a fallen log, trying to understand why I felt so wrong about everything. That’s when the dream came back - not while sleeping, but right there in the waking world. Silver light poured down from the sky, and suddenly I wasn’t alone. A woman made of moonbeams stood before me, her face filled with such sadness that it made my empty chest ache. "Lily," she said, and her voice sounded like wind through trees. "My dear, brave child." "Who are you?" I whispered. "I am the Moon Goddess," she answered. "And I have made a terrible mistake." The world seemed to hold its breath. Even the wind stopped blowing. "What do you mean?" I asked. "I allowed Morrigan to convince me that love was the source of all pack conflicts," the Goddess said, tears of starlight falling from her eyes. "I thought if I erased your ability to love Caleb, it would save both your packs from war. But I was wrong." She knelt beside me, and when she touched my hand, I felt something I hadn’t felt in weeks - warmth. "Love isn’t what breaks packs, Lily. The lack of love is. Love gives wolves something to fight for, something to defend, something to build toward. Without it, they become empty shells, just like you feel now." "But I can’t feel love anymore," I said, and for the first time since losing my bond with Caleb, I felt like crying. "You took it away." "I took away the mate bond," she corrected softly. "But I cannot take away love itself. It’s still inside you, hidden under the pain and confusion. You just have to choose to let it out." "How?" "By remembering why love matters. By fighting for others to keep their ability to love, even if yours feels broken right now." She stood up, her form becoming brighter. "Your fate as the Triple Moon Bearer isn’t finished, child. It’s just starting. But not the way Morrigan thinks." "What do you mean?" "The Great Gathering she plans will indeed combine the power of four Triple Moon Bearers," the Goddess revealed. "But the magic can be used for creation instead of harm. Instead of removing love from the world, you could restore it everywhere it’s been lost." Hope flickered in my chest like a tiny light. "I could get my bond with Caleb back?" The Goddess’s face grew sad again. "That link is truly gone, dear one. But you could save millions of others from losing theirs. You could prevent what happened to you from happening to anyone else." "How?" "You must convince the other carriers to join you instead of Morrigan. But be careful - she has stripped them of love just as she did you. They may not want to remember what they’ve lost." Before I could ask more questions, the Goddess began to fade. "Wait!" I called out. "What if I can’t convince them? What if they choose Morrigan?" "Then tomorrow night, when the ritual begins, love will die forever," she said. "And the world will become exactly what Morrigan wants - cold, empty, and without hope." The silver light disappeared, leaving me alone in the dark clearing. But now I could hear something that made my blood freeze. Footsteps behind me. Multiple sets, moving quietly through the snow. I turned around to see all three girls standing at the edge of the space, their eyes glowing with an unnatural light. Behind them, Morrigan smiled like a wolf who’d caught her meal. "Did you really think I wouldn’t sense the Moon Goddess’s presence?" Morrigan asked sweetly. "Did you think I’d let her fill your head with dangerous ideas about love and hope?" The other Triple Moon Bearers stepped closer, and I realized with rising horror that they weren’t just emotionless anymore. They were something else entirely - something dark and hungry. "What did you do to them?" I whispered. "I gave them a choice," Morrigan responded. "Serve freely, or have their free will taken away completely. They picked service." Sarah tilted her head, studying me like I was an interesting puzzle. "We could take yours too, Lily. It would be so much easier than fighting." "The ritual works better with willing participants," Maya added, her voice eerily cheerful. "But it works either way." I backed toward the trees, my heart beating. The Moon Goddess had said I could choose love, could fight for others to keep their ties. But how could I fight three other Triple Moon Bearers and Morrigan all by myself? "There’s nowhere to run," Jessica said softly. "And even if there was, where would you go? Back to Silver Peak? Back to Caleb, who doesn’t remember loving you?" The words hit like physical blows. She was right. I had nowhere to go, no one to turn to, no way to stop what was coming. But as the four of them closed in around me, I felt something shift inside my chest. Not love - that was still buried too deep - but something else. Determination. Maybe I couldn’t save my own heart. Maybe I’d lost Caleb forever. But I could still fight for everyone else’s chance at love. I looked up at the dark sky where no moon shone and whispered, "I choose to fight." That’s when the shadows around us began to move, and I realized we weren’t alone in the clearing. Red eyes gleamed from the darkness between the trees, and a low growling sound filled the air. Whatever was out there, it was big, it was angry, and it was coming straight for us. Morrigan’s confident smile finally faded. "What did you do?" she hissed at me. But I didn’t know. I hadn’t done anything except choose to fight back. The growls got louder, closer, and suddenly I understood with cold certainty that whatever was about to emerge from the shadows would change everything. Again.

Chapter 70: The Moon Goddess’s Regret

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