Chapter 74: A Purpose Lost

Words : 1452 Updated : Sep 12th, 2025

Chapter 74: A Purpose Lost Lily POV I dropped the healing herb bundle and watched it spread across the nursery floor. My hands wouldn’t stop shaking. Three times now I’d tried to mix the simple cough medicine that every omega learned by age twelve. Three times I’d failed at something I used to do with my eyes closed. "It’s okay, Lily," Jenny said softly, kneeling to help me gather the scattered leaves. "You just need more time to recover." But I knew it wasn’t about time. Ever since the ritual two weeks ago - the one that had apparently saved our pack from the Great Gathering - something fundamental had broken inside me. The Triple Moon Mark on my wrist was gone, leaving only pale lines. The mate bond that once connected me to Caleb had vanished totally. And with them, all the confidence and purpose I’d fought so hard to build. "Maybe I should go," I said, backing away from the flowers. "I’m not helping anyone like this." Jenny’s face filled with worry. "You saved us all, Lily. You’re a hero." Hero. Everyone kept using that word, but it felt hollow. Yes, I’d completed the Memory Restoration ritual that broke the dark magic affecting our pack. Yes, I’d traded my own powers to free the other Triple Moon bearers. But what was I now? Just a broken omega who couldn’t even make cough syrup. I left the nursery and walked through the pack grounds, trying to ignore how different everything felt. Before, I could feel the emotional state of every wolf around me through the pack bonds. Now, I moved through them like a ghost, cut off from the connections that made pack life important. "Lily!" Aiden called out, running to catch up with me. "I’ve been looking for you. We’re having a party feast tonight to honor your sacrifice." My stomach twisted. "I don’t want to be honored." "But you deserve it," Aiden argued. "You gave up everything to save us." "That’s exactly the problem," I snapped, startling myself with the anger in my voice. "I gave up everything. My mate bond, my skills, my place in the pack. What am I supposed to celebrate?" Aiden looked hurt. "You’re still important to us, Lily. You’re still our friend." Friend. Not mate. Not the Triple Moon bearer. Not the future Luna. Just... friend. The word felt like a knife in my chest. I kept going, but everywhere I went, I felt like an outsider looking in. At the training grounds, Brock was teaching young wolves to fight. He waved at me, but I could see the sadness in his eyes. At the council house, Alpha Marcus was meeting with pack leaders. He nodded respectfully when he saw me, but I was no longer asked to those meetings. Most painful of all was seeing Caleb. The ritual had returned his memories, but it had taken away his feelings for me. He remembered loving me, but he couldn’t feel it anymore. We were like two artists trying to perform a play we’d forgotten how to act. "Lily, wait up!" I turned to see Luna running toward me. Of all people, she was the last one I wanted to talk to right now. "I heard about tonight’s feast," she said, slightly out of breath. "I wanted to ask if you’d sit with me. I know things have been... tough between us." I looked at her. "You want to sit with the broken omega who used to be your rival?" Luna’s face flushed. "You’re not broken. You’re different now, but that doesn’t make you less important." "Easy for you to say," I answered bitterly. "You didn’t lose everything." "Didn’t I?" Luna’s speech was quiet. "I lost my dreams of being Luna. I lost my confidence about my place in the pack. I had to completely rebuild who I was supposed to be." I wanted to argue, but something in her tone stopped me. For the first time, I realized Luna and I might have more in common than I’d thought. "The difference is, you found a new purpose," I said. "You became Aiden’s political advisor. You have a job that matters. I’m just... nothing." "That’s not true," Luna said strongly. "You’re the woman who saved our entire pack. You’re the omega who showed that true strength comes from sacrifice, not power." Before I could reply, a commotion erupted near the pack house. Wolves were running and screaming. I heard Brock’s voice screaming orders. "What’s happening?" Luna asked. We ran toward the noise and found chaos. Three wolves lay asleep on the ground, their eyes rolled back and their bodies convulsing. Elder Iris knelt beside them, her face pale with fear. "What’s wrong with them?" Aiden ordered, pushing through the crowd. "I don’t know," Elder Iris said, her voice shaking. "They just fell. All at the same time." I knelt beside one of the affected wolves - a young mother called Sarah. Her skin was burning hot, but she was shivering like she was cold. Most unsettling of all, the mate mark on her wrist was glowing with an angry red light. "Their mate bonds," I whispered, understanding hitting me like a punch to the gut. "Something’s attacking their mate bonds." "How can you tell?" Caleb asked, appearing at my side. "I..." I stopped, confused. How could I tell? I’d lost my skills. I shouldn’t be able to sense anything about mate bonds anymore. But as I touched Sarah’s burning forehead, images flashed through my thoughts. I saw her mate mark being torn apart by phantom claws. I felt the agony of a bond being forcefully severed. I experienced the terror of losing the most important link in her life. "It’s the same magic that created the Great Gathering," I said, my voice filled with growing horror. "But this time, it’s not trying to drain the bonds. It’s trying to destroy them totally." More wolves began falling around us. The red glow spread from mate mark to mate mark like a cancer. Within minutes, a dozen wolves were writhing on the ground in pain. "How do we stop it?" Brock asked. I looked around at the chaos, feeling totally helpless. Before the ritual, I might have been able to fight this power. But now? I was just a helpless omega watching her pack suffer. "I don’t know," I admitted. "I can’t help them. I can’t help anyone anymore." Elder Iris grabbed my arm suddenly. "Wait. The images you’re having - where are they coming from?" I looked down at my wrist where the Triple Moon Mark used to be. The scars were glowing faintly, barely noticeable but definitely there. "That’s impossible," I breathed. "The mark is gone. I sacrificed my powers." "Maybe you didn’t lose them," Elder Iris said quickly. "Maybe you changed them. Maybe the sacrifice transformed your skills instead of destroying them." More wolves fell. The red glow was spreading faster now, jumping from couple to couple like flames. If we didn’t find a way to stop it soon, every mated pair in Silver Peak would lose their tie forever. "I have to try," I said, pushing my hands against Sarah’s mate mark. The moment I touched it, power rushed through me - but it was different from before. Instead of the warm, silver light of the Triple Moon, this was something rawer, more desperate. It felt like hope mixed with despair, love mixed with loss. The red glow began to fade under my touch, but I could feel something fighting back. Something that wants to destroy every mate bond in existence. "It’s working!" Luna cried. "Keep going!" But as I put more power into healing Sarah’s bond, I felt something terrible. The magic attacking the mate ties wasn’t random - it was targeted. And it wasn’t coming from outside the pack. It was coming from someone inside Silver Peak. Someone who wanted to destroy every happy couple because they couldn’t have happiness themselves. I opened my eyes and looked around at the people surrounding me. One of them was the rogue. One of them was using dark magic to tear apart the very basis of our pack. And as my gaze met theirs, I saw recognition flash in their eyes. They knew I’d figured it out. Before I could warn anyone, pain exploded through my brain. Someone had hit me from behind with incredible force. As I fell to the ground, I heard Luna scream my name. The last thing I saw was a figure in a dark cloak standing over me, their face covered but their voice chillingly familiar. "You should have stayed weak, little omega. Now you’ll have to die."

Chapter 74: A Purpose Lost

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