Chapter 91: Caleb’s Dedication

Words : 1201 Updated : Sep 12th, 2025

Chapter 91: Caleb’s Dedication Caleb POV As lightning-fast pain shot through my head, the old book fell from my hands. I pressed my hands together against my temples to fight the feeling of dizziness that was about to knock me over. It was my third headache in two days, and each one was getting worse. Thought to myself, "Focus, Caleb," and picked up the old book again. "The pack needs answers." For forty-eight hours straight, I had been living in the library on coffee and resolve. There were old books, maps, and notes in my messy handwriting on every table. The other people in my pack thought I was crazy for doing study all day instead of helping clean up after the battle. They didn’t get it, though. The Void Walkers were giving me the creeps. The way they moved, the way they picked their targets, the way they seemed to know things they shouldn’t know. It was like solving a puzzle with missing pieces, and I couldn’t rest until I found them. My phone buzzed with another text from Aiden: "Dad wants you at the emergency meeting. NOW." I ignored it, just like I’d ignored the last five texts. The Council of Alphas meeting was important, but this study was more important. I had a feeling we were missing something big about these creatures. The book in my hands was written in old Latin, talking about something called "Umbra Mortis" - Shadow of Death. According to the writing, these creatures had attacked werewolf packs hundreds of years ago. They fed on pack bonds, getting stronger with each wolf they possessed. "But why now?" I asked the empty library. "Why are they back after all these years?" I flipped through more pages, my eyes burning from reading by lamplight. Then I found it - a line that made my blood run cold. " The Umbra Mortis return when the Great Severance weakens the walls between worlds. They seek the one who did the ancient ritual, for her power can either destroy them completely or make them unstoppable." My hands shook as I read the words again. Lily. They were coming for Lily. I grabbed my phone and called her number. It went straight to voicemail. I tried again. Same thing. Panic started building in my chest. When was the last time I’d seen her? Two days ago? Three? Everything felt blurry since the Great Severance. I couldn’t remember being close to her, couldn’t remember why I should care so much, but something deep inside me screamed that she was in danger. I ran out of the library and toward her home. The night air was cold against my sweaty skin, but I barely noticed. My wolf senses picked up something wrong instantly - her scent was old, maybe a day or two old. She wasn’t here. "Where is she?" I whispered, fear making my voice shake. I knocked on Elder Iris’s door. The old woman answered quickly, like she’d been waiting for me. "Caleb," she said sadly. "I wondered when you’d come looking for her." "Where’s Lily?" I asked. "The Void Walkers - they’re coming for her specifically. She’s in danger." Elder Iris’s face went pale. "What did you find?" I quickly explained about the old text, about the Great Severance making Lily a target. As I talked, Elder Iris’s face grew more worried. "She left yesterday morning," Elder Iris said. "Said she needed time alone to think. But she should have been back by now." My heart felt like it was going to explode. "We have to find her. Do you know where she went?" "The old meditation cave up on Silver Ridge. She goes there when she needs peace." I was already changing into wolf form before Elder Iris finished talking. My paws hit the ground running, and I raced toward the mountain trail. The moon was almost full overhead, giving me enough light to see the way. But as I ran, something felt wrong. The forest was too quiet. No night birds, no small animals moving through the trees. Even the wind seemed to have stopped blowing. Halfway up the mountain, I caught a smell that made me skid to a stop. It was wrong - like the smell of something dead mixed with cold metal. Void Walker smell. They were here. They’d found her. I pushed myself to run faster, my lungs burning as I climbed the steep trail. The meditation cave was just ahead, hidden behind a wall of hanging tree branches. I burst through the trees and immediately saw Lily. She was sitting in the middle of the cave, perfectly still, her eyes closed. But something was terribly wrong. Her eyes were fully black. "Lily?" I whispered, changing back to human form. She opened her eyes and looked at me. The warm brown color I remembered was gone, replaced by darkness that seemed to swallow light. "Hello, Caleb," she said, but her voice sounded different. Colder. Like an echo coming from very far away. "You’re not Lily," I said, backing toward the cave mouth. She smiled, but it wasn’t Lily’s kind smile. This smile was sharp and nasty. "Oh, but I am. I’m Lily, and so much more. The Great Severance opened doors, you see. It let us in." Fear crawled up my spine like ice water. "What do you want?" "What we’ve always wanted," the thing wearing Lily’s face said, standing up slowly. "To spread. To grow. To eat. But first, we need to thank the one who made it all possible." "Lily didn’t mean to help you," I said angrily. "Intentions don’t matter," she responded. "Only results. And the result is that the barrier between our world and yours is cracked wide open. Soon, every wolf on this land will be like me." I realized with fear that this was why the Void Walkers had been spreading so fast. The Great Severance hadn’t just saved our pack - it had reduced the magic keeping these creatures away from our world. "Where is she?" I asked. "Where’s the real Lily?" The possessed Lily tilted her head like a curious bird. "She’s in here somewhere, screaming. Would you like to hear?" For just a moment, Lily’s real voice broke through: "Caleb! Run! Don’t let them take you too!" Then the black eyes returned, and the cruel smile came back. "Too late," the Void Walker said. "She’s ours now. And soon, you will be too." Dark shapes started moving at the cave entrance. More possessed dogs, surrounding me. I was stuck with no way out. But as the creatures closed in, something impossible happened. The link I thought was broken forever suddenly flared to life in my chest. Even possessed, even changed, some part of Lily was still linked to me. And through that link, I felt something that terrified me more than the Void Walkers ever could. They weren’t just possessing random dogs anymore. They were building something. Creating a network of connected minds that spread across the continent. They were making an army of every monster in North America. And Lily, with her power from the Great Severance, was going to be their queen.

Chapter 91: Caleb’s Dedication

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