Chapter 94: The Pattern Emerges

Words : 1097 Updated : Sep 12th, 2025

Chapter 94: The Pattern Emerges Lily POV The silver light burst from my hands just as the possessed wolf lunged at me. I watched in fear as the creature flew backward, crashing into three other wolves. They all screamed the same terrible sound - like nails on glass mixed with crying kids. "Lily!" Caleb’s words cut through the chaos. "What did you do?" I stared at my hands, which were still glowing with that strange silver fire. "I don’t know! It just happened!" Around us, the fight for Silver Peak was getting worse. More possessed dogs poured out of the forest like angry ants. But something weird was happening. Every time I used that silver light, they backed away from me like I was poison. "The nursery!" Elder Iris yelled from across the street. "They’re heading for the nursery!" My heart stopped. All the little pups were hiding there. I’d told them it was safe. I ran as fast as I could, pushing past fighting wolves and jumping over broken pieces of houses. Behind me, I could hear Caleb yelling my name, but I couldn’t wait. Those kids needed me. When I reached the nursery, I found something that made my stomach twist. Five possessed dogs stood in a perfect circle around the building. They weren’t attacking it. They were just... waiting. "That’s not normal," I whispered to myself. Elder Iris appeared beside me, breathing hard. "They’re not trying to get the pups," she said, her old voice shaking. "They’re guarding the building." "Guarding it from what?" "From you." I looked at her in confusion. "What do you mean?" Elder Iris pointed at the ground around the nursery. In the dirt, I could see a dim silver glow making lines and circles. It looked like the same light that came from my hands. "Lily, everywhere you’ve been in the past three months, you’ve left marks," she said softly. "Silver marks that only show up when the Void Walkers are near." I thought about all the places I’d visited since the Winter Moon Festival. The nursery, where I taught healing. The pack council building, where I helped make choices. The Moon Pool, where Caleb and I liked to walk. The library, where we studied together. "Oh no," I breathed. "I’ve been marking targets for them." "Not targets," Elder Iris corrected. "Feeding stations." My legs felt weak. "What do you mean?" "The Triple Moon sacrifice you made during the festival," she explained quickly while more explosions happened around us. "It didn’t just change the pack. It changed you. You’re leaking magical energy everywhere you go." I remembered that night when I’d given up my claim to all three brothers to save the pack’s balance. There had been so much light, so much power flowing through me. But I thought it was over. "The Void Walkers feed on strong emotions," Elder Iris continued. "But they’re hungry for magical energy. Your leftover power is like honey to bears." "So this is all my fault?" I asked, feeling sick. "No, kid. But it means you’re the key to stopping them." Before I could ask what she meant, one of the possessed dogs guarding the nursery turned toward us. Its black eyes focused on me, and it smiled with too many teeth. "There she is," it said in a voice like breaking glass. "The Triple Moon bearer." The other four possessed wolves turned too. All of them were looking at me now, and I could feel their hunger like cold fingers on my skin. "They want the source," I realized. "They don’t just want to feed on my extra energy. They want me." "Run," Elder Iris whispered. But I couldn’t. If I ran, they would follow me. And that would lead them away from the nursery, but also away from all the other survivors who were counting on me to organize their defense. "I can’t," I said. "If I run, everyone else dies." "If you stay, everyone dies anyway," Elder Iris answered. "You’re the source of their power now." The possessed wolves started walking toward us slowly, like cats playing with mice. I could hear more fighting in the distance, but it sounded farther away. Were we losing? "There has to be another way," I said desperately. That’s when I noticed something strange. The silver marks on the ground weren’t just shining randomly. They were making a plan. Lines linked the nursery to the council building to the Moon Pool to the library. From above, it would probably look like... "A summoning circle," I breathed. "Elder Iris, I haven’t been marking feeding spots. I’ve been drawing a giant summoning circle across the entire pack area." Her eyes went wide. "Summoning what?" I looked at my still-glowing hands, then at the possessed wolves getting closer, then at the pattern of silver light spreading across Silver Peak like a web. "I don’t know," I admitted. "But something big is coming." The possessed wolf in front smiled wider. "Oh yes," it hissed. "Something very big indeed. And when it comes, your little pack will become the first dish in a feast that will consume every wolf territory on this continent." Thunder roared overhead, even though there were no clouds in the sky. The silver marks on the ground pulsed brighter, and I felt something vast and hungry turning its attention toward Silver Peak. Elder Iris grabbed my arm. "Lily, what did your sacrifice actually do during the Winter Moon Festival?" I tried to remember that night, but it was all mixed up with bright lights and strong feelings. "I gave up my claim to the triplets to restore balance to the pack," I said. "No," she said quickly. "What exactly did you say? The exact words?" The possessed dogs were only twenty feet away now. Thunder rumbled again, louder this time. I closed my eyes and thought back to that night by the Moon Pool. What had I said when I made my sacrifice? And then I remembered. The words I’d spoken in that moment of pure despair, when I thought the pack was going to tear itself apart over me. Words that now seemed like the stupidest thing I could have possibly said. "I wished for the pack to find perfect balance," I whispered. "Even if it meant sacrificing everything we were to become something new." Elder Iris went totally white. "Oh, Lily," she breathed. "You didn’t restore balance. You invited it in." The ground beneath our feet began to crack, and something with too many eyes began pushing its way up from below.

Chapter 94: The Pattern Emerges

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