CHAPTER 60: THE WORLD BREAKS

Lily POV

The scream that came out of my throat wasn’t just mine. The shadow magic of Morrigan tore through our souls like a hacksaw through silk, and every wolf on Earth screamed with me.

Every single one of the pack ties started to break apart, and I fell to my knees. The bond I had with Caleb ever since we mated felt like it was being pulled so hard that it broke. The warm feeling I had that Aiden was worried about the other people in his pack went away. Brock’s fierce protectiveness of the kids went away like smoke.

"No, no, NO!" I gasped and put my hands to my chest, where the feeling of being empty was getting worse. I could see dogs falling all around me. Elder Iris tripped and hit her face on a tree. She was in a lot of pain. Sarah’s terrified whimpers cut through the chaos as she couldn’t feel her mother’s comfort longer.

Through the fading Triple Moon link, I felt it happening worldwide. Mothers forgot why they loved their children. Mates looked at each other like strangers. Pack leaders stared at their followers with empty confusion. The very thing that made us wolves – our ability to bond, to join, to be family – was being murdered.

"Lily!" Caleb reached for me, but when our skin touched, there was nothing. No spark. No mention. No love flooding through our link. Just... emptiness.

His eyes opened in horror. "I can’t feel you," he whispered. "I know I should love you, but I can’t remember why."

My heart shattered into a million pieces. This was exactly what the Moon Goddess had warned me about. But seeing it happen to the whole world was so much worse than I’d imagined.

Child, the Goddess’s voice was getting weaker in my mind. The corruption spreads faster than I estimated. Soon, even I will lose my link to my children.

"How long do we have?" I asked desperately, watching Luna stumble around looking confused, no longer understanding her place in the pack hierarchy because pack hierarchy only mattered when you could feel pack ties.

Minutes, the Goddess answered. Once the shadow magic reaches the spiritual world completely, no power in existence will be able to restore what’s lost. The wolves will become like wild dogs – living alone, killing alone, dying alone.

I looked at Caleb, who was staring at me like he was trying to answer a puzzle. The love of my life couldn’t remember loving me. Around us, children cried because their parents looked at them with polite stranger-faces instead of warm family-love.

"Tell me exactly what I need to do," I said to the Goddess.

You must reach the heart of the Sacred Grove where Morrigan is casting her spell. Touch the tainted Moon Stone with your Triple Moon power. The cleansing will flow from there to every wolf link worldwide. "And it will destroy my Triple Moon mark completely?"

Yes. And when the mark dies, your mate link dies with it. You and Caleb will live, but you’ll be strangers forever.

I watched Caleb trying to help Sarah, but his moves were awkward because he couldn’t feel the natural protectiveness that used to guide him. The man who’d held me through nightmares, who’d made me laugh when I felt worthless, who’d shown me that omegas could be strong too – he was looking at me like I was just some girl he’d met five minutes ago.

But that’s when it hit me. Even if he couldn’t feel our bond anymore, he was still trying to help a scared kid. Even if Luna couldn’t feel pack loyalty, she was still standing protectively near the old wolves. Even if the connections were gone, they were still deciding to be good people.

That had to mean something.

"I’ll do it," I told the Goddess.

Are you certain? Once started, the process cannot be stopped.

I thought about every wolf family in the world slowly forgetting they loved each other. I thought about packs dissolving into lonely people. I thought about children growing up never knowing the joy of joining.

"I’m certain."

The Grove’s heart wasn’t far, but getting there meant fighting through shadow creatures that poured from the corrupted trees. Caleb stayed beside me even though he didn’t remember why he should protect me. Aiden and Brock followed even though they couldn’t feel their brother-bond anymore. Luna came too, though she kept looking around like she couldn’t figure out why she was with these particular people.

"Why are we doing this?" she asked as we ran.

"Because it’s right," I said simply.

That seemed to please her, which gave me hope. Maybe losing our wolf ties wouldn’t make us lose our humanity.

The Sacred Grove’s heart was a nightmare. The Moon Stone that had once glowed with pure silver light was now pulsing with sick green energy. Morrigan stood before it, her hands weaving patterns in the air as more shadow power poured from her fingers.

She turned as we approached, and her smile was winning. "Too late, little omega. I can feel it working. Every pack link breaking. Every family forgetting. Soon, wolves will be no different from any other animal."

"Why?" I asked. "Why destroy something so beautiful?"

"Because I was cast out!" she growled. "Rejected by my mate! Exiled from my pack! If I couldn’t have love, then no one should!"

Her pain hit me like a physical blow. She wasn’t evil – she was sad. Someone who’d lost everything and chose to make the whole world hurt like she did.

"It doesn’t have to be this way," I said gently. "Love denied isn’t love destroyed. It just finds new places to grow."

For a moment, something flickered in her eyes. Hope, maybe. Or sadness.

Then her face toughened. "Pretty words won’t fix a shattered heart."

She raised her hands for the final spell, the one that would make the rot permanent. The Moon Stone’s sick light pulsed brighter.

I ran toward it, my Triple Moon mark burning with silver fire. Behind me, I heard Caleb shout my name – not with love, but with the worry one stranger might have for another.

My hand touched the tainted stone just as Morrigan’s final spell hit.

And the world burst in light.