Chapter 164

Chapter 164
Calla

Darkness swallowed me whole, and for a moment I wondered if this was what death felt like.

Peaceful and just....empty. Like I was floating in warm water where nothing could hurt me anymore.

I'd been falling unconscious so much lately that it was almost funny. From this to that to the laboratory to Blake's psychic attacks to whatever this was now. My life had become a series of blackouts punctuated by brief, terrifying moments of consciousness.

Maybe it was better this way. Maybe I could just drift here forever and never have to face Blake again. Never have to watch him torture Axel or hurt my pack or force me to choose between saving the people I loved and preserving what was left of my sanity.

The idea was tempting. So tempting.

"Calla."

The voice came from somewhere far away, soft but insistent. I tried to ignore it, to sink deeper into the comfortable darkness.

"Calla."

There it was again, closer this time and really annoying. Why couldn't this voice just let me rest? Let me fade away peacefully instead of dragging me back to a world full of pain and impossible choices?

"Leave me alone," I mumbled into the void, though I wasn't sure if the words actually came out.

"Calla, you need to wake up."

Now the voice was accompanied by a hand on my shoulder, shaking me gently but firmly. The touch was warm and somehow familiar, though I couldn't place it.

I was tired. So incredibly tired of everything. Tired of being hunted, tired of being special, tired of people dying because of what I was. If I could just stay here in this peaceful darkness, maybe everyone would be safer.

"I know you're tired, child. But your family needs you."

The word 'family' cut through my exhaustion like a blade. Wait!!! Axel. My pack. They were still out there facing Blake while I hid in unconsciousness like a coward.

With tremendous effort, I forced my eyes open.

I was standing in that familiar white space again - the place where my dreamwalks sometimes took me when my consciousness left my body. But this time felt different. More real somehow, like the space itself was alive and aware.

And I wasn't alone.

The woman standing before me was the most beautiful creature I'd ever seen. She appeared young, maybe in her early twenties, with porcelain skin that seemed to glow with its own inner light. Her hair was silver-white and flowed down her back like liquid starlight.

But it was her eyes that made me gasp. They glowed with soft red light, like embers in a dying fire. And protruding from her silver hair were pointed ears that twitched slightly as she watched me - wolf ears, delicate and perfect.

She was completely naked, as was I, I realized with a start. But somehow it didn't feel embarrassing or wrong. It felt natural, like we were meeting in a place where such human concerns didn't matter.

"Who are you?" I whispered, though part of me already suspected the answer.

Her lips curved into a smile that held both infinite kindness and deep sadness. "My name is Selvarra. I am what your people call the Moon Goddess."

The words hit me like physical blows. The Moon Goddess. The creator of all werewolves, the source of our power, the divine being my ancestors had worshipped for millennia.

And she was standing right in front of me.

"I don't understand," I said, my voice shaking as I began to panic. "Why are you here? Why can I see you?"

"Because you are the last, Calla. The last moonkeeper of this age." Selvarra's expression grew more serious. "And because the time has come to correct the mistakes I made long ago."

Before I could ask what she meant, memories of the battle flooded back. Axel broken and bleeding on the ground. Blake standing triumphant with that horrible smile. My pack suffering under his psychic attacks.

Panic surged through me. "I have to get back to them! Blake is going to kill them all, and it's my fault. If I hadn't existed, if I wasn't what I am—"

"Peace, child." Selvarra's voice carried an authority that made my frantic thoughts quiet instantly. "Your mate and pack are strong. They will survive a few more minutes while we speak."

"But Blake—"

"Blake is a symptom, not the disease. The real problem runs much deeper." Selvarra began walking in a slow circle around me, her bare feet making no sound in this strange white space. "Listen carefully, Calla, for what I'm about to tell you will change everything you think you know about your world."

I nodded, trying to focus despite my desperation to return to the battle.

"Long ago, before humans populated this earth in great numbers, I walked among them as both goddess and guardian. I was whole then - vampire and werewolf united in one being. I had the wolves' connection to nature and the moon, and the vampires' power over blood and mind."

My eyes widened as I tried to process what she was saying. "You were both? But vampires and werewolves hate each other."

"Because I made a terrible mistake." Selvarra's beautiful face twisted with ancient regret. "Humans were growing in number and strength. Some worshipped me, but many more feared what I represented - a being with power over both life and death, nature and blood. They began to reject the old ways, turning away from the natural world I embodied and were killing the natural world in their greed."

She stopped walking and faced me directly. "I thought I could help them by walking among them more closely, but my true form was too overwhelming. So I decided to split my nature and give portions of it to worthy humans who could guide their people more gently."

"And the others?"

"I gave them the vampire's gifts - immortality, power, the ability to influence human minds and guide their civilizations. I thought they would work together, wolves and vampires, to shepherd humanity into a better future."

The sadness in her voice was heartbreaking. "But it went wrong."

"Catastrophically wrong. The two halves of my nature, separated and incomplete, began to see each other as enemies. The wolves viewed vampires as unnatural predators. The vampires saw wolves as primitive beasts. Instead of working together, they went to war."

I thought about all the violence I'd witnessed, all the hatred between the supernatural races. "So you created the moonkeepers to fix it?"

Selvarra nodded, her red eyes shimmering with unshed tears. "Another mistake born from desperation. I created werewolves who carried pieces of my original nature - the ability to bridge the gap between wolf and vampire, to resist compulsion, to dreamwalk between both worlds."

"But we were hunted to extinction."

"Because both sides feared you. Werewolves saw moonkeepers as too close to vampire nature. Vampires saw you as weapons that could be turned against them. Instead of bringing peace, I created another target for their hatred."

The weight of this history settled on my shoulders like a crushing burden. Centuries of war, death, and suffering - all stemming from one goddess's well-intentioned mistakes.

"I've tried to fix this for millennia," Selvarra continued. "But every attempt only made things worse. watching each supernatural race, trying to guide specific leaders, even attempting to remove myself from the equation entirely. Nothing worked."

I looked into her ancient, sad eyes and felt my heart breaking for her. "So what am I supposed to do? How can I possibly fix something that even a goddess can't solve?"

For the first time since appearing, Selvarra truly smiled. The expression transformed her face, showing glimpses of the power and love that had created entire species.

"Because you, my last daughter, are different from all who came before. You have experienced both sides - the love of a werewolf pack and the hatred of vampires. You have been hunted, tortured, and nearly destroyed, yet you still choose to sacrifice yourself for others."

She reached out and placed her hand over my heart. The touch sent warmth spreading through my entire being.

"Most importantly, you have something I lost long ago when I split my nature apart. You have the capacity for forgiveness. For mercy toward even those who have wronged you."

"I don't feel very merciful toward Blake right now," I said honestly.

"And yet, given the chance, would you choose to become like him? Would you embrace cruelty and domination to defeat him?"

I thought about it seriously. The temptation was there - to let Blake's evil justify becoming something monstrous myself. But even imagining it made me feel sick.

"No," I said quietly. "I won't become what I hate."

"That is why you are the key, Calla. That is why, after all these millennia of failure and regret, I finally have hope."

My heart was pounding as I sensed her building toward something momentous. "What do you need me to do?"

Selvarra's expression grew solemn, and when she spoke, her words carried the weight of destiny itself.

"There is only one way to end it all."