Chapter 9: Memories in Moonlight

Emma's POV

The woman pretending to be my mother reached out to touch my face, and the world exploded into silver light.

"Emma!" Kai's voice sounded like it was coming from underwater as I fell to my knees.

But I wasn't in the valley anymore. I was floating above an old forest under a full moon that seemed close enough to touch. Everything looked different - older, wilder, more magical.

Below me, hundreds of werewolves gathered in a huge clearing. But these weren't like the current werewolves I'd met. These wolves were bigger, their eyes glowed brighter, and power radiated from them like heat from a fire.

"The First Pack," a voice said beside me.

I turned to see a beautiful woman with silver hair and golden eyes. She looked like the woman who'd claimed to be my mother, but younger and sadder.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"I'm you," she said simply. "Or rather, who you were before."

"Before what?"

"Before the war that broke everything."

The scene below us changed, and suddenly the peaceful gathering erupted into chaos. Werewolves were fighting each other with bite and claw, their howls of rage echoing across the forest.

"Why are they fighting?" I asked, my heart breaking as I watched dogs who should have been family tearing each other apart.

"Because of a choice I made," my past self said sadly. "A choice you'll have to make again."

The view changed, and now I was standing in a golden palace that seemed to be made of moonlight itself. A tall woman with a crown of stars sat on a throne, and I knew immediately this was the Moon Goddess.

"My daughter," the Moon Goddess said, and her voice was like music, "the werewolves need your help."

My past self - I was really trying to understand all this - knelt before the throne. "What's wrong, Mother?"

"They've forgotten how to live in peace. The stronger packs are enslaving the lesser ones. Innocent dogs are dying every day."

"How can I help them?"

The Moon Goddess stood, and stars swirled around her. "You must go to the human world and choose a mate from among the werewolves. Whoever you choose will become the Alpha King, with power to join all the packs."

"That seems easy enough," my past self said.

The Moon Goddess's face grew sad. "It won't be easy, my child. The power needed to rule will change whoever gets it. And once you make your choice, you can never come home."

"Never?"

"The magic that creates an Alpha King takes a permanent sacrifice. You would become mortal, living and dying as people do."

My past self didn't pause. "If it saves innocent lives, I'll do it."

The vision changed again, and now I was back in the ancient forest. But this time, I was seeing through my past self's eyes, experiencing her memories as if they were my own.

I felt the intense love I had for the werewolves, how their pain became my pain. I felt the crushing weight of picking someone to give ultimate power to, knowing it would change them forever.

And then I saw him.

A young werewolf with dark hair and kind eyes who spent his time protecting the weak instead of controlling them. His name was Aldric, and when he looked at me, I felt a bond deeper than anything I'd ever experienced.

"He's the one," I whispered, putting my hand over his heart.

Power flowed between us, just like it had with Kai in the clearing. But something went wrong.

The power was too much, too fast. Instead of making Aldric smart and just, it drove him mad with the need to control everything. Within days, he was conquering packs by force, enslaving any wolf who resisted him.

"Stop!" I begged him. "This isn't what the power was meant for!"

But Aldric couldn't hear me anymore. The Alpha King power had eaten who he used to be, leaving only hunger for more control.

In despair, I did the only thing I could think of. I took the power back.

The moment I recovered the Alpha King magic, every werewolf in the world felt it. The sudden loss of their absolute boss threw the packs into chaos. They split into factions, each claiming to be the true heirs to Aldric's power.

The war lasted for decades. By the time it ended, the united werewolf country was shattered into hundreds of separate packs, many of them enemies.

"I destroyed everything I tried to save," my past self said as the picture began to fade.

"But why?" I asked desperately. "Why did the power corrupt him?"

"Because mortals aren't meant to have that much control over others," she replied. "The Alpha King magic doesn't create leaders - it creates tyrants."

The vision faded, and I was back in Haven Valley, gasping for breath. The woman who looked like my mother was holding my shoulders, her face wet with tears.

"You remember now," she said softly.

"Sarah?" Magnus's voice was filled with shock. "How are you alive?"

"I never died," Sarah answered, not taking her eyes off me. "I faked my death and went into hiding when I realized what Emma would face."

"What I would face?" I asked, my head still spinning from the images.

"The same choice I made centuries ago," Sarah said. "The forecast is repeating itself, Emma. You're going to have to choose a mate to become the new Alpha King."

"But the visions showed me what happens when someone gets that power," I argued. "It corrupts them!"

"Exactly," Sarah said sadly. "That's why I've spent the last twenty years trying to find another way."

"Did you find one?" Kai asked hopefully.

Sarah's face fell. "No. The magic is sure. There's no way to make an Alpha King without risking corruption."

"So what do I do?" I asked, fear rising in my chest.

"You could refuse to choose," Magnus offered. "But then the werewolf world stays broken forever."

"Or you could choose someone you trust and hope for the best," Sarah added. "But risk turning them into a monster."

My heart was breaking. Either way, people would suffer because of my choice. Either way, I would fail just like I had ages ago.

That's when little Luna spoke up from where she'd been quietly listening.

"The animals are telling me something else," she said in her tiny voice.

"What now?" Jake asked.

Luna's eyes went wide with fear. "They say the Shadow Beast isn't the only one that answered Emma's signal. Something much worse is coming."

"Worse how?" Kai demanded.

"The animals call it the Void Walker," Luna whispered. "And it doesn't just eat magical energy. It eats memories."

Magnus went pale. "A Void Walker? But they were all destroyed in the last interdimensional fight."

"Apparently not," Sarah said sadly. "And if it reaches Emma while she's in this state, it won't just steal her memories."

"What will it do?" I asked, though I was afraid of the answer.

Sarah's voice was barely a whisper. "It will steal her soul, and every life she's ever touched will be erased from existence."

In the distance, something howled - but this wasn't a werewolf howl. This was the sound of silence itself, hungry and getting closer.