Chapter 161 THE GIRL WHO CAME BEFORE THE MOON
The fortress trembled beneath the stranger’s presence.
The figure standing before Amanda looked exactly like her.
Same face.
Same eyes.
Same silver flames.
But something was wrong.
Where Amanda’s power felt alive and warm, the stranger’s aura felt ancient, cold, and endless.
Ethan stepped forward instantly, placing himself in front of Amanda.
“Who are you?” he demanded.
The stranger smiled faintly.
“I am not your enemy,” she said softly.
Her voice echoed through the courtyard like a forgotten song.
She turned her gaze toward Amanda.
“I am what you were before the moon chose you.”
Amanda’s breath caught.
Andrew moved closer to her.
“Amanda,” he said quietly. “Don’t listen to her.”
The stranger tilted her head slightly.
“You still fear the truth,” she said to Andrew.
Her eyes glowed brighter.
“The truth is simple,” she continued. “Amanda is not the first Luna.”
Silence swallowed the world.
Ethan’s eyes widened.
Andrew’s expression darkened.
Amanda felt her heart pounding violently.
“What do you mean?” she asked.
The stranger stepped closer.
With each step, the ground beneath her feet turned pale silver.
“Before the moon created Lunas,” she said calmly, “there was something else.”
She raised her hand slowly.
The air shimmered.
A vision appeared above the courtyard.
They saw a world before wolves.
Before packs.
Before the moon.
A girl stood alone in the darkness, surrounded by silver light.
She was not a Luna.
She was something greater.
“She was called the Origin,” the stranger said.
Amanda stared at the vision, her body trembling.
The girl in the vision looked like her.
“The Origin was not chosen,” the stranger continued. “She was created.”
Andrew clenched his fists.
“Created by who?” he asked.
The stranger looked at him.
“By the gods,” she replied.
Ethan’s voice was low.
“And what happened to her?”
The stranger’s smile faded slightly.
“She was betrayed,” she said.
The vision changed.
The gods surrounded the Origin.
Chains of light bound her body.
They feared her.
So they shattered her existence.
Her soul was divided into fragments.
One fragment became the moon.
One became the first Luna.
One became the Nexus.
And one…
The stranger looked directly at Amanda.
“…became you.”
Amanda felt her knees weaken.
Andrew caught her instantly.
“No,” he whispered.
Amanda shook her head slowly.
“That’s impossible,” she said.
The stranger stepped closer.
Her voice was gentle now.
“You feel it, don’t you?” she asked.
Amanda closed her eyes.
And she felt it.
The moon’s power was not foreign to her.
It was familiar.
Like a memory she had never lived.
Ethan looked at Amanda.
“If this is true,” he said quietly, “then what are you?”
Amanda opened her eyes slowly.
Before she could answer, the stranger spoke for her.
“She is not just the Lost Luna,” she said.
“She is the lost god.”
Silence exploded across the fortress.
At that moment, the moon in the sky cracked.
A line of darkness spread across its surface.
The stranger raised her hand.
“The fragments are waking up,” she said calmly.
“And when they reunite…”
Her eyes locked onto Amanda.
“…you will have to choose.”
Andrew stepped forward urgently.
“Choose what?” he demanded.
The stranger smiled.
“Between becoming a goddess,” she said softly,
“or losing everyone you love.”
The sky darkened completely.
And Amanda felt the moon calling her name.
The cracked moon hung above the Nexus Fortress like a wounded eye.
Its silver light spilled across the courtyard, washing over Amanda’s face.
She felt it again.
That call.
Not from the sky.
But from inside her own blood.
Andrew tightened his grip on her arm.
“Amanda,” he said urgently, “stay with us.”
His voice felt far away.
Ethan stood a few steps ahead, his Alpha aura tense, ready to strike if the stranger moved again.
But the stranger did not move.
She only watched.
As if waiting for something inevitable.
The air suddenly shifted.
A low vibration rippled through the ground.
The walls of the fortress trembled.
The trees beyond the gates bent unnaturally, as if bowing to an unseen force.
Ethan’s eyes narrowed.
“It’s coming,” he said.
Before anyone could ask what, the ground split open.
A crack tore through the courtyard like lightning striking stone.
From the darkness below, silver light poured out.
And then something emerged.
Not a wolf.
Not a human.
Not a god.
It was a child.
A little girl with silver hair and empty eyes.
She floated above the ground, barefoot, her body glowing faintly.
Amanda felt her heart stop.
She knew.
This was another fragment.
The little girl slowly turned her head.
Her gaze locked onto Amanda.
And she smiled.
But the smile was wrong.
“You took my place,” the child said softly.
Her voice echoed like glass breaking.
Andrew stepped forward.
“Stay behind me,” he said to Amanda.
The little girl tilted her head.
“Alpha,” she said curiously. “Do you think you can protect her?”
Her eyes shifted to Ethan.
“And you,” she said calmly, “do you think you can control her?”
Ethan did not answer.
His gaze remained fixed on the child.
Amanda took a step forward.
“No,” she said.
Everyone turned toward her.
She looked at the child fragment.
“I didn’t take anything from you,” Amanda said softly.
The child laughed quietly.
“You exist,” she replied. “That is enough.”
The air grew colder.
The stranger who looked like Amanda finally spoke again.
“This fragment is called the Hollow,” she said.
“The Hollow?” Andrew repeated.
“Yes,” the stranger said. “She is the part of the Origin that was never allowed to feel love.”
Amanda felt her chest tighten.
The child fragment raised her hand slowly.
The ground beneath her turned black.
Shadows spread across the courtyard like poison.
Ethan’s aura flared.
“Warriors!” he shouted.
Wolves rushed into the courtyard, surrounding the fragment.
The child looked around them with mild curiosity.
“So many wolves,” she said softly.
Then she snapped her fingers.
The shadows exploded.
The wolves were thrown backward violently, crashing into walls and pillars.
Cries filled the night.
Andrew cursed under his breath.
“She’s too strong,” he said.
Amanda stepped forward again.
“Amanda, don’t!” Andrew warned.
But she did not stop.
She walked toward the Hollow.
Every step felt heavier than the last.
The child watched her approach.
“Why do you walk toward me?” she asked.
Amanda stopped a few steps away.
“Because you are part of me,” she said.
The Hollow’s eyes widened slightly.
For the first time, her expression changed.
“Part of you?” she repeated.
“Yes,” Amanda said gently.
She lifted her hand slowly.
Silver flames appeared, but they did not burn.
They glowed softly.
Like warmth.
The Hollow stared at the flames.
Something inside her trembled.
She reached out slowly.
Her fingers almost touched the silver fire.
For a moment, the shadows around her weakened.
Andrew felt hope rise in his chest.
But the stranger’s voice suddenly cut through the air.
“Do not forget who you are,” she said to the Hollow.
The child froze.
Her eyes darkened again.
The shadows surged violently.
Amanda felt a sharp pain in her chest.
She staggered backward.
Andrew caught her instantly.
The Hollow lifted her hand.
The silver flames around Amanda shattered.
The child looked at Amanda with cold eyes.
“You cannot save me,” she said.
Then she looked at Andrew.
“And you cannot save her.”
Before anyone could react, the Hollow disappeared.
The shadows vanished with her.
Silence fell.
The courtyard was ruined.
The moon above cracked further.
Amanda’s body trembled.
She felt it clearly now.
The fragments were not just waking up.
They were hunting her.
The stranger turned slowly toward Amanda.
Her voice was calm.
“This was only the first fragment,” she said.
Amanda swallowed hard.
“How many are left?” she asked.
The stranger looked up at the broken moon.
“Three,” she replied.
Andrew’s expression darkened.
Ethan clenched his fists.
Amanda closed her eyes slowly.
She understood something terrifying.
The prophecy was not about her becoming the Luna.
It was about her surviving herself
Suddenly, Ethan’s voice cut through the silence.
“Amanda,” he said sharply.
She opened her eyes.
He was staring at her with shock.
Her reflection appeared in the broken stone beside her.
And for a brief moment…
her eyes were no longer silver.
They were black.
Like the Hollow’s.
Amanda froze.
Because she felt it.
One fragment had already entered her.