Chapter 115 The Awakening
Lira pov
The silence in my head was deafening. I stood at the temple altar, dawn light washing over assembled pack members, and felt the absence like a physical wound, no second voice. No gentle wisdom. Just me.
"Lira." Kael's hand tightened on my shoulder. "Are you sure you're alright?"
"I'm whole." The words felt strange on my tongue. "Just... different."
Aria pushed through the crowd, her healer's instincts on high alert. She reached for my wrist, fingers finding my pulse.
"Your heartbeat is stronger." Her eyes widened. "Steadier, like two hearts became one."
"That's exactly what happened." I touched my chest, feeling Selwyn's essence settled deep inside. "She didn't disappear, she merged with me completely."
Thomas stepped forward, his expression cautious. "Can you still shift?"
I closed my eyes, reaching for that familiar sensation of transformation but found only stillness, no separate wolf to call forth.
"No." I opened my eyes, meeting their stares. "That ability is gone. But her strength remains, her power.”
"So you're really wolfless again." Marcus' voice dripped with disdain from the back of the crowd. "The cursed Luna returns to her true nature."
Kael snarled, moving to confront him, but I caught his arm.
"Let me." I stepped off the altar, walking toward Marcus with steady purpose. "Are you not supposed to be in your pack, I know your father once served the Thorn family but you chose to move to another pack, so I don’t understand why Darkfang issues should concern you, I have been lenient and allowed you to participate in Darkfang matter, also just so you know I overheard ur discussion in the forest concerning the poison”
Marcus faces goes pale as he realizes that i know he has been two timing both packs.
“ But don’t worry I would save you the stress, from today you are bannned from participating in pack matters, also so you know you are right, I can't shift anymore. But I'm not wolfless." I raised my hand as moonfire erupted from my palm, controlled and brilliant. The flames danced across my fingers without burning.
"I'm something more." The fire spread up my arm, illuminating the temple. "Selwyn gave me everything. Made me complete in a way that doesn't need transformation."
Marcus stumbled backward, fear visible in his eyes. "Dark magic"
"Light magic." Aria corrected sharply. She touched the moonfire and gasped. "It's pure healing magic, I can feel it."
I closed my fist, extinguishing the flames. "Selwyn sacrificed herself to end the dark magic permanently. No more curses. No more resurrections now the threat is gone forever."
"Convenient timing." A female voice cut through the murmurs as she leaned against a pillar, arms crossed. "Your wolf dies right when you need to prove your power?"
"My wolf died to save yours." I turned to face her. "To save Fenris. To save every wolf spirit the dark magic would've eventually consumed. Including yours."
She flinched but didn't respond.
Kael moved beside me, his presence solid and grounding. "The pack owes Selwyn a debt that can never be repaid. We honor her sacrifice with our survival."
"We honor her by living." I said gently. "By being worthy of what she gave us."
The pack began murmuring. Some in agreement while others in fear.
"But how do we know the curse is truly gone?" A young wolf named Jasper asked. "How do we know this isn't just dormant again?"
"Because I can feel it." Aria stepped forward, addressing the crowd. "As pack healer, I sense the energy of our lands. The sickness is gone. The blight is retreating and life is returning."
Thomas nodded slowly. "The western border. I checked it this morning. The trees that were dying? They're budding. Growing green again."
"Impossible." An elder shook his head. "That land has been cursed for months."
"Not anymore." I walked toward the temple entrance, gesturing for the pack to follow. "Come, see for yourselves."
We filed outside. Dawn light revealed what darkness had hidden, the pack lands were healing.
Trees that had been bare and twisted were growing leaves. Grass pushed through dead earth. Even the air smelled fresher, cleaner.
"By the Moon Goddess." Selene appeared beside me, her ancient eyes wide. "The purification worked, it truly worked."
"More than worked." Darion emerged from the forest, carrying an injured wolf over his shoulders. "It spread, my territory. The curse is lifting there too."
Aria rushed forward to examine the wounded wolf. "What happened?"
"He was dying from curse-sickness." Darion laid him gently on the ground. "Madness and violence, I brought him here hoping you could ease his passing."
I knelt beside the wolf. His eyes were wild, foam at his mouth. His body convulsed with unnatural spasms.
"Lira." Kael's warning was gentle. "You just returned from the spirit realm, you need rest."
"I need to try." I placed my hands on the wolf's chest. "Selwyn gave me her power for a reason."
The healing came easier this time. It flowed from my palms into the wounded wolf, light spreading through his veins.
He screamed. Thrashed as Kael and Thomas had to hold him down.
"I can see it." My voice sounded distant to my own ears. "Dark magic. It's fragmenting, breaking apart."
The wolf's screams turned to whimpers. His convulsions slowed as the madness faded from his eyes. Finally, he went still.
Aria checked his pulse. "He's breathing but sleeping. The curse-sickness is... gone."
I pulled my hands back, exhausted as my powers flickered out.
"How?" Darion dropped to his knees. "I've tried everything. Every healer, every ritual but nothing worked."
"Selwyn's sacrifice purified the source." I explained, swaying slightly. "Which means I can purify the symptoms and heal what the curse destroyed."
Kael caught me as I stumbled. "That's enough, you need rest."
"No." I straightened, though my legs trembled. "There are others. Other wolves are suffering, I need to help them."
"You need to survive helping them." He lifted me despite my protests. "Aria, prepare the healing chambers. Anyone affected by curse-sickness comes to the packhouse immediately."
"On it." She took off running.
"I can walk." I protested weakly.
"You can barely stand." He carried me toward the packhouse. "Let me take care of you for once."
I wanted to argue, and wanted to prove I didn't need coddling.
But exhaustion crashed over me like a wave. Using Selwyn's power without her guidance was draining in ways I didn't understand yet. "Just for a moment." I rested my head against his chest. "Then I have work to do."
"Then we have work to do." He corrected me. "Together as it should be."
Behind us, I heard the pack gathering. Organizing. Bringing the sick and wounded.
"They're afraid of me." I said quietly. "More than before. Because they don't understand what I've become."
"They're in awe of you." Kael's voice was firm. "There's a difference. You just healed the impossible. Prove Selwyn's sacrifice meant something."
"It meant everything." I closed my eyes. "But I miss her voice. Miss her presence beside me instead of inside me."
"I know." He kissed my forehead. "But you'll learn to feel her differently."
We reached the packhouse. Aria had already converted the main hall into a healing ward. Wolves lined up, hope and fear mixing in their expressions.
"I'll rest for one hour." I told Kael. "Then I'm healing everyone who needs it."
"Two hours." He negotiated. "And you eat first. Not just bread and water."
"Fine." I was too tired to argue. "Two hours then we save them all."
He carried me upstairs to his chambers. Our chambers now, I supposed.
But as he laid me on the bed, I saw something in his expression that made my stomach twist. "What?" I caught his hand. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing." He pulled away too quickly. "Rest. I'll bring food."
"Kael." I sat up despite my exhaustion. "Don't shut me out. Not now, not after everything."
He paused at the door, his back to me. "I nearly killed you. During my madness. I remember it, Lira. Remember every moment."
"You were cursed"
"I was weak." He turned, anguish in his eyes. "I should've been strong enough to resist. Should've protected you instead of nearly destroying you."
"Stop." I stood, crossing to him on shaking legs. "You're not weak. You're not a monster. You're the alpha who helped me break a curse that destroyed generations."
"By hurting you." His voice cracked. "I put my hands around your throat, I tried to"
"But you didn't." I cupped his face, forcing him to meet my eyes. "You came back, fought through the madness and chose me over darkness."
He pulled me close, burying his face in my hair. "I don't deserve forgiveness."
"Lucky for you." I held him tight. "I'm not giving you a choice."
We stood there, two broken people holding each other up. "Two hours." Kael finally said. "Then we face whatever comes next."
"Together." I agreed.
He kissed me softly like I was something precious he'd nearly lost. When he pulled back, his eyes held a question I wasn't ready to answer.
But before either of us could speak, a commotion erupted from downstairs. We ran to the hallway. Below, pack members were backing away from the entrance in horror.
A figure stood in the doorway. Tall, imposing and radiating power that made my skin crawl.
"Hello, cousin." Elias Thornfield smiled coldly at Kael. "I heard you've been having some... difficulties, I'm here to help."