Chapter 75 ECHOES OF MORTALITY
DAMIEN'S POV
The moon cracks a second time.
A sharp, splitting sound tears across the sky like the world’s bone snapping under too much weight. The wolves behind me collapse where they stand, paws covering their heads as instinct takes over. Garron stumbles as the earth shivers violently beneath us and swears through clenched teeth, but his voice feels distant.
Everything feels distant.
My entire body goes still.
Frozen.
Anchored.
Alive with a single, devastating certainty.
Selene is there.
Alive.
Awake.
Changing.
Her power rolls through the forest like a tremor of silver light. It touches my skin with a whisper that feels like both warmth and ice. My wolf stiffens so abruptly my breath falters. It is her, yet not. Sharper. Wilder. Touched by something ancient enough to make my heart constrict.
“Alpha,” Garron calls out behind me, his voice tight with fear. “This is getting worse. If the moon breaks again—”
“I know,” I whisper.
I do not wait.
I run.
Branches whip at my arms as I force my way through the forest. Roots grab at my boots. Shadows flicker in the corners of my eyes. The woods groan under the pressure of her awakening. Veins of silver pulse through the moss and bark, turning everything around me into a glowing map that points to her.
Every few steps, the Moonfire screams through the trees. The air bends with it, blistering and sharp. It feels like running into a storm that wants to tear the world apart.
But I keep going. I will always keep going.
For her.
A glow appears ahead of me.
Faint at first.
Pulsing.
Beating like a heart.
Selene.
I slow instinctively, breath sharp and uneven. My wolf whines, caught between terror and hope.
“Careful,” he murmurs in the back of my mind.
I step into the clearing.
My heart stops.
She kneels in the center of cracked stone. Her shoulders tremble. Her hair spills around her like a river of molten silver. Her skin glows faintly, as if light is leaking through the seams of her body. Silver dust floats around her and drifts through the air like living fireflies, rising and falling with her unsteady breaths.
My lungs tighten.
“Selene.”
Her name escapes me like a prayer I have been holding inside my chest for too long.
She lifts her head.
And I break.
Her eyes are silver now. Entirely. No blue. No softness. Only the glow of something divine and burning. Yet beneath that radiance, a flicker remains. Small. Fragile. Human.
Recognition.
“It is really you,” I whisper.
She does not speak. Her fingers dig into the moss, and sparks of light burst beneath them. Her entire body trembles like she is holding back a storm that wants to consume her.
“Damien,” she whispers.
My heart shatters.
I move toward her—
—but the Shadow Wolf leaps between us, lips curled and teeth bared. It growls low and deep, a warning that vibrates the air itself.
“Move,” I order, my Alpha authority rising instinctively.
It does not move.
It plants itself firmly in front of her, protective and loyal, as if I am a threat.
Selene sways and shakes her head weakly. “He is not the enemy.”
The Wolf’s growl softens, but it does not step aside.
I swallow hard and lower my voice. “I am here for you.”
She lets out a fragile breath. “I know.”
Another tremor runs through her body. She clutches her chest. Light pulses violently between her fingers, bright enough to hurt my eyes.
I step forward—
—and a bolt of silver energy lashes out from her.
It hits me square in the chest.
The world tilts. I am thrown backward, crashing into a tree so hard the bark cracks behind me. Pain detonates through my ribs. I gasp for air, vision swimming.
“Damien,” Selene cries, her voice breaking. “No.”
She tries to rise, but her legs buckle. The Wolf nudges her desperately, trying to keep her upright.
I force myself to stand, even though the ground tilts again beneath my feet.
“I am fine,” I manage. “Selene, you did not mean to do that.”
“Yes, I did.”
The words freeze the air.
She looks at her hands, horrified. “I mean… I could not stop it. I felt you, and the power reacted. On its own. Like it wanted to hurt anything that was not…” Her voice breaks before she finishes.
I take a slow step forward. “That was not you.”
She lifts her eyes to mine. They are silver oceans, cracked at the edges.
“How do you know,” she whispers.
“Because I know you.”
Her eyes close and tears spill down her cheeks, glowing like liquid moonlight.
“It is getting worse,” she says. “I can feel pieces of me slipping.”
My heart punches against my ribs. “Then I will steady you.”
“You cannot.” Her voice trembles. “Damien, I touched the Goddess. And she did not leave.”
A cold wave runs through me.
“What does that mean,” I ask.
“She is inside me,” she whispers.
My breath stops.
“She tried to fuse with me,” Selene continues. “I fought her, but she did not let go. She is still there. Whispering. Pushing. Taking parts of me every second.”
The Wolf presses closer to her, protective and grieving.
“I am losing myself,” she says. “Piece by piece.”
“Do not say that,” I rasp.
She tries to smile, but it falters. “I had a choice tonight. Break myself or become her.”
“And you chose yourself,” I say softly.
Her breath stutters. “Yes. But the price was steep. The Moonfire is reshaping me into something I do not recognize.”
I kneel in front of her, close enough that she can see me, far enough that her power cannot strike.
“Selene,” I whisper. “Look at me.”
She lifts her head.
“You are still you.”
“Am I,” she asks. “My reflection moves before I do. My thoughts echo. I can hear the moon humming. I can hear the Goddess breathing. My soul feels like glass cracking apart.”
Every instinct in me screams to hold her, but touching her could trigger another surge.
So I give her the only thing I can.
“My voice. My promise.”
“I will not let you break,” I tell her. “I swear it.”
“You cannot promise that,” she whispers.
“I already did.”
She shakes her head. “If you stay close, I could hurt you.”
“You will never hurt me.”
“You do not know that.”
“Yes,” I say, “I do.”
Her tears spill again. Silver streaks down glowing skin.
“Please,” she whispers. “Do not make me lose you too.”
“I am not going anywhere,” I say, stepping closer. “Not now. Not ever.”
Her breath trembles.
The bond between us quivers like a thread remembering how to sing.
“I do not know how long I will stay me,” she whispers.
My throat tightens.
“Then I will remember for both of us.”
For a moment, she is Selene again.
Soft.
Human.
Hurting.
She reaches for me with a trembling hand that glows faintly, hovering just inches from mine.
“Damien,” she whispers, “what if I become something you cannot love.”
I move closer until her light brushes my skin like warm breath and say gently:
“Then I will love you until you find your way back.”