The voice from the storm clouds shook the world.
Lyra's knees hit the ground as divine strength pressed down on her like a mountain. The cursed river boiled. Trees groaned and twisted.
Even Kade dropped to one knee, his Alpha strength useless against whatever was speaking.
Only Alina stayed standing, her silver eyes glowing with joy.
"She's here," Alina whispered. "The Moon Goddess is here."
Moon Goddess. The words rang in Lyra's mind like a death sentence. The maker of all werewolves. The one who chose mates and fates and destinies.
The one who obviously thought Lyra was a mistake. "Rise, little wolf," the voice ordered.
"We have much to discuss."
Lyra forced herself to stand, her legs shaking. Above them, the storm clouds swirled faster, making the shape of a woman's face. Beautiful and terrible and old beyond measure.
"You're angry," the Moon Goddess noted.
"Good. Anger makes you strong."
"What do you want?" Lyra wanted.
"To explain. To apologize. To give you a choice."
"I don't want your apologies!"
"No?
Then what do you want?" The question hung in the air like a trap. What did she want? Her sister back? Her mate's love? Her father's forgiveness? Her old life returned?
"I want the truth," she said eventually.
"Truth is dangerous, child. Are you certain?"
"Yes." The Moon Goddess smiled, and starlight fell like rain.
"Very well. The truth is this: your sister was picked before she was born. Marked for greatness. Destined to become my vessel and mate to the strongest Alpha in the northern regions."
"Kade," Lyra whispered.
"Yes. He was made from childhood to love her. His dreams, his wants, his very soul crafted to fit hers perfectly."
"Then why is he mated to me?"
"Because you interfered." The words hit like a physical blow.
"How?" "When you fell in the evil river, you crossed between worlds. You took power that was meant for your sister. You changed the course of fate itself." Lyra's mind reeled.
"You're saying I stole her destiny?"
"I'm saying you broke the plan. Created chaos where there should have been order. Forced me to improvise."
"So you let everyone think she was dead?"
"I took her to train. To prepare. To become what she needed to be." The Moon Goddess's voice relaxed.
"But you... you were the surprise. The thing I couldn't control."
"Because I wasn't supposed to exist?"
"Because you were supposed to die." The truth felt like ice in her blood.
"In the river."
"Yes. The curse was meant to take you, not save you. But something went wrong. Something protected you."
"What?"
"That, my dear, is the question that has haunted me for ten years." Lyra looked at Kade, who was looking at her with new understanding.
At Alina, whose perfect face showed no feeling. At the moving clouds above that held a goddess's attention.
"What happens now?" she asked.
"Now you choose. Accept your fate and step away. Let your sister have what was always meant to be hers. I'll even be nice I'll find you another mate. Someone fit for what you are."
"And what am I?"
"A mistake that could become a miracle. If you're brave enough."
"And if I refuse?" The temperature dropped twenty degrees. "Then you force me to correct my mistake. Permanently." Threat and promise wrapped in holy words.
Lyra felt the weight of cosmic attention pushing down on her, demanding submission. But her wolf growled in defiance. "I won't step aside," she said.
"Even knowing the pain it will cause? Even knowing he'll never truly love you while she exists?" Lyra's heart cracked, but she held her ground.
"Even then."
"Foolish child.
You choose pain over peace?" "I choose fighting over surrender."
The Moon Goddess laughed, the sound like breaking stars.
"Magnificent. Absolutely amazing. I wondered if you had it in you."
"Had what?"
"The fire that burns down worlds. The fury that reshapes fate. The courage to tell a goddess no."
Confusion swirled through Lyra's mind.
"I don't understand."
"You were never meant to step aside, child. This whole conversation was a test."
"A test?" "To see if you had the strength to fight fate itself. To see if you were worthy of the power sleeping in your DNA."
"What power?"
"The power to break my rules. To shatter holy law. To become something I never meant to create." The clouds above began to shift, showing glimpses of fights fought between gods and mortals. Ancient wars that shook the roots of reality.
"What am I?" Lyra whispered.
"You are the Moonbane. The one predicted to either destroy me or redeem me. The mortal who can question the divine."
"That's impossible."
"Is it?
You've already broken a mate link that should have been unbreakable. You've survived a curse that should have killed you. You've awakened power that doesn't exist in normal werewolves." It was true. Everything she'd done, everything she'd survived, broke the rules of their world.
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Because war is coming. Ancient enemies stir in the void between worlds. I need a tool that can fight what's coming."
"And you think I'm that weapon?" "I think you're the only chance any of us have." The truth crashed over Lyra like a tsunami. She wasn't just a mistake or an accident. She was a threat. A tool shaped by pain and forged in defiance.
"What about Alina?"
"Your sister picked her path. She accepted her job as my vessel, my voice in the mortal world. She is beautiful now, more goddess than girl."
"And Kade?" "Will have to choose. His intended love or his fated mate. Divine beauty or mortal chaos."
Lyra looked at the Alpha who stood frozen between them, his face a mask of pain. She could feel his tension through their bond duty warring with desire, love fighting with loyalty. "How long do I have?" she asked.
"Time moves differently for gods. In mortal terms? Perhaps a year before the enemy comes. Perhaps less."
"And if I refuse to be your weapon?" "Then we all die. Gods and humans alike."
The weight of cosmic duty settled on Lyra's shoulders. Save the world or watch it burn. Become a weapon or stay a victim.
"I need time to think." "Time is a luxury we don't have. But I'll give you what I can." The Moon Goddess's voice began to fade.
"Train. Grow stronger. Learn to use the power in your blood."
"How?" "Your mate will teach you. Won't you, Alpha Fenris?" Kade's head snapped up, his eyes wide with shock.
"What?"
"The girl needs direction. You're the strongest Alpha in the regions. Train her."
"But Seraphina" "Will understand. She serves me above all else, including her own wants."
Alina's beautiful face cracked slightly, showing a glimpse of the little girl underneath.
"My lady, I thought" "You thought many things. Not all of them correct." The Moon Goddess's attention turned back to Lyra.
"One more thing, child. The power in your genes comes with a price."
"What price?"
"The more you use it, the more you'll change. Become something that's neither fully human nor divine. Something new."
"Something dangerous?"
"Something necessary." The storm clouds began to dissipate, taking the holy presence with them. But the Moon Goddess's final words rang across the clearing like a prophecy.
"Choose wisely, Moonbane. The fate of all worlds rests in your hands." Silence fell like a curtain.
Lyra stood in the aftermath of revelation, her mind spinning with impossible facts.
She was a threat. A fighter. A savior. A mistake that might save everything. She looked at Kade, who was looking at her with something that might have been awe.
At Alina, whose holy mask had slipped to show confusion and hurt.
"Well," Lyra said finally.
"This is awkward." And despite everything the revelations, the threats, the cosmic duty she almost smiled.
Because for the first time in ten years, she wasn't the forgotten kid. She was the one everyone needed.
The question was: would she be strong enough to become what they required?
Or would the power kill her before she could save anyone?
Only time would tell.
But time, as the Moon Goddess had warned, was running out.