CHAPTER 131: ANCIENT BETRAYAL

Void Walker Leader POV

The moment the god-versions of Lily began breaking through reality itself, I knew our time was up. My name was once Marcus - not the Alpha Marcus these wolves knew, but another version from the very first timeline that ever existed. Now I was just the Void Walker Leader, and I had seconds to tell the truth before everything ended.

"Stop!" I shouted, stepping between the collapsing cave walls and the frightened group. "Let me show you what really happened!"

I pressed my gray hands against the nearest cave wall, and the old symbols began to glow. The whispers of failed timelines fell silent as my memories poured into the stone, forming pictures that everyone could see.

"Long ago, before any of your worlds existed, we were the Guardians of Reality," I began, my voice shaking with pain I’d carried for countless years. "We weren’t monsters. We were guards."

The pictures on the wall showed beautiful beings of light, tending to the space between dimensions like gardeners caring for flowers. We had been happy then, working together to keep all the different worlds safe and linked.

"I had a family," I continued, touching one image that showed a younger version of myself playing with children made of stars. "We all did. We were given the job of watching over every timeline, making sure they stayed fair."

Lily stepped closer, her eyes wide. "What happened to them?"

"The beings you call the Moon Goddess, the one who gives you your mate marks and powers - she wasn’t always alone," I said, feeling old anger burn in my chest. "There used to be many like her. They called themselves the First Ones."

The images shifted to show magnificent beings that looked like live constellations, beautiful and terrible at the same time.

"They created the system of wolves, werewolves, mates, and packs," I stated. "But they needed someone to keep it across all the different timelines. That’s where we came in."

"You worked for them?" Caleb asked.

"We trusted them," I corrected angrily. "For thousands of years, we kept the balance. When one era started to affect another, we fixed it. When reality started to tear, we mended it. We thought we were partners."

The cave shook again as the god-versions of Lily grew closer, but I had to finish my story.

"Then something changed," I said, showing new pictures of the First Ones meeting in secret. "The First Ones grew tired of keeping so many worlds. They wanted to simplify things, to bring all the countless timelines down to just one perfect world."

"What’s wrong with that?" Sage asked.

"Because they planned to destroy every other timeline to do it," I said, my voice cracking with ancient sadness. "Billions of lives, infinite possibilities, all erased so they could have one neat, controllable world."

The images showed the Guardians discovering this plan, the horror on our faces as we realized what our employers planned.

"We tried to stop them," I continued. "We thought if we could just explain how wrong it was, they would listen. We were stupid."

The pictures on the wall turned dark, showing a great fight between the Guardians and the First Ones. But it wasn’t a fair fight.

"They used our own power against us," I said, feeling a scar on my gray neck. "The link that let us tend to reality became a curse. They twisted it, changed us from guardians into something that would hunger for the very thing we used to guard."

"The connections between timelines," Elder Iris breathed, understanding.

"Yes," I nodded. "They made us crave what we could no longer have. Made us into monsters that would tear holes between worlds, trying desperately to find our way back to what we lost."

Lily’s face was full of pity. "That’s horrible."

"But the worst part," I said, showing the final pictures, "was what they did to our families. They didn’t just kill them - they spread their souls across every timeline that would ever exist, making sure we could never find them again."

The dead Caleb who had revealed himself earlier stepped forward. "That’s why we’ve been looking through dimensions. We’re not just trying to get home - we’re trying to find the people we love."

"And that’s why the Void King - the god-version of you - is so dangerous," I told Lily quickly. "She found out the truth. She knows that the Moon Goddess isn’t the kind caretaker wolves think she is. She’s one of the last First Ones, still trying to finish the plan to reduce everything to one perfect timeline."

The news hit the group like a thunderbolt. Their own Moon Goddess, the source of their mate bonds and pack magic, was actually their enemy.

"But if that’s true," Aiden said slowly, "then everything we believe about our world is a lie."

"Not everything," I said quickly. "The love you feel for each other, the ties between mates and pack members - those are real. But the system controlling them was intended to make wolves easier to manage when the time came to destroy all the other timelines."

"So the Void King is trying to stop this?" Lily asked.

"In the worst possible way," I responded. "She’s destroying timelines herself, but she’s doing it to prevent the Moon Goddess from finishing her plan. She thinks if she destroys everything first, at least she’ll have power over it."

The cave walls began to crack more violently as multiple strong presences drew near.

"They’re almost here," Original Caleb warned.

"There’s more," I said desperately. "The Moon Goddess has been changing your timeline specifically. She’s been testing different versions of events, trying to find the perfect combination that will let her finish the great reduction."

"Testing how?" Caleb demanded.

"By making sure certain people fall in love, certain bonds form, certain powers awaken," I said, looking straight at Lily. "Your Triple Moon Mark isn’t just about bringing balance to your pack. It’s about building a power source strong enough to fuel the destruction of every other timeline."

Lily stumbled backward. "No. That can’t be true."

"The love you feel is real," I told her quickly. "But it’s been guided, shaped, manipulated to serve a purpose you never knew about."

Suddenly, the cave filled with bright light as the god-versions of Lily burst through the walls. But they weren’t alone. With them came a figure of pure stars that made everyone fall to their knees just from looking at her.

The Moon Goddess herself had arrived.

"My dear Guardians," she said in a voice like singing crystal, looking at us Void Walkers with mock sadness. "Still telling stories, I see."

"They’re not stories," I growled, though I couldn’t stand up under the weight of her presence. "Tell them the truth!"

The Moon Goddess smiled, and it was beautiful and terrible. "The truth? The truth is that reality is messy and confusing and needs to be fixed. These children understand that, don’t you?"

She pointed to the god-versions of Lily, who nodded in perfect synchronization.

"We’ve been cleaning up the mess you Guardians made when you failed in your duties," the Moon Goddess continued. "Soon, there will be only one perfect world, where no one suffers, no one dies, no one has to make difficult choices."

"Because no one will have any choices at all," I spat.

The Moon Goddess’s face didn’t change, but the temperature in the cave dropped to freezing. "Exactly."

She turned to the current timeline’s Lily, who was still trying to process everything she’d learned.

"My dear child," the Moon Goddess said gently, "it’s time to join your other selves. Time to help us finish what we started so long ago."

Lily looked at me, then at Caleb, then at the god-versions of herself who waited with empty, perfect smiles.

"And if I refuse?" she asked softly.

The Moon Goddess’s smile never trembled, but her words sent ice through everyone’s hearts.

"Then we’ll simply start over with a new version of you who will say yes."