CHAPTER 39: THE ELDER’S SECRET

Elder Iris POV

When I heard steps behind the cave, I put down my walking stick. It hurt like it hadn’t hurt in fifty years, my heart. Those weren’t tamed lions coming after us; I knew those dogs could walk anywhere.

"Caleb?" I whispered it, almost afraid to believe it.

The young wolf came out of the cave through the back door, but something was very wrong. His silver-blue eyes went back and forth between being normal and that awful controlled light. He was using all of his strength to fight the mind control at all costs.

"Elder Iris!" he screamed and fell to his knees. "I can’t..." I can’t hold it much longer. The First Shadow’s power is getting stronger."

All fifteen of us pressed deeper into the cave as Caleb crawled inside. Blood dripped from his nose from the effort of fighting the control. I’d seen this before, decades ago, and it meant only one thing - we were running out of time.

"Where’s Lily?" Brock ordered, grabbing his brother’s shoulders.

"Safe," Caleb panted. "Hidden where even I don’t know. She made me forget the spot before the control took hold again. Smart girl."

Aiden knelt beside his brother. "How long can you fight it?"

"Minutes, maybe less." Caleb’s eyes flashed bright for a second before returning to normal. "The First Shadow isn’t just controlling our pack anymore. He’s joining all the controlled wolves across the country. Building an army."

The cave fell silent except for the sound of controlled pack members still calling from the front entry. My hands shook as I realized what this meant. I’d hoped we’d have more time, but the signs were all there.

"This is it," I whispered. "The darkest hour."

"What are you talking about?" Sarah asked, holding her children closer.

I looked around at the scared faces of our little group. These brave wolves had trusted me to guide them, but I’d been keeping the biggest secret of all. My chest burned where an old mark had faded long ago, a mark I thought would never matter again.

"There’s something I never told anyone," I said, my voice shaking. "Something I’ve kept hidden for fifty years."

Tom stepped forward. "Elder Iris, whatever it is can wait. We need to figure out how to help Caleb."

"No," I said strongly. "This can’t wait another second. Because what’s happening to Caleb, what’s happening to our pack - I’ve seen it all before."

I pushed up the sleeve of my old sweater with shaky fingers. Where the skin was wrinkled and spotted with age, a faint silver pattern showed. Three crescent moons, barely noticeable but still there after all these years.

"I was the Triple Moon bearer before Lily," I said quietly.

The gasps echoed through the cave. Even Caleb, fighting the mind control, stared at me in shock.

"That’s impossible," Aiden breathed. "Triple Moon bearers are meant to be special. Chosen. You’re just..."

"Just an omega who worked in the kitchens?" I finished for him. "Yes, I was. Exactly like Lily. Exactly like every Triple Moon bearer throughout history."

Brock shook his head. "But the stories say Triple Moon carriers bring peace and balance. If you had the mark, why is our pack still run by alphas?"

My heart ached as I remembered those terrible days fifty years ago. "Because I failed."

The cave went dead quiet except for Caleb’s heavy breathing as he fought the control that was trying to drag him back.

"I was eighteen, just like Lily," I continued. "The mark emerged during a crisis - rogues had attacked three packs, controlled by something dark and powerful. Sound familiar?"

"The First Shadow?" Sarah whispered.

"His predecessor," I said. "The evil that threatens the wolf world doesn’t die - it just finds new hosts. And it always comes back when wolves forget that we’re stronger together than apart."

Elder memory flooded back. The fear, the confusion, the weight of duty I wasn’t ready for. "I had three possible mates too. Strong, handsome alpha brothers who were meant to court me. But when the time came to choose, when the pack needed me to step up and join everyone..."

I closed my eyes, the old shame burning in my chest. "I ran away."

"What?" Tom said. "But you’ve lived here your whole life."

"I came back years later, when it was too late. The dark wolf had been stopped by others, but the damage was done. The chance for balance was lost. I spent the next fifty years watching our pack grow more and more split, knowing it was my fault."

Caleb suddenly screamed, holding his head as his eyes blazed bright. "He’s coming! The First Shadow knows where we are!"

Outside, the fake friendly sounds of Marcus and David had stopped. Instead, we heard the emotionless march of many feet circling our cave.

"Twenty years I waited," I continued desperately, "hoping another Triple Moon holder would appear. When Lily’s mark showed, I thought I could guide her to succeed where I failed."

"And now?" Aiden asked.

I looked at Caleb, whose human mind was losing the fight against the supernatural control. "Now the darkness is stronger than ever because I gave it fifty extra years to grow."

The footsteps outside stopped. Through the cave opening, a voice spoke - not Marcus or David, but something cold and ancient and terrible.

"Come out, little dogs. Your elder has already failed once. Why make her watch you all die for her mistakes?"

My blood turned to ice. The First Shadow was here, in the flesh, speaking through one of our controlled pack members.

"He knows," I whispered. "He knows what I am. What I was."

"Elder Iris," Brock said quickly, "if you were a Triple Moon bearer, you must know how to fight this."

I shook my head sadly. "I never learned. I was too scared, too young, too worried about what people would think. By the time I found courage, it was too late to matter."

Caleb collapsed, his eyes now forever glowing. When he looked at us, it wasn’t our Caleb anymore.

"Hello, old friend," the First Shadow spoke through Caleb’s mouth, smiling with someone else’s cruel face. "I’ve been looking forward to finishing what we started fifty years ago."

The controlled Caleb stood up slowly, his moves too fluid, too graceful. "You cost me greatly when you ran away, Iris. I had to wait decades for another Triple Moon child to appear. But this time, I’ll make sure there are no delays."

My worst fear was coming true. Not only had I failed fifty years ago, but now my failure was going to destroy the only hope our world had left.

"Where is the girl?" the First Shadow asked through Caleb.

I lifted my chin, finding strength I thought I’d lost long ago. "I’ll never tell you."

"Oh, you will," he said, and Caleb’s familiar face twisted into something terrible. "Because I’m going to use these people you’ve been guarding to make you talk. Starting with the children."

The First Shadow looked straight at Sarah’s two young cubs, and his smile was the most terrifying thing I’d ever seen.

That’s when I realized the awful truth - he hadn’t just come for Lily. He’d come for me. The failed Triple Moon bearer who’d hidden her shame for fifty years.

And now everyone I cared about was going to pay for my old weakness.