CHAPTER 61: A MATE’S DESPERATION

Caleb POV

The blast of light from the corrupted Moon Stone threw me backward, but I fought through the blazing pain to keep my eyes on Lily. She was still touching that terrible green stone, her body rigid as silver fire poured from her Triple Moon mark.

"Lily!" I screamed, stumbling toward her. My chest felt like something was being ripped out of it. The mate link – what little was left of it – was stretching thinner and thinner with every second.

I knew I should love this girl. My mind remembered kissing her, holding her, promising to protect her forever. But the feelings were disappearing like a dream I couldn’t quite catch. Soon, she’d be just another person to me. A stranger.

The thought scared me more than dying.

"Don’t do this!" I reached for her, but an unseen barrier around the stone pushed me back. "There has to be another way!"

Lily’s head turned slightly toward me. Her face was pale, her eyes filled with tears. "Caleb, I can feel it working. The evil is fighting back, but the Triple Moon power is stronger. I can save everyone."

"But you’ll lose everything!" My voice cracked. "We’ll lose everything!"

She smiled sadly. "What’s one love compared to millions?"

"It’s OUR love!" I slammed my hands against the invisible barrier. "It’s the most important thing in the world!"

Around us, the fight for every wolf’s soul raged on. Morrigan was pouring more dark magic into her spell, trying to make the corruption permanent before Lily could cleanse it. My brothers fought shadow creatures that kept appearing from the twisted trees. Elder Iris was on her knees, praying to the Moon Goddess with words I couldn’t understand.

But all I could focus on was watching the girl I loved give herself.

"Please," I begged. "Let me help somehow. Let me share the load."

"You can’t," Lily said, her voice getting softer. "The Triple Moon mark is linked to me alone. When it burns out, that tie dies forever."

I felt something break inside my chest. The last thread of our mate bond snapped like a guitar string pulled too tight. Suddenly, looking at Lily felt like looking at a nice girl I’d just met. My mind still remembered our story, but my heart felt nothing.

She gasped, obviously feeling the same thing. "It’s happening faster than I thought," she whispered.

"No, no, no!" I threw myself against the barrier again, but it was like hitting a rock wall. "Fight it! Hold onto our connection!"

"I can’t," she said simply. "But Caleb, even if you can’t feel it anymore, I need you to know something."

Her words hit me like a punch to the gut. She was talking to me like we were already strangers. Like our love was already dead.

"What?" I managed to ask.

"Loving you taught me I was worth something. Before you, I thought I was just a useless omega. You showed me I could be strong, smart, important. Even if you forget loving me, I’ll never forget that gift."

Tears ran down my face. This was wrong. This was all wrong. How could saving the world require killing the most beautiful thing in it?

That’s when I remembered something from all those old books I’d studied. There had been other Triple Moon holders in history. And not all of them had died alone.

"Wait!" I shouted. "The old stories! Some Triple Moon bearers had mates who shared their power!"

Lily’s eyes widened. "What do you mean?"

"The legend of Moonrise and Starfall!" I pressed closer to the barrier. "They were mates during the Great War between packs. When she had to use the Triple Moon power to stop the fighting, he found a way to link his life force to hers!"

"How?" Hope flickered in her voice.

I racked my brain, trying to remember the exact facts. "Blood magic! He cut his hand and mixed his blood with hers on the Moon Stone. It let them share the load!"

Morrigan growled from across the grove. "Foolish boy! That tale is just a story! Blood magic hasn’t worked for ages!"

But Elder Iris raised her head, her eyes suddenly bright. "Not just blood magic," she called out. "Soul power! The power of true love can bridge any gap!"

"It’s worth trying!" I pulled out my knife, cutting deep across my palm. Blood welled up instantly. "Lily, if there’s even a chance..."

She looked at me with such love that for a moment, I almost felt our tie again. "If it doesn’t work, you could die too."

"If it does work, we both live. And if it doesn’t work, at least I’ll die still loving you instead of as a stranger."

For a heartbeat, she paused. Then she cut her own palm with a sharp piece of stone. "Together?"

"Together."

I pressed my bleeding hand against the block. It resisted for a moment, then suddenly gave way. I lunged forward, grabbing Lily’s hand and pushing our cuts together against the corrupted Moon Stone.

Pain burst through me like lightning. I felt the Triple Moon power rushing through my body, burning every cell. But I also felt something else – our mate tie snapping back to life, stronger than ever.

"It’s working!" Lily gasped. "I can feel you again!"

The silver fire from her mark spread to mine, forming a new pattern on my wrist – not the Triple Moon, but a single star surrounded by silver light. Together, our united power pushed against Morrigan’s corruption.

But the shadow magic fought back furiously. The stone began to crack under the pressure of two opposed forces. Green light and silver fire fought for control while the ground shook beneath us.

"The stone can’t handle both powers!" Elder Iris shouted. "It’s going to explode!"

Morrigan laughed loudly. "If I can’t corrupt the wolf bonds, then I’ll destroy them totally! When that stone shatters, every wolf link will be obliterated forever!"

The cracks in the Moon Stone spread wider. Through our renewed bond, I felt Lily’s fear. We’d stopped the rot, but now we might destroy everything anyway.

"What do we do?" I asked desperately.

Lily’s eyes met mine, and I saw a new plan forming. A frantic, impossible plan.

"We absorb it," she said quietly. "All of it. Every wolf bond in the world. We become the new Moon Stone."

"That will kill us both!"

"Maybe. Or maybe love really is strong enough to hold the whole world together."

The stone cracked one final time, and strength beyond imagination began pouring out in all directions.