Fate of the Lost Moon

Chapter 7

Darkness surrounded me, thick and heavy as mist. I felt weightless, drifting in a space that was neither night nor day, but something in between—something alive and electric. Silence enveloped me, but not the kind that felt empty or lonely. Instead, it was comforting, like a blanket wrapping around me.

Then, a glimmer of light broke through the darkness, soft and silver, like moonlight slipping through the clouds. I followed it instinctively, as if I were tethered to it by an invisible thread. The light grew stronger, expanding and shifting until it seemed to blossom into a beautiful, radiant glow.

A woman stood within the light, her form more vibrant and real than anything I’d seen in waking life. Her skin shimmered softly, almost as if she held a piece of the moon itself within her. Silvery-white hair cascaded down her shoulders, delicate and flowing, and her eyes were the color of an evening sky, flecked with faint lilac, mirroring my own. She looked at me with a warmth that sent a shiver through me, one that felt like both comfort and awe.

“Stephanie,” she spoke my name softly, her voice melodic and soothing, echoing in my mind as much as in the air around me.

I blinked, unable to find words as I took in the ethereal beauty of the woman before me. There was something so familiar in her gaze, like a distant memory I couldn’t quite place. “Who… who are you?” I finally managed to ask, my voice barely a whisper in the vastness around us.

She smiled, a gentle curve of her lips that filled me with a sense of peace I hadn’t known I was craving. “I am Selene, the Moon Goddess. And I have been watching you, child.”

My breath caught, a mixture of awe and disbelief swelling in my chest. The Moon Goddess. “Watching me? But… why?”

Selene stepped closer, her eyes never leaving mine, and I felt an almost magnetic pull. “Because you are special, Stephanie. You are one of my chosen, and yet… you have been lost.” Her voice held a note of sadness, a mournful echo that seemed to linger in the air.

“Lost?” I echoed, the word foreign yet familiar. I had always felt as though I were searching for something I couldn’t name, something just out of reach.

She nodded, her expression gentle and understanding. “Yes. You have felt it too, haven’t you? The loneliness, the sense of not quite fitting, the longing to belong. You’ve always known, deep down, that you are different.”

A knot formed in my throat, and I fought to keep my voice steady. “I thought… I thought it was because I don’t have my wolf,” I admitted, the truth slipping from my lips before I could stop it. I had never voiced that pain aloud, the shame and confusion of being wolfless, the sense of being incomplete.

Her eyes softened with sympathy. “It is not because you are without a wolf, Stephanie. It is because you were never meant to be like the others. You are connected to me, bound in ways you cannot yet understand.”

“But…” My voice trailed off as I looked down, my heart heavy with a thousand questions and no answers. “If that’s true, then… how am I supposed to find my place? How am I supposed to find my purpose when I can’t even be what everyone expects me to be?”

She reached out, her hand resting lightly on my shoulder, cool and comforting. “Your purpose is not to fulfill the expectations of others, child. Your purpose is to uncover the strength within yourself, the strength that I have placed in you. It may be hidden now, but it is there, waiting for you to find it.”

Her words seeped into me, like a balm for wounds I hadn’t known were there. A warmth began to grow in my chest, a sense of reassurance that made me feel lighter. “Will I… will I ever meet my wolf?” I asked, the question raw with years of doubt and fear.

A flicker of sadness passed over her face, but she nodded. “Yes, you will find what you seek, Stephanie. But remember, your journey will not be easy. The bond you seek, the strength within you—it is woven with mine. You are not alone, even when you feel it most.”

Her gaze drifted over me, a look of pride softening her features. “You are more than what they see, more than even you know. Trust in that, even when the path ahead is unclear.”

My heart pounded, a surge of hope rising within me. “How…how will I know where to go?” I asked, almost pleading. For so long, I had been waiting for someone to tell me who I was supposed to be, what I was supposed to do.

“Listen to the whispers within you, Stephanie. They will guide you.” Her voice was gentle, her words an invitation rather than a command. “In time, the truth will reveal itself. For now, trust in your own strength. Trust in the power that lies within you.”

She stepped back slightly, her form beginning to blur around the edges, fading as the light around her dimmed. Panic gripped me, the thought of losing this connection sending a chill through me. “Wait!” I called out, reaching for her, desperate to hold onto this moment, to ask a thousand more questions.

Her faint smile was the last thing I saw before she began to fade completely. “Remember, Stephanie… you are never truly lost.”

And then everything went black.

I jolted awake, my chest heaving as I blinked into the darkness of my bedroom, disoriented and dazed. For a few heartbeats, I stared up at the ceiling, feeling the cold sweat on my skin and the racing pulse in my veins. The dream—no, it felt too real to be a dream. The vision lingered in my mind, each detail vivid and fresh.

Selene. The Moon Goddess. She had come to me, spoken to me. She’d said I was different, that I was chosen. But what did that even mean? My thoughts tumbled over each other, pieces of the puzzle shifting but refusing to fit together.

I lay back, pressing my hand against my chest, feeling the rapid beat of my heart. The warmth from her touch lingered, a strange and soothing reminder that it hadn’t been just a figment of my imagination.

But what was I supposed to do with this? If I really was chosen, if I was somehow connected to her… then why had my life felt like anything but a blessing? The questions swirled in my mind, each one tugging at a different corner of my heart.

I wanted to tell someone, but who would believe me? Cassandra might dismiss it, and Fynn… well, I wasn’t even sure how he’d react. I was alone with this knowledge, alone with the responsibility that came with it. And yet, as I lay there, staring into the darkness, I realized that I didn’t feel quite as lost as I had before.

Selene’s words echoed in my mind, a gentle refrain that seemed to steady me. “You are not alone, even when you feel it most.”

For the first time in as long as I could remember, I believed her.