THE GIRL WHO FORGOT HER FIRE
sun rose in the Realm of Ancients, spilling gold across the frost-covered fields. Yet for Luna, everything felt grey. Cold. Unfamiliar.
She stood at the edge of the crystal lake, its surface still. Her reflection stared back—silver-haired, pale-eyed, regal. But hollow.
She remembered her name. Her duty. The faces of those who traveled with her.
But she didn't remember why she cared.
Brin tried to be gentle. She offered healing teas, touched her arm with compassion, smiled like someone who had seen this before. Nyla was silent, watching from the shadows, her eyes unreadable. Rae kept his distance, pain etched into every line of his hardened face. Kael scribbled in his journals, as if facts could replace feelings.
And Asher…
He wouldn't stop watching her.
Every move. Every breath.
But he didn't speak.
Until one morning, he broke.
"You chose to forget me."
Luna looked at him, blinking slowly. "I didn't know what I was choosing. I just knew something had to be given."
"You gave up us."
"I didn't mean to."
"That doesn't change it."
She lowered her gaze. "Then help me remember."
So he tried.
He took her back to the old pine tree near the border of the Realm—the same kind of place they'd once hidden in back in Silvercrest. He gave her the old fantasy novel, worn and cracked, that he once pretended not to like. She touched its pages with reverence but no familiarity.
He told her about the night she first shifted. How she hated the fur. How she cried under the moonlight while everyone else cheered. How he found her and didn't say a word, just sat with her.
"You trusted me first," he said.
"Why?" she asked.
He looked at her then, his voice breaking. "Because you saw me. The real me. Before I even knew who that was."
But she didn't remember.
Not the bond.
Not the heartbreak.
Not the longing.
The Moon Goddess had taken it all.
And yet, something lingered.
An ache she couldn't explain.
At night, she would lie in her chamber, eyes open, staring at the carved moons above her bed. She would press her fingers to her sternum, where her soul mark used to glow. It was faint now. Dim. But not gone.
"I feel you," she whispered to the darkness. "But I don't know you."
One evening, as the group prepared to return to the mortal realm, Solana gathered them in the Moon Hall.
"The curse is broken," she declared. "But the shadow lingers in your world. Morrigan's echo remains."
Rae stepped forward. "Where?"
"In the Hollow Vale. A place abandoned by the Moon, where the veil between worlds is weakest."
Kael frowned. "That's forbidden territory. No pack claims it."
Solana nodded. "Which is why it's perfect for corruption to take root."
They would have to go there. To end the threat completely.
But Luna wasn't ready.
"I can't fight without knowing who I am," she confessed. "Not fully."
Solana studied her with ancient eyes. "Then remember not with your mind, but with your soul."
She led Luna to the heart of the Realm.
There stood the Moon Altar, stone etched with every Luna's name across time.
Solana handed her a blade.
"Blood remembers."
Luna took it. Slit her palm. Pressed her hand to the stone.
Pain. Fire. Screaming.
Then visions.
Her first kiss under the pine tree. Asher's hand in hers as she healed a fallen cub. Her mother's lullaby. The moment her wolf awoke. The pain of rejection. The ache of healing. The warmth of forgiveness.
The fire of second-chance love.
She collapsed.
When she opened her eyes, Asher was there, holding her like he used to.
"I remember," she whispered.
He smiled. Just a little. "Then come home."
They left the Realm the next day.
Crossing back into Silvercrest was like slipping into an old coat—familiar, frayed, and filled with memories.
Word spread fast.
Luna was alive.
Changed.
Her parents stood at the gates, Seraphine weeping openly, Damon trying and failing to remain stoic.
The pack bowed as she passed.
She bowed back.
Not because she had to.
But because she chose to.
The Hollow Vale was a two day journey. They prepared with care. Silvercrest warriors volunteered to escort them. Healers packed sacred herbs. Elders gave them blessings.
But it was Luna who stood before them all the night before departure.
She told them the truth.
Of the curse. Of Morrigan. Of her sacrifice.
She didn't need a title to lead them.
She just needed truth.
As the moon rose, Asher approached her.
"I don't deserve your forgiveness."
She looked at him, soft but firm. "Maybe not. But I remember loving you. That counts for something."
He nodded. "Then let me earn the rest."
They stood in silence. Together.
The girl who hated fur.
And the boy who once walked away.
Tomorrow, they would face the final shadow.
But tonight?
Tonight, they remembered who they were.