Triple Moon Rising: An Omega's Destiny
Chapter 77: The Weight of Gratitude

Chapter 77: The Weight of Gratitude

Lily POV

The thank-you letter crumpled in my shaking hands as I read the words that made my heart ache.

"Dear Lily Carter, our entire pack owes you our lives. Because of your sacrifice, our children still know their parents. Because of your bravery, our friends still remember their love. You saved every wolf bond in the world except your own. We are forever grateful."

I threw the letter across the room, watching it join the hundreds of others spread on my floor. Letters from packs I’d never heard of, from dogs I’d never met, all saying the same thing. Thank you for saving us. Thank you for your effort. Thank you for giving up your happiness so we could keep ours.

"I don’t want your thanks," I whispered to the empty room. "I want my mate back."

But Caleb was gone. Not dead, but worse - he was living and didn’t remember me at all. Every morning he woke up and had to be reminded that we were once mated. Every night he forgot again. The rite that saved everyone else had stolen the most important thing in my life.

A soft knock stopped my thoughts. "Lily? It’s Luna. Can I come in?"

I wiped my eyes quickly. Luna was one of the few people who understood what I was going through. She’d lost something too during the ritual - her jealousy and anger had been replaced with real caring that sometimes felt foreign.

"The door’s open," I called.

Luna entered carefully, stepping around the scattered letters. She sat on my bed without saying anything about the mess. That’s what I liked about her now - she didn’t try to fix things that couldn’t be fixed.

"More letters?" she asked softly.

"Thousands," I said angrily. "Do you know there are packs in Alaska who named their young pups after me? Packs in Australia who made me their special member? A pack in Japan wants to build a statue in my honor."

"That must feel overwhelming," Luna said.

"It feels like torture," I admitted. "Every letter reminds me that I saved complete strangers while losing the person I loved most. How is that fair?"

Luna picked up one of the letters and read it softly. "This one’s from a little girl whose parents were about to split before the ritual. She says now they remember why they fell in love."

"Good for them," I said, but my voice cracked. "At least someone gets to be happy."

"Lily, you can’t blame yourself for-"

"Can’t I?" I interrupted, standing up and walking. "I made the choice, Luna. I knew what would happen. I knew I’d lose Caleb, but I thought I could handle it. I thought saving everyone else would make it worth it."

"And now?"

"Now I realize I was wrong." The words spilled out before I could stop them. "I was greedy and stupid. I thought I was being a hero, but I was just scared. Scared of what would happen if I didn’t move. So I did without thinking about the consequences."

Luna stood up and grabbed my shoulders. "You saved the world, Lily. Every wolf alive today owes their pack ties to you."

"But I don’t want them to owe me anything!" I shouted. "I want them to leave me alone! I want to stop getting letters from grateful people! I want to stop being treated like some sort of saint when all I feel is empty inside!"

The room went quiet except for my heavy breathing. Luna looked at me with sad eyes.

"You’re angry," she said finally.

"Of course I’m angry!" I yelled. "I’m angry! Everyone else gets to keep their mates, their families, their happiness, while I sit here alone reading thank-you letters from people who don’t even know my middle name!"

"What’s your middle name?" Luna asked quietly.

The question caught me off guard. "What?"

"Your middle name. What is it?"

I opened my mouth to answer, then froze. I couldn’t remember. How could I forget my own middle name?

"I... I don’t..." I pressed my hands to my temples, trying to think. "It starts with an M, I think. Or maybe a N?"

Luna’s face went pale. "Lily, when’s your birthday?"

"October... no, November... wait..." Panic started rising in my chest. "Why can’t I remember?"

"What’s your favorite color?" Luna asked anxiously.

I stared at her blankly. I knew I should know this. Everyone knows their favorite color. But when I tried to think about it, there was just empty space in my mind.

"Something’s wrong," I whispered. "Something’s very wrong."

Luna grabbed my hands. "Tell me about your childhood. Tell me about your parents."

I tried to think, but it was like grabbing at smoke. I could remember bits - a woman’s laugh, a man’s strong hands, the smell of cookies baking. But I couldn’t put faces to the images or names to the people.

"I can’t," I said, my voice barely audible. "I can’t remember them."

"What about your grandmother? The one who taught you about healing herbs?"

Again, nothing but nothingness. I knew I should remember her, but when I tried to picture her face, there was nothing there.

"The letters," I said suddenly, looking around the room. "All these letters from strangers. But where are the texts from people who actually know me? Where are the letters from my school friends? From my family?"

Luna’s face went white. "Lily, I think you need to sit down."

"No," I said, backing away. "No, no, no. This isn’t happening. I’m not losing my memories too. I already lost Caleb. I can’t lose everything else."

But even as I said it, I realized the horrible truth. The ritual hadn’t just broken my mate bond with Caleb. It was slowly erasing everything that made me who I was. Every day, I was forgetting more pieces of myself.

"How long?" I asked Luna frantically. "How long before I forget everything? How long before I forget that I ever loved anyone at all?"

Luna’s eyes filled with tears. "I don’t know."

That’s when I heard it - a voice calling my name from outside. But it wasn’t just any voice. It was Caleb’s voice, and for the first time in weeks, it sounded like he remembered me.

"Lily!" he called anxiously. "Lily, where are you? I remember! I remember everything!"

Hope burst in my chest, but as I ran toward the window, one terrible thought stopped me cold.

What if I was forgetting him just as he was remembering me?