The Ghost Child

Selene woke before dawn, her hands still tingling with the strange white light. She flexed her fingers in the darkness, watching as tiny sparks danced across her skin before fading away.

"What's happening to me?" she whispered.

Ivy slept peacefully beside her, looking like any normal seven-year-old. But Selene couldn't forget her sister's haunting words: Death changes you. So does coming back.

Unable to sleep, Selene slipped outside. The air was cool against her skin as she walked toward the forest that bordered the pack territory. Her mind was a storm of emotions - heartbreak over Dante's rejection, fear of Elara's plans, and confusion about the strange power awakening inside her.

"I refuse this bond. I refuse you." Dante's cruel words echoed in her mind, making her chest ache.

The forest welcomed her with rustling leaves and the scent of pine. Selene walked without direction, letting her wolf guide her. She needed to clear her head, to make a plan. Dante wanted her gone. Elara wanted her dead. And somehow, she had to protect Ivy from both.

A twig snapped nearby. Selene froze, her senses suddenly alert.

She wasn't alone.

Through the trees, she caught a glimpse of something white. A small figure darted between the trunks, almost glowing in the dim morning light.

"Hello?" Selene called, moving toward the figure. "Who's there?"

No answer. Just another flash of white, farther into the forest.

Selene followed, her curiosity overcoming her caution. The figure stayed just ahead, always visible but never close enough to identify. They traveled deeper into the woods, to places Selene had never seen before.

Finally, the figure stopped in a small clearing. Sunlight filtered through the branches, illuminating a pond so still it looked like glass. Beside it stood a little girl in a white dress, her back to Selene.

"Hello?" Selene called again, stepping into the clearing. "Are you lost?"

The girl turned slowly, and Selene's heart stopped.

It was Ivy. But not the Ivy who slept in her bed back at the pack house. This Ivy looked... different. Her skin was paler, almost translucent, and her eyes held a wisdom far beyond her years.

"You're not really here," Selene whispered, backing away. "You're asleep in our room."

The ghost-Ivy smiled. "I'm in both places. Part of me is always here, where I died."

Selene felt dizzy, gripping a tree trunk for support. "This is the pond where you drowned?"

The girl nodded. "Look into the water, sister. See the truth."

Heart pounding, Selene approached the pond. The water was crystal clear, but as she knelt beside it, the surface began to ripple and change.

Images formed in the water - memories Selene had buried deep. She saw herself at eighteen, bringing eight-year-old Ivy to play by a river. She saw Ivy slip, fall into the rushing water. Saw herself diving in, desperate to save her sister.

But the memory changed, showing something Selene didn't remember. A silver-haired woman—Elara—standing on the riverbank, hands raised, glowing with power. The water swirling unnaturally around Ivy, dragging her under despite Selene's efforts.

"She was there," ghost-Ivy said softly. "She took me from you."

"Why?" Selene's voice broke. "Why would she want to hurt you?"

"Not me." The ghost pointed at Selene. "You. She knew what you would become. What you are."

The water changed again, showing Selene's mother—a woman she barely remembered—holding a baby wrapped in moonlight.

"The last Luna Wolf," ghost-Ivy whispered. "Born once a century. Keeper of the boundary between worlds."

Selene's hands began to glow again, brighter this time. "I don't understand."

"Your power keeps the shadow world locked away. But on the full moon, when your power is strongest, Elara plans to use your death to break the seal forever."

Horror washed over Selene. "And Dante? Why poison him against me?"

"A Luna Wolf is strongest with her mate. Together, you would be unstoppable. Separated, vulnerable." Ghost-Ivy's form flickered like a candle flame. "She's been planning this for years, sister. Turning Dante against you, taking me, waiting for you to return."

The water rippled again, showing Dante and Elara together at his office window. Elara's hand on his arm, her lips near his ear, whispering poison. Dante's eyes glazed, as if under a spell.

"She's controlling him," Selene realized, anger replacing her heartbreak. "He doesn't know what he's doing."

"His pain made him vulnerable to her magic," ghost-Ivy agreed. "But the mate bond can't be destroyed completely. Part of him is fighting her influence."

The image in the water changed one last time, showing a full moon rising over Elara's territory, wolves gathered in a circle around an altar of stone. Selene lay upon it, bound by silver chains.

"Three days," ghost-Ivy warned. "That's all we have."

"We?" Selene asked.

The ghost smiled. "I exist in two places. The living Ivy you know has my heart, but I have our memories. Together, we're whole again."

Selene reached out to touch the ghost child, but her hand passed through the girl's form.

"How do I stop Elara?" she asked desperately. "How do I save Dante?"

"Find the Luna inside you," ghost-Ivy said, her form growing fainter. "Embrace what you were born to be."

"I don't know how!"

"You do." Ghost-Ivy pointed to the water again. "The memory is there, buried deep. Remember the lullaby mother sang? Find it. Sing it. The words will wake your power."

The ghost was barely visible now, fading like morning mist.

"Wait!" Selene cried. "Don't go!"

"I'm always with you," the voice whispered, now seeming to come from the pond itself. "We'll meet again when the moon is full."

Then she was gone, leaving Selene alone by the water.

Selene stared at her reflection, seeing herself through new eyes. Was it true? Was she this Luna Wolf, with powers she'd never known? Could she really stop Elara and save Dante?

One thing was certain—she wouldn't run away. Not this time.

Rising to her feet, Selene felt something shift inside her. Her wolf stirred, stronger than before, eager for the fight ahead. The white light around her hands pulsed in rhythm with her heartbeat.

As she turned to leave the clearing, a low growl stopped her. Standing between the trees was a massive black wolf with eyes like blue fire.

Dante.

He'd followed her into the forest. But something was different about him. His wolf's eyes weren't cold anymore—they burned with confusion and conflict.

"You saw her too, didn't you?" Selene whispered. "You saw Ivy's ghost."

The black wolf took a step forward, then stopped, as if fighting against an invisible leash. A silver collar shimmered around his neck, appearing and disappearing like a mirage.

"She's controlling you," Selene realized. "But you're fighting it."

The wolf growled again, pawing at the ground. Warning or welcome? Selene couldn't tell.

Behind him, a flash of silver fur darted through the trees. Elara.

"Run," Selene urged the black wolf. "Before she finds us together."

For one heart-stopping moment, Dante's wolf locked eyes with hers. The mate bond flared between them, hot and urgent. Then he turned and vanished into the forest.

Selene stared after him, a new determination hardening inside her.

"Three days," she whispered to herself. "Three days to break Elara's spell, find my power, and save us all."

As she hurried back toward the pack house, a forgotten melody rose to her lips—a lullaby from her childhood, the one her mother used to sing on full moon nights.

"Child of moon and stars so bright,

 Luna wolf with hearts of light,

 Guard the door 'tween worlds unseen,

 Daughter of the wolf queen..."

The words felt right on her tongue, like coming home after a long journey. With each note, the light inside her grew stronger.

But so did the darkness following close behind, its silver eyes fixed on her every move.