Luna. Chapter 95

(Lyra's POV)

I woke up in complete darkness, disoriented and groggy. According to the glowing numbers on my alarm clock, it was 8:30 PM. I'd slept for almost twelve hours straight, and my body felt heavy and sluggish, like I was recovering from the flu.

The house was quiet except for the distant sound of voices downstairs. I could smell something delicious cooking - Elena's beef stew, if I wasn't mistaken. My stomach growled loudly, reminding me that I hadn't eaten anything substantial in over twenty-four hours.

I made my way to the bathroom on unsteady legs, feeling like I was moving through water. Every muscle in my body ached, a bone-deep exhaustion that spoke to just how much the ritual had taken out of me. I'd known that channeling celestial wolf energy would be draining, but I hadn't expected to feel like I'd been hit by a truck.

Under the steady stream of hot water in the shower, I finally allowed myself to fully process what we'd been through. How desperate I'd felt watching Asher struggle with forces beyond his understanding. How terrifying it had been to attempt a ritual I barely understood, knowing that failure meant losing my son to spiritual possession. How miraculous it felt that it had actually worked.

I was working shampoo through my hair when Selene's voice suddenly echoed in my mind, clear and urgent despite the fact that she shouldn't have been able to communicate with me outside of formal ritual contact.

"Be careful."

I froze, water running down my face, soap stinging my eyes. "Selene?"

Silence.

"Selene, what are you trying to tell me?"

But there was no response. Just the echo of those two words carrying a weight of warning I didn't understand.

"Be careful of what?" I called out to the empty bathroom, feeling slightly ridiculous for talking to thin air but too concerned to care about appearances.

Still nothing.

I finished my shower quickly, unease prickling at the back of my mind. Selene had helped us save Asher. Her guidance had been crucial to the ritual's success. She'd been nothing but supportive and protective throughout the entire process. So why was she warning me now, when the immediate danger was over?

What did she know that I didn't?

I stared at my reflection in the bathroom mirror, looking for answers in my own face. The woman looking back at me was pale and drawn, with dark circles under her eyes and stress lines I didn't remember having before. But there was also something else - a sense of strength that hadn't been there before. The ritual had changed me in ways I was only beginning to understand.

"Be careful," I repeated to my reflection, trying to decipher the meaning behind the warning.

Be careful of what, exactly? The person who had planted the cursed glasses was still out there, but Asher was no longer vulnerable to spiritual possession. Our house had been cleansed and protected. What new danger could Selene be sensing?

Or maybe it wasn't about external threats at all. Maybe she was warning me about the changes the ritual had wrought in me, about powers I'd awakened that I didn't yet know how to control.

I thought about the moment during the ritual when I'd felt connected to something vast and ancient and infinitely powerful. The way energy had flowed through me, reshaping my understanding of what I was capable of. Maybe Selene was concerned about the psychological and spiritual consequences of that kind of transformation.

Or maybe I was overthinking a simple warning to be cautious while I was still recovering from magical exhaustion.

But as I dried my hair and got dressed, I couldn't shake the feeling that Selene's warning carried implications I wasn't seeing yet. The moon goddess had never been dramatic or mysterious without good reason.

Something was coming. Something I needed to be prepared for.

I just wished I knew what.