HOPE POV
Uncle Caleb’s worried feelings hit like a big wave. He was scared about sothing he rembered, sothing that would hurt the pack people who wanted to help us. I could feel his heart breaking as he looked at all the brave faces around us.
I tugged on his shirt with my tiny fingers. "Uncle Caleb, tell them the truth."
Everyone turned to stare at . Sotis I forgot that most kids don’t talk like I do. But being the bridge between places ans I understand things that are hard to say.
"Hope," Uncle Caleb whispered, "if I tell them, they might not want to help anymore."
"Good people deserve to know the truth before they choose," I said simply. "That’s what makes their choice real."
Through our family bonds, I felt Mama’s surprise and Papa’s joy. Uncle Aiden and Uncle Brock felt confused but trusted . Even though I looked like a baby on the outside, my uncles’ mories helped understand grown-up things.
Uncle Caleb took a deep breath. "Hope’s right. You all deserve to know what really happens in this rite."
Elder Iris looked worried. "Caleb, please think about this."
"The aging won’t happen slowly," Uncle Caleb said, his voice shaking. "It happens all at once, during the rite. So of you might not just get older - you might turn to dust imdiately."
The pack gasped. I felt their fear spike through the air like lightning. So people stepped backward. Others looked at their children with scared eyes.
But Luna surprised everyone by moving forward again. "How many of us would die?"
Uncle Caleb closed his eyes, accessing his court magic mories. "Maybe ten or fifteen of the oldest pack mbers. And anyone who’s already sick or weak."
Elder Iris nodded sadly. "I knew, but I hoped... I’m sorry. I should have been completely honest."
For a mont, nobody spoke. The weight of the choice pressed down on everyone like a big blanket.
Then sothing beautiful happened. Old Mrs. Peterson, who was maybe eighty years old, hobbled forward with her walking stick.
"I volunteer to be first," she said strongly.
"Mrs. Peterson, no!" her grandson cried. "You’ll die!"
"Child, I’m already dying," she said with a gentle smile. "My bones ache every morning, and I can barely see anymore. But if my last act can help build a world where ogas are valued and alphas learn kindness, then my long life will have ant sothing important."
Other old wolves stepped forward too. Mr. Harrison, who’d been facing a sickness for months. Grandmother Willow, who could barely walk. Ancient Tom, who was possibly ninety and had outlived all his children.
"We’ve lived full lives," Grandmother Willow said. "Let our years buy the young ones a better future."
I felt tears on my cheeks as their brave hearts touched mine through the pack ties. But I also felt sothing else - a terrible wrongness in this answer.
"Wait," I said, my baby voice sohow getting across the clearing. "This isn’t right."
Everyone looked at again. Mama held tighter, probably worried I was about to say sothing that would make everything harder.
"Hope, sweetheart," Papa said gently, "sotis adults have to make difficult choices to protect children."
"But you’re not protecting ," I said, standing up in Mama’s arms even though my baby legs were still wobbly. "You’re dying for . That’s different."
Through the family ties, I could feel Uncle Caleb’s mories more clearly now. He’d seen this rite perford before, and it had worked. The gates had opened safely, and the world had been saved.
But the people who died in that rite had haunted him for centuries. He’d carried their faces through lifeti after lifeti, always wondering if there could have been another way.
"There’s always another way," I said, looking straight at him. "You taught that in your mories."
"Hope, what are you thinking?" Uncle Aiden asked.
I took a deep breath, tapping power I’d never used before. Not the power to heal or to bridge realms, but the power to see all possible futures at once.
The visions hit like a thunderstorm. I saw hundreds of different roads stretching out from this mont. In so, the pack did the ritual and many people died. In others, we gave up on the gates and I lost my power. In still others, we tried to find different answers and failed completely.
But there was one road that glowed brighter than all the rest. One option that nobody had thought of yet.
"I can do it differently," I stated, my voice getting stronger. "I can open the portals safely without anyone dying and without losing my power."
"How?" Elder Iris asked.
"By giving up sothing else instead."
The pack leaned forward, eager to hear my answer. But I hesitated, because what I had to sacrifice was sothing important to .
"I have to give up my mories," I said quietly. "All of them. Every lifeti I’ve lived, every world I’ve saved, every family I’ve loved. I’ll beco just a normal baby with normal baby thoughts."
Mama gasped. "Hope, no! Your mories make you who you are!"
"Do they?" I asked. "Or do my choices make who I am?"
Through the ties, I felt my family’s confusion and fear. They didn’t understand what I ant.
"I’ve lived hundreds of lifetis," I explained. "But in every single one, I’ve made the sa choice - to help others even when it’s hard. That choice doesn’t co from my thoughts. It cos from my heart."
Papa stepped closer. "But sweetheart, if you give up your mories, you won’t know how to use your power properly. You might make mistakes."
"Then you’ll teach ," I said simply. "All of you. Mama will teach about love. Papa will teach about wisdom. Uncle Aiden will teach about leadership. Uncle Brock will teach about safety. Uncle Caleb will teach about truth."
I looked around at the pack, feeling their hope growing like flowers in sunshine.
"And the pack will teach about teamwork. About how different people working together are better than one person working alone."
"But what if you forget why equality matters?" Luna asked. "What if you grow up thinking the old ways were better?"
I smiled at her. "Then you’ll remind . All of you will remind , by living as examples of what’s possible when everyone is treated fairly."
The plan felt right in my heart. Instead of carrying the weight of centuries alone, I’d learn to be strong with help from people who loved .
"I can do this," I said firmly. "I can open safe portals and keep my power, but I’ll need to learn how to use it all over again."
Elder Iris studied with old eyes. "Child, are you sure? Once those mories are gone, they’re gone forever. You’ll never rember the worlds you’ve saved or the people you’ve helped."
"I’ll make new mories," I said. "Better ones. mories of growing up in a pack where everyone counts."
The clearing fell silent as everyone considered my suggestion. It was a huge risk. Without my centuries of experience, I might not know how to handle my power when really dangerous situations ca up.
But through the family bonds, I felt sothing that made my choice final. I felt love. Not just from my dad and uncles, but from the whole pack. They weren’t just willing to die for - they were willing to live for , to help raise right, to teach everything I’d need to know.
"I choose to give up my mories," I revealed. "But I need everyone to promise sothing first."
"What?" Mama asked.
I looked around at all the faces - alpha, beta, and oga dogs standing together as equals.
"Promise that if I forget why this matters, you’ll show . Promise that if I start thinking so people are worth more than others, you’ll tell that everyone has value. Promise that you’ll help grow up to be soone who chooses love over fear, even when love is harder."
"We promise," the pack said together, their voices forming a harmony that made my heart sing.
I nodded and gathered my power, preparing to open the ritual that would sacrifice my mories to make safe portals.
But just as I began, Uncle Caleb grabbed my arm.
"Wait!" he said quickly. "Hope, I just accessed another mory. There’s sothing about this rite you don’t know."
"What?" I asked, though part of was afraid to hear the answer.
His face went white with fear. "Giving up your mories doesn’t just make you forget the past. It makes you forget how to control your power totally. You’ll have full strength but no idea how to use it safely."
The pack murmured in fear. I felt their fear spike again.
"What does that an?" Papa demanded.
Uncle Caleb’s voice was barely a whisper. "It ans Hope could accidentally destroy our entire world the first ti her power triggers. One baby tantrum could crack reality itself."
I stared at him, realizing the horrible truth. My answer wasn’t better than the others - it was worse. Much worse.
And I’d already started the process. I could feel my mories starting to fade around the edges.
"How do we stop it?" Mama cried.
"We can’t," Elder Iris said sadly. "Once begun, this ritual must be completed."
As my first mories started disappearing, I looked up at my family with growing fear.
"I don’t rember how to control what happens next," I whispered.
And then my power exploded outward in all directions, completely wild and uncontrollable.
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