Chapter 2 CHAPTER 2 TRANSPORTATION MALFUNCTION

Ophelia’s POV

I nearly fell over. "It talks!"

"Of course I talk, human. What did you expect, barking?" The wolf sat down, tail curling around its paws. "Though given your intelligence level so far, maybe I should stick to barking. Might be easier for you to understand."

"Excuse me?" I bristled. "I'm not—"

"Hex," Moon Goddess said warnly. "Be nice."

The wolf—Hex—rolled its eyes. "Fine. But only because you asked, my Lady."

Moon Goddess turned to me. "This is Hexen, though he prefers Hex. He's one of my most trusted messengers, an ancient wolf spirit who has served me for millennia. He will accompany you to Aravorn and help you complete your tasks."

"I'm basically your supernatural GPS," Hex added. "I can sense timeline disruptions, read fate threads, and in emergencies, I can manifest physically to protect your sorry hide—though it exhausts me, so try not to need saving too often."

"Comforting," I said dryly.

"I aim to please." Hex's tone suggested he aimed to do anything but.

Moon Goddess placed a hand on my shoulder. "Hex's sarcasm aside, he is incredibly loyal and powerful. Trust him, even when he annoys you."

"Which will be always," Hex interjected cheerfully.

I sighed. "Anything else I should know?"

Moon Goddess's expression grew serious. "One more thing. When you died, do you remember what your last thought was?"

I paused, thinking back to that final moment. "I... I think I was thinking about my mom. I wanted to tell her I loved her."

"Exactly. Not fear, not anger, not regret—love. Pure, selfless love." Moon Goddess squeezed my shoulder. "That, Ophelia, is the most powerful weapon against darkness. The wolf shadow corrupting Ryan feeds on pain, hatred, and despair. But love? Love is anathema to it. That's the real reason you can succeed where others would fail."

"So my superpower is... feelings?" I asked skeptically.

"Your superpower is empathy, compassion, and courage," Moon Goddess corrected. "Don't underestimate them."

"If you're done having a Hallmark moment," Hex interrupted, "can we go over the actual mission parameters? Some of us would like to get started before the next Ice Age."

Moon Goddess shot him a look but nodded. "Very well. Ophelia, I'll be assigning you a series of tasks. Complete them all..."

"And then I go home?"

"Then you go home," Moon Goddess confirmed. "Alive, whole, and with a second chance at life."

I took a deep breath. This was insane. Completely, utterly insane.

But what choice did I have, really?

"Okay," I said finally. "I'll do it. I'll save Ryan and fix your timeline and somehow not die in the process."

"That's the spirit!" Hex said, his tone aggressively unenthusiastic. "Aim low and you'll never be disappointed."

"Hex," Moon Goddess warned.

"I'm being supportive!"

Moon Goddess ignored him, focusing on me. "One last thing, I need to give you an identity in this world. You'll be inserted into the timeline as the daughter of Ironcliff Pack's Alpha."

"Wait, you're just gonna... create a whole fake life for me?"

"I'll implant sixteen years of memories into the timeline itself," Moon Goddess explained. "As far as everyone in Aravorn knows, you've always existed. You'll have a father, pack members who've known you since birth, a complete history."

"That's insane."

"That's divine intervention." Moon Goddess touched my forehead, and I felt a weird tingling sensation. "You'll retain your own consciousness and memories, but you'll also have access to all the knowledge you need to fit in. How to act like a pack member, basic werewolf etiquette, your 'family' relationships—all of it will be available when you need it."

"Like downloading information directly into my brain?"

"Precisely."

"Okay, that's actually pretty cool."

"Your cover story is simple," Moon Goddess continued. "You're sixteen years old, the daughter of Ironcliff Pack's Alpha. Your pack is medium-sized, not particularly powerful but well-respected. You've lived a relatively peaceful life until now."

"This is all moving really fast."

"We don't have much time," Moon Goddess said apologetically. "The timeline degrades more with each passing day. Are you ready?"

I looked at Hex, who was now grooming one massive paw, apparently bored with the entire conversation.

I looked at the image of corrupted Aravorn, and at Ryan's face.

I thought about my mom.

"Yeah," I said, squaring my shoulders. "I'm ready."

"Excellent." Moon Goddess stepped back, and the moonlight began to swirl around me. "Remember, Ophelia—trust your instincts, trust Hex, and trust yourself. You are stronger than you know."

The light grew brighter, and I felt a pulling sensation, like being yanked forward by an invisible rope.

"Wait!" I called out. "What if I screw up? What if I make things worse?"

Moon Goddess's voice echoed as the world dissolved into silver light. "Then we all fall into darkness together. No pressure!"

"THAT'S NOT HELPFUL!" I shouted.

Hex's laughter was the last thing I heard before everything went white.

The light faded, and suddenly I could feel solid ground under my feet again.

"Okay, that wasn't so bad," I said, opening my eyes. "Actually kind of—OH MY GOD!"

I wasn't standing in a peaceful meadow or a quiet forest glade or anywhere remotely safe.

I was in the middle of a freaking battlefield.

Like, an actual medieval battlefield with swords and blood and people screaming.

"WHAT THE HELL?" I screamed.

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me," Hex's voice sounded in my head, high-pitched with panic. "The coordinates were wrong! THE COORDINATES WERE WRONG!"

"YOU THINK?" I shrieked, spinning around.

There were wolves everywhere—no, not wolves, werewolves. Some were in wolf form, massive beasts the size of horses, tearing into each other with claws and fangs. Others were in human form, swinging swords and axes, their eyes glowing gold with their wolves surfaced.

The smell hit me next—blood, smoke, sweat, and something wild that made my hindbrain scream danger.

"Okay, okay, don't panic," I told myself, even though I was absolutely panicking. "Just stay calm and—"

A body flew past me, landing with a sickening crunch ten feet away.

"NOPE! NOPE, NOPE, NOPE!" I turned to run but froze.

Because standing about thirty feet away, in the middle of the carnage, was a teenage boy with black hair and a sword dripping blood.

His green eyes were blazing gold, his lips pulled back in a snarl. He moved like death itself, cutting down opponents with brutal efficiency. Every movement was lethal. He wasn't just fighting—he was slaughtering.

"That's... that's Ryan," I whispered.

"Yes, but this is the WRONG Ryan!" Hex yelped. "This is future Ryan! Adult Ryan! Ryan-who's-already-completely-corrupted Ryan! We were supposed to land when he was younger!"

"You need to work on your timing!" I hissed back.

"You think I don't know that?"

Ryan cut down another opponent, and the man's body fell at his feet. He didn't even pause, just turned toward his next target.

Then he stopped.

His head whipped around, and those glowing golden-green eyes locked directly on me.

"Oh no," I breathed.

"Run," Hex said urgently. "RUN!"

But I couldn't move. I was frozen, trapped in the gaze of a predator who'd just found new prey.

Ryan's nostrils flared. He was scenting the air, and I realized with horror that I smelled different from everyone else here.

"Unknown," he growled, his voice rough and barely human. "Intruder."

"Hex, do something!" I whispered frantically.

"I'm working on it!"

Ryan started walking toward me. Not running—walking. Like he had all the time in the world, like he knew I couldn't escape.

Every instinct screamed at me to run, but my legs wouldn't work.

He was ten feet away.

Five feet.

Three.

"I really don't wanna die again," I whimpered.

Ryan raised his sword, and I saw my death in his eyes—cold, merciless.

"Get DOWN!" Hex roared.

Suddenly he was there—no longer just a voice in my head but a massive, semi-transparent silver wolf bursting into existence between me and Ryan.

Ryan's sword struck Hex's ethereal form, and there was an explosion of silver light. The force of it knocked me backward, and I landed hard on the bloody ground.

"HEX!" I screamed.

The silver wolf was flickering, clearly in pain, but he held his ground, snarling at Ryan.

"You will not touch her," Hex growled.

Ryan didn't respond. He just raised his sword again, preparing for another strike.

"No, no, no," I scrambled backward on my hands and knees, tears streaming down my face. "This can't be happening!"

The sword came down—

And everything stopped.

Literally stopped.

Ryan froze mid-swing, sword suspended in the air. The other fighters froze in their battles. Even the blood dripping from weapons stopped mid-drip, hanging in the air like red beads.

Time had stopped.

Silver light bloomed above us, and Moon Goddess appeared, looking genuinely embarrassed.

"I am so, so sorry," she said. "There was an error in the temporal calculations. This is not the correct timeline node."

"YOU THINK?" I shouted at an actual goddess. "I ALMOST DIED! AGAIN!"

"I know, I know, and I take full responsibility," Moon Goddess said, waving her hand. My body began to dissolve into light particles. "I'm pulling you back. We'll recalibrate and try again."

"Try again?" I looked at frozen Ryan, at his sword inches from Hex's fading form, at the murder in his eyes. "He tried to kill me!"

"This version of Ryan is already lost to the darkness," Moon Goddess explained as the battlefield began to fade. "We need to reach him earlier, before the corruption takes full root."

The last thing I saw before the world dissolved was Ryan's face—twisted with bloodlust, eyes empty of anything human.