<h4>Chapter 172: The Second Feeling</h4>


    <strong>LILY POV</strong>


    The scream cut through the morning air like a knife through quiet.


    I dropped the healing herbs I’d been sorting and ran toward the sound. My feet barely hit the ground as I raced through Silver Peak’s main clearing. Other pack members were running too, their faces full of fear.


    "Help! Someone help us!" The voice belonged to Maya, one of our younger moms. I could see her near the nursery, holding her three-year-old son Tommy. Blood covered his small arm.


    Without thinking, I pushed through the crowd of wolves gathered around them. This was my job now - helping people when they got hurt. But as I knelt beside Tommy, something strange happened inside my chest.


    It felt like a warm fire had suddenly zed to life where my heart used to feel empty. The feeling was so strong it almost knocked me over. I had to grip the ground to stay steady.


    "What happened?" I asked Maya, forcing my voice to stay calm even though this new feeling was making my hands shake.


    "He was ying near the old storage shed," Maya sobbed. "A loose board fell and cut his arm. There’s so much blood!"


    I looked at Tommy’s wound. It wasn’t life-threatening, but it was deep enough to need stitches. As I pressed clean cloth against the cut to stop the bleeding, that warm feeling in my chest got stronger.


    Protect him. Keep him safe. This is your pack.


    The thoughts came from somewhere deep inside me, just like when I’d felt love for Caleb yesterday. But this was different. This wasn’t about one guy - it was about everyone here. Maya, Tommy, the worried pack members watching us, even Luna who stood at the edge of the crowd.


    They were all mine to protect.


    "Get me my healing kit from the cabin," I told Luna. "And bring clean water."


    For a second, Luna looked like she might argue. We still weren’t exactly friends, even after everything that happened three months ago. But then she saw something in my eyes that made her nod quickly and run toward my cabin.


    As I worked on Tommy’s arm, cleaning the cut and preparing to stitch it closed, more pack members gathered around us. I could hear their whispered talks.


    "Thank goodness Lily was here."


    "She always knows what to do."


    "The Triple Moon bearer will keep us safe."


    Each word made that protective feeling burn brighter inside me. These people trusted me. They looked to me when things went wrong. And right now, I would do anything - anything - to make sure they were okay.


    "Is Tommy going to be alright?" asked little Sarah, another child from the nursery. Her big eyes were full of tears.


    I smiled at her, and it felt normal for the first time since my sacrifice. "He’s going to be just fine. But we need to be more careful around that old shed, okay?"


    As I stitched Tommy’s wound, my mind started working in ways it hadn’t for months. The shed where this happened - it was falling apart. Other children could get hurt. There were probably more dangerous spots around Silver Peak that no one had checkedtely.


    Protect them all. Fix what’s wrong. Keep the pack safe.


    The feeling was getting so strong I could barely focus on my stitching. But I forced myself to finish Tommy’s arm first. He was brave, only crying a little bit when the needle went through his skin.


    "There," I said, tying off thest stitch. "Good as new. But you need to keep this tape dry for a few days, okay?"


    Tommy nodded seriously, then hugged me with his good arm. "Thank you, Miss Lily."


    That hug nearly broke me. The protective feeling burst through my whole body like lightning. I wanted to grab every child in Silver Peak and hide them somewhere safe where nothing could ever hurt them.


    But I couldn’t do that. What I could do was make sure our territory was safe.


    "Luna," I called as she brought back my groceries. "I need you to get Aiden and Brock. Tell them we’re doing a safety check of every building in Silver Peak. Today."


    Luna raised an eyebrow. "Every building? That’ll take all day."


    "Then we work all day," I said strongly. "And tonight too if we have to."


    Something in my voice must have convinced her because she nodded and ran off to find the Alpha and his brother.


    As the crowd started to break up, with Maya taking Tommy home to rest, I stood in the middle of the clearing and felt this new feeling settling into my bones. It wasn’t the sweet, gentle feeling that love had been. This was fierce and pressing and demanding.


    I needed to protect my pack. All of them. From everything.


    But as I started walking toward the old shed to study it myself, I heard something that made my blood turn to ice.


    Howling. Coming from the northern border.


    Not the happy screams we used for talking to each other. These were rm sounds. Danger growls.


    And they were getting closer.


    I ran toward the sound, my protective instincts shouting at me to find out what was threatening my pack. Other wolves were running too - Brock appeared beside me, his face grim.


    "Border patrol," he panted as we ran. "They’re calling for help."


    We reached the northern hill just as three of our patrol wolves came stumbling out of the trees. They were bloody and tired, their clothes torn.


    "Report," Brock ordered.


    "Strange wolves," gasped Marcus, one of our best scouts. "Not rogues. Something else. They’reing this way, and they’re not alone."


    "What do you mean, not alone?" I asked.


    Marcus looked at me with eyes full of fear. "They have people with them. Humans with tools we’ve never seen before. And Lily..." He swallowed hard. "They were asking about you. By name."


    The protective feeling in my chest turned into ice-cold fear. Something wasing for Silver Peak. Something that knew who I was.


    And I had no idea how to stop it.


    "How long do we have?" Brock asked.


    Marcus looked back toward the trees, where we could now hear the faraway sound of engines.


    "Maybe an hour," he whispered. "They’ll be here by sunset."