Chapter 96

Ava

I shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other as Chris scoffed loudly, shaking his head. My gaze flitted nervously between him and the gathered Elders standing before us in the dimly lit meeting hall. An emergency council meeting had, of course, been called just moments after we had discovered the sacred moonstone to be missing.

And the Elders were downright furious.

“Let’s not forget that it’s just a rock,” Chris said flippantly, waving one hand in dismissal. “If she stole it, then that’s on her.”

The Elders all visibly bristled at his casual attitude. Elder Degas’s eyes narrowed into uncharacteristic slits, his bushy gray eyebrows furrowing over them.

“The moonstone is far more than just a ‘rock’, Alpha,” he growled, rapping his cane on the floor in a way that made all of us jump—so startling for the usually jovial Elder. “It is a sacred relic, imbued with profound power and meaning. Forgive me, Alpha, but you must know the truth.”

“Degas is right,” Elder Fatima chimed in, her stern features creasing with disapproval. “The five artifacts were bestowed upon our kind by the Goddess Luna herself. They are extensions of her magic and blessing. To lose one is…”

Her voice trailed off, and a shiver seemed to run through the room.

Finally, Elder Elise finished for her: “It’s an omen,” she murmured.

Chris snorted again, but I could detect the slightest hint of unease in his expression now as the weight of the Elders’ words seemed to sink in. I laid a hand on his arm, squeezing gently in a silent plea for him to listen, just this once.

Elder Degas cleared his throat, causing everyone to turn and look at him.

“Long ago, when the five children of the Goddess Luna first walked this earth, they were each given a sacred artifact to guide and protect their respective packs,” he explained, hobbling over to the window. “For our Moonstone founder, Ares, it was a glowing stone formed from Luna’s celestial light—the very first moonstone.”

Degas paused, tightening his grip around his cane as he peered out the window.

“What were the other four artifacts?” Chris asked, clearly more out of curiosity than much else.

Degas seemed to be expecting this question. “The other artifacts were a moonfeather for Moonrise, a shard of moonglass for Moonshine, a moonseed that grew into a mighty tree for New Moon, and a moonpetal frozen in amber for Crescent Moon,” he continued.

He paused again, and this time, there was a tense silence in the room as he slowly turned around again to regard Chris with a stern glare.

“These items were not simply items,” he said lowly. “They were imbued with the Goddess’s protective magic and power over the lunar cycle. They were what allowed the five packs to thrive throughout history.”

“It is said that as long as these relics remain under the protection of each pack’s rightful Alpha line—whether a true blood Alpha or a chosen Alpha—we will be blessed with Luna’s favor,” Elder Bradley added solemnly, fixing Chris with a dark stare.

“But if they are lost or stolen…” He left the sentence hanging ominously.

I felt a shiver trickle down my spine as the implications sank in like a lead weight in my gut. Chris, however, didn’t seem to get it right away—or maybe he simply didn’t believe it. He ran a hand through his tousled hair and sighed, striding over to the window to look out upon the gardens himself.

“An omen,” he echoed Elise’s earlier statement. “What does that mean, exactly? Swarms of locusts? Fire raining from the heavens?”

“Nothing quite so obvious, at least not at first,” Elder Degas said as he began lowering himself into a chair with great effort. Fatima quickly scurried over to him to help him, but he waved her away with one gnarled old hand.

There was a long silence as Degas gathered his thoughts; not even Chris, for all of his bravado, dared to interrupt the wizened Elder.

“You have seen the blight at the old warehouse, yes?” Degas finally asked, leaning back in his chair.

Chris nodded without turning. “I have.”

“So you have, then, seen the wrath of the Moon Goddess?”

“Yes.” Chris swallowed, and I could see his Adam’s apple bobbing even from where I stood by the head of the table. “So you’re saying that she would blight our land? Because we lost a gift from a millenia ago?”

Degas sighed and passed a hand over his weary face. “The Moon Goddess gives, and the Moon Goddess takes. These five gifts were extensions of her being, pieces of her soul; that is to say, that losing one would imply that we, her children, do not care for the gifts she has given us. That we cannot be… trusted.”

“So she would blight our land because of it,” Chris huffed.

Elder Elise suddenly spoke up. “The Moon Goddess is rarely considered to be one whole, pure being,” she explained. “She, like the moon, lives in cycles—phases. She loves and she hates, she provides light and she provides darkness. Perhaps a part of her does not wish to blight the land of her children.”

“But another part of her also feels the fury of a mother whose children have strayed,” I murmured.

“You’re not telling me you actually believe those old stories, do you?” Chris suddenly asked, rounding to face me now. “They’re just myths, legends to pass on to children. Come on, Ava.”

“Are they?” I asked, pulling my shoulders back. “You, of all people, should know better than to dismiss the magic of our world so easily, Chris. Not after what you witnessed with the moondeer. What we both witnessed.”

A tense silence fell over the hall as Chris’s shoulders slumped almost imperceptibly in the wake of my words. I held his gaze, refusing to stand down this time. I knew it; Chris knew it. We had both seen the Moon Goddess’s blessing that night when he was nearly taken from me.

And it was about time he started realizing that none of this was just a fairy tale.

“I…” Chris started speaking, then stopped, running another hand through his hair before sighing and continuing. “You’re right. After that night, it’s become harder to deny the Moon Goddess’s power over our world.”

The Elders all nodded solemnly, exchanging glances—all except for Degas, whose eyes flicked over to me from beneath his bushy brows. But only for a moment.

“We do not mean to condemn you, Alpha,” Degas finally said, his tone softening somewhat. “But we urge you to take this matter seriously. The moonstone’s disappearance could have grave consequences. It must be found before the blight begins. Before our crops die and our water turns poisonous.”

“What would you have me do?” Chris asked, seeming to finally shed his stubborn attitude.

“Find Olivia and retrieve the stone, first and foremost,” Elder Fatima stated firmly. “And in the meantime, take any measures to fortify and strengthen our pack. Maintain the united front that has guided us for centuries.”

The other Elders murmured in assent, and I felt Chris straighten beside me. “Of course,” he said with a solemn nod. “I will handle this, I assure you.”

“Perhaps,” Elder Elise cut in, “the swiftest and easiest path would be to solidify an alliance with another pack. A fallback in case things go south before the moonstone is found.”

Chris furrowed his brow, cocking his head. “What do you—”

“You must find a Luna, Alpha Chris,” Elise cut in, her eyes narrowing fractionally as they flickered over to me for the briefest of moments. “A suitable bride from another pack.”