Chapter 30

Zane POV

As an alpha, I’m not really allowed for things to scare me, but I will admit to being quite concerned when I spotted the thick, hand-made paper enveloped with the day’s mail next to a King Size catalog and a Better Dens and Gardens. I never read the magazine myself, but Olivia loved it and couldn’t find it in myself to cancel the subscription. I thought absently Sarah might want to see it.

But the importance of the white envelope (“That color is eggshell,” I heard Olivia’s voice say) could not be ignored. I took it into my study and closed the door, sat down at my desk, took a breath, and finally opened it.

The equally impressive piece of paper within was unadorned and contained only a single line of calligraphy: Pack Alpha Zane Cavendish and human female Sarah Astor have been summoned to appear this afternoon at 2 p.m.

It wasn’t signed. It didn’t need to be.

As needed for my position, I had been called to the Luna Temple several times before, but for Sarah, for any human, to be named on the summons was not just unusual but unheard of.

I found Sarah in the playroom with the girls posing for paintings they were making of her. One look at my face had her making her excuses and joining me. I led her back to the study and had her sit across from me in front of my desk.

“How much do you know about the Luna Temple?” I asked.

She looked surprised, which told me she at least knew something about it.

“I know they’re universally revered as the seat of the religion for werewolves,” she said. “As such, I’ve read more speculative work than anything. According to the internet, it’s everything from a general spiritual club to the power behind every throne.”

“Somewhere in the middle is about right,” I said. “In spiritual matters, the Luna Temple is the final authority, but they tend to stay out of affairs that are strictly cultural, financial, and social.”

She nodded while I picked my words.

“As pack alpha, I’m sometimes called to the main temple of my territory to show that my guidance of the community is in harmony with their philosophies.”

She tried to hide a smile.

“What?” I asked.

“You sound like you’re on the witness stand.”

“Well, I soon will be, I expect. We both will.”

She blinked at me. “What do you mean?”

“You and I have been summoned at 2 p.m. to the Luna Temple. The summons doesn’t say why, but I expect it’s so we and the Oracles can discuss your role as a human goddess-mother.”

She frowned. “Will they see it as inappropriate?”

I shrugged. “I have no idea. I confess I was only thinking of my family and my need to have your social position made clear when I asked you to assume the role. In fact, before now I should have explained the position further to you.”

“I’ve been doing some research. I’m to advise the girls spiritually, help them with their development into adult alphas, and prepare them for their various coming-of-age ceremonies. If something happens to you, I am granted guardianship, though I imagine that would be challenged considering my status.”

“Would you accept the challenge?”

She shook her head. “I would want to, but considering just who you and your girls are, I would never win in the court. I thought, well.” She looked uneasy.

“It relieves me to know you’ve been thinking about these things. Please continue.”

“I thought I would apply for the pack alpha who would succeed you for their guardianship. The alpha should consider it an honor, and then I would stay on as their goddess-mother as a counselor and advisor.”

I nodded. It was a highly sensible plan.

She looked at her watch. “Two p.m. doesn’t give us much time.” She frowned again.

“What?”

“What in the world do I wear?”

Soon after that, Sarah and I were in the car. The staff was looking after the children at the villa, and Sarah had left instructions for their dinner if the Oracles asked us to stay the night, which sometimes had happened to me in the past.

I asked Ollie to raise the divide so we could speak privately, then looked at her, dressed “for court” in a black suit that matched her hair and brought out her eyes.

“As pack alpha, my word is law in many things, but I must function under the auspices of the Luna Temple, which was founded by the Order of the Moon Wolves, an all-female order that laid down the foundations of werewolf society. There are Luna priests, but they serve for more laic functions, charities social outreach, that sort of thing. It is not a secret society, but it is quite secretive, if you understand me.”

She nodded.

“Forgive me for what I tell you that you already know, but we don’t have time for more than a general overview. I do believe humans know quite well that werewolves lived apart from human society until the twelfth century when a werewolf pack attacked a human settlement in the Middle East. That led to the hundred years of warfare between humans and wolves, with werewolves finding victory in almost every area of the world.”

“Humans won battles only when they completely wiped out the werewolves in the area, which only meant postponement of further conflict,” Sarah said, her eyes solemn.

“Yes. In reality, humans lost, and in certain parts of the world humans were almost completely wiped out.”

I looked out the window. It was all so savage, so far removed from this day driving down the street in the bright sunshine.

“No one I know of can tell just when the Moon Wolves began to rise. Perhaps that is one of the secrets of the Luna Temple. But they dominated everyone, including the fiercest alphas, and they had one message for their brothers and sisters: werewolves needed humans. Human and wolf souls and destinies were entwined.

“In time, they prevented genocide and established rules for human slavery by setting up the Luna Temple.” I shifted slightly. “In particular, the Moon Wolves abolished the practice of large-scale moon hunts, where humans would be set naked into the woods and then hunted down en masse by werewolves for a sort of, well, feast.”

Sarah nodded. “And then 150 years ago, Luna Temple Oracles led the social movements to release humans from slavery all over the world.”

“Yes.”

I looked out and saw we were getting closer to the temple. Its grounds were extensive, and when Ollie turned onto them at first it just looked like a well-maintained park.

“The Luna Temple has been making noises about new insights into the importance of humans, though this is known only to pack leaders and a few others. I don’t know what that means.”

“But what will it mean for us,” Sarah asked, “if they say I can’t be your children’s goddess-mother?”

I had no answer for her.