Chapter 42

Clay’s P.O.V

Since I got my memories back, my mind has been more open, my thoughts have cleared.

Although I knew it was all thanks to Flora and her healing, I couldn’t do anything to thank her. Malachi had warned me that for the next month, my life was about to get even more difficult and he hadn't been lying.

Several men had searched the house I had been living in. They had destroyed what was left of the house we had called home for the past two years. Now we were truly no better than strays.

And once again, I had been separated from Flora. It felt like my heart had been ripped out of my chest once again; thrown to the ground and trampled on. How long would we need to keep fighting just so we could be together? Why couldn’t we be allowed to be happy just once?

The Moon Goddess has gone too far with her testing, with her ego. She never had any intension of fulfilling her promise and I understand that now. It’s always been about power and a mere wolf has no right to challenge the Goddess’s power.

The only person, who can challenge a Goddess, is another Goddess.

I heard a whining come from behind a nearby tree and was instantly alert, but an instant later, I found one of my wolves come forward with an offering. It appeared to be the carcass of a squirrel.

I took the offering from the wolf as waited as it went to sit in a semi-circle behind me with the rest of my pack. I then broke of a clear bone from the carcass, one that hadn't been decaying yet and wrapped that bone in a willow leaf from the tree that was growing on the bank of the lake I was on. It was a small lake but it reflected the light of the moon right in the centre. The water was shallow and the moon wasn’t full, but this would work. This was the best I could work with.

I added a small piece of bark from the willow tree into the leaf to keep it secure and then I went into the water, holding out the offering to the sky.

“Goddess Artemis! Great Goddess of the hunt, of the forest and of the Moon.” I looked at the crescent moon in the sky as I spoke loud and clear. “Hear our prayer, Great Goddess. I offer you this sacrifice to call forth your power and your mercy. Bless us with your presence.”

I let the offering fall into the water. Let it sink to the bottom.

It was just the start. This battle had only just begun.

I turned back to my wolves and got out of the water. They bowed their heads.

“It is time, my brethren.” I told them. “We have been looked down upon for centuries. We had been punished for crimes that shouldn’t even be considered crimes. We have been hunted down like rabid dogs just for fun! But we will no longer be an easy target!”

I looked at each and every one of my wolves; saw understanding in their red eyes.

“Tonight, we mourn the fallen brothers of our pack.” I said. “But tomorrow, we start to train. We become an army. To defeat those who killed our brothers and to gain back our sanity. We will fight till the very end, but before that, we will learn to fight as a team, as one unit. And no one will stand in our way ever again.”

I heard the agreement in their low growls and I knew that I had a loyal pack. But they were also only able to access their wolf form for now, so I’ll need to make new strategies for them to be able to dodge the weapons that the new castle guards were using.

‘I am not your enemy, Clay.’ I remembered what Malachi had told me as his healer healed the wounds he had made. ‘But I had been foolish enough to invite the enemies into my home. Please forgive my mistakes and help me fix this. I know that danger is lurking in the shadows and I can do nothing to prevent it. But you are my hope. Both you and Flora. Don’t let me down. If I survive, I’ll meet you on the other side.’

“Tomorrow.” I told my wolves. “We get stronger.”

*

Flora’s P.O.V

The head cook looked at Daphne and me with doubtful eyes, unsure if he could trust us or not. I didn’t blame him.

“We lost one of our packmates because he was foolish enough to show bravery.” Eugenie said; his white hat clutched tightly in his hands in a white-knuckled grip. “We cannot lose any more of us! How did our pack turn out like this…Malachi... ”

I moved forward to place a hand on his shoulder. “We will get him back.” I reassured him. “Malachi had been Alpha for centuries. He won’t give up and neither would he want us to give up.”

“And what about Andre?” Another staff asked us doubtfully. “What happens if he finds out?”

“Providing us with a bone or two for a ritual is hardly going to be considered a crime, but we cannot defy him outright.” Daphne came forward. “So slip them into our meals. Mine, Flora or the Shrine Maiden’s. For now, trust no one, but on the outside show loyalty to Andre. In that, we do not have a choice.”

I nodded, agreeing with what Daphne had to say and I saw the staff agree as well. For now, all of us have to show loyalty on the outside even if there is a storm brewing on the inside. Andre won’t hesitate to take another life. He had already taken three.

Last night, while we had been inside the shrine, a soldier had tried to sneak up on him with a blade. But not only had he been unsuccessful, he had to witness Andre’s men brutally murder his eighteen year old son before he too was beheaded.

If he didn’t care about a child who had barely stepped into adulthood…who was to say he wouldn’t harm the younger ones? What was stopping him from massacring the entire pack? His goal is to sacrifice Malachi and Ezra on the night of the Blood Moon. And he would stop at nothing to get what he wants.

So now, we’ll have to play the game his way. Right behind his back.

The only thing I can wish for right now is for our prayers to be answered and for the Goddess Artemis to descend down on earth to grace us with her presence…to set everything right. No matter what price I have to pay for it.