The Handicapped Luna

Chapter 10 Selenes Blade

The next morning, we trained and left right after breakfast. Jalen said few people know where the Elders actually hold up. It's in an untouched forest in Virginia. It would take us a few hours to get there. We knew we'd be gone for most of the day, so Jalen left Locklan in charge.

We arrived around lunchtime. The compound is like a small pack territory. If wolf kind had an Amish people, this would be it. They all dress plainly, but in robes. And they are all busy. At the front gate stands a tall statue of the Moon Goddess. Her crescent moon crown gleams brightly. She holds a knife in one hand and a scroll in the other. The stature is probably fifteen feet tall. She is looking up at the sky.

I heard Xandra say, "Bless you, oh Goddess."

As soon as we parked, I saw Elder Landon. When I stepped out, several other Elders came to me and bowed. I greeted them, and they went on. Elder Landon asked us to follow him. He took us to a cabin that was very large.

A very old man with a long beard greeted me. "Luna." He slightly bowed his head. "I am Elder Brock. How are you?"

"Fine, thank you."

"Excellent, now what I need from you is to prove to me you're the one the blade was meant for. I understand you've heard the part of the scroll I'll be referring to?"

"Well, I only know it from Jalen's prisoner. But, I don't know the scroll word by word."

He showed me the scroll. Then, he pointed to a particular spot.

I read aloud. "For there comes a time where my children will stray. One wolf will make them pay. As the Moon is its prettiest silver. So shall the wolf whose fur is also the prettiest silver. And she shall scourge the wolves who do only wrong in the Goddesses eyes."

He looked at me and smilled. "Luna Octavia, will you shift before me now?"

I stood up, and in a blink, I was the large wolf of Zandra. Silver fur covering every inch of my body that made me shine. Zandra walked up to the Elder and nudged his hand. Elder Brock was amazed and impressed.

"Marvelous!" He was excited. "Well, it's yours."

"Ok, so where is it?

Elder Brock smiled. "Something tells me you know if you really think. The blade calls to you, doesn't it?"

I thought for a minute. And it came to me. "Wait a minute. You mean you hid it in plain sight?"

Jalen looked up, confused.

"It's in the hand of the Moon Goddess statue." I practically shouted.

"Very good."

"Hang on." Something else came to me. "You have led them falsely into the mountains. But, you have the knife here as well as the scroll. How did they know about my wolf or the 'possible' location of the knife?"

Elder Brock sat back down. "Well, we have known there's a leek in here somewhere. One with no knowledge of the Blades' current location. That means it's a lower level wolf within the compound. But we can't figure out who it is."

Jalen fidgited. "Wait, you even have a leak?"

"Yes, well, there's a plan, too. Octavia, this blade is meant to be yours. But, we believe that 'the someone' is going to see you retrieve the knife. And we will be watching others closely to see who is watching you even closer. That person will be watched and investigated. But, I caution you. This may start something, one way or another."

"Okay. Let's do this," I said. I will be what the Goddess wants. I will bring people back to the light.

Jalens POV

What? This is making me uneasy. But, I have to trust my Goddess and my Luna. So, here we stand at the door. Ready to make a scene of my wife getting the knife.

The door opens, letting in the intense mid-day light. Octavia and all her determination walk out with a parade of elders. We passed the cars parked. Walking across the street, Octavia transforms into her wolf. Busy members stop and become curious. Zandra bounds effortlessly up the statue and grabs the knife with her teeth. After jumping back down, she laid it down on the ground and became Octavia again. She picked it up and unwrapped the hilt of the knife. It was a silver, double-edged knife with sapphire gems covering the hilt and silver symbols. She thanked the elders and we started to walk back to our car. With our backs to the onlookers, Octavia looked at her pendant. It was glowing.

As we drove away, the light faded. But, our uneasiness did not. It was clear something was coming, and both her and myself had a fight ahead of us. But, what that something was, we didn't know how it would play out. We would have to be ready.

Pete's POV

"WHAT!" I threw the desk up and against the wall. My wolf, Damien, and I were furious. "How could that d**n knife be right under your nose?"

"Apparently, the elders don't see all of us as privy to information here. Plus, that statue has had the knife in her hand since before I was born."

"Elders and good Goddess. She creates us all but steps on us when she sees fit!" I slammed the cell down.

"Let me guess," says the Alpha male behind me, "the knife isn't even here." He rattles the chains that are binding him down.

"Shut up, Benjamin." I raked my fingers through my hair. "Castor!"

A man came in the door. He's covered. He doesn't want anyone to know who he is. "I want you to take a team, blind fold groups of five prisoners at a time, get them lost in different parts of the mountains, and then let them go."

"I, what?"

"You heard me, and do NOT let them follow any of you back here."

"What about the knife?"

Damien comes to the surface, "It's not here. We've been tricked. It's now in the hands of the silver wolf. And I know just how to lure her right to me." I looked at Benjamin and smiled. "As for him. Let go of his Luna and pup somewhere. But, he will stay locked down."

"Right away."

"So this is it. You still can't admit why you were truly passed over for Alpha? And now you're losing already and can't face it?" My nephew chuckled.

"I was passed because your father always hated me. He got everything. Even the women I was fated to."

"You were passed because you have always been out of control. As for my mom, she was fated to my dad, was she not?"

"No, Benjamin. Your mother rejected me. The Goddess gave me her first. And she rejected me because of my past. Normally, rejection can harm both counterparts. But, it's made Damien and myself stronger!"

"No, Pete, you're not stronger. You're controlled by Damien. If what you say is the truth, I'm betting my mom saw Damien for what he is."

Damien forced himself out. "So, what am I? A monster? Because I know what I want and I'll do anything to get it?"

"I don't know. As I never heard any other side of the story. Except for overhearing, my dad tell my mom he adored you when you were in control. But Damien made you impulsive and caotic if you didn't get your way. My mother that same night said she loved you once. But she didn't feel safe around you."

"I was fine once. Damien was under control as long as I gave him what he wanted for the most part. But, the day she rejected me. He became ruthless. He came out and attacked her." I can't believe I'm actually shedding a tear. Damien is criticizing me now. I'm a baby. I'm weak. "That night, she apparently prayed to Goddess that she take me back from her." I fell to my knees. "The next day, my heart felt like it was broken. Damien was irritable. And I saw my brother and your mom in each other's arms. I tried to remain calm. I assumed that they would just move away to her pack and leave me here as Alpha. Instead, she gave up her right to rule to her little brother." Damien screamed, "And we were left in your father's shadow."

I sat down. Benjamin asked, "So, what now?"

"I'm still working on it. But, your Luna Queen, mate of your brother... Will be given a power that only the Goddess could give."

Octavia's POV

The next morning, I started dual weilding a sword and Selenes blade. Samantha was creating an obstacle course of sort. For now, I was training alone. She wanted me to work on speed and strength. Jalen gave me a knife holster that could also be held on the back leg of Xandra.

"Your stance is all wrong." Someone at the door was walking to me.

Jalen jumped. "Dad. Are you ok?"

"Yes. I just wanted to see how training was." He walked up to me. "Spread your legs a little. Bend your knees. Keep your arms up." He said this while holding my arms in place. I saw Jalen watching curiously. "You protect your entire midsection this way. But you also allow yourself to use your legs better this way. Don't underestimate a well placed kick to throw off an opponent."

"Yes, sir. Got it."

He started to teach me stances and the muscles involved in every strike. He taught me multiple ways to stagger an oponent. After a while, I was ready to be done and go eat breakfast. But, I made sure to thank him.

"Jalen," he quickly barked. I could tell Jalen wasn't used to the level of command he had just used on him. Jalen stood up with attention.

"Father?"

"Why don't you go back to normal training tomorrow." I noticed it was a command again, not a question. "I'll take her training over."

"Uh, yeah, sure."

"You're welcome." And he smiled and turned.

Jalen and I exchanged looks. Samantha came walking up beside us with her eyes wide. "What was that?"

"I think Octavia's training has snapped my father out of his... Bubble?"

After breakfast, we went to our office. Locklan and Preston were talking about training and beta tactics on the sofa. "No, you can't do that." Preston said. But, then he saw us, and he bowed. "Alpha Malcolm, can I have a word?"

"Yes, come on into my office." I sat down at my desk just barely hearing their conversation.

Preston had his reasoning voice that I know well. "As you know, I was Maxwells Beta. So, I am well trained. I was wondering if I could be yours too. I don't want to waste the time and effort I put into training."

He asked Locklan how he felt about that. "I think it's a great idea. It can't hurt since there's so much going on. And he is really well trained."

"Ok. I'll announce it at dinner tonight. As it is, I think we should have three people with us for a while."

Locklan offered another opinion. "Preston, do you think you could start meeting us at the training arena around 5 every morning. I think the best way to get familiar with each other is to train together."

"Sure thing."