Fall of the Luna (completed)

Forging Ties

Finn’s POV

              It has been two months since Leyton last came back to the Pack. He has been spending long periods out there to look for Kayla and only comes back for a week or two every few months to spend some time with his family. I’m grateful to him even though I know he wasn’t doing it for me. If anything, I’m pretty sure he’d never let his sister be with me again after everything that has happened. Reena was also away at a medical conference and would only be back tomorrow, so I decided to take my nephew, Claron, to the orphanage with me today to spend some time with the other pups. It was Sunday and I knew that the weekly football game took place today after I’ve been spending almost every weekend here since meeting Cedar. I can’t explain it but I feel this pull towards him and everything that he did or said was simply adorable for me. Unknowingly, I’ve been spending almost all my time during the weekends with Cedar.

              When we got to the orphanage, the pups were just picking teams and I was surprised to see Jacob there as well. He was normally hanging out with the pups of our ranked pack members and rarely sought out other pups. I was happy though, to see that he was starting to get out of his comfort zone and seeking out the company of other members who make up our pack. To be a strong Alpha, you need to take care of the whole pack and not just reside in your ivory tower with ranked pack members. Claron looked at me for permission to join the other pups and I told him to go ahead. Soon, warm-ups started and I could see that Cedar and Claron had quickly became familiar with each other. Initially, I was a little worried about Cedar participating since he’s only three years old and too young for football but the teachers assured me that he’s very strong for his age. The older pups were also kind to the younger pups and the game was more friendly than competitive. I became even more convinced today when I saw Claron and Cedar practising tackles during warm-ups. If I didn’t know they were practising, I’d have thought that they were just enjoying rolling around on the muddy football field together and the scene before my eyes reminded me of how much fun Leyton and I had when we were little pups.

              A teacher made the whistle signal to finish up the warm-ups and get into starting position. I took my seat on the benches and felt my heart brimming with pride, for exactly what reason, I couldn’t really say. The game was pretty tame and at times comical as the younger pups resort to childish methods like hugging the legs of older pups like koala bears to enable their own team to advance further. Suddenly, a loud thud followed by a scream stopped the game. Cedar was lying on his side and sobbing while cradling his knee while Jacob glared at him. “It’s just a game, Jacob! Why did you push Cedar?” Claron’s accusation made me see red and I could smell blood. I quickly ran to pick up Cedar while a teacher came to check on Jacob. Tears stained Cedar’s face and it broke my heart to see him hurt. After checking and making sure that Cedar only had scrapped knees, I let the teacher and Claron bring him away to dress his wounds while I had a good talk with my pup.

              “Do you want to tell me what that was, Jacob?” I tried to ask as calmly as I could but his silence drove me over the edge. “I’m very disappointed by your behavior today, Jacob. Do you not realize that an Alpha is the protector of his Pack? How’d you be a good Alpha if you hurt you own Pack members? It was just a game and you should really be a better role model for the younger pups, do you understand me?” Jacob remained tight lipped but I could see his face turning redder and redder. To say that I was frustrated would be an understatement. I know that I wasn’t a good father but my pup not communicating with me was certainly not helping me to become a better father. I was at my wit's end and decided to have a good chat with Lynsie about this when she comes to pick Jacob up next weekend. In the end, I sent Jacob back to his room for the rest of the day to reflect on his actions.

              How’s Cedar doing? Is he alright?

              Yes, he’s fine, Alpha. Claron insisted on taking care of Cedar and has brought him back to your house.

              I chuckled when the teacher told me that the two pups were back at my place. Claron was staying with me while Reena was away and we had actually planned to watch some movies after the football game. When I got home, I saw that the two pups were still muddy from the game and playing outside in the yard. “Alright, play time is over now! Let’s get you two little munchkins cleaned up,” I clapped my hands and pointed towards the house. They giggled and ran obediently towards the house, even remembering to remove their shoes before entering. I went to the bathroom to draw a bath for them and placed them both in the bathtub. Luckily, Reena had showed me how to shower a pup before leaving Claron in my care, not that Claron needed much help, but I could tell that Cedar definitely needed some adult supervision. The pups were having so much fun that they had refused to leave the bathtub until I had promised each of them a scoop of ice cream. I gave Claron a scoop of his favourite chocolate caramel ice cream and carried Cedar in my arms so that he could see the three tubs of ice cream in the freezer and pick a flavor. To my surprise, he picked mango sorbet, a very uncommon pick for a little pup. I gave him a very tiny scoop of the sorbet and watched as his face scrunched together at the cold sensation, reminding me of how Kayla eats her mango sorbet, her favorite ice cream flavor.

Aldrnari’s POV

              It has been three years and our coven still hasn’t managed to locate the witch casting Martha’s spells. We’ve destroyed all of the remaining potions left by Martha and only kept her spell book to help us trace if anyone was still casting the same type of spells. I know that the ancient scrolls were missing and they’d have been more helpful in locating the witch casting the spells but at least with the spell book, we could trace what spells were cast. A year or so after Martha was declared dead by the Werewolf Council, there was a large surge of energy being drawn during a new moon for dark magic. With Martha’s spell book, we were able to figure out that it cloaking spells using blood magic were cast. Blood magic was the darkest of all magic and required the sacrifice of a living being. In the past three years, we’ve managed to find traces of these two spells as they were still active but we couldn’t locate where the spells were cast or who they were cast on, let alone who cast them.

              Granny was especially worried that Martha’s followers were still out there and practicing dark magic. As long as they existed, it was a threat not only to the supernatural world but for the entire world. Dark magic and light magic both draw power from the moon. The difference is dark magic draws magic from the new moon while light magic is able to draw power from all phases of the moon except the new moon, and is strongest during the full moon. If dark magic becomes stronger, the new moon phases will last longer until the new moon is the only moon phrase left. When that day comes, light magic will cease to exist and everything in the world as we know it will change. The seasons will change, the nights will become longer and tides will fall forever, causing widespread damage to life in our world.

              “Nari, call together the Elders of our Coven. It’s time for us to take more drastic actions,” Granny said to me as she headed to the Moon Altar. I did as she said and when everyone has gathered, Granny made the craziest suggestion probably in all of our Coven’s history. “My sisters, I think we’re all of the same mind on what needs to be done with Martha’s followers. Despite our best efforts in the past years, we haven’t been able to make any progress. I think it’s time for us to consider something more unconventional. I propose to tip off the Werewolf Council on what we know about Martha’s followers and let them join in on the hunt. They have as much reason as us to want to put an end to this evil cult and as they say, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” Murmurs exploded around the circle and I could tell that the Elders were all feeling pretty uncomfortable with the suggestion. Hell, I myself felt like ants were crawling in my pants at the thought of working with those truth denying dogs but in the end, we all agreed that it was the best thing to do given the circumstances.