Chapter 6 The Legend

"What did you say?" Hored frowned, leaning on his desk as he regarded his son.

"A mining hole but instead of the usual rocks, the Beta spoke of a weapon that would ensure them victory in battle," Peter repeated. He recounted Embry's conversation with her subordinate, word for word. He frowned when his father's face suddenly turned dark. He glanced at his brother who just shrugged at him and shook his head. They both looked back at their father who had started pacing.

"They're looking for the moonstone."

"Moonstone?" Peter asked. He noticed how Hored was frowning and didn't understand what the fuss was all about. Wasn't it just a myth?

"That's not good. He's trying to rewrite destiny."

"What do you mean by that, father?" Peniel asked.

Hored sighed. "Remember the story Haggai always told you as children?"

Peter's eyebrows furrowed in thought. "Which one specifically?"

Haggai was the pack's story teller. She loved to gather children around her under the moon and share her fairy tales. The Scribes had her stories on record for those interested in reading in the pack library but they were rather numerous.

"The one about the Alpha touched by the moon goddess, herself."

Peniel and Peter nodded. They remembered that one. It was their favourite. It was about how the moon fell in love with a mortal; a man. Her very own creation. He was a king. On every full moon, he'd go into the woods to meet her by a meadow. One night, he didn't turn up. It turned out that he had been attacked by traitors to the crown who had noticed his nightly escapedes and was gruesomely killed. Taken by her grief, the moon turned red. She cursed his attackers and turned them into mindless monsters. She took the man's body. Her tears washed over him and filled him with life once more. However, it came at a cost. She could no longer roam freely in a feasible form. She tied the mindless monsters to the mortal so they would never again go against him. When the mortal lived out his years, he turned into mist and went up to meet the moon. The only thing left behind was a moonstone. It was a sacred stone that not only gave werewolves sanity but gave whomever the moon goddess chose her powers. A priestess, a wolf blessed by the moon as a channel to the spirit realm, conducted the ceremony. One thousand years ago, Adrienne had been the priestess to conduct the ritual. An Alpha had been chosen to rule over all werewolves and it had been passed down his lineage. These Alphas were said to have eyes white as snow and wolf forms marked by the delicate fingers of the moon goddess.

That was a fairy tale. Moonstones were just gems, a lot of counterfeits could be found in the markets that it's almost impossible to look for the real one. There was nothing special about it, but their father's expression made them think otherwise.

"Dad, you can't be saying that the tales are real..." Peter trailed off when he saw his father's seriousness.

Peniel shook his head. "That's impossible. That would mean that werewolves were once-"

"Humans," Hored completed. "Indeed. We all maintain our sanity through the moonstone. Everything about that tale is true. It is not a myth or a fairy tale. It's a legend. It's our history and it is also our undoing."

Peter frowned. "What do you mean by that?"

Hored shook his head. "It doesn't matter. What matters is that Lincoln has reason to believe that the moonstone has appeared in your pack, Peter. He cannot wield it. If he does, he will bring disaster to the land. The moonstone commands the minds of every werewolf. Imagine what Lincoln would do with that if he got hold of it."

Peniel shook his head. "Wait, I'm confused. Doesn't the ritual have to be done by a priestess?"

"Yes, it does."

"And the myth- legend says Adrienne was the last priestess who conducted the ritual. That means she's dead and there's another ready to perform the ritual for Lincoln."

Hored nodded at his eldest son. "It would seem so."

"Is it someone from the council of priestesses?" Peter asked.

Hored shook his head. "I don't know, son. Whoever she is, she must be found and kept hidden. Even if Lincoln finds the moonstone, it is useless without the ritual."

Peter nodded. "I'll start looking into it." He stood beside his brother and father as they all added to the blueprint of the Laredo pack they had been putting together since last year.

"Peter, focus your attention on getting information from the census office. Stay far away from the mining holes especially that temple and it's tunnels. With Embry nearly catching you this time, I'm sure there will be tighter security," Hored reasoned. "I have someone in the census office. I'll contact him to make a copy of everything for us. An invitation to the first United Packs Competition was delivered the other day before you left for the Lunar cycle. It is coming up next week. All packs will be present. That'll be our opportunity to collect that information."

"United Packs Competition?" Peniel frowned.

"The Beta spoke of it. He might want to use it as a cover up for something." Peter stated.

"Sounds sketchy to me," Peniel shrugged.

Peter nodded.

"I'll keep an eye out for any suspicious activities and put my ears down for gossips." Peniel crossed his arms.

"The competition timeframe is estimated to hold for one month." Hored added.

"That means we have four weeks to get the names, figure out who the priestess is amongst thousands of werewolves and convince her to leave with us without getting caught. Easy peasy. No pressure." Peniel said while his brother nodded again in support.

"Wouldn't it be better to just monitor their activities?" Peter started and continued when he got both men's attention. "Why don't we wait until they find the moonstone and let them reveal the priestess on their own? We can convince or capture her then."

Hored and Peniel glanced at each other and looked back at him. "That's actually sensible," Hored grumbled. "Risky but much better than going through every single wolf's background in Laredo pack."

"We wouldn't even need everyone's information if we were to go with your plan. Just the ones who are candidates for the Priesthood. Any family with a record of divine powers would be included." Peter hummed. "On second thought, let's do it both ways. We'll get information on such families and go through it while monitoring Beta Embry and her subordinates."

"Why Embry?" Hored frowned.

"She's the one in charge of the mining hole. To find information on their progress on getting the moonstone, I have to stick with her," Peter explained.

"And I will use the information on the families with divine powers to monitor the priestesses in Laredo pack," Peniel offered.

"How exactly do we know who the priestess is when we see her? Is there like a sign or something?" Peter asked.

Hored nodded. "It is said that the priestess bares a mark of the moon somewhere on her chest."

"Great," Peter sighed. "It's in a place we can't check."

"I'm sure you'll search this Beta Embry first. You haven't stopped mentioning the name."

"Peniel, shut up please."

"I'm just saying. If she's as intense as they say, you might get wrapped up easily."

Hored smiled when Peniel wiggled his brows at Peter who scowled at him. His sons still acted like children. "Just keep an eye out for any priestess with beefed up security. If they already know who the priestess is, it'll likely be her."