Chapter 6 The Priestess's Gambit

Selene's POV

I had never ventured as far into the woods as the location of the moon temple. Enclosed by stone columns that dated back to the dawn of time, the massive bones towered over the earth, their surfaces cloaked in moss and etched with symbols that danced and contorted in the moonlight. The air here was different from that of the outside world: it had greater density and was infused with a power that caused my wolf to squirm in discomfort within my chest.

Thalia moved through darkness with a virtually ghostly grace for one so fragile. Her robes were as white as if lit from within, and I saw that she did not leave impressions upon the forest floor. There was something different about her, as if she drifted somewhere between human life and something else.

"How did you know?" I followed her deeper into the holy grounds. "How did you know I was innocent?"

"The same way I know young Beta carries shadows in his heart," she said without facing me. "The moon goddess shows truth to those who work for her in good intent. And you, child, emanate innocence even in your desperation."

We arrived at the center of the temple, where there was a circular altar lying beneath an opening in the canopy. The moonlight fell directly down upon the white stone, lighting it to shine like silver. Ancient runes were carved on the bottom, and I could feel power humming in the ground below my feet.

"Sit," Thalia told me, gesturing to the steps of the altar.

I trailed behind, still trying to wrap my head around everything that had just happened. An hour before this, I was waiting to die, and now I was in a position of power with an enigmatic priestess who claimed she could demonstrate to me that I was innocent.

"Three days," I breathed. "You've given them three days to find the real killer. Can you really do it?"

Thalia smiled, but her eyes, old as the millennia, were sad. "Child, I already know who killed Prince Marcus. The question is not whether I can prove it; the question is whether I can prove it. The question is whether you are capable of hearing the truth."

My heart surged. "You know? Tell me then! Acquit my name!"

"It's not that easy." Thalia moved forward to the altar and set her hands on the carved stone. "The person who has done this has done their job well. He's made your own pack believe you are in the wrong, turned your own husband against you. Words will never go back on such careful manipulation."

"Then what?"

"Power." The old woman's gaze clashed with mine, and I saw something that made me shudder. "The sort of power that cuts through lies and wrests truth from the greatest deceiver."

She wandered around the altar slowly, her finger tracing the worn runes. "Tell me, child, what do you know of the old ways? The magic that flowed through our people before they lost their connection with the moon?"

"Legends. Stories. My grandmother talked about priestesses who could see the future, wolves that ruled the weather." I shrugged. "But that was all they were. Legends."

"Did they?" Thalia touched her hand to one of the runes, and it began to glow with soft silver light. "Your healing gift – where do you think you got that from?"

"I don't know. It's just something I've always been able to do."

"It's magic, child. Old magic, flowing through your veins like a hidden river. It's something most wolves have lost the power to access, but it's still there, waiting." More runes illuminated as Thalia circled the altar. "I can teach you how to unlock it completely. Grant you the power to read truth from lie, to extract honesty from even the greatest deceiver."

My heart pounded. "You're talking of making me love you. A priestess."

"Better than me." Thalia's voice hardened with sorrow. "Stronger. I am ill, child. This frail body has done what it could, and the curse that binds me fast strengthens its grip each day. But my power, my wisdom, my connection to the goddess – these need not perish with me."

"A curse?" I leaned forward. "What kind of curse?"

"The price of defying those who would corrupt the function of the temple. But that is a story for another time." Thalia moved to stand before me. "What matters now is this: I can transfer my powers to you in the form of a blood ritual. Ancient magic, blessed by the very goddess of the moon."

The offer hung in front of us like a swordsman poised, about to fall. Power. The key through which I might clear my name and expose the real killer. All I had to do was accept whatever the price would be.

"What would be done to me? If I were to agree to this ritual?"

"You would transform. Your looks, your smell, even your voice would be different enough that those who had known you previously would not identify you readily. You would develop a sense of when someone lies, the power to force a person to tell the truth, the ability to penetrate the masks that wicked individuals wear." Thalia's eyes were fierce. "But you would have to serve truth and justice for the rest of your life. No going back to the simple existence you knew."

"And you? What happens to you?"

"I die." She said it bluntly, with no fear and no regret. "The ritual will take what's left of my life force and transfer it into you. It's the only way to transfer power of this magnitude."

I stared at her in horror. "I won't ask you to do that. I won't let you sacrifice yourself for me."

"You're not asking me. I'm offering." Thalia sat beside me on the steps of the altar. "Think you it's just a coincidence I arrived at your execution tonight? I've been tracking you for months, child. Waiting and watching for the right moment."

"Watching me? Why?"

"Because I have seen your destiny. A vision presented to me by the goddess herself." Her ancient eyes went far away. "I saw you standing in that courtyard, accused and condemned. I saw your husband's betrayal and your pack's contempt. But I also saw what you could become – a spirit of justice that would protect the innocent and uncover the corrupt."

"Did you count on this? Did you count on Marcus dying and accusing me?"

"I counted on someone near you to have evil in their heart. I counted on them striking when you'd least expect it." Thalia's voice grew bitter. "I attempted to warn the prince, but he was young and foolish. He wouldn't listen to the worst-case fears of an old woman."

The parts fell into place. "Marcus was investigating something, wasn't he? That's why he was killed."

"He discovered a plot that extends far beyond simple pack politics. Your Beta Kane is not working alone, child. He has supporters, in your pack and out of it. Prince Marcus discovered this and was going to expose them when they struck."

My heart froze. "How many individuals are involved?"

"That is what we need to discover. But first, you must decide – will you accept the power to share the truth? Will you let me transfer my powers so that you can save not just yourself, but your whole pack?"

I stood up and walked to the edge of the altar ring, looking out into the dark woods. Somewhere in those woods, my pack slept peacefully, none knowing the enemy stalked them. Corwin tossed and turned, his own conscience nipping at him for condemning his wife. Kane planned his next move, confident that he had eliminated the only threat to his schemes.

"If I do this," I said him slowly, "if I take your power, can I ever go back to my life as before? Eventually?"

"No." Soft but definite was Thalia's reply. "The woman you were – the innocent Luna who trusted all people and believed in all hearts – she needs to be killed tonight so the new woman may emerge. You can never again be Selene, beloved wife of Alpha Corwin. That is dead."

The words hit me like punches. Everything I had been, everything I'd done, everything I'd ever loved – all gone. I'd be someone else, a stranger to my face.

But what choice did I have? In three days, if Thalia did not help me clear my name, I'd be dead anyway. At least then, I'd be able to defend myself. I'd be able to expose Kane and keep my pack safe from whatever he was planning.

"There's one more thing," Thalia whispered. "The ritual is dangerous. There's a chance it'll kill us both. The magic is ancient and unstable. Even if it works, you might not survive the changing."

"And if I refuse?"

"You die in three days, and Kane's coup runs amok. Your pack falls into whatever master he serves, and countless innocents are harmed as a result."

I closed my eyes and recalled Marcus, icy and still on the altar. He'd sacrificed himself protecting our pack. Could I do any less?

"How much time do we have?"

"The ritual must be performed before sunrise, when the moon is still strong. We have perhaps two hours."

Two hours to determine if I should bet everything on the hope of justice. Two hours to pick between probable death and potential transformation into something humanity cannot understand.

I glanced at Thalia, this old woman who was willing to give her own life for mine, and made my decision.

"What do I have to do?"

Relief flooded her face. "First, we must prepare the altar. Then the blood letting, the chanting, the transfer of power." She made her way to a stone chest at the base of one of the pillars. "But there is something I must warn you about before we proceed."

"What?"

She pulled out a silver dagger whose blade bore the same runes as those inscribed on the altar. "The transformation will hurt. Not just your body, but your soul. You will be sure that you are dying and being born at the same moment. Most who attempt such spells lose their minds because of the pain."

I took the dagger away from her hands, feeling its balance. "Will it be worse than watching my husband have me sentenced to death for a crime I did not do?"

"No," she admitted. "Nothing is worse than that."

"Let us begin, then."

Thalia grinned and began to place things upon and about the altar – candles, herbs, vials of what seemed like liquid moonlight. "Remove your garments and lie back upon the altar. The ritual must be in contact with your flesh."

I paused for a moment, then unbuckled my attire. The night wind was cold against my bared flesh, but the altar rock felt strangely warm under me when I lay back upon it. The runes etched into its face seemed to pulse with power under me.

"Are you ready?" Thalia asked, the silver knife glinting in her weathered hands.

"Wait." I held her wrist. "If this succeeds, if I survive and gain these powers – how do I get back in time to expose Kane? How do I come back presentable when everyone thinks I'm dead?"

Thalia smiled, and for the first time since I'd met her, she was truly smiling. "That's the pretty thing, child. When the ritual is complete, you won't be Selene any longer. You'll be someone new, someone Kane has never seen. Someone who can just walk right back onto Crescent Pack land without anyone even recognizing you."

She raised the dagger to the moon, and its blade went alight with a fire that was as much silver as the runes.

"But first," she spoke, and her voice took on a ritual tone that seemed to sound from the stones themselves, "you must die."