* * *
"Is Willow alive?" Hayes asked, his voice painfully low. And Darius rose a brow as he looked down to his wrist. "I think you should ask your daughter, that relationship is much stronger between a mother and daughter in the witch world." It made sense as to how Sage had been so in touch with the pups, but Rue more so than Ronan.
The youngest was half-witch no matter what.
Hayes looked down at his daughter and repeated the question, but she frowned. "I don't know," Darius smirked and came closer, or until Remus stepped forward to stop him.
That hardly did much as the Demon just walked through Remus' figure and stood before his shadow.
"Yes you do wolfie, think...Who told you not to trust the Snyders after you were poisoned?" The full-blown understanding had left her to feel a crushing emotion.
"T-that was mama?" She croaked, and Hayes couldn't control himself from squeezing her further.
"Show me, sweetheart, show me." It was partly a beg, but Sage had indeed sent him all the times the female voice had blessed her with a small input.
And Hayes' reaction only signified it...Willow had reached out a few times, during the demons, during the pup's birth, and just today.
"Mama's watching," Sage whispered, and Darius nodded. "I thought the voice was Mama Emery." Remus frowned at not having been told about another voice in her head.
"Where is my mate?"
"I don't know, and I can't for the life of me understand it. Wherever that bastard has her is beyond my eyes and my father's." In hearing a confirmation of Willow being alive made Hayes anxious, he needed to call Harlow and Haylee.
"Does that bastard have a name?" Remus begged the question and the light shined brighter than it had in the past few times, and Aurelia sighed.
"Can you confirm whether we're correct or not?" Darius nodded as he was attempting to settle the slight burn in his wrist—His father's warnings were never a joke.
And he was already on thin ice as is.
"Is it Randal?" Jackson questioned, and it earned him the attention of all the wolves in the room. "What? I'm just asking."
"No, it's not Randall Moon. The Moon Goddess had special plans for him, and once she's done punishing him, Father has room for him in the deepest of depths. I can promise you that." Remus had growled in agreement to his father being punished for the rest of eternity—He deserved that much and more.
"What I recommend that the first order of business is to find what those contracts have instated, course I know from my side—But they could be some unfulfilled pieces to the puzzle, that's what matters right now." Sage sniffled at the idea that the voice that soothed her a time of need had been her mother.
"If she isn't dead why the hell can't I feel her?!" Hayes growled, his eyes had already morphed into his wolf's at the mere mention of his mate, but for some reason, it calmed Sage to know that her father was there.
However, the brutal awaking of grandpa's voice caused the pups to whimper and cry. But Sage could hardly control her own emotions than to comfort Rue—However at the flickering lights above them, Raven instantly took Rue from her made and attempted all she could to stop the display of magic.
"You have to be careful Sage, Rue can feel your emotions much closer than her brother can...I urge you to reconsider the coven—"
"Don't overstep the boundaries Warren, you know just as well as I do that she's powerful enough to be a rogue witch—She's been a rogue wolf before, for goodness sakes. I said align, not join" Remus felt at least a bit better that Darius clarified that.
But what wasn't clarified was why Hayes couldn't feel Willow.
"I can't reveal too much, but it sounds like Willow is in a plane between ours and up there. She's not dead, if she was...Sage's powers would've been a lot weaker in its awakening. There's one thing to take away from this..." Darius said smiling off to Hayes, and he frowned.
"What's that?"
"That there's a stronger connection, she could become more active—Active means power. Sage, my sweet lil wolfie, you need to be careful. If your mother needs to use you as a lifeline then you need to be at full strength at all times." The she-wolf nodded to Darius' instructions and that's when Aurelia jumped in.
"We can attempt a trace to the voice, even if it's a few seconds we could summon her...Couldn't we?" Darius grinned ear to ear.
"I thought Ember Circle was too good for black magic?" Rebekah rolled her eyes, but the Demon caught it outright.
"It's not dark magic if you have a vampire Light willing." She deemed and Darius clapped his hand. "Then you're on to having a plan, but start with the contract—Screw the war, they're waiting for after winter. They've hardly had a general training session that they're scrambling to make ends meet. Hilarious if anything, course you could finish this in all of five minutes if you truly wished." Remus shook his head.
"The contract and Willow are our first concern right beside the Underground." Darius nodded in agreement and smiled around the room.
"Now that's settled, I best be off soon...Time is ticking for something, chaos is coming if not all the pieces are aligned. Remember that." The demon continued, making eye contact with everyone to address the severity.
"Are demons always so cryptic?" Eli huffed impatiently, but then his eyes locked onto Sage who smiled. "Well that explains plenty, when were you going to tell us you had a voice in your head?" The Beta continued, only to be elbowed by his mate and an eye roll from the fire beast.
"Don't make her sound like the crazy one, she's a hybrid for goddess sakes!" Julia called out, and Aurelia agreed.
"I should've seen it before, Willow named Sage purposefully—It's a tradition. And with you following it with Rue..." The witch continued, and the little pup knew exactly that she had been being talked about that she gave the room a beautiful toothless grin.
"So mama named me Sage because she knew it helps me later." Remus shot her a smile and she turned giddy, but no part of her wanted to leave her father's hold. Not when his beast was still shaking.
"But why Sage? There's not an 'H' plant?" Jackson questioned and Hayes let out a pathetic laugh, the Delta was trying to defuse the tension and he surely couldn't blame him for it.
Darius dwelled, leaning against the kitchen wall as there was some things that couldn't be answered from hearsay.
Aurelia blew out a solid breath and shook her head. "Sweet Crone, sweet Cirici—"
"Sister she's a walking legend!" Amelia shouted and it caused Remus to block his mate. "What do you mean?"
"To have Halliwell blood running through her nexus...And to add that with Lycan blood?" Aurelia was talking in circles and Remus growled out in frustration. Raven sighed, knowing that her Auntie was trying to calm her own mind's thoughts on the future—In other words, she was fangirling.
"There hasn't been a known hybrid case for centuries, and to have one so close and pure..." Raven turned breathless and choked back a slight laugh. "Royalty doesn't cover it, they're like Vampire ancients. Mom wasn't lying, she's a walking legend."
Hayes' eyes didn't deviate from Raven with that summary of what a Hybrid truly meant in the witch community, but he closed his eyes and trained to reign in his wolf. If Willow was out there he'd find her, he promised.
"Hmm, that's why father assigned me to her in the beginning. Took a lot of research on my part. But this pack isn't the only one guilty of foul play. Moon Valley and their leaders wish they could be Crescent Moon and be as successful—Dig up the secrets here and it'll help in the future...It's best I get going." Sage pouted at the thought of Darius leaving, but he offered her another smile.
A kind one.
"Thank you for having me, sweetheart—You know I'm not that far. And don't you bloody dare try that shite again on my shadow, Warren." He said pointing a finger off to the given Warren woman.
However, the demon looked to either Julia and Raven and cracked another grin. "My mistake, I should've caught it earlier." Much like before he summoned another two stuffed bears similar to the ones the twins had.
The first had gone to Julia, who was already protruding with a small bump if one really looked. However, the next going to Raven caused her to pale.
"I'm pregnant...?"
"Hmm, and if my wolfie is a walking example of a witch and wolf relationship, I think you're in for a surprise. You too, papa." Darius teased all before walking back towards Sage and winking to her, it had been the absolute strangest part of today to see the Demon resort to a mere silhouette on the floor to resemble her shadow.
She waved down to the figure and Jack shivered at the idea that it didn't move in response.
The room was completely and utterly silent as neither witch nor wolf knew what to do with the Demon's information.
Does Remmy hate me?
Fluffy? Oh, sweetheart, he could never hate you, but I just dropped a whole lot of shit on both the pack and coven that they'll need a minute to digest. And Papa Hayes will want to find his mate, you need to make sure he's careful. Wherever Willow is, it's not safe for someone to join.
"...The intuition, the healing blood...That is all witch abilities?" Aurelia had still remained fixated on the shadow and Remus' follow-up question, but she nodded non the less.
"She inherited one from her grandmother and the other from her mother, but the weather and nature—That is based on the Halliwell line, they were known to be skilled Elementalist in their time. We need to find which element is Sage's." Remus nodded and turned to the rest of the people in his house.
"We need to address the pack, if witches are staying on pack grounds we need to be honest with them." Remus deemed, and Aurelia smiled at the idea of working with Sage.
Aurelia did not have a daughter of her own, a rather horrible curse to happen in the family. But it didn't stop her from pursuing being the headmistress of the coven.
However, the title would be passed down to Rebekah in the event of anything happening—Or when she is deemed ready.
"Is it possible to find the demon contract with magic or something?" Remus questioned and Aurelia shook her head. "No, they're usually well hidden. They're designed to only be uncovered by those who it involves. But I'll have my coven conduct some research." Remus nodded, and turned to Sage.
His mate—His half-wolf, half-witch female—only looked brighter with each passing second. She had taken to becoming the pack's Luna without knowing who her blood relatives were and now it was all being answered.
"Call Haylee and Harlow?" She whispered up to her dad and the male nodded. Sage offered her mate a smile before taking her phone from the counter and taking her dad away from the crowd.
"Blake's teachings in providing for a Light can only help so much, Alpha Remus. As a hybrid, she'll need much more practice and a sense of stability in her emotions. Including a spiritual side." Aurelia informed and that caused the Delta female to smile.
"I've been meditating with Sage since I've been here, she's getting better at emptying her mind...Though, I think I speak for any pack in the mainland that they need to be more spiritual." Aurelia hadn't realized it at first, but Aurora had been from Arctic Crest—A rather traditional pack, and it was strange for her to be alright with the presence of witches.
Making Aurelia weary, while she was united with Crescent Moon—It didn't extend across the nation.
"Babe, I'm trying to learn the prayers."
"Yes and it's adorable, but maybe that's what is needed too. Sure there were prayers for Julia and the pup, but you all made it sound like Jules having her own tradition in praying for the day sounded strange." And of course it earned Eli another slap.
"Strange?!" She shouted, and if Eli's ears could be pinned back in skin form they would be. "I'm sorry but deer blood? How is that good for the pup?" Aurora shook her head and sighed back into the chair.
"When did Crescent Moon lose touch to the spiritual side?" Aurora asked, and Remus gave a solemn expression. "When my father turned crazy? After my mother died? Take your pick." Aurora hummed, wondering if there was any way to reinstate it.
She'd need to find the traditions Crescent Moon used to follow.
The conversation had barely been brought up again when Rue let out a sharp cry, and sure Blake had begun playing with the teddy bear to amuse her.
It didn't work, and it certainly didn't stop until Rebekah had pulled out a small wooden rattle. The small handcrafted toy that had intricate designs sketched all throughout the handle and top was finished with a bit of cloth.
Remus was shocked that Rue took to the toy so quickly, usually, Rue was picky when it came to noncolorful toys but she ditched the bear nearly instantly.
"Why didn't Sage's mother never tell him?... It sounds like she was suppressed." Rebekah mumbled and Amelia nodded in what her daughter had said.
"It doesn't sound like Willow's father was a nice man." Remus huffed in confirmation. "He said not trust witches, when he saw me with Sage in the forest with the twins...He can't not know." Raven explained and Blake shot her a look.
"Anything else you haven't told me?" Blake grumbled, and Raven looked heavily guilty but he didn't allow her to speak. "No, you put my Luna—My friend— \in danger because of your theory, fuck sakes Rave, we're mates!"
"Blake, you know I can't go against an order from my coven! You know that!"
"And like you, I have a duty to my Luna." Raven's heart began to tear with the ushers of her Light's emotions, and it was clear that Blake was hurting as well.
But Remus knew better than anyone how different Blake had been when he lived in Mystic Grimm, his stone-cold attitude broke when Sage came and he began to trust.
"They promised me she wouldn't get hurt."
"That doesn't change the fact that it happened and the pups had to see it." He tensed, handing Rue off to her father and heading out the back door in a clear fit of anger.
"We have to tell the Enforcers something, it's probably reached all the pack members now," Eli reminded and Remus nodded. "I want Shawn and Jessi updated fully. Once we have the pack informed, we'll have a meeting to see where this damn contract could be." He sighed, and Rue shook the rattle in her dad's face to try and bring back his smile.
Of course, the little wolf liked it, it seemed to release a scent every time she shook it. Loving the smell as well as the color-changing string. "I uh...I thought it would be good for the pups to practice their senses." Rebekah spoke shyly, now since her sister had been brutally left behind by her mate.
"Thank you, Rebekah...Raven, we'll talk about this later." With the rest of the room settling, Remus made his way closer to Sage and her father telling her siblings.
But he could hear and smell the tears, yet hearing his mate being so undoubtedly positive made him breath easier knowing that she'll be okay.
That they'll be okay.
He didn't mean to move away from her touch, he was unsure what her intention was if anything. Her scent changed, and his wolf didn't know what to make of it.
She was still Sage.
But there was this sweeter essence surrounding her that he could only describe it as enhanced. Since the time he's met her she's gone through so much and his worry of her getting through this?
Remus was unsure that there was any good outcome in their future, but he remained silent.
Doubt seemed to be as dangerous as ever, especially now.
And with the leftover scent of his pup's drool on his shirt, he realized something very important.
That he had much more to fight for and much more to lose if he let this doubt fester any longer.
______
Date: 02/28/2022
Time: 10:05
Words: 2970
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
So, do you hate me or do you love me?
That's the question because gosh, this chapter was long overdo. My first draft had the last three chapters made up a single chapter, but hey, that's why they call it a draft!
Now then, let's recap!
Willow's status—Alive?
Darius seems to think so, but there will need to be some investigation on that front.
Snyder's Demon contract?
Plenty of Snyders still living, probably won't be too difficult to find.
Raven's Pregnant—And Darius is a really good gift giver!
But yes, you heard it right, Raven is pregnant with a Hybrid! Funny enough, her sister Rebehka is mated to a Vampire is it made sense to pair her with a wolf!
Papa Blake—I'm so excited!
So Happy Monday everyone, hope everyone has a fantastic week!
You know the drill, see you Wednesday for 'The Luna of Crescent Moon' or Friday for the next chapter!!
🤗❤️