Magic of Moonlight

Chapter 14 - Cheerleader Chaos

Chelsea sat in her bedroom frustrated. She had the perfect opportunity to force Sebastian's hand and now it was gone. His wolf, Griffin, just had to intervene and retrieve Ember before they deteriorated further. Growling, she threw a snow globe across the room. She had even lost a decent ally who managed to separate Sebastian and Ember. He had made it so no one could find her.

"Of course, Griffin could find her!" she screamed into her pillow. "Griffin would go through hellfire to reach her! Why can't that wolf even look at me? He could sway Sebastian's opinion of me? But no! It has to be Ember!" Tears streamed down her face. The trial and outcome were today. Only the Alphas, Luna, witnesses, victims, and accused could go. She hated not knowing what was going to become of Trance. Was he going to throw her under the bus? She felt betrayed by the Moon Goddess. She had been with Sebastian since he was born. Wasn't she worthy to be his mate? Why was the Moon Goddess being so cruel?

"Darling, what's wrong?" She had not even heard her mother come into her room. "Why are you so upset?"

"Everything is wrong!" Chelsea grabbed a hold of her mother and began to cry. "Sebastian won't even look at me. All he cares about is Ember."

"Ember is his true mate, isn't she?" Her mother asked shocking Chelsea. "I thought you would be since you two were so close." Her mother sighed and leaned back to look up at the ceiling. "I was angry and frustrated as well. I thought that maybe there was an agreement between the two packs to mate them together to make a larger pack and they had asked the Werewolf King to allow it." She watched as her mother gave a deep and heavy sigh. "But after talking to Luna Rebekah and Luna Rias, I can see how close Sebastian and Ember were as children. When I was pregnant with you, he never latched himself onto me like he did with Luna Rebekah."

She gently sat back up and cupped Chelsea's face with her hands. "I'm sorry I pushed you to learn to be a Luna. I'm sorry I told you that Sebastian was going to be your mate." She wiped a tear from her cheek. "You need to let Sebastian be with his mate. She is his true mate. The tattoo they both bear signifies that." She gave Chelsea a kiss on the forehead before getting up. "How about I make some strawberry cheesecake? I know it's your favourite. We'll have a movie night together." She smiled and stepped out of the room.

Chelsea was baffled. Her mother had just accepted Ember as future Luna in front of her. She threw her pillow at the door. The force of it made the door shut again. "I can't believe this!" She gritted her teeth in frustration. "My parents accept that nobody as future Luna! I'm more qualified to be future Luna than that loner!" She narrowed her eyes. She knew what she must do. Ember had to go.

***

Alpha Alexius sat calmly after relaying what he was allowed to about trial to his Beta and Gamma. Both were shocked at the news that the Moon Goddess had possessed Ember. It was clear to them that she was definitely their future Luna and a powerful one at that.

"I had never seen a Luna been taken over by the Moon Goddess before," Alpha Alexius said in a whisper. "But the aura that flooded that room when she possessed Ember was... Magical. I felt like I was a kid again. I felt like there were clouds outside that I could go, run, and jump into. Kino told me to kneel as soon as I felt it. He told me who she was."

"I wish I could have been there," Beta Daniel mused lightly. "I would have been so proud that it was our future Luna she possessed." Gamma Noel nodded in agreement.

"Where are they now?" Gamma Noel asked curiously. "I know she doesn't have her wolf yet but perhaps we should pass the Alpha and Luna title to them soon."

Alpha Alexius laughed hard before replying. "Where else? Sebastian can't seem to get enough of her and so they're in his bedroom again. This time though, Griffin was saying it was 'his turn'. She has her hands full with my son for sure."

Beta Daniel and Gamma Noel both laughed at that. "Hopefully with Trance gone, they will have some sort of normalcy back to their pairing." Beta Daniel chuckled. "Sebastian is probably only like this because Trance trying to stake a claim on Ember. She probably allows him because she's probably has had she-wolves trying to stake claims on Sebastian."

Their pairing will never be normal. Alpha Alexius thought with a sigh. He was worried about who the future Alpha will be if it wasn't Sebastian. He had assurances from Ember that it wasn't going to be an issue

***

Sebastian laid in bed on his back with Ember curled up and fast asleep at his side. He thought back to the trial and Griffin's account. Something about the account confused him.

Griffin?

Hmm? His wolf was more inclined lately to answer his questions instead of teasing him about being oblivious. What is it, Sebastian?

You said that wolves are always reborn together. The pairs are always the same. So the pairs need to be alive together to find each other. The only one who is different to this rebirth cycle is the Werewolf King. Why does the Werewolf King differ?

Ahh... Griffin chuckled lightly at his human's curiousness. Glacier has two mates. Yet in each lifetime she gets to spend it with only one of us. The only time we overlap is when the new King and the old King are alive at the same time.

Sebastian's eyes widened at that revelation. So you have always been the wolf to the Werewolf King?

Along with Eagle, correct. Griffin replied. Eagle is currently Tiberius' wolf and he has one more important role to play before he passes on to wait for the cycle to start again.

One more important role? Sebastian asked. He could feel Griffin shaking his head. I'm not to know before time?

Not yet. Griffin confirmed softly. The role comes after you reveal yourself.

Sebastian sighed and looked down at the sea of red hair that spilt out over Ember's shoulder and across his chest. Gently, he brushed her hair with his fingertips, moving it back until he could see her face. She twitched her nose in her sleep before slightly parting her lips to let out a soft coo. He chuckled. Ember was adorable when asleep but feisty and energetic when awake. He hoped that they finally will have some peaceful days before her sixteenth.

He glanced up at the calendar on the wall. Just under a month left to go... He smiled to himself and began to mentally plan what the night of her sixteenth should be like. He couldn't wait to finally meet Glacier.

His thoughts paused before he asked curiously. Then why are there chosen mates?

Griffin huffed lightly in his mind before replying. Wolves don’t have control over our human hosts. While we are spun out time and time again, humans are not. Humans have control to live their lives as they see fit. His voice was lower and sounded pained. Some humans choose to forsake the mate bond and choose their own. The mates not involved but are forced to bear this choice are given their own choices.

So Trance’s true mate chose death?

Many humans who are attuned to their wolves choose that path. Griffin replied. The other path is living and finding a chosen mate amongst the other species of this world. Falling in love with a non-wolf is hard but sometimes, for the one making that choice, can be one that gives them some semblance of life despite feeling that there is a missing part of them.

Sebastian glanced back down at Ember sleeping. I can’t imagine being without Ember. It feels so foreign to even try.

I can’t imagine it either. But Eagle has been without Glacier once. He was Siegheart’s wolf when Faust stole Ella from him.

Faust… Sebastian growled lightly. Ember stirred in his arms prompting him to stop. Should I expect more trouble from that family?

Not in this lifetime. Griffin replied quietly. Both fell into an uneasy but comfortable silence.

***

The next day at school, the trial was big news. Many wolves looked at Sebastian and Ember with awe and mild uncertainty. It was now widely known that Ember had been possessed by the Moon Goddess and had pulled a wolf spirit from another wolf. No one denied that Trance didn't deserve his punishment but it made those who had bullied Ember in the past worry she might turn her sights on them next.

Sebastian purred softly as he took in deeply her scent. He loved his little Apple Cinnamon treat and couldn't wait to have another taste soon. He didn't care what others thought of them. If it kept wolves who wanted to hurt her away then there was no loss in his eyes.

"We have class soon," Ember murmured after attempting to get out of his arms without any success. "Can you let go of me so I can get my books?"

"Just a little bit longer," he whispered in her ear before giving it a nip. He could see her unamused expression in the reflection of her locker and sighed. "I'll see you at lunch then." He spun her around to give her a kiss before walking off to his first class of the day.

"My mate is a horn dog," she muttered causing Violet to burst out in laughter next to her. "I can't wait until he names himself. This instinct to be attached to your mate will hopefully stop."

"It's Sebastian," Violet giggled. "He's never going to stop." Ember rolled her eyes before dragging her to their first class.

Nearby, Chelsea watched everything carefully. She had been taking in various mannerisms and quirks of Ember's personality to try and mimic her later. Beside her, a fellow Shadow Runners student sat watching Sebastian doing the same thing. The plan was to start today with him luring Ember away before Chelsea met up with Sebastian at lunch.

"She has a free period just before lunch," Chelsea murmured softly as they moved off to make their way to class. "Make sure to lure her away then. Is the holding den ready?"

"It's perfect. All she has to do is walk over it and she'll fall in. The only way out up and if we cover it, no one will know she is there." He glanced at her with a slight smile on his face. "Can we have her? Like once you make Sebastian yours, can we have her as our play toy?"

"I don't care what you do with her," Chelsea replied flipping her hair casually. "Just as long as she stays out of my way until Sebastian has been claimed by me."

"Of course," He chuckled imaging all the positions he could experiment on Ember. "Having an Alpha's daughter in my bed has always been a dream come true for me. They're so rare here but when they do appear, they are so entitled. Spoiled princesses. I'm glad to get one to do whatever I want to."

"Well, if you're patient and the cards fall my way quickly," Chelsea smirked, happy with the plan this wolf had in mind for Ember. "Then you can have an Alpha she-wolf fucking spree. You could fuck her in half for all I care."

"Then it's a pleasure doing business with you, Beta Chelsea." He shook her hand before entering the next door over to go to his own class.

Chelsea smiled and entered her own class. She watched Sebastian from across the room. Can’t wait for your hands to be around me. She gave a small squeal of excitement before turning to focus on her class.

***

"What you reading?" Sebastian purred leaning over Ember as she sat curled in a chair in the school library. He chuckled as she jumped and let out an undignified squawk in surprise.

"I thought you had class," she hissed back at him as she settled herself back into her chair again.

Sebastian moved behind her chair. He leaned down and wrapped his arms around her, nuzzling his nose into her neck before murmuring "I wanted to spend your free period with you."

"We spoke about this before," Ember replied mildly terse in tone. "You're the future Alpha. You can't be skipping class just because you feel like it. Your dad would be furious if he knew."

"Well it's a bit late for me to go now," he replied gently. He picked up her bookmark and placed it in her book before turning her wrist over to show her the time. "I've already missed half of the class." He gave her a kiss on her temple. "Besides, there's something I want to show you. I found it during our forest study in Biology."

"Oh?" Ember popped her book into her bag. "Is it interesting?" Sebastian gently helped her up and started leading her to her locker. "How far is it from the school?"

"It's very interesting," he replied. He waited until she had placed her bag into her locker before guiding her out the door and down to the forest. "It's not too far."

Ember eagerly followed him. She knew he would have found something very interesting if he was willing to upset her by skipping class just to show her. As the walked deeper into the forest, she became mesmerised by how the light glittered as it shone through the leaves. She tried to look everywhere at once.

Sebastian chuckled. His destination was near. He turned and changed his grip on her from their fingers interlinked to him holding onto her wrist. "Come, it's not far now." He continued to walk until she let out a loud shriek. He let go of her wrist and turned around to continue back towards the school.

Ember looked up at the hole she had fallen into. "Sebastian?" she called. She could hear him circle back before his footsteps walked away again. "SEBASTIAN!" she screamed fearfully. She couldn't understand why he would leave her here inside this hole.

Standing up, she looked around. It was the size of her old bedroom at the Dark Moon packhouse. She looked back up at the hole she had fallen through. There was no way she could climb back up. Sighing, she attempted to mindlink.

Violet, Rita, Toby, can you hear me?

Her link was void. Silence. She looked around again squinting in the low light trying to see what was in the room she could use. She bit her lip in frustration. Growing in the four corners of the room were wolfsbane plants. She carefully felt along the walls searching for anything she could use to get out. But there was nothing.

Tears rolled down her face. Why? She sat down, anger building up within her. "HELP! ANYONE!" she screamed before starting to sob. Her heart hurt. Sebastian had left her here. Led her here, let her fall down a hole, and left her here. "Help..." She couldn't stop crying. She flopped onto her side, unable to keep herself upright from the grief and the effect of the wolfsbane plants.