9 hours before the moon is full
AVA
By 3pm, most of the pack was ready to go. Oscar and Callum had the safe houses ready, and they
were now helping set up patrols around the pack house. Once that was done, they were getting the
hospital ready to go into lockdown.
Busy, busy…
I sunk down into my chair, sighing as I tried to work out how to tell Callum and Oscar what they
needed to know.
I thought back over what the Moon Goddess had told me. Don’t trust the spoken word… What does
that even mean?! Does that just mean I’m being listened to?
I felt a strange warmth at that thought. Instinct said Selene was agreeing with me. So I was right to be
suspicious.
Before going any further, I opened a link to Jeremiah. “I need my office swept for bugs, as soon as
possible please, Jeremiah. Both audio and visual.”
“Fuck,” he swore. “Apologies for my language, my Queen,” he added quickly.
“It’s fine, Jeremiah, ‘fuck’ covers it. When can you make it happen? I don’t want to write this letter if
I might be being watched.”
“Will be there in ten.”
Three microphones and a camera. Three.
And I’d been in here giving everyone instructions on what I wanted them to do all day.
Well, fuck.
“Jeremiah, we need to bring some of my plans forward,” I said through the link. My door was open
whilst the last of the room was swept and I didn’t want anything to get overheard. “Still pick up the
envelope at 4pm, but I’m going to head out at about 4. 25pm, and you’ll have to give the envelope to
Callum and Oscar at about 6. 30pm.”
“Yes, my Queen.”
“When you tell them what is happening, please also tell them that my office was bugged. Where you
can, please give them this information over mindlink rather than out loud… I don’t know if anywhere
else has been bugged, at this point, that’s a problem for just not right now. In the meantime, we carry
on as planned, but we might have to adapt on the fly later on this evening.”
He nodded.
“I’m not planning on being subtle once I am in position, Jeremiah. Artemis and I will not be hiding
our scent. I just can’t have you all arriving too early.”
Jeremiah swapped back to speaking out loud, just in case we were being listened to. “That’s all
finished, my Queen.”
“Thank you, Jeremiah. I’ll link you if I need anything further.”
He bowed, before turning to leave the room.
Once I was alone, I pulled out a pen and got to work.
‘Dearest Callum & Oscar,
I hope you know that I love you, both the men and the wolves.
The hour is early, and the fight is yet to be won.
Sometimes, an enemy of our enemy is our friend, and others, they’re still our enemy. Oftentimes, we
can never be sure.
The divine always helps me, and perhaps she can help you too.
Please remember, the spoken word is powerful, but it is also dangerous, and not all that is written
should be said.
I know I speak in riddles, dearest ones, but know that I will wait for you where red and blue meet,
above and beneath our feet. I’ll see you again when the crimson flames hide away for another day,
and the night sky shines with splashes of silver.
All my love,
Avelina
xx’
Short but sweet. With that done, I wrote copies of the Moon Goddess’ most recent prophecies and
included those with the letter, ready to give to Jeremiah.
On the outside of the envelope, I wrote two lines of one of the prophecies on their own.
‘Her protector stands, fierce and true,
Her lover’s heart will see her through.’
I sealed the envelope, sighed, and leaned back against my chair, trying to relax for the last time before
going to hunt down Elijah.
“What do you think, Selene?” I murmured internally, not really expecting an answer.
“I believe in you, my daughter,” her voice floated through my mind. “Keep them close, do not be
rash, and you’ll see them again soon.”
OSCAR
As the day wore on, I got increasingly nervous. Ava clearly knew something that we didn’t,
potentially a lot of things that we didn’t.
So far, she’d not done anything out of the ordinary. She’d been in her office most of the day, and she’d
had meetings with Jeremiah, her most senior warrior.
I worried about her, of course I did. But I was seriously fighting to trust her. I had to trust that I would
know when I needed to, and when it was safe for me to know.
I felt like I zoned out a little, like I was disconnected from reality, floating along. Right up until I
heard a voice. A lyrical, theatrical voice.
“My child,” the voice sang.
“Who… who are you?”
“Selene, my son.”
“As in… the Moon Goddess Selene?”
She chuckled. “Indeed, my child. Like I said to Avelina and I will say to the others when the time is
right, you may just use my name.”
I felt like I opened my mouth as if to talk, but nothing came out.
“I have a message for you, my son,” she whispered.
“When darkness falls and hope feels thin,
When shadows press and doubt seeps in,
Fear not, for love will find its way,
To light the path where shadows stay.
Her lover comes through storm and flame,
Through endless night, he’ll call her name.
For in the dark, where hope seems lost,
He’ll pay the price, whatever cost.
And through the pain, through loss and strife,
He’ll bring her back to light and life.”
“Paying a price? A sacrifice? What does that mean?”
She chuckled, her voice fading away into the depths of my mind. “Your brother will be able to help,
sweet boy.”
“Oscar,” Callum called, waving one hand in front of my face to get my attention. Apparently I’d been
staring into space. “You with me, Oscar?”
I rubbed my eyes. “Fuck,” I whispered. “I think the Moon Goddess just gave me a prophecy.”
Callum’s eyes were wide.
“What was the prophecy?”
I recited it back to him, watching his face drop.
“The price? What price will you pay?”
“She wouldn’t tell me.” I shrugged. “I guess we’ll find out…”
I didn’t know what was going to happen, but I’d do anything for Ava. Dionysus would too. We all
would, in a heartbeat. What fate was going to demand of me though… we’d have to wait and see.
“I guess we will.”