Chapter 21: Chapter 21

Heidi quietly crawled from the bush that she hid in. She trotted in her wolf form until she was far enough away from the palace. When she shifted to her human form, she leaned against a tree. She covered her face as she cried.

After a while, she began to wander through the forest. It seemed as if she had no destination, that was, until she was in front of the arena. She walked into the spot where there was a dried puddle of blood. Her daughter was gone, probably taken by her pack.

She knelt on the ground and began to cover the blood with sand.

“I’m sorry I pushed you to do this,” she whispered, sniffing back tears.

Heidi sat in the sand until she began to smell sage. They were burning her daughter’s body.

It’s for the better, she thought to herself. She felt unworthy to see her daughter. The guilt she felt made her feel unworthy of being there for her daughter’s final moments on this Earth. She looked to the sky. Clouds covered the Moon.

“I know you hide your face from us because you are disappointed in what we did,” Heidi says aloud, talking to the Moon Goddess. “But please take care of her. I will pledge my line to you, but please, forgive her, forgive Hannah.”

Heidi lay in the sand for several minutes. She listened to the wind. She listened as she heard her pack howl for Hannah. She listened to the mind links calling for her. But she didn’t care.

“Momma?” A soft voice called to her.

Heidi shot up and turned around. Her youngest daughter, Harper, was standing a few feet from her. Heidi stood and walked to her.

“What are you doing here, my sunshine? Why aren’t you in bed?”

“Daddy and the others are being too loud. And when I tried to sleep, I just kept thinking about Hannah.” Harper answered as a tear rolled down her cheek.

“Oh, sunshine,” Heidi said as she hugged her. “I’m sorry. I’ll tuck you in and sing you a song to help you sleep”.

Heidi took her daughter’s hand and led her out of the arena. She walked her to their small tent city. In the largest tent was a bunch of people, angry and upset. They called for vengeance, for justice.

“Shut up!” She yelled out to the group. Everyone stopped talking and looked at her. Ezra smiled and walked over.

“There you are! We plan to make that girl pay for what she did to Hannah.”

“Leave, you belligerent fool!” Heidi yelled at him. She then looked around at everyone else. “All of you, leave! You sit in here, plotting like cowards. What happened out there today is all of your faults. Mine included! Each of us had something to gain, and we led Hannah to believe she could be the Great Luna. What a lie we all told.”

“We told no lies!” Ezra argued. “We had to act on the information we had. How were we supposed to know she had a powerful wolf?”

“I must be stupid for ever listening to you,” Heidi spat at him. “Of course, she has a powerful wolf. She is the Great Luna, after all.”

“Then why hide her?”

“Did you not see how dangerous she was!?” Heidi yelled.

“Yes! She is dangerous! She killed your daughter. How are you not angry?”

“I am angry with myself, with all of you!” Heidi screamed as she pushed Ezra out of the tent. She then turned to those who were left. “I will hear no more of this! No vengeance will happen! No justice is needed for Hannah. She chose to fight. She chose not to submit. It’s called a fight to the death, and you all are upset that there was a death? If you want to take vengeance, take it out amongst yourselves! I forbid anyone from my pack to ever go against the Great Luna again. And that is a command!”

At her command, her pack members nodded their heads. Everyone left the tent except her mate and Harper. She led Harper to her bed and tucked her in.

“You don’t blame the Great Luna?” Harper asked quietly.

“I did at first,” Heidi answered honestly. “But I’m not blaming her now. I’m not even mad at her. What Hannah did was not the Great Luna’s fault, but through my fault, your father’s, and so many others.”

“Hannah-”

“Hannah made her choices, but we did push her to them.” Heidi interrupted. She let out a heavy sigh. “She - no - we went against the Moon Goddess and those she put on this Earth to protect us. This is our punishment. But I’m going to make this right.”

“How?”

“I’m going to go see the Great Luna tomorrow. I will make it so no one from my line or my pack can ever challenge her again. Rather than scheming to get rid of her, I will do what we should have been doing: supporting her. Being loyal to her. Something I hope you will do as well.”

Harper sleepily nodded and snuggled into her pillow. Heidi hummed her a lullaby until she fell asleep. Only then did she reluctantly lay down as well.

By early morning, Heidi was awake. She walked through her tent city, not saying a word to anyone. She walked the well-worn trails up to the palace. She looked at the guards at the front door.

“I wish to speak with the Great Luna.” She said to them.

They both nodded and looked off in the distance. They were mind-linking Theo. After a few seconds, they shook their heads.

“The Great Alpha says now is not a good time.”

“I will not leave this spot until I get an audience with her.” She replied as she crossed her arms.

“Please, we don’t wish to make you leave.”

“A few minutes is all I need, please,” she begged.

One of the guards went inside. After several minutes, Theo came to the door.

“It isn’t a great time, Luna Heidi,” he told her. “Please leave.”

“Great Alpha, please. I’m not here to be angry. I am here to apologize. Please, don’t let me live with this guilt that I carry.”

Theo mind linked to Calliope. After a moment, he nodded.

“Come in.” He said as he held the door open.

Heidi walked in and followed Theo up the stairs to the third floor. He took her to the end of the hall, to his and Calliope’s room. Before he opened the door, he looked at Heidi.

“If you try anything, I will exile you,” he whispered sternly. Heidi nodded.

Theo opened the door and let her in. He stayed in the hallway. Heidi walked into the bedroom and saw Calliope in bed and Riley standing nearby. Heidi walked over to the foot of the bed. She noticed how Calliope looked exhausted, like she cried through the night and didn’t sleep. Her face is red, her eyes slightly swollen from the tears.

“I’m so sorry,” Calliope said as she held back tears. Heidi reached down and took Calliope’s hand. Riley moved closer but didn’t interfere.

“You don’t need to apologize, not to me, my family, or Hannah,” Heidi explained as she gently rubbed Calliope’s hand. “My daughter should have submitted. Your wolf is formidable, as she should be. You should never apologize for your wolf.”

“This is all my fault,” she continued. “My mate’s fault, my pack's fault. So many are at fault, except you. I pushed my daughter to challenge you. I pushed her to train for years. We were told you were a fraud, and we believed them.”

“Who said those things?” Riley asked angrily.

“Elder Ezra and Alpha Jason of the Moon Valley pack approached us. Elder Ezra said he and other elders were denied seeing her wolf and powers. They said the Great Alpha and others were being secretive. We believed them when they said she had no wolf.”

“But I see now why you were secretive. Your wolf had such a powerful aura. You are so large, and I even felt fear in my heart. But as the Great Luna, that’s how you’re supposed to be.”

“Not quite,” Calliope whispered as she looked down at her lap.

“I don’t care your reason,” Heidi replied as she gently squeezed Calliope’s hand. “I should have never questioned you. I fear Hannah is not in the Goddess’ eyes as she sleeps forever. I have brought shame to my family and intend to make it right.”

“How?” Calliope asks as she looks up to meet Heidi’s gaze.

“I want to pledge myself, my line, my pack, never to challenge you again. I want to make it a blood oath. Never again will a wolf descended from me or of the Blood Stone Pack move against you. Giving you my loyalty, serving you, this is what I shall do to get forgiveness from you and the goddess.”

Heidi reached into a pocket of her dress and pulled out a small knife. Riley quickly grabbed her wrist and forced the knife from her hand.

“It’s for the blood oath!” Heidi says quickly. “And only for that!”

Calliope held her hand out and looked at Riley. Without questioning her, Riley placed the knife in Calliope’s hand. She took it and looked it over.

“Before you pledge yourself to me, I want to tell you something.”

“Of course,” Heidi nodded.

“I want you to know why I hid my wolf. Why I hide my powers. My wolf isn’t like yours or anyone else’s. My wolf doesn’t speak; she has no name. But she is a powerful wolf, so powerful that I have no control when I am in wolf form. I can’t make my wolf do anything. And during the fight with Hannah, I tried hard to stop my wolf. I begged and pleaded, but my wolf wouldn’t stop because Hannah didn’t submit.”

Heidi sat down on the edge of the bed. She took several deep breaths before looking back to Calliope.

“No control? Ever?”

“Never. There was always a power struggle, even when I first came into my gifts. However, it wasn’t a struggle for my wolf; it was just me struggling. Struggling against my wolf. But now that I can shift, I have full control over my gifts. Just none while in wolf form.”

“Is this common for Greats?”

“No, I’m the first.”

“So what they said the other night that you can create mate bonds was true?”

Calliope nodded. “All true.”

“How long have you known?”

“I just figured that one out the other day,” Calliope answered with a slight smile. “I’ve known about the other gifts for many years. But I can only use them in human form.”

“What does being in your wolf with no control feel like?” Heidi asked.

“It feels like I’m sitting in an empty room with no walls or windows. But yet I can see everything my wolf sees, hear what she hears, smell what she smells. But I don’t feel what my wolf feels. I can still feel my human form. It feels like I’m in a dream...or watching someone else’s dream. I’m just there.”

“I can’t imagine,” Heidi sighed. She looked to Riley and then to Calliope. “I still want to pledge myself to you. Your wolf doesn’t change that.”

Calliope called Theo in via mind link. He looked concerned when he saw the knife in Calliope’s hand.

“Luna Heidi is going to pledge herself, her line, her pack to me,” Calliope said to him. “I wanted you here to witness, along with Riley. But Heidi, you must also swear to keep my wolf a secret before we do this. A secret that stays with you and you alone.”

“I swear your secret will die with me, that any descendants of mine will never waiver in their loyalty to you, and that my pack will never sway from you.”

Calliope nodded and cut the palm of her hand. She handed the knife to Heidi. She cut her hand and took Calliope’s cut hand in her own. Steam emitted from their hands, and the oath was sealed. Calliope’s hand began to heal, but Heidi’s would never heal. It would leave a scar, a constant reminder of her oath and pledge.

Calliope motioned for Heidi to come forward. When she was close enough, she put their foreheads together.

Heidi felt like she was falling until she landed in the snow. It was cold beneath her feet, and the wind bit at her skin. Heidi looked up and saw Calliope’s giant white wolf spirit. The wolf did not growl; she did not snarl. The wolf looked up to the sky, to the full moon overhead. Heidi looked up and gasped. For a moment, the light of the Moon shined down on her, and it felt like an embrace. Warm and comforting. Tears streamed down her cheeks.

“Thank you,” she whispered as she felt herself being pulled back to the world. She looked at the young girl in front of her. Hair so bright blonde that it looked nearly white. Eyes so blue that they seemed to glow. A face so beautiful that she had to come from the moon herself.

“Thank you.”