Moonlight Kiss

13. The Treaty.

[Sirius]

It had been two weeks since we left home or a month, I didn't know how time in the land of darkness worked.

Though I pretended otherwise, I was really happy to be connected to this side of my family, they made me feel welcome and for some odd reason I felt complete here.

The Blackners had nothing to do with what was happening on the surface, in fact, they did not encourage any of their witches to visit the human world except if they were on very important missions.

I had found out from my aunt, who could somehow see things that others could not, that the witches doing this were very powerful and we're acting of their own accord, meaning there was little or nothing the Blackners could do for us.

"I would like to thank you for everything you've been doing for us." I thanked my aunt.

We were outside in the gardens and she had been telling me stories about my childhood, apparently this was not my first time here.

When I was too little to remember my mother had brought me here to keep me safe from the wolf wars that had been going on at that time.

The wolves have had a long history of war and I just wished to put it all to an end.

First our war was with ourselves, Mason had brought an end to that, now our war was with external forces that we didn't even understand.

"You should have more faith in the boy and his mate, they will change everything, they will rewrite history as we know it." She said, her eyes were glowing and I knew that some kind of divination was going on.

"They are going to be tested in the worst ways possible, make sure that nothing affects their bond." She said and then she snapped out of it.

"What does that mean?" I asked confused but she was already back to her normal self.

"I'm sorry that you're going through this, but you have to be strong for your pack." She said, tapped me on the shoulder and left.

I stayed there contemplating on her words, I was so deep in thought that I did not realize when Mason came over until he tapped me on the shoulders.

"What?" I frowned at him because he startled me.

"Where have you been, here I've been trying to get your attention for a while now." He said.

"I've been here, I've just been thinking a lot that's probably why you couldn't mind link me." I told him.

"I know the feeling." He sighed. "If there's nothing more to find out here, shouldn't we move on?" He asked me.

"To where? The circle is almost impossible to find." I told him.

"No, maybe the council, Jade is handling the circle." He said.

"We'll see, I have to talk to Zefa first and whatever she advises, we'll do."

"Fine, I do think we've bonded a lot with the Blackners, they will do almost anything for us now." He said beaming.

"Right, and we'll do anything for them too."

He nodded and I left him to go and find Zefa, he was right, we needed to move on, I was hesitant because of how good I felt here but I knew that this wasn't about me and there were a lot of people counting on me and Mason.

I left the garden where I was with Mason earlier and I walked out into the forest, Zefa liked to be on her own a lot so I figured she would be in the most quiet places of all.

"She's not there." Someone said behind me and I turned around to see the Priest.

There was a log in the forest where Zefa liked to stay and he was right, she wasn't there.

"Where is she?" I asked him and he sighed.

We didn't really talk much and our relationship was almost nonexistent so I didn't even expect him to talk to me in the first place.

"She's gone." He said. "We couldn't stop her, but she'll be back."

"Why, why would she go alone?"

"She had to, the Blackners only received you and the Alpha because of your bloodline, other covens will not hesitate to fry your brain on sight, she's gone to intercede on your behalf." He explained.

"Then why didn't she tell us?" My heart was beating faster now.

If Zefa had gone without informing us, it was because it was dangerous and she couldn't risk us coming with her.

"Have a seat." He pointed to the log and sat down before I did.

"Will she be safe?" I asked him, sitting down slowly.

"Yes, they will not dare kill a Blackner, but she might be hurt badly, there's a law that states that trespassers can be treated however you want." His voice trembled as he spoke.

Zefa was his daughter, the way witches showed their love for their family was strange, instead of fighting for them, they preferred to equip them enough to fight their own battles and they never interfered except there was a risk of death.

"We've not been able to get anything." I shook my head in frustration.

"It's complicated with dark magic, that's why we forbid it and try to stay as far away from it as possible. I'm sorry that you're going through this, dark magic has no limit and there's nothing that can't be done with it." He explained.

"There was a mole in our pack, Derrick the gamma, he died before we could question him, his eyes just glazed over and he started spurting out blood till he died, then the next morning we couldn't find his body." I said.

"You want to know if he truly betrayed the pack or if he was influenced by some sort of dark magic?" He raised a brow at me.

"Yes and how the body was missing the following day." I sighed.

"Honestly, I can't tell without the body to examine, his death was definitely caused by dark magic, it's some kind of cult thing, they give the person a potion to drink before sending him out and if he's about to be found out or if he tries to talk, the potion attacks him from the inside, killing him in the strangest of ways."

"So you think he was seduced to join this cult?" I asked.

"It's a possibility, I haven't heard of a disappearing body but like I said, it's dark magic, our study on that matter is very limited and we don't know the full extent of such powers." He responded.

"Do you know of any such cults." I asked him akdnfor a second I saw fear flash across his face but then it was gone just as quickly as it came up.

"I don't have that kind of information, I have other matters to attend to." He stood up and dusted his robe. "I hope that it's not a cult you're up against, because if it is, then I'm sorry to tell you that it's a hopeless case."

I watched him walk away and I pondered over his last words, he must know something about the cult but he was unwilling to share that information because he was scared and if he was scared of the cult, meaning our case would be a hopeless one like he said.

I just hoped we weren't being attacked by the cult.

***

"What is going on?" I asked Mason when I entered the palace hall.

The Priest was sitting on his throne with my aunt beside him and they looked really angry.

"Lower your voice." He hushed me. "A messenger has arrived from the council."

"And Zefa?" I asked him.

"I don't know." He replied and unease crept into my stomach.

It had been a few more days since she'd left and she had not yet returned.

"The delegate, Lord Noz from the council of the witches and the high priest." A guard announced.

"Priest Zora, Priestess Zilla." The man bowed slightly before advancing towards them.

"Where's my daughter?" Zora angrily slammed the doors close with his magic and Zilla placed a hand on his hands to call him down.

"The council thought she was a spy bringing us false news and advocating wrongly on behalf of the wolves." He said calmly like the man he was speaking to did not intimidate him in any way.

"Where is she?" This time it was Zilla that asked and I noticed the man shuddered slightly.

He was more terrified of my aunt than the Priest, come to think of it, the people revered and feared her a lot.

"She's been held in one of the rooms." He said slowly.

"Kneel." Aunt Zilla stood up angrily and waved her fingers at him, the man fell to his knees immediately, bowing his head in fear.

"I will not kill you because of the treaty that's between us but if anything happens to my daughter." She shouted at him.

"I will not hesitate to sever your body from your head and then proceed to hang them outside for the birds to pluck off your eyes." Zola finished her threat glaring at the man on the floor.

"I swear, nothing has been done to her, she's kept in the best room in the palace and treated like the princess she is, please let me go." The man pleaded.

I watched my aunt's eyes glow a little before she let go of the man.

He coughed loudly and then after a while he got up to his feet.

"What do they want?" The Priest asked him when he had calmed down a bit and my aunt went back to her seat.

"They want to meet with the Alpha and the wolf, they also want to sign a treaty with the wolves, they don't want to start a war." He said, his voice trembling.

"Then why didn't they let Zefa go, that's the reason she went there in the first place isn't it?" It was Mason that talked and his eyes were flicking between blue and golden.

"They wanted to make sure that you would come." He said and Mason growled at him.

His wolf was so angry, he was fighting Mason for control.

All the witches in the room turned towards Mason and they were staring at him with fear in their eyes, they knew that he was a true Alpha and that he was almost ten times stronger than any of them.

"Adrien, calm yourself." I whispered slightly in his ear.

He turned towards me and growled again.

"Jade." I whispered again and this time he calmed down, that was the trick to every wolf, their mates could calm them down instantly.

"I'm sorry everyone." He apologized when he took back control from Adrien.

"What is wrong with him?" I asked.

"He can feel Jade more strongly, he's missed her too much, he's going crazy." Mason replied.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked him.

"She's here, in the land of darkness, she probably went to the circle." He replied. "This man came across her for sure, he carries a fraction of her scent."

A fraction?

I didn't even catch that, but I guess since she was his mate and his senses were more heightened than mine then he could have smelt that.

"Is she hurt?" I asked him slowly.

"No, she seems fine." He said.

"Can you find her, do you want to go to her?" I asked him.

"I can't find her, there's magical interference, we'll meet back at the pack after we finish up here." He told me.

We had completely tuned out the rest of the conversation that was going around us and we did not even hear when a decision was reached.

"The wolves will go with you but you must send them back with Zefa, unharmed." The Priest ordered.

"When do you wish to leave?" He turned to us and asked.

"What?" I asked him, distracted.

"I asked when you wish to leave with Noz to the Witch's Council."

"We leave immediately." Mason answered his eyes flicking again.