Lira read and re-read the letter several times. The contents didn't change. She couldn't believe her eyes.
She always thought that the moonstone broke into tiny pieces, pieces which were at Ironwood.
That's why Priscilla and the others were so focused on her having visions. They had no idea where the Moonstone pieces were.
Lira gathered all the papers and thought about what to do. Donna had already read the letters but she would still notice that they were gone.
Returning them would be risky. She could burn them. It wouldn't even matter if she was caught.
She was the Moonborne. She wouldn't be punished harshly, if at all.
Lira folded the letter from Silverstone and put it in the pocket of her loose-fitting jeans. She tried to open her door but it was locked.
Of course, freaking Gerald.
She looked over to the window and saw iron-bars. She sighed and collapsed on the bed.
The next day, she was woken up by a knock on the door.
"Lira, it's time for breakfast." Hilary called out.
Lira heard her shuffling awkwardly behind the door then leaving. Maybe she didn't know her husband locked it.
Strange, those two lovebirds tell each other everything. Hilary soon returned along with the sound of jingling keys.
She unlocked the door and left. A few minutes later she returned and knocked gently then opened the door.
"Good morning Lira-" she started but was cut off.
"So you finally decided to release the prisoner huh?" Lira asked with a disparaging grin.
Hilary stiffened but then she immediately straightened her back and looked Lira in the eye. "You heard what the future alpha said. Our necks would be on the line if you left last night."
Lira sighed and pushed past her to the living room.
"Lira, aren't you going to eat?" Her father called from the dining table.
"I'll eat at home." She called out from the front door. "Lock my room okay?"
She left and walked down the path leading towards the temple. Winter was close. She shivered and cursed herself for forgetting to ask for a sweater.
It's not like she would have asked if she remembered. Ever since her father remarried she found it hard to converse without starting a fight.
It had been 15 years but it still felt like he was betraying her mother.
On her way some people visibly avoided eye contact with her while others bowed. She wasn't sure which reaction she preferred.
Lira wasn't any regular werewolf; she was a Moonborne- a direct descendant of Selene. There was no other Moonborne in existence at the time, or in the last 100 years.
A few werewolves could be born with heightened senses or special powers but even fewer were pure moonbornes.
Procreating with a Moonborne didn't guarantee moonborne children or children with special powers. Moonbornes were said to be chosen at birth or before birth by the Moon Goddess Selene.
Some legends say that they are the first werewolves; others say that they are the result of Selene coming down to lay with werewolves.
But one fundamental truth remained, they were demigods.
The children at Ironwood treated Lira with fascination at first when she first arrived; but that soon changed to reverence and fear as they realized what she was. Lira rarely played with anyone her age.
To preserve the power balance between the church and the state, Donna reduced Lira's exposure to the public to a few times a year until she turned 18.
"Someone's an early bird." Kyren commented.
Lira's head snapped up and she saw Kyren. He was wearing a thick sweater and she immediately felt jealous in her thin t-shirt.
"Where are you going?" she inquired.
"I'm going to eat breakfast. But it looks like I'm too late." He shrugged. "Or you didn't eat?"
"It was hard to." Lira mumbled.
"Gerald has been alone for a long time. You were literally holed up in the temple. It's not his fault-"
"I know okay!" Lira cut in. "I know! That's why I feel so shitty about my shitty feelings."
Lira stomped forward and Kyren followed.
She took a deep breath and asked, "What about you? How was the meeting with your dad yesterday?"
Kyren could tell that Lira knew that it wasn't any ordinary meeting. The head of the pack meeting with the religious head right after the first zombie wolf sighting. Nothing ordinary there.
"We've decided to burn them." Kyren replied.
"What?"
"We'll burn the body of every wolf that dies in our pack. Sentinels and guards are keeping the zombies on the outside out, this way we'll kill the ones in here before they even show up."
"But it's our tradition to bury our loved ones."
"It still is" Kyren said. "This is only temporary. Until you fix the moonstone."
"Right…until I fix the moonstone." Lira said with her eyes fixed to the ground.
Kyren stopped walking and stood protectively in front of Lira. "Someone's here. Someone who doesn't have the scent of a pack member."
"I smell blood." Lira gasped. "Someone's hurt."
"A rogue must have snuck in," Kyren snarled and lifted his head trying to recover the scent. "They're getting closer. They smell terrible."
Lira would have laughed if it weren't for the terrible feeling she had in her gut. Could rogues make her feel like this? She felt ten times colder and her heart was hammering against her chest.
"Kyren…"
"Don't be scared, I'm here."
Suddenly a black figure zipped across the path. Kyren moved forward and brought out his right hand.
The figure got up as best as it could and Lira's mouth went dry upon seeing it.
It was similar to Priscilla; the uneven fur, the unfocused eyes, the foaming mouth. Another feral wolf. Lira could see some blood splatters on its fur.
A low broken sound rattled in its throat. It was growling at them.
The feral wolf suddenly came at Kyren in a stumbling rush. He barely had time to raise his arms.
The impact knocked him backward and his heels dug into the earth as he tried to keep himself upright. The feral wolf snapped wildly, its head jerking from side to side, clacking at nothing and at Kyren's head.
Lira stood frozen in fear. She was shaking like a leaf and could barely blink, talk less of moving her legs. She watched as the feral wolf stood astride Kyren, aiming for his jugular.
She moved forward and her knees were like jelly. They gave out and she smashed into the ground.