Chapter 47: Episode 47
This Chapter is dedicated to Christaphe. 😊💞
Thank you so much for all the golden tickets.
........
Aire decided to visit the sacred tree for the first time ever after a long walk around the park.
Thanks to Mabel, each house accepted the basket she had to offer. As long as Mabel was the one presenting it to them, they didn’t bat an eye, or hesitate relieving it.
The first thing Aire noticed when she walked into the sacred place was the silence.
Aire slowed her steps.
The gravel beneath her shoes crunched too loudly. Everything felt wrong, and out of place. She exhaled quietly, folding her arms loosely across her chest as she continued walking, her gaze drifting over the unfamiliar paths of the pack grounds.
The title felt like something she had stolen. Eyes followed her, but no one said a word of disapproval.
She was no longer Luna to be, but Luna. She was grateful she didn’t give up the power of a Luna for some tiny power King Elijah might have spared her.
Aire ignored the eyes around her.
Everything felt off here. When she was younger, she had thought that the sacred tree would be more. More calming, or even, take away her curse immediately.
However, even the air here felt off. She felt like a thread was tied around her ribs, gently tugging her forward.
She didn’t know where it was leading. Only that resisting it felt... wrong. So, she didn’t resist it.
Perhaps, everyone also feels this.
Her steps shifted direction almost unconsciously, carrying her past the central grounds.
She stopped abruptly, and her brows pulled together slightly.
Aire’s gaze lifted slowly, and then she finally saw it for the first time in her life.
The Sacred Tree.
Her chest tightened. The tree stood massive, and ancient. Its roots spread wide like veins breaking through the earth, thick and gnarled, gripping the soil like it had claimed this land long before any of them existed.
Its branches stretched high into the sky, heavy with leaves that shimmered faintly under the sunlight. The leaves were too green, and too alive.
It didn’t look like a tree. But it was a tree. Aire swallowed. She had heard of it. Her father had mentioned it to her some years ago.
This was where they prayed, and where every wolf came when they needed answers, guidance, or hope from the moon goddess.
The Moon Goddess was said to listen here. To respond, forgive, and to heal immediately. That was what they said.
Aire had never come.
Even before the word curse had been thrown at her like a brand, she had always avoided this place.
She didn’t know why.
She had always felt like she didn’t belong anywhere sacred. Her fingers curled slightly at her sides, and the pull tightened.
Aire exhaled slowly, then stepped forward.
She hadn’t noticed them at first, but as she got closer, they became clearer.
People knelt at the base of the tree. Some had their heads bowed. Some had their hands pressed into the roots, and some had their eyes shut so tightly it looked like they were trying to force something to happen.
Aire paused at the edge of the clearing.
She didn’t interrupt. For a moment, she simply... watched them pray. The people at the entrance of the gate were beginning to come closer, still eying her.
Mabel, and the maids stood around her with their heads bowed in reference. Aire looked around.
A young woman trembled slightly as she spoke under her breath. "Please... just give me a sign. Anything. I don’t know what to do anymore." She prayed.
Another voice got Aire’s attention.
An older man this time. "I have served this pack all my life... I’m asking for guidance. Just tell me what choice is right."
Aire’s brows knit slightly. She shifted her weight, and waited. Surely, something would happen. Her father had told her that the Moon Goddess always answered immediately to prayer, as long as you prayed under the sacred tree.
However, the tree remained still, unmoving, and unresponsive. A faint unease slid through her.
Maybe, the moon goddess now took time. However, her father had never lied about anything.
Her thoughts cut off as a child, no older than ten, whispered quietly, almost too soft to hear.
"Please make my mother better..."
Aire’s chest tightened.
Her gaze dropped.
The child’s hands were pressed into the roots, small fingers digging into the grooves like she was holding on to something that might disappear.
Aire waited. She waited ten seconds under her breath, and still, nothing happened. There was not even a stir of air.
The silence deepened. It all felt wrong.
Aire frowned slightly, her eyes lifting back to the tree.
It was supposed to respond.
That was the whole point.
The pull tightened again, stronger now, and insistent. Her body moved before she could question it.
She crossed into the clearing where no one was ever supposed to step into, and mist importantly, not a cursed one.
A sharp inhale caught in someone’s throat. She opened her eyes sharply, and murmured. "Luna..."
Heads turned immediately, bodies shifted, and some rose quickly to their feet. Others hesitated, unsure. The maids stood there, with their eyes so wide that it felt like their sockets might fall of.
Mabel caught a gasp, then studied herself to watch.
Aire barely noticed the reactions around her because the moment her foot fully touched the ground beneath the tree, the air changed.
A soft breeze brushed past her.
Her steps slowed. Her gaze flickered around the clearing.
Aire’s fingers twitched, and the leaves above rustled. It rustled softly at first, then again, and again.
Aire stilled.
Her breath caught slightly.
The branches shifted intentionally.
A faint sound of confusion rippled through the people around her.
"Was that..."
"The wind?"
"There wasn’t any wind before..."
Aire swallowed. Her gaze lifted slowly toward the canopy. The leaves shimmered, and then, one fell, drifting lazily through the air.
Aire’s eyes followed it.
It didn’t hit the ground, it hovered slightly above her, then another leaf fell. Another fell.
Aire’s chest tightened. Every inch of her trembled. Something felt so familiar. She could sense something around her like a friend she had always known.
The leaves didn’t drop to the floor. They rose around her.
A soft gasp broke from someone nearby.
"What is—"
The leaves lifted gently. They spinned around her, slow, and delicate.
The air thickened.
Aire’s heartbeat began to climb. She had never felt this certain.
Her fingers curled. She took a step back, but the leaves followed, as if drawn to her.
Aire’s breath hitched.
The leaves continued to rise. More now rose, circling around her. They formed a slow orbit around her.
The murmurs stopped immediately.
Aire’s pulse pounded in her ears. She couldn’t hide this. She always hid things like this. Aire clenched her fist when she realized the leaves refused to stop on command.
This wasn’t ignorable, and she couldn’t pretend this didn’t happen. The leaves swirled higher, and faster. Yet still soft, and controlled.
They were responding to her, but wouldn’t stop.
Aire exhaled shakily. Her hand lifted slightly, and almost without thinking, she didn’t hide anymore.
The leaves shifted, and the entire motion changed, adjusted, and flowed.
Aire froze.
Her fingers trembled, as she reached out. One leaf drifted closer, and hovered just above her fingertips.
Aire touched it with a small smile.
Everything stilled, and her blue eyes glowed alongside her silver hair.
The leaves didn’t fall. They... held around her, and suspended. Aire’s breath left her in a quiet exhale. Her fingers brushed the surface of the leaf again.
The swirl resumed and this time, she moved with it.
Her hand traced through the air, and the leaves followed, curving around her in slow arcs, catching the light in a way that made them glow faintly.
Aire knew she should stop. She knew every eye was on her. She knew this would raise questions she couldn’t answer.
But for one moment, just one, she let it happen.
She turned slightly, the leaves moving with her, brushing past her arms, her shoulders, her hair.
The leaves brushed against her skin like they knew her. Like they had always known her.
Aire’s breath came out softer now, slower, her body easing into letting her weird powers take control.
Her foot shifted. Then, she turned. The leaves followed.
Aire’s silver hair lifted with the motion, catching the light as the orbit around her adjusted, widened, then tightened again like it was learning her rhythm.
A quiet gasp slipped through the crowd.
No one dared move.
Aire spun again, a little faster this time.
The leaves obeyed.
They curved around her, dipped, rose, and circled her waist before lifting higher, brushing past her shoulders and grazing her cheek like a whisper.
Her lips parted slightly.
Her chest rose and fell. Her hand lifted again, more certain now, and when she guided the motion, the entire swirl shifted.
Aire let out the smallest breath of disbelief, but it melted into something softer. For once, nothing rejected her.
A small, fragile smile touched her lips as she turned again, this time fully, her body moving with a quiet grace.
The leaves danced with her.
It was beautiful.
Mabel’s hand slowly lifted to her mouth, her eyes wide, glassy, stunned beyond words.
"She’s..." she whispered, barely audible. "She’s beyond cursed. That Is not wolf magic..."
No one responded.
Aire’s spin slowed, then stopped. Her brows pulled together slightly, and something shifted.
Her breath hitched.
The warmth that had wrapped around her chest tightened suddenly. It became sharp this time, and overwhelming. It spread too fast, and too much, like something had broken open without warning.
Aire staggered.
The leaves jerked.
A ripple tore through the air. Her hand dropped slightly. "Wait!"
The orbit lost its smooth rhythm. The leaves began to shake. Then, they surged all at once.
The soft, controlled motion shattered and turned wild and violent. The wind became unbalanced.
The wind snapped through the clearing, sharp and sudden, pulling at her clothes, her hair, and her breath.
Gasps broke out around her.
"Aire!" Mabel stepped forward, panic rising, but she couldn’t get close.
The leaves weren’t listening anymore.
They whipped around Aire in chaotic spirals, faster and faster, rising higher like a storm building from nothing.
Aire’s eyes widened.
"I... I can’t...." Her voice broke.
Her fingers curled. She was trying to grab control again, but nothing responded.
Nothing obeyed.
The pressure inside her chest spiked, and pain followed, sharp, and blinding.
Aire gasped. Her body folded slightly as her hand flew to her ribs. Her vision flickered, and the world tilted.
The sound of the wind roared in her ears, drowning everything else.
"Aire!" Mabel tried again.
This time, she forced herself forward, shielding her face from the violent rush of air. However, before she could reach her, everything stopped abruptly.
Silence crashed down.
The leaves dropped. All of them all at once. It felt like an external force had cut the thread holding them up.
Aire swayed.
Her eyes fluttered once. Then, her body gave out.
She collapsed.
"AIRE!" Mabel lunged forward just as her body hit the ground.
The clearing erupted into chaos. But Aire didn’t hear any of it as darkness pulled her under.
A battlefield stretched before her in the darkness.
And none of it belonged to her.
