Chapter 52

Lsabella's pov :
Xavier and I were awakened by a knock at the door.
I glanced at the time and it was already ten o'clock in the morning.
But it was still unnecessary to disturb a soldier who had just returned from a long mission at this hour, unless something important had happened.
Xavier was still not fully awake, and he was clinging to my waist between half-asleep and not allowing me to leave.
I tried hard to untangle his hands from around my waist, but when I released one hand, the other came back up.
"Get off me!"
Xavier's face wasn't red, his heart wasn't pounding, and he was clinging to me and pretending to sleep; I really didn't think he had this face until we confirmed the relationship.
I grimaced and lifted the quilt right over his head, covering the whole thing.
"Come in."
Kyra heard my command and pushed the door in.
A look of surprise flashed across her face as she saw me sitting on the bed with the quilt around me outlining a human form.
But Kyra's professionalism immediately reminded her once again of what she was here for.
"Miss, there's a problem with the moonstone."
My heart sank, but it wasn't as if we hadn't envisaged this outcome before.
How could such a valuable moonstone be so easily activated by my energy after it had become present.
I took the monitor handed to me by Kyra and noticed some cracks in the moonstone.
Xavier also crawled out from under the covers and sat behind me to probe into the monitor to see what was going on.
It was a tricky thing, basically proving that the moonstone was a fake. I didn't have the time to play with Xavier in this situation and handed him the monitor.
"When did this happen?"
"The first cracks appeared soon after the sun shone on the altar, and we dared not move lightly for fear of disrupting the ritual. But in the time it took me to get here and report back, three cracks had already appeared."
I nodded, "No need to be nervous, this just basically confirms that the moonstone is a fake."
Kyra's eyes widened, "And that's nothing to be nervous about?"
Xavier walked around me to get out of bed and handed the monitor back to Kyra, "What Lsabella is saying is that there's no point in being nervous, you might as well accept the truth and start thinking of solutions."
He wrapped a jacket for himself and then handed me mine.
"Kyra, go to the conference room and get ready, we'll meet right away."
"Yes." Kyra received the order and left immediately.
I looked at Xavier the moment the door closed and he looked at me at the same time as if he had been sensed.
"Which part do you think went wrong? Did Jasper lie to me, or did Nora lie to Jasper?"
"It could be both, but if Nora tricked Jasper, then I think Jasper would have come over soon, after all he would have been convinced that the moonstone he got was real."
Xavier wasn't wrong, I don't know how Jasper came to an agreement with the Alpha's but I did hand the fake moonstone to Jasper at the time. if he didn't test it himself then it was handed over to whichever Alpha's had jointly tested it. The fake we have is a rare stone that we've been looking for for a long time, but it still doesn't compare to the real moonstone, and probably not even to the fake we got from Nora.
Xavier's pov.
I never told Lsabella what happened to me where Nora was, which was probably reliving my own demons, going back ten years again and again, then being abandoned by my parents and thrown off a cliff by Nora.
But unlike the real past the demons were snuffed out here and instead of waiting for Lsabella to save me, I continued back to the beginning where I was easily lifted by Nora and then my father and mother chose to save Jasper with tears in their eyes.
How did I manage to hold on without breaking down? I kept telling myself that Lsabella was real, that she accepted me as her eternal Beta and promised that she would never abandon me for the rest of her life.
Even if I were to die now, even if I were to turn into a pile of ashes and float away in the wind, Lsabella would still not forget me, she would cry for me, she would miss my presence.
The long pain finally receded like a tide and I opened my eyes, feeling the beauty of life again for the first time in a long time.
Nora placed the moonstone in my hand.
"You passed the quiz, and as we agreed, the Moonstone is officially yours."
Lsabella was involved in everything after that, and I don't regret my recklessness, because if I were to do it again, I would still risk my life by venturing into the valley out of fear for Lsabella.
At the same time I was moved by Lsabella's choice, and between now and then I didn't have the courage to adore Lsabella in the sun because I was afraid that I would be too low in Lsabella's heart and make a joke instead.
I sat at Lsabella's side and watched her calmly assign defence tasks. She was still very calm, but we all knew that when Jasper found out that the moonstone was fake, he would not come to Blood Moon Pack alone to ask for punishment, he would have an army behind him.
At that time, the Blood Moon Pack would be able to withstand the united army for a while, but it would not be able to hold out for long, after all, we had not yet obtained the real Moonstone.
"Brielle, go and find the nearest clear and moonlit night, plus send someone to rearrange to the ceremony site and be ready to stand by."
"Yes, Miss."
Brielle was a wise elder of our Blood Moon Pack and although she had not been given the status of Elder, she was already exercising the powers of an Elder, and Lsabella was relieved that she had been given this part of the task.
After Lsabella had finished setting things up, she looked over at me.
I understood what she meant, now there was only one task left, and that was to get the real moonstone as soon as possible.
"Nora would have left the valley by now if she had any intention of doing so, and wouldn't be waiting there for us to go back to her. So where do we have to go to find her and ask for clarification?"
I shook my head, "Well, can we start with Jasper's side? Send explorers to the major groups to snoop around, just in case the combined forces are already planning to make a move?"
It was indeed the easiest way to make a judgement call now, and Lsabella agreed after a moment of contemplation.
"That's the only way to look at it at the moment, but my main concern is actually Jasper deliberately pointing the finger at us as a change if he doesn't manage to give an account to the Alpha Council, planting the story that we took the moonstone when in fact the one he gave me was also a fake."
Just when we couldn't come to a conclusion, Asher rushed into the meeting room.
He had even forgotten to knock: "Miss, sir. There's a rogue at the door, claiming to be called Vincent, and he says the witch has a message for Alpha and Beta of the Blood Moon Pack."
Lsabella and I bounced out of our seats at the same time.
"Bring him in quickly."
Lsabella's pov :
It was logical that Vincent was the witch's emissary and we were required to be in formal attire when we met the emissary on formal occasions.
But the situation was urgent and we were too late to be preachy.
Vincent had already been ushered into the parlour by the warriors, and by the time we arrived he was sitting grumpily on the sofa, already directing the maids to pour her wine.
I waved my hand to signal the maid to wait: "Go ahead, it doesn't matter if you get drunk here afterwards."
Vincent, though dissatisfied, dropped his hand that had taken the glass, "It's all because you helped me find my brother that I'm giving you a few favours."
Vincent stood up solemnly and cleared his throat, "Nora asked me to inform the Alpha and Beta of the Blood Moon Pack that since no candidate actually made it after one round of testing, the competition contest through testing is still valid and Xavier can get another chance. "
Xavier and I met eyes for a split second to complete the message.
It was totally great news in the midst of several bad news in a row, and although there were bumps and unknowns to endure once more, it was far happier than the bad ending we had predicted.
Xavier was immediately on his feet: "Still in the Riverdale? Is it still the same test you underwent?"
"No, this time the test is on the plains in the middle of the continent and the test will change, anyway Nora is already there waiting for you, you'll know everything when you go."
But I had another doubt and turned to Vincent, "Do you know what the test is for?"
"Isn't it a test for the person Moon Goddess chose?" Vincent looked at me quizzically, "What is it?"
"Nothing."
I knew the rarity of the opportunity and the unavoidable delay of the moment, but the central plains of the continent were where the most rogues congregated, and once the secret of the Moonstone was revealed and the rogues and wolves swarmed, I was very worried that Xavier would be able to return safely.
Xavier sensed my concern and he held my hand tightly: "You know what? Because of you, I'm starting to believe in Moon Goddess again, and she will surely bless us."