* * *

 Andy had almost cried when Sage told him that she had stopped bleeding, and being engulfed in a hug was something so silly to her that she couldn't help but enjoy it.

The laughter was contagious that Andy decided that they should celebrate. A small one, to use up the ale they worked so hard to brew this summer.

It was delicious, the small tastes Sage had managed—But after realizing it was alcoholic, she claimed that she couldn't hold her alcohol and that it was bad for the pups.

"I'll drink for the both of us, hun." He decided, though everyone was limited to one or two just because of the predicament they were in. The crowd was surrounding the pack's makeshift cafeteria. Sage's legs were draped over Andy's as they sat together on the couch and enjoyed the energy.

But her eyes sadly scanned the perimeter. Remus wasn't in this picture. They were much more lively than the cold stares she'd deal with in Crescent Moon. Maybe it was the open wound or the worry for the future—But Rogues always worried about the future.

And Sage was starting to understand the difference between formal and Rogue packs. It was safe to say that there was nothing demanding about being here. If she wanted to do something, Andy hardly battened an eye. Realistically the territory was too dense to really travel alone.

The idea of ranks wasn't offered the same way. Nobody was outright an Omega—Everyone took turns in the kitchen, even Andy, which surprised her when she caught him cooking up a beautiful Italian dish right beside her.

Even with the lost numbers wanting to stay away from war and bloodshed, they still held a crowd surrounding them. Sage leaned in further with her head on Andy's shoulder, just soaking in the joy, while he didn't hesitate to show his own affection.

It stung a bit, every time she'd leave her imagination to picture Remus in his place. This tore through her heart and then some, but the addition of a few sips of wolf booze sparked an even cuddler bear-slayer. Though she wasn't the only one, Elena seemed more than comfortable in the arms of Severin.

Sage hardly enjoyed the night after having fallen asleep after the hard labor from previous days, but Andy categorized it as being a lightweight to the few sips he'd let her have. Sure enough, he carried her in his arms and settled her in bed right beside him.

Curling his arms around her figure, his palms kneaded her stomach lightly as he whispered softly into the semi-dark room. The only light coming from the windows was the goddess herself, her blessed moonlight.

"Beautiful crystal I hold this night,
Flame with love for my delight.
Harm to none as love comes to me.
This I ask, and so shall it be."

The rock itself had been small, but in asking for a quartz crystal from the group of witches in the pack, it was quite easy to secure. But once that had been finished, he leaned over onto her bedside before returning to his position.

"This day I pray for calm, for health,
And the wisdom to see the beauty of
Each waking moment.
Blessings abound.
So mote it be."

Settling it with a final kiss, he managed to snuggle up right beside his mark. Warmth greeted his figure as she mewed and mumbled his following prayer. It wasn't often that he clasped his hands together and bent down before the deity.

He lost most of his religious beliefs when his mothers died. Hell, he blamed her for taking his mother away and leaving him to fend for himself.

Lost in the years and stress, he hardly remembered her. Just that she smelled beautiful and had a lovely singing voice when he couldn't fall asleep.

But now was the perfect time to fall asleep, with a buzzing head and a warm female beside him...

Yet Sage had soon slashed forward in a rise of panic. Andy had almost fallen out of bed with the display—However, as she rushed towards the window, it became clear what was happening.

"Andy...They're here." It didn't take a genius to know what she meant, and it hadn't been a moment too soon as she spotted a small moving flam came directly towards the house.

"What's—" The male had taken quick note of what had been thrown at the pack house and instantly dove to get his female out of the way. Cushioning her fall as the planted Molotov had quickly shattered and broken at the edge of the carpet.

ATTENTION! EVERYONE FOLLOW PROTOCOL. SWIFT TAIL IS FIRING FROM THE NORTH!

His shouts had been desperate as he layered himself over her, their eyes dancing for a solution. But in seeing her bear fur and backpack being threatened, she jumped into action, forcing her leather drinking pouch to disperse the room of water and clear out the growing flames.

"Fuck...We need to go. Grab bag?" She nodded. It was easy for the witch to get dressed—Really, all she needed to do was summon the clothes while Andy jumbled around, or would've if Sage hadn't managed to do the same for him.

Dressed and prepared, they looked out the window once more—Yet in seeing another set of Molotovs on their way, a quick hand had been thrown up in retaliation.

"Mittent!" And thus, it pushed the bottles back to the attackers, causing them to shatter and expose their hiding spot.

Andy had thrown over his own pack and gripped his mate's hand as they weaved their way through the building. "I have to go—"
"No! We stay together, we stay—"
"Sage, I need to grab a few things. This building is done for. Go get the pups—The witches. That's what Lunas do." It was easy to panic in this situation, but the addition of Grey had caused her to breathe a little easier.

"Get her and everyone out. Meet at the bear cave."
"Yes, sir!" From there, the three had split up, but Grey didn't dare let go of her hand as they scowered and redirected those who didn't know where to go.

"Delta! Delta! I can't shift!" Sage's head whipped around to the female, the dozens of other wolves running around and grabbing supplies and weapons—Some were even trying to build up the pack house so they wouldn't be allowed to come in.

"Fire is starting! Get out of pack house!"
"Evacuate the pack house. Stick to the south! Bear!" The codes had been there, but now it made Sage aware as to why Andy's words had produced an action with everyone downstairs.

"Did you get hurt? Can you hear your—" Grey had attempted to get a clearer picture, especially when it was clear that this type of panic was not the normal explanation of an attack. Not when it was planned on.

"Did you drink tonight?"
"What? Y-yeah, a glass or two...W-why?" The she-wolf didn't realize what she had done wrong. However, Sage had turned to the majority of the crowd with a booming voice to silence and stop them from moving around without a task.

"I want witches together! Wolves who drink last night, over there—From Underground over there!" The sections had managed to listen, and Grey added to the mixture.

Raise your hand if you can hear me.

His directive was much easier to place, and Sage smiled and nodded. "Going to bear cave, can't shift needs to be careful. Half witches and half shifts go with no shifts." With the getaway team all set and ready, Sage watched as they left in the undercover of darkness, and the screeching caw of the birds in the night sky almost translated from Leah's anger as she soared to take a look at the terrain and the army.

"At least fifty heads I caught. What's the plan?" Sage blinked as she looked around the remaining few. Her females that remained were Maeve, Elena, Viki, Kira, Bree, and Cicil. Their ability to shift came from the sheer fact that they were immune to silver, much like the ladder.

"The plan is to kill them all," Andy said, coming down the staircase and joining the remaining few dozen.
"What?" Grey breathed, never hearing his Alpha so brutally violent or blunt to a cause. But Severin growled in confirmation.

"They're clustering off to the North. I don't think they know that there are witches here," Leah claimed, her eyes still her familiar's bird eyes as they continued to fly around and counting the heads once more.

"Gearing up for another round of those fire thingies."
"They're cocktails, Leah. We can try redirecting them, but the forest will probably go up in flames." Andy looked up, the smell alerting them that the pack house was more than the main target.

"Make sure everyone is evacuated as you set out to target them. Stay in pairs or more...Alright, let's go!" The roar of an attack had showered the town and hit the main focal points. The ripping roar of the wolves caught Sage's attention. Though it didn't help that Andy had gone elsewhere, once again leaving her alone in the company of Grey.

"What's the plan for us, Luna?"
"We fight too. I told Noah I don't submit, and I won't." She claimed, shifting and allowing her paws to tear through the town's dirt roads—Her jaws attacking the first of many wolves her own beast deemed the enemy.

It was anticlimactic. Clearly, they were hoping for a weak turnaround. But Half Crescent was anything but. Having lost a majority of their fighters, they still managed to take the numbers head-on—But Sage couldn't feel Noah yet.

We find Noah we finish this.

I like the way you think, Pumpkin. But I doubt he's even here.

No, he is. My wolf knows he's here. She's angry.

Then we'll track him down, hun, round back towards the front. I'll meet you there. I think it's—

Sage felt his wolf disconnect, and sweet goddess, she felt the jolt in her heart.

Never mind the sound of a gun.

Why was it that her taste in men always attracted guns?

Deep down, she knew the answer, Luke called the council's attempts to assassinate her father and Remus was the coward's way out. And now she knew very well what type of character Noah is.
He's a coward.

SAGE?!

I'm okay! Where's Andy?

I don't know, but we have to go!

Severin's voice was booming as though he was right beside her, but leaving was not an option. She was already forced to leave home once without her male. She was going to be damned to let Swift Tail keep Andy.

Darting in the opposite direction towards the sound of the gun, Sage crept up towards where the scene had taken place. And goddess have mercy on their souls in the next few moments, because they were stationed right beside the lake.

A Dowser's dream.

A sick smile appeared on her's face, causing her to shift and move away. Taking the slight detour to whisp and dive straight into the water.

For whatever reason, she couldn't link Andy, and the possibilities of him being unconscious ranged higher than the others. He was immune to the silver, much like she was.

Yet the vision of his unconscious body from the tree lining caused her to remain still. How did she see that?

The distraction didn't stall her much longer, not when she began walking out of the water with the divine right of killing possibly everyone in sight. The bond was being torn and ripped, and damnit, she wouldn't be able to survive another heartache like the last one.

"I miscalculated...Wouldn't you say, Andy? I only have a little experience managing that silver brew, but I forgot that you and your misfits are all escapists." She caught Andy's spat of blood to the floor, his body chained to the tree—pinning him down perfectly for an execution.

"It wouldn't have worked anyway." He coughed, though it surely sounded like a laugh to Sage's ears.
"Oh, but it did. Those Alphas below us paid me a pretty penny for it too. All to get rid of the Moon family, and it's unfortunate—" The clatter of the chains didn't allow for Sage's ears to pick up the next few words from Alpha Noah, but it finally became clear to her.

Noah had unsuccessfully tried to poison her, again. Or perhaps not her specifically, but enough to fuel a Rogue attack—The only difference here is that the ones that were attacking were pack members to a peaceful territory of Rogues.

"Funny how it still irks you."
"Funny how you've been sitting on this plan for what? Months?"
"Since you turned your burned face around these parts, you're a ghost, Andy." That certainly had caused the final straw on Sage's account as she rose from the water and doused each and every wolf in the area with water.
While that in itself wasn't the full attack—It confused them enough for her to work out a proper plan, and damn, was Andy happy to see the ice crystals build up on one of his captures, and better yet...His chains.

"What the—" The solid punch to Noah's jaw was the only relative warning that he had gotten. Otherwise, it was a surefire attack from the woods that directly lined the pack house.

The now illuminating pack house.

Andy had given himself one last long look at the impending doom that was his salvation, all the work in bringing Half Crescent to what it is had suddenly been burned at the crisp. And no amount of Sage's healing or dowsing could put out this fire or pain. However, it did elect the perfect trait in his own wolf that had been tormented for years.

The sounding call of the Alpha as he laid waste to those in his way off towards his Luna had made the fatal mistake in trying to protect their own.

Sage herself had never witnessed what a full-fledged Alpha male could do, but seeing Andy hardly batted an eye to snapping a wolf's neck to the point of separation was causing her to drool.

In a not-so-friendly way, that is.

Quickening his pace to the last location he saw her in. Sage had the same approach—The only issue being that Noah was advancing as well.

The failing Alpha had managed to subdue the Luna in her off chance, and as she struggled, she realized that perhaps the wolf beer had done something to her own beast. Considering that since she had been attempting to save Andy, it had been a fuzzy and out-of-body connection that she'd never felt before.

The hold he had on her was daunting, and he hardly had to pull much before she called out in a scream of pain and agony. Sage had broken countless bones before, but this certainly took the most pain as it was in the temptation of flaunting it.

"Wouldn't want your pregnant Luna getting what you deserve now, would you Andy?!" He yelled out in a taunt. Sage cursed at her short height as the elder male had no issue in picking her up by the said arm.

"Asshole." She growled, and his sickening grin widened all the same.
"Where's your little mate now, pup? You're all alone, nobody here to—" Having been dropped unceremoniously, Sage cradled her arm to her chest and watched a black wolf completely mutilate the remains of Alpha Noah.

Crawling to get a better look, at first glance, her heart warmed. "Papa?" She questioned, but it didn't pertain to the wolf's interest. And instead, it continued its task of making the male unrecognizable to the general public.

Once she managed to rise on unsteady feet, Sage had come face to face with the wolf who had saved her; And the sight was anything but pretty.

She recognized the handy work soon enough, as the sight before her looked more or less like the remains of Alex.
The male she had killed when she first escaped the Underground.

Having fallen to her knees, she established enough noise for the wolf to look to her side, huffing in response to a greeting that Sage could only smile at.
This was not her fight but her wolf's takedown.

"Thank you." She whispered out, bowing her head slightly to appease her beast. Which only caused the furry pup to wiggle forward with a rush of excitement, and what would've been an adorable moment had been separated as Andy kicked Sage's wolf far beyond a normal punt.

"What did you do?!" She shrieked, grimacing as her quick moment caused a spike in her arm to reappear. Andy had been far too close to a shift that he simply bent down on one knee and cast his own judgment on her appearance.

A few bruises, cuts, and scraps—But it was the arm that surely caught the most attention, and when he looked further, he caught a bite that more or less showed a chunk of her bone.

The growl he responded with was matched soon enough, and he turned towards the sound without hesitation. "Don't fight her..." Sage whispered, her free and undamaged arm coming closer to soothe his own burns. Apparently, the chains did more damage than she thought.

"Don't? Sage, it's the last—"
"That's my wolf...She popped out." Sometimes Sage hardly made any sense but taking into consideration that the things happening to her made absolutely no sense either, it was one and the same to believe it to be true. Andy tilted his head down to the stalking beast, and sure enough, it responded the same with a slightly less taunting gesture as she pranced forward.

"Alright...Status? How is everyone?" Andy shouted just as he wrapped an arm around Sage, there were a few shouts that held signs of injuries, but once the witches came from their hiding spots of attack, they were all set to be nurtured and cared for.

From the links, it was clear that the party that was heading over towards the bear cave had been intercepted—Though very easily fought through them all, whatever Noah's plan had been truly didn't hold out.

Instead, Andy made the executive decision alongside Severin and Grey that it was time to evacuate.

He didn't venture far from Sage's position on a rock while a witch was binding her arm to her person, nor did Sage's wolf travel too far from her side. If anything, the beast was sitting there gazing at the crowd much like her human counterpart, and the smile instigated just the same as he was caught in their line of sight.

"Why is my wolf outside my body? I don't understand," Sage asked Leah after downing another potion for the pain. And the potion mistress simply shrugged.
"She knew you were in trouble and needed to come out. Nyx will do the same sometimes when she wants a clearer view...I think it's because Alpha Andy needed both your witch and your wolf." It was a revelation to hear, but the act of either mirroring one another was slightly creepy—Though the male that both she and her wolf were starting to love, was enjoying the double attention.

"You okay?" He whispered, as she was looking down to the makeshift cast—It earned him a huff.
"Yeah, I'm okay. We're going to bear cave now?"
"Hm, I'm going to put my bag in yours...You hop on my back, alright?"
"I'm okay to run." She said, but it was clear that she was in no way, shape, or form able to do so.

"Sage. I'm not arguing with you today. I have a lot of us to make sure we make it safely. The last thing I need is for you to fall behind and make this worse, so you're going to hop on my back—We're walking anyway." He said, giving a small grace around the area to see that everyone left over was in rough shape.

He couldn't imagine how the other half of his pack looked, but in the undercover of the moonlight, it dawned on him then and there...That all the work and his new lifetime commitment had brought him was destroyed, and the male who had done so was a mess ready for the morning's birds to feast on him.

It was daunting and eating at his mind, so when Sage's soft touch to his hand graced his, he melted. He bent down further and curved his head down to meet her shoulder, it was a submissive pose, but nobody would say a word in looking to their mate for support.

"Are you okay?" A small huff had shown his amusement, his eyes managing to come up from a moment as he smiled against her skin.

"I'm alright, Pumpkin, I'm alright."
"Nothing hurts?" He hummed in recognition of her caring voice, but when she sunk in his hold in return caused him to squeeze. Granted, it hurt, but nothing was calming his anger more than her presence.

"Liar." She whispered, nuzzling her nose further into his skin—There were only ever a few things that escaped her notice, and one of the biggest ones was a sense of humor and most of Jackson's jokes.

But she knew well enough that Andy's laughter was not because he thought of something funny. It was because he was laughing at her. So she settled it with a growl and kissed him.

"Keep laughing and I'll walk to bear cave." She threatened. Andy did not want to deal with stubborn Sage and thus continued onward—Collecting all they could from the wreckage before they began to shift. Those who couldn't, found a back to ride on.

Andy had shifted just a few feet away from where Sage was sitting on the stump, laying on his stomach to make it easier, considering her height didn't match his.

She wrapped her thighs tightly against his back and attempted to lean forward, hoping to get a better grip that way. But her hiss instantly caused his head to shoot back either way to get a better look.

What happened? Did I—

"Nothing wrong. I just can't lie down. My fault. You're okay, you big fluffy beast, we have to go to bear cave...Everyone ready?" She called out, and sure enough, the light trek through the woods in the undercover of darkness had left the group on high alert.

They still had a few miles between them and those that had escaped prior, but they had been ordered to go ahead towards the rondevur point—Decided last minute, considering Andy hadn't realized how late it was already getting.

It was pointless for them to wait around.

The late October air greeted them harshly, which caused Sage to wrap herself further into her bear's skin. That good-for-nothing Alpha Noah had ripped her bear fur, and while Andy teased her—Claiming she loved it more than she loved him.

It earned him a huff and a forceful cuddly up into his fur, stroking her free hand and always ready to tug at the off chance she was going to fall.

This section had been eager to make it to the bear cave, but they had to stop constantly due to injuries and a quick nap to settle their healing beasts. The link connection was easy to keep in touch with, but it still didn't change the fact that there was still disorder.

Andy feared that at any moment, a pack member would turn, but those who were originally in Black Crescent hadn't looked at all malicious—If anything, they doted on their Luna, or mistress, as Elena reminded him of Sage's status.

How're you holding up, hun?

"I'm...Tired." Was all she huffed out, her breath hot on his fur. However, when he caught the slight tickle of liquid, he made an abrupt stop and lowed down.

Grey, take her off...I think she's bleeding through the bandages.

Nobody had wasted any time, and it had been a miracle that Andy had checked in when he had—Sage's body was not healing like a proper wolf, and it caused the witches to bustle around with the supplies that they had in order to make a stronger bind.

The Alpha had no issue in just holding her, but seeing the damage just air out was giving him the desperate urge to lick it. His wolf rumbled in approval of the idea, but he remained still, the witches knew what they were doing.

Both Grey and Chase had looked at the situation with uneasy stares. They cared deeply about their Luna, of course, but seeing their Alpha and friend so distorted over his struggling female hurt worse than they could ever imagine.

With plenty of water to clean it thoroughly, Leah sighed once she realized what was happening. "Sir, it's infected...Witches are prone to illnesses, and I—We need to hurry to the camp. I don't have the right herbs to make a potion here." But the potion mistress thought for a moment. Surely she could fly there and return within the hour?

Andy looked down to see his mate, only then catching the smell of her injury rose up to his nose. How could he not have known that before?

Cleaning it wasn't the issue, and with Leah on the way to gather up the supplies—The rest of the witches made sure that Sage was comfortable and drank other tonics. One to stop the bleeding, and another to give her no pain.

However, that didn't stop her from sweating up a storm.

Lycia had watched from a given ways away. She hardly had any knowledge about the world of medicine—No, she was a defender of her coven. But an idea sparked in her as she lowered down her dagger and came forward to the couple.

"She needs blood. We can't wait for Leah and her tonics." The witch bustled, offering up the knife to the male in question. But he flinched at the idea. "You want me to give her my blood?"

"I've seen wolves do it before, especially Alphas. The prosperities will help her heal, and I think that with your mark on her neck it'll help much more." She said, her eyes trained on the mended wound. But Andy had looked at her as though she suggested a satanic ritual. This was not what he wanted for her.

His blood was toxic.

"I can't...I don't know what they did to me back in—I can't." He repeated, clutching her further to his chest. His skin instantly catching the drops of sweat she was producing.

"And she has the same if not more. She might be carrying your pup, Alpha...It'll help them, think about it." The desperation of the eyes around him settled his decision. He opened his palm to allow Lycia to do the honors.

Close to instantly it caused Sage's nose to twitch in reaction. The small sniffles tickled his bare skin. He offered his palm, and Sage had accounted on the account to heal him, but in the distraction of that, he offered his other palm in order to place a few droplets onto her open wound itself.

Andy closed his eyes, trying to calm his nerves and worries about the pup that could possibly be in this she-wolf. He needed to be careful, more careful than he's been already.

It was adorable to see Sage act like a pup in taking his blood as though it were medication. He sighed, kissing her forehead, and prayed that the blood would take. However, for the time being, it wasn't safe to travel, not yet at least.
Not when Sage's shallow breaths were catching everyone's attention.

______

Date: 09/30/2022

Time: 9:49

Words: 4766

Author's Note:

And there you have it, Half Crescent is no more. Onward to Oakwood! Where nothing could possibly go wrong there!

Only 13 more chapters to go, and forgive me if I'm repeating myself, but there is another cliffhanger...

Will it hurt as much as Blue Moon into Half Crescent? Perhaps.
Will it open up a whole new list of questions? yes.

But I'm excited!

WATTPAD QUESTION TIME:

I'm interested in what you all read!

Do you prefer Original Stories or Fanfiction?

What is your favorite genre?

Have you paid for any wattpad stories before? If so, what were they?

Do you prefer when an Author has a set schedule or posts the newest chapter as they're finished?

What is your favorite troupe? (AKA one bed troupe, enemies to lovers, ect)

_

Alrighty, I hope you all have an amazing weekend, and we'll be closing out on this phase with chapter 25 on Monday!

Until then!