* * *

The words of Andy's admission still echoed in the back of Sage's thoughts, and she could only stare in the sense of shock and pure hopelessness, of course—of course, it was her luck to find Remus' best friend. The one pronounced dead long before Sage had even a whiff of freedom.

Remus had struggled with his cane as he managed on the unsettled ground to bring his friend into a hug, and while Andy didn't want to rely on the torment of what he was planning to do... He allowed himself this moment of peace before being threatened by the majority of males in the vicinity.

Torin growled at any attempt the others made in terms of speaking, but Grey couldn't hold it any longer as they finally made it into the Alpha's home. "Sage doesn't need us anymore. She had her own Beta and Delta this whole time!" He said with a pout on his lips.

"That's not true!" Sage said, turning towards him and shaking her head. She didn't want him to feel unappreciated for all the work he's managed. "Can only have one set of them in a pack, Luna," Severin explained, and she huffed in annoyance before turning to the rest of the room. Jackson was helping Remus with the chair, who was still holding up half of Sage's outfit in hand as he analyzed it.

With the state of so many unknown faces, Delta Jackson turned to the majority and sighed..."You know, when Mikey said that there was a crazy bear lady talking gibberish in the woods leading a pack of fifty or so wolves to our territory...We thought he was smoking some weird ass—"

"That's enough, Jackson. Let Sage tell us where she was these last few months." Julia interjected, causing Sage to swallow thickly, feeling a sense of hostility directed from her Beta female.

Which wasn't at all undeserved, given that she could still smell a bit of Eli's blood on her furs. And with all the questionable glances from everyone gathered around, there was no moment to waste before getting the truth out.

"I don't know how I was taken from dinner. I just know I wake up in a facility like the Underground," Sage said, her voice low as she knew this would be upsetting to hear, "That's where I meet most of my females outside, they're from facility. Both Witches and Wolves, the pups too. I stayed there for a month and then break out, we escape and make camp at Black Crescent...I didn't know where we were, and we stayed there to heal. That's when Severin comes and offers us to meet Andy in Half Crescent." It was a mouthful, but Sage didn't want to go out of order and leave room for questioning, though Severin's rough bit of laughter had stalled her from continuing.

"You did more to impress us, Bear-Slayer." He claimed, and Luke followed up with his own smile, unable to keep his eyes off his sister for long.

"It's a beautiful coat, hun. Wish I was there to see it get taken down." Luke said, and the rest of the room filled with agreement, but Remus couldn't decide who to keep his attention to—his Mate or best friend.

But one thing was eating away at home. Andrew had been so withdrawn in the hug, usually he was the one to give the hugs—Not pull away from them.

"It was a sight, believe me—Oh I'm sorry, I'm Elena. I'm Severin's mate." The new female said, engaging the room with a smile and a wave.

"You're from the facility too?" Julia questioned, and it earned her a nod.

"Yes, I owe Sage my life. Most of us do." Elena answered, standing just a bit closer to Severin. Not liking the attention she had been given. The gesture had been made to the progress that both witches and wolves made in terms of housing, and while Remus wasn't the biggest fan of it, there wasn't any current room to house them as of yet.

"So...Where the hell is Black Crescent?" Remus asked, and Sage followed suit just a beat after. "Canada."

This certainly earned the attention of everyone in the room as they straightened their backs.

"Canada?! What the fuck?" Luke growled, saying what everyone was internally thinking.

"That's why it takes us so long to come. We needed a plan in Half Crescent and Alpha Andy said he'd help bring us here. But we ran into some trouble." She spoke, and Luke couldn't help but offer a smile towards the newcomers.

"We're very thankful for what you and your pack have done to bring our Luna back," Luke explained, offering to be the first to share his appreciation, but the kindness only doubled when Andy recalled his original plans.

Ones that seemed to damage his soul the more he thought about it.

"Well, from what I heard about Sage—Or Hera, as she wanted to be called when we met with Swift Tail and Oak Wood, is that you are her mate. Not Remus." Andrew repeated once again, and Sage struggled to stop herself from shifting uncomfortably—Only caving in when she leaned against the chair in front of her.

"Yeah, she was an Elwood before a Moon," Liam explained, and that had everyone turn to Sage as she perked her lips. One of the many details that had been on her mind since Andy spoke the truth about his identity.

"You didn't tell me you were Andrew from Crescent Moon," She said, still in slight disbelief.

"Well, I would've if you said you were Remus' Mate, not Luke's!" Sage curled her fists as she took a step closer, but it was instantly decided as Torin took the lead.

"The both of you weren't honest. That's the price you pay for it." Torin growled, causing Sage to frown once again, but the confusing sound of a pleased sigh escaped Luke as he smiled.

No matter how she got her, he was just thankful it happened.

"You don't know how good it is to see you again. Goddess, we looked everywhere for you—or not enough in Canada." Luke whispered, his voice shifting into one of regret. Thankfully, Aurora had been the first to say that it was impossible for them to know, and better yet, Elena agreed that the Underground base itself was fortified.

"And this facility?" Eli questioned, his speech still a bit muffled as Sage's healing only enacted the process to hurry. So Elena jumped in to explain what happened. "Oh, Sage managed to sink it to the—"

"Alpha Sage sunk the building with her magic! It was so cool, then we whisp away to the other females before we sleep in front of a fire and in a cave!" A voice said at the door, interrupting Elena, and leaving all eyes to land on Clementine and Poppy.

"Oh, for goddess sake. Chase! You had one job to watch the pups and—"

"I have to use the restroom, Beta Sev," Celemtine pouted, and instantly, the females in the room gestured for either of them to use the one downstairs.

When they returned, Sage had caught Remus staring at her—As though she wasn't actually standing in the room with him. However, when her eyes had turned to look at his cane, he shook his head. "It's been rough since we lost you, Munchkin. I couldn't continue as Alpha. Not since the war ended."

"Remind me when you get back to better health that I'm beating your ass for even thinking about putting Crescent Moon into another war." Andrew deemed, and Jackson scoffed. "Yeah, no, Alpha was in a coma for that. If you wanna beat anyone's ass, it's Sage's." The challenging look she'd given him said it all.

"You weren't here, they shot at Remus and my dad!" Sage pleaded, but Andy didn't hesitated to follow up. "But the whole country? I thought that with the council that—" "Council's dead Andrew, we'll catch you up on it later. What we need to know is what happened at the facility." Eli intervened and Sage turned her gaze.

There a bigger issues to deal with now than a war that she missed.

"They take mate bonds away. Elena said it rots away. I thought I was dying...I thought Remus was dying...But the facility wants females to mate with their humans." She explained, and that instantly turned the tide for the room to grasp at.

However, in the midst of it all, she frowned as she took a mental count of who was standing before her and who wasn't.

And one person popped into her mind without hesitation. "Where's Blake?" Sage asked, and Grey began to rub his hands together in excitement.

"I'm ready to meet the man, too. We heard a lot of stories about him." He bragged, and the rest of the room, once again, managed to look at Sage.

"Funny how you mention your Charge but not your mate." Andy reminded, but Sage didn't waste a second to give him the same attitude.

"Shut up, Andrew."

That certainly caused Liam to chuckle, his smile beaming towards his brother. "Sassy Sage has entered the chat."

"I almost missed you too, Liam." Sage's mere glance towards Liam had prompted Luke to throw his head back in laughter, though it caused Elenor to push her mate down into the closest seat. His injury having bled through the bandage.

"You promised to be careful." Elenor chided.

"I can't help it if Sage's near-perfect English blinded him like that. Come on, Ellie, it was hilarious." Luke said, gesturing to his sister, and Sage hummed but then narrowed her eyes back to the injury.

"What happened...?" Sage whispered, unsure of what had happened to Luke to bleed from a simple laugh. Yet her question sparked another round of tension throughout the room.

"After we thought you uh...You died, all the injuries you healed came back." Liam answered, in the best way he could. Yet Sage stumbled in the center of the room, and Remus attempted to will himself up from his seat to try and help her— But it was taken care of by Andy, who wrapped a protective hand on her shoulder to keep her steady.

"They all come back?" Luke nodded as he removed his sweater and showed the bear injuries from almost two years ago. The gasp that followed instantly turned her to Remus.

"The gunshot?" Sage croaked, and it was confirmed by another nod by her mate.

"His...Your dad's, Luna Mary's eyes...Everything came back to what it was. And it won't heal. It's almost like it's permanent. The witches said it was an immortal wound. That it was the price to pay for healing so quickly before." Jackson explained, and while Sage wanted to bite her palm—Andy stopped her.

"Let the witches brew a potion, hun. You can't afford to lose any blood right now."

"I need to help them. It's old and won't go away," she argued, and Andy shook his head once more in denial.

Luke narrowed his eyes at the pair and found himself frowning, there was something going on between the two, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

"And Blake?" She questioned, and Aurora closed her eyes, hating to be the bearer of bad news.

"He renounced his membership to the pack a week after we thought you died," Aurora explained, her voice trying to ease her Luna, but Sage's mouth parted in the instance she couldn't believe that he would just leave!

______

Date: 10/31/24 🎃

Time: 1:52 PM

Words: 2344

Author's Note:

Hello!

I would usually say just in time for the spooky season, but with some major life events, I'm doing my best to move forward and just make the most of it all.

As promised, here is the first chapter of the rewritten version of Moon Ridge. My hiatus hasn't been as great as I was hoping, as there are plenty of things working behind the scenes.

I'm trying to build a website, and gaining some marketing knowledge so I can get the first book of this series. Sometimes when things get tough, looking up is the best way to move forward, and that's what I'm doing!

Now, I'll do my best to keep up with the one chapter a week, if I miss an update, I'll try my best to get it out by Friday. I'm only human, after all.

Now, I know I've hinted a few things, one the cover for Lacking Humanity Crescent Moon, and I thought I'd share it just so you all get the chance to see it!

I am in LOVE! It's just so beautiful, and while I love the covers with actual people on it, I think it's symbolic that Sage is strictly on the cover in this version than the ones I have uploaded here on Wattpad.

I'm not the best at making covers, but everything on my profile I made myself!

Let me know what you think of it!

Now, for the what I have been waiting for for WEEKS. 

The artwork I had commissioned, and let me tell you, you guys aren't ready...

Get ready because I want a whole series from this artist; they did such an amazing job. I hope Wattpad can upload it properly because I did have to take a screenshot.

So, without further ado, here she is!!

It's from when we first meet Sage and look, she's playing with her hair ties and counting the ceiling tiles! Even down to the long socks! 

It's the perfect mixture of eerie and heartbreaking!

There are a few other scenes I would love to create from book one, but this one needed to be done first.

Please let me know what you think of both the cover and artwork, I would love to know your thoughts. 

Now, I'm headed to work, but your love and support go a long way, and I'm excited to continue this journey with you guys!

I'll see you in the next update!