* * *

Sage Moon currently sat at the edge of the truck's bed yet again, tilting her head at the machine set in front of them. As she didn't understand how it worked all that well—Even if John explained it twice over. But this 'crane' managed to pull up a whole building, and all she had to do was level the ground once it rose high enough.

It worked out well, sitting beside John. He too had a lot on his mind and no words to show for it. So she smiled at him, her arm over his shoulder before squeezing it tightly. "You okay?"

"Perfect, I get to see my son and Godson again...It's a blessing, aside from the PT." Sage made a face and nodded, knowing full well that physical therapy sounds a lot more fun than it actually is—Given that she's had numerous injuries over the past few years, ranging from bear scratches to a silver bullet.

"I hope you find what we're looking for, there has to be a map somewhere..." He grumbled, but his hands started to shake. "We will find them, I know it's hard to wait. I don't like waiting." The rough sound of laughter had called out behind them, and Sage huffed at seeing her brothers all too happily coming over to her—Playfully nudging her.

John had been caught up to speed, but there were some things that he wasn't familiar with thus far. One being the relationship between Sage and his Godson, Liam. It was odd to hear that Sage was adopted into the Elwood's family and then switched over to Moon just a short few weeks after, but it worked—And neither of them had lost their friendly sibling banter or relationship.

If anything, Luke being the godfather of Rue and being mated to Sage's cousin Elenor simplified the matter that they were technically family still.

"Liam, that is no way to treat the Luna." The former Delta growled, and Sage bit back her smile as she tried to watch the other wolves operate the heavy machinery in front of her. It seemed like a struggle if anything, but after careful evaluation and Blake's theories...It was claimed to be able to get done.

"Sister before Luna, right Sagey?" She glanced back at him and hummed, leaving Luke to sigh. "Looking a little pale hun, you sure you're alright?"

"Nervous, don't like the building." John could only agree, following up with a quick 'you and me both.'

Remus caught sight of his mate, only for Andrew to fill up his view—The male turned around and laughed. "She's fine, I'm more worried about what we're going to find here. Even in broad daylight above ground has my wolf shaking." Remus huffed, irritated that this wasn't going as smoothly as he'd hoped.

Especially since then Sage has been distracted by the others who had risen from the ground.

"How many Silent Sages do you think we'll find?" Andrew asked, coming to stand beside his friend. But Remus began to rub his temple, the prickling headache from the rising so much Claikite at once.

"You'll get used to it," Andy said, absentmindedly touching the scar bearing on his face. He didn't voice the fact that even John flinched at how severe his treatment was, especially considering he was considered Randal's favorite.

"Come on, Andy. She didn't mean it." That was the problem, Georgie wasn't really thinking when she started screaming bloody murder at the sight of Andrew Clark. Not because of his previous title in their world, but because of his scar.

It was going to be a constant reminder, and to those that were tortured for a full decade—It didn't do much to shine on his ego. And definitely not when the only female that gave him love and affection was claimed by someone else.

Just another notch in his heart, if anything.

Remus knew that his friend was hurting, and nothing he could say would help. Was the Alpha happy that Sage isn't pregnant? Yes. But he meant that in the most harmless of ways, there would be so much adversity against the three of them that he didn't think Sage could manage it with everything else.

"Alpha! We're ready!" Leo called out, and within minutes the construction team managed to start bringing up the better part of the building from its hiding place. "You think the Snyder's will tell us anything?" Eli questioned, nodding to them both as he stood as still as ever.

"They will. Just a matter of time before they cave in—Warren was right, whatever was in their masks protected them from the Clakitie surrounding the building. Anything in the records of a missing building?" Eli shook his head, after spending all morning with Jade trying to find old land serves.
"Nothing, sir. What we're remembering is all we have, that you built a memorial and that was the main centerpiece." Remus growled in frustration, but he turned and beckoned Sage to come forward and aid the progress thus far. She caught sight of the markings where Blake had discovered the passageways that were accessible within the building itself, but it was better to get the proper support before the crane gives out.

Sage's eyes flared into a glossy white as she let out a fiery hiss and slammed an open palm down to the ground to fill up the empty hole underneath the structure. "Good! We're good!" Leo ordered, flinging his hand up and around to signal that the job was finished—

Or the builders at least.

Since it was still heavily classified as being a danger to the pack, the fewer close by was detrimental. And if Remus had a choice, he would've had Sage as far away as possible from this mess.

But unfortunately, she was at the center of it all.

"It...It kinda looks like an old school house." Eli theorized, and Remus nodded in agreement. "Alright, let's suit up—Sage, are you sure you want to?" The question had been asked constantly since this morning, but she could only nod and reach out into the supplies for a face mask, jacket, and gloves.

There was no telling what other harmful items lay hidden in here now that it was exposed to sunlight.

"Well, whatever we find. It's another weapon to our arsenal against the Underground." Liam said, his smile quickly getting covered by the medical mask his father handed off to him. "That a boy, that's the way to be thinking...You hear that, sir?"

"Loud and clear. Blake, do you think we can make bullets out of the Clakitie?" Remus' question had a level of possibility within it, but the male shrugged and nodded.
"I don't see why not, same thing with a silver bullet—Isn't it?... Just need some handle and the proper shell casing to get started on it." With a plan in mind for the substance, a few selected former Rogues who no longer felt any pain in being near the large stone had been given the task to mine it into smaller bits into various chests.

They would have plenty of time later to get it sorted.

The front double doors had been chained together, not that it would have led to anything other than a dirt wall. But now it was finally being unleashed, and Remus couldn't help but shiver at taking in the large room.

"Oh goddess have mercy on us..." Leo whispered, and Hayes followed in a similar fashion of reaching out to a higher deity to aid them.
"She's in the corner," Blake said, taking the brave first few steps inside—Leaving Sage to be a close second.

While having seen it just a few days ago, the natural light through the windows helped identify the furniture better. Most of the scattered papers were long molded and faded away, yet that didn't stop the males to sort through the different piles. But nothing important would be left to rot, and so it was ultimately abandoned.

"...Can someone explain to the former Rogue in the room what the hell this place is, because honestly—I think it's scarier in daylight." Sage nodded, her eyes flickering to each piece, wondering what its significance was some odd years ago.

Was it a symbol of good or evil—Did it give hope or cause terror?

Sage's breath had turned heavy as she started to step away from the group and walk closer to the wolf statue. At first glance, it does appear to look very similar to Fenrir, who she knew very well in Norse mythology—The one who will devour the sun, and destroy Asgard during Ragnarok.

But it did not fit with the same deity as Selene off in the corner, nor was anything on the walls telling to what sort of acts went on here.

"It's not too far from where the Rogue wall was...Or the stands," Eli claimed, and those born in Crescent Moon had turned stoic amongst the crowd.
"Stands?" The word didn't translate all that well, so when Hayes had come forward—He pointed to one of the drawings on the wall. "Packmates that were being punished under the law, Randal didn't give anyone a break. That is how I managed to come in, Remus was there." Her eyes widened, recalling the brief mentions that Remus' father was distracted, enough so for her own father to slip in.

That distraction had to be well thought out and demanding of his attention, and what better way than for the Alpha's son to get punished?

"Could be a holding cell for those awaiting trial?" Jackson questioned, noting that there were a few pieces screwed into the wall that could suggest chains being linked every other row. But Sage's attention had followed in pursuit back to the windows, and the beautiful arch that was sketched on them.

It was strange to see a window colorful and with pictures. Especially when the light hit it a certain way to highlight it—She could almost call it beautiful, though the one above the large wolf had sparked familiarity.

"Mama..." She whispered, and it certainly caught the ear of Hayes as he stalked forward.

"What?" He questioned, his voice hoarse with need—Eyes twisting back and forth as though Willow was here in the room.

In pointing to the window, she grew excited. "I see that when I was in mama's body!" She cheered, attempting to get closer to said piece. Though it was fairly difficult considering the large statue blocking it.

"You saw what...? The stained glass?" Andrew questioned, and Sage made a face. That was certainly not a word she had ever heard of before so she pointed to it again.

"Color g-glass, yes!...Me and the witches go and pray together, that was there—And that!" Her eyes rushed over each one, so much so that she started swirling around. And if it hadn't been for Andrew, she would've fallen flat first to the stone floor.

"Easy, easy. Take a breather, do you remember anything else about praying together?" The rest of the group had attempted to give her some privacy, not wanting to rush their Luna.

"Same...Walls and near window...I draw later. Can it help?" Andrew and Remus had thrown a glance at one another and sighed. "Not sure, hun. That's not much to go off of. It could just mean dad's crazy religion is somewhere else." Eli walked forward toward Sage, just to get a bigger picture of it.

"No...No, look. That's not something we see, the moon is red. Shouldn't it be blue?" That prompted a lot more than a question, but sparked another jolt of familiarity.
"Shit...Shit! That's what...That almost looks like what Jade had made for Hardin. Course not that dark and not with a blood moon. But the figure at least, that depiction of the goddess." Hayes explained, or tried to at least. As it just created a back-and-forth between both him and Eli as they tried to pinpoint the creation.

Only to lead back to Jade's former pack, Moonridge.

"Are you saying Moon Ridge could know what's going on or that they're just in the same band for this religion?" Eli quickly shook his head. "No, Alpha Kendal isn't like this. But he and his pack—And many like it, follow a specific religion. Oracles of the Holy Knot." Considering that Eli was learning his own mate's birthright so they could pass it to their son and future child.

"Problem is, Kendal's not our biggest fan," Remus said with a sigh, but Hayes had thrown in a sly grin. "Yeah, but Moon Ridge has always been neutral. That makes them easy to be pushed."

"Easily pushed and neutral sounds like the perfect combination for Randal to make his move on." Andrew reminded, and Remus hummed. If there was anything that his father knew, it was how to spot out one's weakness.

"We'll scout out things here first, find out where those tunnels lead...Eli, let's reach out to Harlow and Issac, want them informed about what's going on too. Better to keep them in the loop," Remus claimed, catching Sage's smile as she stared back up at their founding piece of evidence.

"...Make sure Jade's there with Harlow too, everything we find out about the Holy Knot will help. Can't be too big of an organization if we couldn't recognize it." From there, the search had officially hit the pack's knowledge, as Remus was keeping to his word on supplying those around him with current news.

Though this didn't pass over too well, the pack was scared.

Seeing those that were pronounced long dead created two types of people—Those worried about what else is buried in Crescent Moon, and those that were hopeful that their loved ones were still alive.

It sparked unsureness and a constant wave of alertness, so it didn't surprise Sage when she was homebound.
Though this time, she wasn't given a babysitter or a guard.

This was defiantly a step up from her previous treatment as Luna, but it hit her that very afternoon that it was because the Half Crescent wolves were still stationed outside her home.

Some were still coming and going from the basement to use the facilities since the home buildings were on hold with the need of following the tunnels.

Ever so often, she would get a text check-in from Blake or Dante. They seemed to be running the bigger part of the expedition than she thought, but it had made the most sense—Considering that they were once Rogues themselves.

Any person with a title would wreak havoc, not on purpose, but their scent was binding.

As she was getting the living room cleaned up, she took a peak at the laptop Remus had set up this morning before heading to the pack house. She was waiting to join a call, as Remus wanted her involved with the meeting—But more so listening in than actually needing to participate.

It made her smile just remembering how he was tripping over his own words as if he was nervous. But then it hit her, he probably was. These last few days were destroying the idea of peace, not to mention they were still actively waiting for another Draugr attack.

However, the knock on the door caused her to stop pouring her next cup of tea. She peeked out from the kitchen to the front, but the top window didn't help so much as to identify who was there.

"Luna?... Alpha said you were home!" The voice was familiar, and Sage hurried over to see both Delta's carrying a well-lit smile.

"Hi, sorry...Pups are sleeping." The father and son duo had pouted but were still invited for some tea.
Or in Jack's case, a can of Remus' soda.

"Everything okay?" She asked, and Jack chuckled. "Course, enough work to go around. Not surprised Alpha gave you the day off, or part of the day off...Too many people at the pack house are joining the meeting. Thought I could borrow your camera." She nodded, but the sudden call of a pup caused her head to tilt to the ceiling.

"Oh, I'll get the little bugger." The elder male said, taking another sip of tea before hurrying up the steps. And Sage couldn't help but smile at his eagerness to help.

"Doing PT?"

"Yeah, but not without some reminders. He likes Rory's meditation a lot more, so we try to do it all together...But he's doing good." Jack shot his dad a teasing grin as the male left the room entirely, and it was clear that morale was getting better, so Sage let out a smile of her own.

"I hope Jade will have stuff to help, or Alpha Kendal. We need clues." She whispered, only to stand idly by in her own home while either Delta played around with the computer.

Without being asked, Sage had come forward with a bowl of soup for John with half a sandwich, while Jackson's plate held a full two sandwiches and fries. "I make extra soup to take home, John." She offered, and the male could barely share his appreciation as he continued to eat the hefty serving.

"Slow down, dad. Kenzie said you need to keep a steady pace, not choke on it." John waved him off as Sage took a seat beside Jackson with her own tea.
"Have to eat slow, don't want to throw up. Not fun." The words managed to trickle in better to John's selective hearing, or that's how Jackson thought of it as. And turned his attention back to the computer to fiddle around with it, but Sage caught his irritation.

Once upon a time, it would have bothered her. But Jack was a sensible male, and it wouldn't take long for him to figure out why his dad was having an easier time listening to Sage than to a
Healer or his own son.

As Sage went to go and refill their drinks, John's eyes lingered off towards the Luna and smiled. "Remus was blessed, wasn't he?" John questioned his son, and Jackson's eyes followed his dad off toward the kitchen.

"Yeah, Sage is a peach."

"More than that, she's what this pack needed. A strong she-wolf." It caused Jack's thoughts to linger back on the previous Luna's, of course he had never known Remus' grandparents as they died long before he was born. But in thinking about Emery Moon, she was deeply respected and loved by the pack.

But not as strong as one would think.

"Do you remember Luna Emery?"
"Course, I was about as close to her as you are with Sage. Helped her with her pregnancy more than that bastard did." It wasn't common knowledge as to how much Remus and Emery had suffered under the same roof as Randal.

But it was certainly a basis for the higher tiers.

"D-did mom help?" He asked, and John sighed. An adoring grin rose to his face, and a near-perfect blush at the thought of Sophia. "Hmm, and if it wasn't for the rest of the world hating us—We would've given you a few siblings." The hint of a brother or sister had caused Jack to lean his head forward, it was a missed opportunity.

"So I'm here to tell you not to wait for things to get better, because truthful...There will always be something in the way of perfection." Now that had stumbled the male, was his dad really suggesting that they don't suppress a pup.

"If it's meant to be, Jackson, it's meant to be. The Goddess doesn't do things for no reason."

"I really doubt sending you to live in a grave was all a part of her plan, dad." John hummed into the final sip of his tea, he was starting to get used to the tart flavor—Knowing it was doing better for his body than his taste buds.

"No, probably not, but that tells me something is playing with the grand scheme of things. I don't think Sage Mystic was supposed to be born where she was." Jack nodded numbly in the sense that he didn't believe this was how things were meant to happen.

"Papa says my name is Hera Mystic, but I like Sage too." The Luna said with another kettle of tea and soda can for the two males to enjoy, and they managed to mirror their smile.

Only for a pup upstairs to call out for attention, which alerted both the Sage and John in the room.

"I'll get her, been a while since I had some puppy play." He said, slapping his son on the back before hurrying upstairs. And by all means, Sage couldn't make it any more obvious that she heard what they had been talking about, it was her house after all—And they didn't make it a point to talk quietly.

"What're you thinking Sagey?" Jack asked, partially looking for an answer but also wanting to tap into her 'all-seeing eye' for a chance at going in the right direction.

"You want a pup."

"Yeah, every wolf wants a pup. That doesn't mean it'll happen." Sage came to take her seat back beside her Delta, placing a hand on his shoulder before moving aside the better part of his hair to the side. He's been working himself to the bone ever since his father returned, and it didn't help that Aurora was having her own struggles trying to take care of John while making sure Jack didn't run dry every morning.

"It will—"

"No. She gave us a Heat before and we ignored it." Sage's eyes widened at the thought, that Jackson could ever think to neglect Aurora in such a way that had caused her to frown.
Only for him to raise the white flag to take back what he said.

"Fuck—What I meant was we stopped a pup from happening, it's when Remus stepped down. Just stepped down." That would mean Jack would've been a father already, but clearly, there was a bit of regret in their decision.

"Aurora wants a pup?"

"In the worst way, ever since Lavender was born. Our pup would've—Well, a few weeks older if—" Sage knew what he was trying to say and twitched her nose. Trying to think of something to say that would help her Delta. "Tell Moon Goddess you're sorry and will try for pup next time. I do that and it comes soon. Spring will be better." She says with a cheeky grin, and Jackson could only assume what that might mean.

"I couldn't help myself, this one's snuggling me too tight." John said as he made his way down the stairs, while Rue made a few incoherent words mumble behind her pacifier and Sage simply shakes her head and gets back up.
"Bottle time." There was no fight in the youngest pup, she liked to sleep just like her mother and father.

______

Date: 4/21/23

Time: 9:19

Words: 3984

Author's Note:

I can't remember the chapter where either Camilla/Leo yelled at Liam with his full name.
Liam John Elwood.

I want to say a quick thank you for everyone who checked out my new story--The Brave Human Mate.
I realize the beginning is a little slow, but things will pick up, I promise!

I was speaking with a friend of mine the other day about how Author's put in a playlist for their book. 

So instead, I'll offer a teaser to what is inspired/inspiring me for the rest of this series

* * *

Blood Water // Grandson
Brother // Kodaline
Power Over Me // Dermont Kennedy
Experiment on Me // Halsey
Mercy // Shawn Mendes 
Monsters // Ruelle
Game of Survival// Ruelle
Runaway // AURORA
Running with the Wolves // AURORA
Kings and Queens // Ava Max

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Some topics we've already hit, but for what's to come 👀😏

Alrighty, I hope you all have a fantastic weekend and I'll see you Monday for the last chapter in this Phase!