2. The Moonstone

After breakfast, I made my way to the living area where I found Mother crocheting a light purple scarf. I curtsied before her before I sat down on the comfortable chair across from her.

“Good morning, Mother.” I greeted before I picked up the thick book that I was in the middle of reading.

“Good morning, darling.” Mother greeted me while she briefly looked up from the crotchet work that she was doing. “By any chance have you seen your brother around these parts of the house?” Mother asked me.

“I have not,” I said before I started reading where I last left off.

“Your brother never seizes to surprise me.” Mother suddenly uttered in frustration, interrupting my reading and I looked up at her.

“May I now know what exactly it is that Zion and Miss Charles were up to last night?” I asked mother and she looked at me in shock.

“You will understand once you have your own mate.” Mother said and I frowned at her words.

“But Zion is Lady Iris’s mate, not Miss Charles’s,” I told Mother in confusion, and she pulled her face in horror.

“Exactly. What Zion did was an act of betrayal towards his mate, his pack, and his father’s efforts to bring our pack into an alliance with Alpha Lee and his pack. You are never to speak or even think of this.” Mother said and I frowned once more.

“So, Zion and Miss Charles mated last night?” I asked Mother in confusion, and she shook her head in horror.

“No, child. It was far less serious than the mating process. But the act remains the same. The act is called sex. Normally I wouldn’t speak of such an intimate act, but you’ve already witnessed it. I swear I could murder your brother, but I cannot, I simply love him too much.” Mother said and I could only look at her as if her tongue was Greek.

I suppose strangling is normal during the act of sex then, how horrible.

“I have sent a letter to your father about last night’s events, he is to return home within the next two days otherwise I will take matters into my own hands.” Mother said, and I placed my book down on the table beside me.

“But that would mean that Father would have to miss this year’s alpha conference,” I said in realization.

“If that is the case, the conference shall be postponed.” Mother said pointedly and I frowned at her. “The conference shall be hosted by our pack. I shall send a letter about the conference to your father as well. And if my request is accepted by the king, you are to meet your mate at the alpha conference. He is the most feared alpha, and he’s never lost a fight in his life. And he comes from an extremely wealthy family.” She continued and I was shocked, to say the least.

I opened my mouth to speak but a soft knock from the door stopped me and Mother and I looked over to where the sound came from.

“Enter.” Mother said before she continued crocheting the scarf in her hand and Miss Laurel, one of our maids entered the room.

“Good morning, ma’am. Good morning, lady Mia.” The brunette greeted Mother and me before she curtsied in front of us, and we both nodded at her in a greeting manner. “Alpha Zion to see you, ma’am.” Miss Laurel said, and her words were barely cold when Zion came storming inside the room.

“I’m actually here to see my sister.” Zion dismissively told Miss Laurel who just silently watched him in fear. His eyes were glowing yellow in anger as he came walking closer to me. “Leave us!” He told Miss Laurel, and she hurriedly left the room.

“Explain yourself!” Zion angrily yelled at me, and I looked at him in shock.

“I should explain myself?” I asked him in disbelief and Zion ran a hand over his face while his other hand rested on his sword.

“Zion show some respect to your sister when you address her.” Mother said and he glared at me.

“Your little angel left the moon room open last night, and now the moonstone is missing,” Zion told Mother before he placed his hands on either side of my chair. “You’d better find that stone before Father returns home.” He said and my eyes went wide in shock because he seemed serious.

“Zion, I locked the doors behind me, I swear it,” I told him, and he clenched his jaw.

“Do you have a witness to support these claims?” He asked me and I felt my heartbeat increasing. “Speak Mia.” He angrily told me, and I shook my head at him.

“No, I usually go alone to write in silence. Zion, you must believe me, I would never leave the doors unlocked, and I have never done it in the past. And sir Bolton usually double checks all the locks at midnight.” I told him and his eyes softened on me. They went back to their natural green color, and I breathed out in relief as Zion moved away from me.

“Begging your pardon, love,” Zion told me, and I nodded at him in understanding. Because I understand how our father is going to react once he gets word of this.

“I will take full responsibility when and if father asks about this,” I told Zion and our mother who was looking at us in shock. She got up from her chair before gathering her skirts and walking over to me to cup my chin in her hand.

“No, you simply cannot.” Mother said with a worried expression on her forehead. “The moonstone is sacred to the Sapphire moon pack and house Arcadius. The sapphire in that stone is what makes our family superior to the rest of the world and if it ends up in the wrong hands that might not be the case any longer.” Mother said and Zion nervously paced across the marbled floors in the room.

“Here’s what we are to do. We offer the person that can return the moonstone to us a chance to become the next alpha in line of the Sapphire moon pack.” Mother said and both Zion and I looked at her in shock. “This way the stone won’t get destroyed by the founder because if they find the stone, they might have a chance at becoming the next alpha, and to be an alpha you need the sacred stone of your pack.” Mother said and I was speechless.

“And I- I will stand a chance to lose the title that is rightfully bound to me by blood?” Zion asked angrily.

“You won’t lose, my love.” Mother told Zion in a certain tone before she placed her hands on his face, and he didn’t say anything else.

“Make it seem like a competition, tell them we hid the moonstone somewhere, and not that we lost it. That way we get to keep our dignity.” Mother said before she held her head up high. “The reasoning behind this competition is equal rights.” Mother said blankly and I shook my head at her.

“Mother, Zion is already set to fight father for the title of alpha we cannot let him fight another werewolf. Can’t we figure something else out?” I asked and Zion clenched his jaw.

“I won’t lose.” My brother said blankly before he left the room in silence.

“Mother-”

“It is done, Mia. You should focus on meeting your mate. The alpha conference is right around the corner.” Mother said before she sat back down on her chair then she went back to crocheting the scarf that she discarded earlier.