Chapter 31
Chapter Thirty One
Chapter Thirty-One I stood outside the Elder’s housing estate, staring up at therge ck iron gates in
front of m e. They were intricate yet terrifying at the same time, but I knew whatid behind them would
be even more nerve-wracking.
The doorman saw me and recognised who I was immediately, opening the gates without needing to
identify myself or even speak. I entered quietly, heading towards the fate I knew would be waiting for me
just inside thevishlyrge building. The Elders were a group hand-selected and were only seven in
total. A majority vote of both ranked and existing Elders was required to initiate any new members into
the council and the process was quite strict. They all had to be over a certain age and bring some sort of
credibility or merit to contribute to the betterment of the pack’s future. The only exception to this rigorous
selection process was the retired ranked members who were almost always guaranteed a position if one
was avable… and if they were able to live to the minimum age requirement.
I stepped inside and couldn’t help but gasp a little at how extravagant the interior was. A better
description for this ce would have been a mansion, not a house. Everywhere I could see was filled
with expensive furniture and decorations. I’d never had a reason toe here in the past and so seeing
it for the first time was startling. I had no idea they were living in such luxury. “Ariadne,” a deep voice
called beside me. I turned my head and saw that Elder Luke was waiting for me, standing by the door for
when I would arrive.
Inparison to the other Elders, Elder Luke was by far the youngest member with dark greying hair
and light stubble across his jaw; he was never one for keeping a tidy appearance. His intellect had been
a shoo-in for the council position, one which had be avable not long after his minimum age
requirement had been met.
He was always considered a pioneer for innovation and a change in how we looked at things. I n fact, he
was one of the first Elders to ever rmend me to join the table for strategy meetings. However, thisContent ? N?velDrama.Org 2024.
ended up bing one of the things the other Elders disliked about him. His modern approach to issues
sometimes interfered with the more traditional ideas of the older members.
I bowed my head to show my respect. “Hello, Elder Luke,” I greeted.
In this instance, Elder Luke held a status higher than my own now I was no longer a Luna. But I knew
inside that I would have shown him the correct revere he deserved regardless. I always admired his
ability to logically find solutions, even before I’d be Luna. He had been one o f the people I had
studied the work of in-depth during my years of strategy research. Ik that a part of who I was today was
owed to him.
When I had started my journey of bing the pack’s leading strategist, Elder Luke had actually been
the one who had previously held the title. I always wondered if inside he was mildly bitter about it, but he
never indicated he felt that like that in the slightest. I respected
him deeply though. If there was one person in the past who could have been considered close t o being
my equal on this subject, it was him.
He waved off my formality, smiling, and motioned for me to follow him down a hallway.
Every room we passed was just as fancy as thest. I found that, of the rooms which had their doors
open, all of the spaces were taken up for personal offices and meeting rooms. It made m e wonder just
how big the ce was if we hadn’t even seen the personal living quarters on this route.
After a few more twists and turns, we eventually ended up in arge but tidy looking office. Unlike the
others, there were minimal personal items and more of a focus on the papers and books that lined the
walls and desk.
“My office,” he announced and gestured for me to enter. I stepped inside, taking in the sheer amount of
books that surrounded me. I thought I had read every academic book in the pack’s library collection, but
my eyes caught titles in here that I’d never seen before. It had been so long since I’d felt that rush of
excitement that came with wanting to learn. If I could have even one afternoon alone in this office, I
would be ecstatic.
“It’s arge collection,” I praised. “How did you manage to find some of these? I see several limited
edition copies of books I thought were lost to our kind many years ago.” “You have a good eye.” He
noted before smiling slyly. “I havee to find ways of acquiring books that would otherwise seem
impossible.”
I wanted to press him further for details, mostly so I could attempt to do the same, but I felt h e probably
wouldn’t go around telling his secrets to a young teenager. Maybe one day I’d be able to persuade him to
tell me.
“Please take a seat.”
I walked over to a wide fabric stool where normally a visitor chair would have been ced. I knew this
one would have been arranged so that Elder Luke would be able to inspect my mark with ease, removing
the obstacle of a backrest interfering with the process. “So, Ariadne,” he started. “How are you feeling?”
The question caught me off guard a little. I hadn’t expected him to dy with idle chit-chat.
“Oh, um, please call me Aria. I’m doing well thanks. Yourself?”
He smiled. “I’m doing well too. I’m also feeling incredibly honoured. I hear you specifically requested that
I assist you with this confirmation today.” His dark eyes had been watching me carefully since we’d
entered the office, always holding this glint of careful questioning in them. I knew he would be studying
me closely to figure out who I was and why I had this mark, because I would have been doing the same
thing in his position. I had already prepared myself to be examined like a test subject for this process.
After all, no one had held this mark for over a millennium.
“That’s correct,” I replied.
“May I ask what made youe to this decision? You don’t have to answer if you do not wish t o though.
This is a question stemming from pure curiosity, not anything to do with why we
are here today.” I took several moments to think about how best to reply. ‘Because you proved in my past
lifet o not be an asshole like most of the others’? ‘Because you’re the only one who didn’t try to kill me’? I
didn’t end up saying any of those options, of course. “Ah… I heard you are a logical thinker like myself. I
trust you to be unbiased during our procedure today.” He raised an eyebrow at me. “I wasn’t aware that I
had a reputation already given I’ve only been an Elder for a year now.” I silently cursed in my head. I’d
forgotten to calcte in that I wasn’t supposed to know anything about him yet. The cases he worked on
wouldn’t be published for at least another two years.
“But,” he said continuing, “I am d you feel at ease with me. It will make things easier today. I admit,
I’ve also been meaning to talk to you, Aria, so I’m grateful we now have this opportunity.” Talk to me?
What would he need to talk to me about? “I was obviously present during your Alpha summons a few
months ago. I heard your rmendation for handling the Jade Moon pack predicament.” I tensed up
immediately. I’d been so focused during that meeting on trying to help that I’d forgotten that the person
who would think of the strategy one day was in that very room. “We seem to think very simrly. I wanted
to praise you for your outstanding advice and maturity shown.” I exhaled quietly in relief. Of course, I had
nothing to worry about. There was no way he could have known it was originally his idea… because he,
himself, hadn’t even thought of it yet. I did feel a bit guilty though. In a roundabout way, I had taken credit
for something he had achieved. “I’m not sure if anyone told you,” he said, “but you ended up being
correct about it all. It was, i n fact, the Jade Moon pack, and the wolf in custody had been a ranked
member. Alpha Tytus ended up carrying out your n exactly as you had said. The entire negotiation
with the other pack went smoothly and without a single casualty. If no one has thanked you yet, then let
me b e the first to extend our thanks on behalf of the pack.” I realised then that I’dpletely forgotten to
follow up on what happened with the Jade Moon pack. There had been no reason for me to feel stressed
or uncertain since I already knew it would work. Though, hearing now that it had been sessful still
gave me a sense offort. Everyone who had died previously during the Jade Moon debacle would
still be alive right now. “But, I feel we’ve digressed enough… shall we begin with the confirmation?” I
swallowed nervously and nodded my head. Elder Luke stood up and walked behind me,ying a book
down beside me that surprisingly seemed to consist of information on Goddess marks. It was far more
detailed than any of the books I’d vaguely seen on the subject in the past.
Knowing he would require to see my back today, I had purposely worn a dress with a back zipper. He
waited patiently as I brushed my hair to the side, unzipping the back of the dress just enough for him to
see but not enough for me to feelpletely exposed. I was thankful that he allowed me to keep my
dignity while I did everything and didn’t handle me more than was necessary
With gentle hands, he then tucked the dress into itself a little in order to have a clear view of the mark. I
hadn’t thought of it before, but was this situation awkward for him? He was alone with a fourteen year old
girl, one who was exposing her back to him. However, if he did feel ufortable, he didn’t show it. He
just diligently went aboutparing the silver double crescent mark to the book next to me without any
hesitation. After several minutes had passed, he finally stepped back and exhaled a little in surprise.
“You know, I had my doubts that this was authentic,” he said, walking back around to face me. I zipped
my dress back up as he spoke and adjusted my hair to fall around my shoulders once more. “You
seemed so reluctant to get the confirmation done that I thought maybe your family was making the entire
thing up.” I frowned. Was this what all the Elders had thought? “But I can see this is clearly the real deal,”
he concluded. “You have been marked by the Goddess herself. I must confess, I’ve always been partially
sceptical she was even real. But seeing you here now, with that mark… well it’s a bit hard to deny it.”
I was surprised to hear that an Elder of all people doubted the legitimacy of the deity our kind had
worshipped since the beginning of our existence. Though Elder Luke had always been a little different
and put his trust in knowledge rather than faith.
“So, what do you n to do about this?” he asked finally.
“‘Do’ about it?” I repeated, confused. “Well, since it’s authentic, I can now only assume you
procrastinated having this confirmation done because you knew the ramifications involved with it.” I
debated over whether I should confide in him. Being an Elder he would disagree over my ns to
abandon my future Luna position… but at the same time, I knew he’d proven to put bias aside time and
time again. “Honestly, I’m unsure,” I started, choosing to trust him. “I have no intention of taking over the
pack to rece Aleric’s authority. But I also know that I cannot be Luna, or rather I don’t want to
be Luna more than anything. I’m aware that this doesn’t leave me with many choices though. I will
be hunted down from the shadows if I prove a threat, but I’m sure no one will believe me when I say I
have no desire to be Luna, even if I promise to serve without that title.”
He leaned back, crossing his arms across his chest in thought. “I find it a little strange to hear that you
don’t wish to take up the offer of bing Luna. You would easily be granted the position regardless of
whether you and Aleric be fated mates, ” he said. “However, I can see in your eyes that this
decision of yours is deeply personal and final as of right now. I won’t push you further on it.”
And this was why I had chosen Elder Luke. He wouldn’t push an agenda on me and was even speaking
to me like an equal despite my age. “Elder Luke…,” I said hesitantly. “I want you to know I respect you
immensely and so… if you were me… what would you do?”
He raised an eyebrow at me once more, the question sparking his appetite for solving difficult problems, I
was sure. “Such an interesting question to ask. What would I do…?” He mused. “Well… as an Elder, it is
m y duty to always speak in the best interest for the future of this pack. And that best interest is for you to
be our Luna.” My heart sank. Of course, he wouldn’t be able to help me. It would be against his
position as an Elder to not stand by the prophecy his colleagues had predicted. “However,” he continued,
“if we are speaking casually, from one academic to another, there is an answer that I’m surprised you
haven’t thought of yourself yet.” Was there really an answer so obvious the whole time? I quickly tried to
wrack my brain to see whatever he saw, something that was apparently so clear to him.
“What. ?”
He leaned in closer, looking at me with all seriousness.
“Well… you are the Beta’s daughter, are you not?”
I stared at him, not understanding where he was going with this. “…So just pledge your allegiance to
Aleric… and be his Beta.”