"Take him to the temple. Alpha Luca ordered. "The Luna will attend to him."
One of the guards helped Lira carefully carry Thomas away from the wreckage. Both his body and blood were still warm. He had lost a lot of blood but it wasn't enough to kill him… at least not yet.
The guard who helped Lira carry Thomas was a brawny man with visible scars along his jaw and forearms.
"If we want to make it to the temple in time, one of us has a shift." The guard spoke surprisingly gently. His soft voice didn't match his hardened face.
"Oh, I don't think I can-" Lira started but was cut off.
"It's okay sister, I'll shift. Just hold him steady."
Lira nodded and the guard smoothly shifted into a large dark brown wolf. Lira mounted him with Thomas and they rode to the temple.
Silverstone only had one healer and it was their Luna. It wasn't like Ironwood who had a plethora of healers who did not necessarily have to be a part of the temple.
The guard shifted back and said, "We can't carry him upstairs, please get the Luna for me."
"From her office?" Lira asked, already walking in.
"No, the Alpha lives with his family at the very top." He called out.
Lira dashed up the stairs calling out for help and she ran into one of the few pages Silverstone's temple had. He told her that Luna Sophia was indeed in her office.
Lira burst in without knocking, "Someone's injured downstairs. Please he's dying."
Arian and Luna Sophia looked up from the pile of papers they were sorting through.
Arian got up first, "Wait, what are you talking about, who's dying?"
"I don't remember his name, please come quickly." Lira said out of breath.
"Did you try to heal him?" Arian asked as the three of them rushed downstairs and Lira fought the urge to grimace. She knew that Arian meant no harm but the question still caused her heart rate to spike.
It reminded her of the conversation with Arian that afternoon where Arian told her that she wasn't the Moonborne.
*******
Right after Luna Sophia left that afternoon, Arian said it. "I don't think you are the Moonborne."
Lira narrowed her eyes and said, "And what brought this on now?"
Was Arian confused? Just that morning and the previous night she called her the Moonborne. Was she playing some kind of game?
"Look Lianne-" Arian said gently.
"It's Lira" she cut in.
Arian's eyes widened for a split second, then she continued, "Lira, I'm not exactly saying you aren't the Moonborne but…your body isn't acting like one."
"What?" Lira furrowed her brows.
"Your burn still hasn't healed." Arian pointed to her hand. "Or maybe it's because you haven't tried actively healing it yet?" Arian added.
"Yeah, yeah.That's why." Lira nodded. She placed her other hand on top of the burn and closed her eyes. The injury was hot.
She concentrated her healing energy in her right hand which was touching the burn. Nothing. She waited for a moment…still nothing. She didn't even feel any energy leaving her.
Her eyes flew open and she looked at her sweltering skin, it was the same red shade. Something was wrong.
"Wait…I…I don't know why this is happening." Lira took an overt glance at her hand. "This doesn't normally…" Lira trailed off.
She met Arian's gaze and saw a strange look on her face. Something resembling pity…or guilt.
"I swear I'm the Moonborne." Lira said,her voice thick with emotion.
"I thought so." Arian smiled softly and shuffled closer. "You have a very special aura. It's the biggest I've ever seen."
Lines quickly formed between Lira's brows. "Then why did you say that?" Lira
"Your page also has an unusual aura. I've never seen one that looks like a storm before." Arian paused then continued, "We decided to check… just to be sure. We thought that the real Moonborne would know that the stone wasn't the real one. And we had to know what you would do with it."
Lira blinked. It was a lot to take in. But she pushed everything to the back of her mind except one pressing thing.
"I still felt something from the stone in the tree. If it's not the moonstone then what is it? Also where is the real moonstone shard?" Lira questioned.
"It's in a neighbouring pack. What I showed you was debris that got caught in the path of the moonstone when it shattered and stayed under it." Arian revealed. "We had to give the real moonstone to another pack for safekeeping. Silverstone has been weak since the war."
"But you still wrote to Ironwood."
"We had to be sure that the real Moonborne was with you guys." Arian explained. "Everyone in the Council knows that Donna is a cunning snake. She could lie about your existence just to get all the moonstone pieces and hold it over the other packs ."
There was a bitter look on Arian's face as she said that.
A wry smile appeared on Lira's lips. 'I knew it. Of course she would do something like that,' Lira thought ruefully —remembering her childhood at the Ironwood Temple.
She almost laughed as she realised that this was the first time she was having an actual conversation with someone her age who wasn't part of the Temple or the Alpha's family in Ironwood.
Lira narrowed her eyes at Arian. She could be lying. After all, she lied to her in the beginning and now she was gatekeeping the location of the moonstone.
Lira sighed internally as the thought of dealing with this for every shard crossed her mind.
"Do you really think the Alpha would allow it?" Lira asked, knowing the answer.
"David Thornbane is sanctioning her every action." Arian said flatly. "Ironwood is big and full of strong warriors and multiple healers. They barely lose anyone. If the moonstone stays broken long enough, they won't need to conquer anyone. Packs would come on their own. There wouldn't even be a Council."
"So many people would die. Why would he do that?" Lira asked.
"Ironwood has always sought expans." Arian sighed. "That's why they're the biggest and they will keep growing bigger."
"So I'm asking you now." Arian took Lira's hand and looked at her face. "If I tell you where the moonstone shard is, will you put it together as soon as you can."
"It's what I was born to do." Lira replied immediately.