Chapter 16: Meetings and Rituals

Claudia's phone rang loud and clear, distracting her and Savannah from their projects.

"Hello?" She asked, answering the phone.

"Claudia, I need you and Savannah to come down to Halter." Esmee's panicked voice came through the receiver.

"Hold on, let me put you on speaker phone." Claudia replied, setting her phone down. "Are you there?"

"Yeah, I am." Esmee replied.

"Right, what is going on?"

"So the elders of Sabercrown Pack have called a meeting later tonight." Esmee explained. "We aren't sure why, but we have a sneaking suspicion that it largely involves The Moon Bearer Prophecy." She took a shaking breath. "Can you please come, even if it means breaking curfew?"

"What does Hunter think of the situation?" Savannah asked. "If he gives us the all clear, then we will be there."

"I have given Esmee permission to invite you two." Hunter's voice replied.

"Alright, then we will be there. Text us the time and address, and we will see you there." Claudia replied. "Love you." She ended the call and opened the group chat. Esmee needs Savannah and I, and thus we will be breaking curfew, she texted as Savannah grabbed out a change of clothes and headed towards the ensuite.

Esmee's phone dinged.

We are almost there, Claudia had texted.

Oh thank god, She thought. Feeling less stressed, she picked out an outfit and went for a shower.

It is amazing how a simple shower can be so relaxing, She thought as she sat down. Someone knocked on her door.

"Come on in." Hunter emerged from behind the door.

"I do believe that there are some guests here that want to see you." He said, stepping aside and letting Claudia and Savannah into the room.

"You're here!" Esmee said as she got up from her spot on the bed and embraced the pair in a hug.

"We are, and we are very concerned. What does this Moon Bearer Prophecy entail?" Claudia asked.

"Come look." Esmee pulled out the notebook, as she, Claudia and Savannah sat down on the bed, as Hunter sat opposite.

"None of these notes make sense." Claudia said, looking through the notebook.

"I didn't get a chance to organise them." Esmee replied. "Why is The Moon Bearer prophecy so important to werewolves?" She asked Hunter. He took a deep breath.

"The Moon Bearer is one of the six Moon Sailors." He replied. "The Moon Sailors are the six siblings in the Pair of Triplets prophecy. The Moon Bearer is believed to be the greatest healer the world has ever known." He took a deep breath. "The Moon Bearer is said to be the descendant of the mother of all werewolves. A very long time ago, so long ago that few written records from that time still exist, there was a woman. This woman had a child, a daughter, that had been sickly from birth. Desperate to save her daughter, the woman prayed to the moon to give her the power to heal her daughter." He took another deep breath before continuing the story. "The moon, or in some iterations of the man on the moon, agreed to her request on one condition; That she would bear the children of the moon. The woman agreed to this condition, and so she gained all the knowledge of every ailment known to mankind." He paused, letting the truckload of information settle in. "So, she went home and healed her daughter and she became so well her child's father suspected her of being a witch. This was at a time when being a witch was a death sentence, for both the witch and all of her relatives. So, fearing for hers and her daughter's life, she left her husband and home with her daughter in the middle of the night, and they fled into the forest."

"So what happened next?" Savannah asked, interested.

"Well," He continued. "The woman didn't know she was pregnant at the time, but she still needed to take care of her daughter. The pair built a cabin, and the woman gave birth to a son. A son who, every full moon, turned into a wolf. A Werewolf." He took a deep breath. "Now, according to the legend, the mother and daughter lived with the son peacefully, and when the son got married he turned his wife to be just like him, whereas the daughter chose to move into the city to be with her husband, and never became a werewolf like her brother."

"So what does that have to do with me?" Esmee asked.

"Many years ago, your mother took a DNA test." Hunter explained. "And the results showed that your family tree shows that you are the descendant of the daughter. And, given that the Pair of Triplets is being fulfilled, we believe that Esmee, as the oldest of you three, is the reincarnation of that woman."

"And the ritual?"

"The ritual is little more than a simple prayer." He replied. "A prayer, made before a statue to make sure you, my beautiful Esmee, is meant to be her reincarnation. It is not meant to turn you into a werewolf. That will come at a later stage."

So I won't be made into a werewolf, Esmee thought. But I am descended from the woman who gave birth to the first werewolf. And because of everything else that is going on in mine and my siblings lives, there are people who exist who think that I am the reincarnation of the woman who gave birth to the first werewolves, my own Husband included. She took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry I didn't explain this all to you earlier." Hunter continued. "I didn't tell you because I didn't want to stress you out even more than you already are, but I was wrong. I'm sorry."

"You are forgiven." Esmee replied, wiping the tears that had emerged from her eyes. Hunter checked his watch.

"It is time for the meeting." He said, standing up. 'We should get going."

"Yes, let's go." Esmee, Claudia and Savannah got up from the bed and headed out to Hunter's Jeep.

From looking at the park from a distance, one might have assumed that people were having a barbeque, not gathering for a life-altering ceremony.

"Are you ready?" Hunter asked Esmee as they approached the group, Claudia, Savannah, Shilo and Valentina trailing behind them.

"As ready as I can be." She replied.

"Good. Block your ears." He said, letting go of her arm. She was about to ask why when he let out an almighty "ROOOOAAAARRRR!" so loud that she was sure that a tree had fallen with the vibrations of the noise.

However, Hunter's howl? Was that what it was? Was nothing compared to the tsunami of sound that engulfed them, so loud that Esmee thought that she might have gone deaf from the noise. The ringing in her ears made it difficult for her to hear what he said next.

"Respected Elders, Members of Sabercrown Pack." He called as a ring formed around him and Esmee. "The New Luna has arrived." He started stamping a rhythm that was immediately replicated by the rest of the group. Flushing with a slight embarrassment, Esmee smiled. The stamping only stopped when Hunter led it to a rather climatic end. "This is the beautiful Esmee, daughter of Rita, and descendant of our Great Moon Bearer." Yet more stamping. "I do hope you will treat her with respect. And now," He declared in a loud voice, turning towards the monument that dominated the centre of the clearing. "Now for the ceremony."

"Go up to the statue, kneel in front of it and read this prayer." Shilo said, handing Esmee a piece of paper as Hunter ushered her up to the steps of the monument of the woman, holding the hand of her human daughter with one hand and embracing her werewolf son in the other, standing in front of an inaccurately small moon.