The Twelfth Moon || ✔️ [LOTM #1]

46. Leaving, Going, Gone

This morning at breakfast, Aven came to confirm what Jerr had told me last night. We'd be leaving together shortly, heading to Hidden Moon.

He'd let me finish my bowl of oats—arguing I would need the energy—before he ordered me to meet him in his study, where Jerr was also waiting for me.

"You'll be leaving as soon as possible, so I'll make this as quick as I can," Aven said as I closed the door behind me and made my way over to where the other wolves were standing. Cailean was present in this meeting, too.

Jerr and Aven looked a little on edge as if they had just had a hefty discussion about Moons know what. I knew they tried to hide it, but I saw the tenseness in both their bodies. Had they been fighting with each other, or was something else going on?

To no surprise, Cailean still held his careless attitude.

I felt Jerr looking at me, but I made it a point to keep my gaze locked on Aven. I wasn't entirely sure how I felt after last night, but the way Jerr had told me about this had made me feel uneasy.

"You will only be traveling by two," Aven continued. "Larger groups will be too suspicious, especially since we don't know just how far Beckett's spy network reaches behind the city walls. You will cross Swift Moon, Young Moon, and Strong Moon grounds before you reach Hidden Moon. Be mindful of your surroundings at all times, Sari. You will be traveling through enemy grounds most of the time."

Aven's silver eyes pierced mine, his sharp jaw clenched to assess if I understood what he was saying. As if I was such a reckless wolf, with absolutely no survival instinct. "Why do I even have to go?" I asked, my tone a bit more annoyed than I had intended.

It was Cailean who answered. "Because your training here will not be sufficient to weaponize you against Beckett. As talented as Feytan may be, his gift is that of Ayatti. Beckett and Mika are allies, meaning Beckett has plenty of experience with Ayatti's gift and their way of fighting. So long as we don't broaden your training, with only Strong Moon skills, you will never be more than that helpless wolfling we all met the night of your Ascension."

However much I hated the intention of weaponizing me, a small part of me appreciated the blunt honesty in Cailean's words. Dancing around words would get us nowhere, he knew that as well as I did.

"It would be in everyone's best interest, yours included, if you were more thoroughly trained by another legacy," Aven confirmed.

I wasn't sure if it would be in mine. I wanted to be able to fight back against Beckett, I wanted to kill him.

But more importantly, I wanted a choice in the matter. I wanted to decide for myself how I should be trained. And maybe, if I had been given that choice, I would have chosen this. I would gladly have gone to Hidden Moon with Jerr.

But the lack of autonomy gnawed at me, a feeling I knew all too well from my days in Spitta.

It didn't seem to bother Aven as he continued. "In Swift Moon and Strong Moon territory, you will have to improvise for shelter. Once you have reached Young Moon grounds, Cailean has instructed his pack members to clear a room for the both of you in one of the inns."

Aven took a short break, allowing me to nod to confirm I was still following his rattle of information.

"However, once you leave Death Moon grounds, you will no longer be Jerr and Sari, but you will go under the guise of Nathe and Julianne. Cailean's pack has been warned that you two—Jerr and Sari—will be arriving, so we're assuming that's what Beckett's spies will also be forwarding to him. That is why, once you arrive in Young Moon, you will go to another inn, where you will get a room that has not been reserved in advance, under your new names. You will also make sure this inn is as far away as possible from the other one, where Beckett will now expect you to go. Do you understand this, Sari?"