Lacking Humanity | Moon Ridge

Chapter Fifty-One

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Alpha Hayden Mystic had stared in awe towards not only his daughter but the large Willow tree that took to shading over the odd patches that grew just where the roots had laid. And there sat his daughter, motionless until she turned, her eyes screaming just how tired she was growing, and the utter fear that was festering in her heart.

With a cautious few steps, she put her hand up to warn them to stop. And it only took a moment before realizing that this wasn't just any coincidence.

This smelled far too sweet that one could nearly taste the sinister intentions. But it didn't pose as too obvious, not to the naked eye—And not to those who couldn't feel how alive things were.

Everything was too clean, too prestige—Too methodically planted to be a natural occurrence.

"Mama..." Sage said, pointing up to the tree. And it was as if the weeping leaves had heard the call.
"Grandma..." She turned her arm and extended it towards the secluded patch of Iris' that were contained and boxed away from the rest.

Yet Hayes choked as soon as he took to realize that the coincidence was not at all possible.

"...Sage." She claimed, dipping her hand back into the folds, hating that it was amongst them. "...Rue...Rowan—"

"What?" Remus hissed, perhaps it was his fault for not being able to identify the plant life surrounding him. But to have each of the children holding the Halliwell line?

Sage sniffled once more, her hands wrapping around the oddity of weeds growing beside the in-betweens of both the Rue sprouts and Rowans.

"Almond is trying to find them...Look at the state of the Willow tree," Blake spoke, careful not to step on any of the flowers or anything of the sort to disturb the peace.

"It's starting to wither—"

"Blake, what is this place?" Hayes asked through gritted teeth, trying to contain himself. But there was nothing that the former Rogue could say to explain this horrific find.

"The woods are camouflaged, whatever happened here was the perfect breeding ground for someone to plant this spark. It's a tether. It binds these—Plants to their counterpart's life force."

"Great. It's a sadistic garden." Andrew huffed, kneeling down at the edge to allow his hands to graze the flowers as well. "Do we leave it alone?"
"I don't see any reason to play with this type of shit, besides, we don't really have any tools to counter the enchantment. I don't think it's doing any harm." Blake said, his eyes trying to read through the shimmers of where the swirls of magic had their limitations.

"We must be close to home base, if this is really Almond's creation." Hayes absolutely hated that theory, that there was another being after his family. But he couldn't help but turn towards the Iris'.

"Does this mean my mate's mother is still alive?"
"She's withered too, but alive...But she's somewhere else, just like the Willow tree is by its lonesome. It's how we see and read this, Alpha. Fuck—My camera doesn't work." It was enough for Sage to rise to her feet and shake her head, looking up at the weeping willow that caused such a disturbance to her dreams.

But she was thankful it had popped up.

"Almond has to be close. That means mom is close." The Luna claimed with a sniffle, but as she neared the males, Andrew had offered his arms up in a sign of offering, and after the horrors of the last day, she conceded without another thought.

Not taking into consideration that Remus was right there beside him, but he hadn't offered—Had he?

Or was he just expecting this from her now?