Chapter 78 Seductress

Chapter 78 Seductress
"Tyra here, Tyra there, Tyra everywhere you go..." Shonda muttered bitterly as she made her way toward the sacred temple, her staff tapping against the ground with each step.

The name had become an irritation she could not escape. Everywhere she turned, there was another problem connected to Tyra, another complication she had to deal with, another reminder that the moonless girl had somehow managed to disrupt everything she had spent years trying to maintain.

She was completely exhausted. Her face remained fixed in an ugly scowl, and the frustration in her expression was impossible to hide.

Her patience had been worn down to almost nothing, and if she had encountered Tyra at that moment, she honestly would not have minded strangling her for making her life this difficult.

The thought only made her jaw tighten further as she continued toward the temple.

Finally stepping into the sacred temple, Shonda did not bother trying to fix her expression or compose herself.

Her legs came to a halt before a plain black flat rock resting against the wall.

"Oh great and mighty God of the Moon, I have come before you to seek your presence. Show yourself to me. There is a very important matter we need to discuss." She recited the words with the seriousness expected of her position, then added a few chants before finally striking her staff against the floor.

A flash of lightning moved across the surface of the rock, illuminating the dark temple for a brief moment.

Almost immediately afterward, a subtle glow surrounded the stone, growing brighter until Shonda could feel the presence she had come looking for.

"What is this important matter?" The voice of the Moon God rumbled through the temple, echoing across the walls and making the air around her seem to vibrate.

Shonda immediately dropped to her knees.

"I have come to ask if you have finally found the girl," she said, keeping her head slightly bowed before the glowing rock.

"The girl?"

"Tyra, the troublesome moonless I told you about who is destabilizing the entire pack," Shonda explained, her voice carrying the frustration she had been struggling to contain.

"Right. I've not found her yet. She is quite difficult to find because first, she's moonless, and second, she has a divine covering over her. Another god is shielding her from my eyes."

The response brought an even deeper frown to Shonda's face. Her fingers tightened around the staff resting beside her as she tried to process what she had just heard.

"Another god? You told me you are the most supreme God. What happened to that? How can another god be shielding your creation from your eyes?"

The questions left her mouth before she could stop them. Confusion and annoyance were both written clearly across her features, but even as she questioned him, an old memory suddenly resurfaced in her mind.

She remembered the day Tyra had been bullied by her aunt and how water from a spring that could only be accessed by gods had somehow been provided for her treatment.

Shonda's expression tightened.

How could someone as insignificant as Tyra be protected by a god?

And more importantly, which god would go to such lengths to hide her?

"I am the greatest, no doubt, but there are other things involved, difficult for mortals to understand. You look panicked."

"Well, I messed up, and the only way to fix things is to find Tyra. If I don't, Alpha Evander will die, and so will the law and order we have built so far."

The words left Shonda's mouth with more urgency than she intended.

The answer did not seem to sit well with the Moon God.

"What did you do?"

His voice vibrated through the stone, and Shonda swallowed before going ahead to explain everything.

"Why would you do that?"

His voice thundered through the temple, and Shonda flinched.

"You told me to restore law and order. I figured putting Evander back in line would do the trick since he's beginning to lose it over someone who's not his mate." Shonda quickly defended her actions, her voice shaking slightly as she lowered her head even further.

For a few seconds, silence reigned inside the temple.

Shonda remained on her knees, barely daring to move as she waited for the Moon God's response. The silence was enough to make her uneasy, because she could tell he was thinking about everything she had just told him.

Then his voice finally came.

"He is going to kill you, and I am not ready to lose you. I still need you, so you better save yourself. You know what to do."

Shonda's eyes widened in panic. For the first time since entering the temple, the confidence in her face completely disappeared.

"What?! I can't go through the humiliation ritual if that is what you're asking." She shook her head repeatedly, the thought alone making her stomach twist.

Just thinking about it was already a nightmare. The humiliation ritual was the only way to receive pardon after being sentenced to death, but the ritual itself was not something anyone willingly chose. It was capable of breaking a person's body, spirit, and mind completely, leaving them to endure a level of suffering that few people could survive without being permanently affected by it.

"Would you rather lose everything after all you have been through? After how far we have come? Your reward is almost ready, so you better stay alive while I find the girl and fix this mess she caused."

The Moon God's voice thundered through the temple, leaving no room for argument. Before Shonda could respond, the glow surrounding the stone began to fade until the rock returned to its original dark appearance.

Silence settled over the temple.

Shonda remained on her knees for a while, staring at the lifeless stone as she thought about everything he had just said.

The humiliation ritual terrified her, but losing everything terrified her even more. Apart from the satisfaction and power her position gave her, she had been working toward a reward for years, patiently enduring everything that came with serving the Moon God.

That reward was almost within her reach. She had already come too far to lose it now.

If staying alive was what it took to receive it, then she would do whatever was necessary.

Hours later, Shonda returned to the council building and stood before the council members. Her expression had been carefully composed by then, giving away little about what had happened inside the temple or how badly the Moon God's warning had affected her.

"I understand I've allowed frustration to push me into doing things I wasn't supposed to do, and therefore put Blazing Moon pack in a difficult situation. I seek the forgiveness of the council and the pack."

Her voice remained resolute as she spoke, and her eyes stayed fixed solely on Havilah. Her face revealed no particular emotion, almost as if she had already prepared herself to endure whatever response came from the council.

"For that reason, I'm willing to go through the humiliation ritual."

The announcement immediately sent a series of gasps through the room.

Havilah, however, remained expressionless.

"Have you found Tyra's location?" he asked.

"No. It will take some time," Shonda responded.

Once again, disappointment spread across the faces of the council members.

They had hoped her announcement meant she had finally found a way out of the situation, but they were still standing in the same place.

"For the humiliation ritual to happen, Alpha Evander has to approve it. You know better than anyone that he can't approve it until he is treated." Havilah reminded her, his voice calm but firm.

"I can't treat him until I undergo the ritual. He won't let me." Shonda revealed.

Havilah nodded slowly.

"Exactly. That is the dilemma we're in now. He doesn't have much time anymore. Come up with a solution fast, else we lose the only Alpha Blazing Moon pack has."

"Stop making me out to be the villain here, Havilah. I didn't ask him to fall for a seductress and choose to die because of her." Shonda finally allowed some of her annoyance to slip through her carefully controlled expression.

"A seductress?" One of the council members repeated in shock, clearly taken aback by the word.

"You think she seduced him?" Samuel asked, his brows drawing together.

"What else do you think is going on here?" Shonda answered with complete confidence, as if the explanation was obvious.

"You told us her ability to give or receive romantic love is zero," another council member reminded her, sounding confused by the accusation.

"Doesn't she keep surprising everyone?" Shonda responded, rolling her eyes subtly.

"Solution, Shonda." Havilah cut in before the conversation could turn into another argument. "I don't care about whatever name you want to call her or whatever label you give her. She's always the villain in your sight anyway, even when she's nowhere to be found. Leave Tyra and stick to the problem at hand."

Shonda ground her teeth, but this time she refrained from throwing another jab back at him. She knew arguing would accomplish nothing, especially when there was still no solution to the problem facing them.

She took a moment to think, then finally spoke.

"Get me the best doctor in Blazing Moon. I'll give him basic training on how to commence treatment immediately."