TWENTY-ONE YEARS AGO.

The day before the blessing renewal ceremony, Elias Crimson was nervous. Everything was ready. He only had to wait peacefully for the moonrise the next day, so that his wife, Silphie, would perform the ritual that she now mastered to perfection.

She had spent years, almost ten years to be precise, learning and honing the Skinwalkers\' magic. That was the minimum required for a witch who wanted to completely master the magic of another clan.

By comparison, Skinwalkers started to manipulate their aura and the energy around them from the age of thirteen, and their powers matured shortly after their sixteenth birthday.

Thus, it was normal for it to take longer for a witch who hadn\'t originally received the blessing of the Moon Goddess.

Born among the Servants of Talamh, Silphie Crimson was an animist witch. A witch blessed by the Earth Goddess, Talamh.

Her blessed powers allowed her to communicate and interact with the vital energy of all living beings but also objects related to Talamh. Her clan was probably the most powerful besides the Skinwalkers.

Since Autumn Everett\'s fled, the Blue Moon Tribe had turned to them to make up for the loss of their leader\'s lineage. The compatibility and complementarity between their magic had made Autumn\'s departure almost unnoticed.

The first ceremony, which took place more than thirty years ago, ended without incident. The bitterness following the flight of the chief\'s daughter had even disappeared.

Most of Blue Moon members today regretted that the leader\'s bloodline had been forced to wed only by reason for centuries, at the expense of their feelings.

Indeed, the descendants of the chief\'s lineage were the only ones who were blessed with a great aura that could be transmitted. Even if two Skinwalkers with a great aura were wedded together, their descendant didn\'t inherit that aura.

Only the leader of Blue Moon could pass on their aura. That\'s the reason why the leaders of Blue Moon have, for centuries, been forced to choose a partner within the tribe so that their lineage wouldn\'t be lost.

They had thus taken on this responsibility for the whole tribe without ever complaining. Autumn\'s flight had been the first rebellion. More than fifty years later, they had made peace with her departure by continuing to live under the protection of the Goddess of the Moon thanks to the new closeness with the Servants of Talamh.

Elias was sitting at his desk facing the open window, a compendium of his clan\'s history open before him. He could see the nearly full moon high in the sky.

He sighed and two knocks on the door behind him snapped him out of his thoughts. The man turned his head and saw Silphie standing in the doorway. His wife\'s smile softened his worries a little and the corners of his lips curved in response. The woman took that for silent permission and walked over to him. She stopped by the chair before putting a hand on the back of his neck.

Given the compatibility between their magic, the two clans had maintained their relationship throughout the years with visits and exchanges.

The marriage between Elias and Silphie was the first union of a leader motivated, not just by power, but by feelings. The two wizards had grown closer during the many meetings between their respective clans and had slowly fallen in love.

More than nine years after their wedding, their union would take on a new dimension with the renewal ceremony that would make Silphie a true Skinwalker. By performing the ritual, she too would finally receive the blessing of the Moon Goddess.

Silphie was a little worried too, but excitement and enthusiasm got the better of her feelings. The man leaned on his wife\'s hand and enjoyed the affectionate gesture while looking up at the window.

"Are you ready for tomorrow?" Silphie asked, looking down at him.

Elias chuckled softly.

"It\'s more up to me to ask you that. You\'re the one who has to show everyone the results of all your hard work. I just have to stay still, show off and let you do all the dirty work."

"I won\'t lie and say I\'m not feeling the pressure, but I\'m looking forward to it. I can\'t wait to be part of the tribe."

"Don\'t be silly. You\'ve been part of us from the very beginning."

The answer made Silphie\'s smile widen. They stayed like that for a moment, enveloped in the sounds of the night and the silence of the room. The witch finally broke away from her husband and ran her fingers through his hair before pulling away.

"I\'m going to sleep. You should do the same if you don\'t want to look tired tomorrow. After all, as you said yourself, you just need to be there and look good if you want to show off you better avoid dark circles," she said with a mischievous expression.

"Will do. Don\'t worry."

Silphie walked away and left the room. Elias was again alone with his thoughts. He closed the book on the desk and got up to close the window before going to put the book in the library.

The young chef was still restless. Something about him made him completely restless. He decided to go for a walk to calm his mind.

He left the house where his wife and daughter were sleeping. His footsteps echoed in the night. The man took the direction of the forest and soon he was sinking into the wood surrounding the village.

Elias had been walking like this for more than half an hour when his ears picked up a noise. At night even more than during the day, the forest was the domain of wild animals so it wasn\'t surprising.

As Skinwalkers, the members of Blue Moon lived close to nature and therefore to animals. This way of life was an effect of their blessing. They weren\'t cut off from the world. They worked outside the tribe, their children went to school and even went to university. As long as they hid their power, mingling with the outside world wasn\'t a problem.

But the wizarding world and the civilian world were different. A wizard, no matter his clan, will always have a hard time living a normal life with civilians.

With the blessing of their original clan influencing their nature, they will always be driven to listen to their instincts.

For Skinwalkers this meant living with werewolves. This was why, centuries after their separation, the tribe was still in their original territory near the Bloodhood pack. They couldn\'t bring themselves to walk away.

Elias ignored the noise and kept moving forward, but again the rustling disturbed the night. The man would have continued on his way if he had not heard whispers immediately afterward.

He frowned and decided to go check who, besides him, could be in the forest at this late hour of the night.

Tomorrow was a big day for the village. Indeed, after a delay of more than thirty years, the Skinwalkers would once again activate their blessing.

All of the tribesmen under the age of thirty were, like him, unable to transform. Seeing the older ones roam freely in their wolf form made them envious and impatient. Skinwalkers couldn\'t help yearning for that part of their legacy.

Once tomorrow\'s ritual is completed, the whole tribe will be able to transform again, even the youngest ones. Knowing this, it was unlikely that anyone had decided to wander into the forest.

Elias revised his judgment, remembering that he was currently wandering in the forest. He moved confidently towards the source of the noise.

He barely walked about thirty feet and arrived at a slightly deforested space. He spotted in the moonlight the silhouette of a young woman standing in front of a tree. Her hand was resting on the trunk and she was mumbling. When she was done, Elias saw black fumes rising from where her hand was in contact with the trunk. The leader squinted his eyes and caught the glimpse of a rune that had been traced on the trunk and disappeared a few seconds later.

The young woman lowered her arm along her body.

"If I had known you would come to me, I would have gone through less trouble."

She turned to the young chief and Elias frowned when he saw that he didn\'t recognize her face. As the leader of Blue Moon, even though he still struggled with names, he at least knew the faces of everyone in the village.

Suddenly, the agitation he had been feeling for several hours increased. A bad feeling took hold of him as the young woman\'s eyes fixed on him.

"Who are you ?" He managed to utter without stammering.

"Me ?" She sneered and instantly a thick black mist began to form at her feet.

"Just a distant relative who came to give a gift for the big ceremony tomorrow."

When Elias opened his eyes the next morning, his body was in pain. His head felt heavy, and he had no memory of how he got home from his walk in the forest.

A crease formed between his eyebrows as he recalled the strange, vivid dream he had the night before. The man thought he would calm down by going for a walk, he must have underestimated his nervousness.

Elias turned to his wife and smiled as he saw the face of Alana, his three-year-old daughter, curled up between him and Silphie. He shook the little body slightly and a growl of protest escaped the girl\'s throat. Silphie didn\'t move at all and the chef\'s smile widened.

"Get up, my little wolf! Today is the d-day. Mom and Dad, if she wants to wake up, will activate the blessing of the whole tribe."

As if he had just said a magic phrase, the little girl\'s eyes opened wide and she immediately straightened up in a sitting position.

"It\'s true? It\'s today? Am I going to be a real Skinwalker?" Her eyes were shining with excitement, and the fatigue she had displayed three seconds earlier was already dispersed.

"You already were, Sweety," he ruffled her extravagant morning hairstyle. "But after today, you can finally transform, like grandpa."

"Yeah!" The little girl\'s shrill cry was accompanied by little jumps that made the bed move and Silphie finally moved.

"Ugh! Please! Just five minutes."

Alana clasped her hands on her mouth and Elias answered her gesture by putting his index finger to his mouth, his eyes sparkling with mischief.

With a nod of his chin, he pointed to the door. Father and daughter slipped out of the bedroom to get breakfast ready to give Silphie a few more minutes of sleep.

The full moon was finally here. The moment the whole village had been waiting for had arrived. Everyone was present for the occasion, even the children had the right to stay up late even if the next day was a school day.

The tribe had been patiently waiting for thirty-two years for the blessing the Moon Goddess bestowed on them to be activated. All the members under the age of thirty were present, even the young parents had come with their newborns or toddlers. Today was a day of celebration.

Elias stepped onto a wooden dais in the middle of the crowd and winked at his daughter. The little girl giggled. She was holding the hand of a neighbor who was taking care of her during the ceremony. Alana waved her hand to say hello to her father who replied with a grimace before being scolded by his wife.

The witch held her scolding face for a few seconds, before giving Elias a radiant smile. Around them, everyone was happy and Silphie felt her heart pounding with frenzy.

She bit back her smile and finally began the ritual. Silphie stooped to the foot of the dais and touched the ground, muttering words. A glowing circle of runes appeared and as she continued to mutter, the runes grew to the size of a hand. She stood up after finishing, then walked away. The crowd had been gathered in a rotund with the dais as the center to make it easier for her. She strode through the human tide, her heart pounding in her ribcage.

It was the most tiring part. The chant she had to recite lasted twenty minutes and she had to recite it three times while controlling the flow of energy she drew from her husband\'s aura. She must not be wrong, even once, otherwise, she would make everything fail.

Everyone had seen Silphie\'s efforts and relentlessness to master the energies influencing the Skinwalkers\' aura. She hadn\'t made mistakes for a whole year, but she wanted to wait to be sure that the chant and the mastery of energies had become a reflex. Silphie was sure she would succeed and she was looking forward to it.

The witch stood outside the circle formed by the inhabitants and bent down to touch the ground then recited the same words as for the circle of Elias. A circle of runes appeared, but she didn\'t stop when it reached the size of a hand.

The witch straightened up and traced a circle in the void in front of her. A circle of runes formed in the air. Silphie finally approached her forefinger to her forehead and closed her eyes before tracing a circle.

She was the last key to the success of the ceremony. Her powers would now open the stream of Elias\' aura and activate the blessing in each of the tribe\'s members. With a brief inspiration, Silphie started to recite the chant and the whole village closed their eyes.

Elias was the first to open his eyes. His eyelids fluttered and he looked around before freezing in shock.

The whole village, both those who were in the circle formed by Silphie and the older ones watching, were impaled by black lines coming out of his body. All were motionless, eyes closed and body stiff. Elias looked down to see his daughter Alana and was about to scream when he saw a figure slowly striding his way.

A young girl was walking, playfully avoiding the inhabitants. When she got close to Elias she made a pirouette and a radiant smile lit up her face.

"So? What do you think of my gift?"

"You are the girl from my dream."

"Your dream ?" A laugh raised from her mouth and she got closer to the circle of runes. She bent down and touched it. The runes darkened and the leader started to sweat. He had finally realized who was the person in front of him. Only one person could alter runes made with lunar energy. Light, the witch cursed by the Moon Goddess.

"You are going to feel what I felt," said the young woman after getting up.

She glared at Elias, her gaze conveying an intense contempt.

"From now on, whenever one of you transforms into a wolf," Light opened her hand, and a cloud of black energy formed in her palm. "They will become a bit more like me."

Her face softened and she smiled at Elias again.

"Don\'t look at me like that, or I will feel guilty. Hm... Since I\'m not that bad, I\'ll give you another present."

With a smooth movement, she jumped on the dais. The latter was barely big enough to accommodate them both so Elias tried to move away, but he panicked when he saw the black whips move at the same time. Light frowned and scolded him.

"Stop moving around! Stay still and watch closely."

She put her hand on his chest and whispered. When she stopped the black whips had turned gold. They now looked unmistakably like lunar energy.

Light took one step back, satisfied, and winked at Elias. She then put a finger to her mouth.

"Like that, it will be our little secret."