Chapter 3: The Umbral spirit stone is missing!

Elena's POV

Another growl thundered and I knew for sure something was definitely wrong else what would make my father summon the entire pack at this time of night. 

“No…nothing should go wrong now, not after all that happened. Spare us Moon goddess.” I prayed silently. 

Taking a deep breath, I started heading to the general living room, bracing up for whatever news was to be heard.

Walking down the last few steps, a deafening scream pierced my ears. “Ghost!” Latifa, a five year old Omega screamed, hugging her mother's legs, clearly frightened by the way I looked. All eyes turned to my direction.

Gosh! Latifa was a sweet kid and I'm so fond of her. I never planned to scare anyone, especially my little cutie.

“Elena!” My mother was the first to rush to my side. She hugged so tight I was getting short of air.

“Mum…you're going to hug me to death. 

“I'm sorry darling”, she released me slowly. “Where were you? You blocked us out, we couldn't reach you, you hurt anywhere?” she said, her eyes scanning my body.

“I'm fine Mum.”

“You didn't seem fine when you ran off, what if someone had harmed you or worse you harmed yourself!”

“Impossible, you know I'm not stupid and I can protect myself.” I assured her. “Now, can anyone tell me what on Earth is going on here?”

My mother fell silent, everyone in the room went mute. The looks on their faces screamed something terrible had happened.

“Talk to me mum, what's happening.” I turned to face my mum, now sitting on a sofa, tears slid down her cheeks making me scared already.

How bad was it?

Sensing my mum won't be able to break the news to me, I confronted our pack beta immediately, leaving my mum's side. “Speak to me Elijah, what happened?”

He hesitated, then said “You just got back Lena, have some rest, I'm afraid the weight of the news might be too much for you to carry in this state.”

“You fucking kidding me, spill now!!” I fired back at him.

“The Umbral is missing.”

My eyes widened in total disbelief. “Whattt?”

The umbral was an ancient relic passed down by our ancestors from generation to generation. It signifies strength and a means of summoning our ancestors in times of great trouble. Crescent Moon won't be second strongest if not for the UMBRAL

The pack would be prone to attacks without the stone. If news goes out that the stone is missing…it's gonna be bloody. 

“When did this happen?” I asked Elijah calmly, trying to bear the weight of the news.

“Right after all the wedding guests left, there was a security alert from a guard guiding the dungeons that the underground layer was broken into. The alpha and I rushed over only to find the stone missing.”

It's no news to Roseville that our pack held one of the most powerful stones, but the place where it was kept remained a secret even to pack members apart from the alpha, his family and the beta.

“This is bad, where's my father?”

“He lost control out of rage, currently locked up in his room.” Elijah sighed.

“And Ambrose?”

“Out in the woods with some warriors, on a search for you.”

“Seriously?”

“I already mindlinked him on the recent developments, he should be back any moment from now.”

“Okay good.”

Relax Elena, relax. I tried calming my mind, I couldn't think straight, my head was spinning.

“No need to worry, every corner of the pack is currently being searched, I believe the stone hasn't left the pack yet, someone is hiding it somewhere, we just have to look more.” Elijah said reassuring me the situation was under control.

“What if the stone has already left the pack?” I retorted.

“That's next to impossible.”

“But not impossible.”

“The security is very tight, and the thief won't be able to move the stone out of the pack without a concealing spell that was cast by a very strong witch.” Elijah explained.

“And only those on the inside know the exact location of the stone.” He continued.

“Exactly my point.” 

My mother rose from the sofa, unease, tightening her posture. “What are you hinting at?”

“Think,” I said. "Only someone who knows their way around here can move the stone out smoothly with the security guards without noticing.”

Silence settled.

“But who could it be?” Elijah asked, looking skeptical.

I chuckled before continuing, but someone beat me to it.

“Melissa.” The door creaked open and Ambrose's cold voice rang out as he stepped inside.