The next morning after breakfast Tristan, Kami and I gathered out front to see Cedric and Mat off on their trip back to Dark Forest.

“You two be safe, and hurry home.” I hugged Cedric and then Mat, squeezing him tighter and hugging him longer than was really necessary, but this would be the first time I would be away from him for any kind of extended period in almost ten years.

Mat untangled himself from my arms and kissed my forehead, “It’s just a few days Aly, we’ll be back before you even really know we’re gone.”

“I know. It will just be weird not having you around, even just for a few days. Hopefully the preparations for having Lucian here will keep me distracted and time will fly.” I felt Tristan take my hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

“You’re tough, it’ll be fine my love.” He murmured softly against my temple before kissing it.

I smiled at him, knowing I would be just fine so long as I had him by my side. Sure, I preferred to have both him and Mat with me, but I would always be ok as long as I had one of them. They were my support network.

“He’s right, Aly. You are tough and you’ll have Tristan with you so I know you’ll be perfectly safe. Up to no good probably, but safe.”

I laughed and grinned at Mat, “Alright, you two get out of here. The sooner you leave, the sooner you get back. The both of you.” I smiled at both Cedric and Mat before stepping back into Tristan’s arms as the pair shifted into their wolves. I gave each of their wolves a brief hug and then they were off, bolting towards Dark Forest, “You best let me know you go there safe!” I yelled after them.

*2am gossip!* Mat came over the mind link.

*Only if you want to die, Mattie! Come back quickly and be safe!*

*You said that already, and we will.*

I grinned and stood there until I could no longer see them before turning to look at Tristan with a smile. He wrapped me in his arms, holding me for a moment before guiding me back inside.

“I am going to head to the pack library, see what information I can find on Crimson Wolves, Silver Moon, Lucian, the Fae; whatever I can think to look for that might help us in any way.”

“Do you want some help, or even just some company?”

“I would love some company, and maybe some help once I figure out what I’m doing. I don’t expect to find much, but it will help occupy my attention and keep me from worrying over little things.”

“They will be fine, the path between Moonlight and Dark Forest is well patrolled and safe to begin with. It’s the one upside to living away from the majority of the hustle and bustle of Humans and larger cities.”

“I know. It’s just weird not having him around.”

Tristan’s hand wrapped around mine, tugging me into his side and wrapping an arm around my back as he guided me, without any resistance, towards the library on the 5th floor. It was the Luna’s Library and housed the more important books and papers. Things that would not necessarily be left in a place that could be accessed by just anyone.

“We’ll be more likely to find something useful in this collection than the main library.” He smiled down at me as he unlocked the door and swung it open, letting me precede him into the room.

I could see the dust dancing through the beams of sunlight coming in the windows on the outside wall, the ends illuminating various parts of the carpet beneath the windows. The lights soon flickered on, telling me that Tristan had found the light switch. The soft, unnatural light worked with the sunlight to enhance it rather than drown it out, which I loved. I had always preferred natural light to artificial.

There were roughly a dozen double sided shelves that stopped about 3 feet from the ceiling. The walls were lined with shelves as well, these ones going all the way to the 12 foot high ceilings. There were a couple of step stools amongst the free standing shelves and two rolling wall ladders to reach the outer shelves. Two windows had been modified into seating areas and there was a table and chairs situated between the other three windows.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

The ceilings were dark and the lights were inset, making it look a lot like the night sky dotted with stars. The carpets were a lush green speckled with bits of brown and tan throughout, resembling the forest floor. It was easy to forget you were inside between the aesthetics and the wood smell of the shelves and the distinct smell of old paper and bindings of the books.

“I could never leave this room and be perfectly happy…” I whispered to myself.

“I might have an objection to that. I have grown rather fond and accustomed to having you on my chest when we sleep.” Tristan grinned at me, clearly amused by my reaction to the room. “It is a wonderful room though. One of my favorites in the pack house.”

“Certainly makes research a bit less stressful when you can do it in a place that is comfortable in multiple ways.”

“Now the question is where to start…”

“Pack histories for information on Silver Moon in general. We could try looking for the obvious ‘Crimson Wolves’, but I find it unlikely we will be that lucky. Myths, Legends, Fables? I doubt it is something widely known by outside packs. It’s likely a trait that was kept close to the vest but there has to be some kind of rumors or speculation somewhere about them. It’s not like you can permanently hide a Crimson Wolf. At least not in times of strife… Back to the era of the Alpha Kings perhaps?”

“All good suggestions. We should look for information regarding Fae as well. Might give us some idea of what we might be facing with you in the future, even if it is broad. At least we won’t be completely broadsided.”

“That’s actually a really good idea. Any idea where to start looking?” I glanced around the vast library, not knowing how it was organized. It was a daunting task. Thankfully, Tristan had a trick up his sleeve.

“No, but I know who would.” He gave me a lopsided grin, “Mother knows this place inside and out.”

*Mother, will you come to the Luna’s Library please? Alyce and I could use your assistance.*

*I shall be right there.*

I watched his eyes glaze over briefly as he spoke with Ivy through the mind link. I wandered through the aisles, letting my eyes skim over the books while we waited. It was only a few minutes before Ivy came through the door to the library, joining Tristan as I made my way back over to the pair.

“Hello Ivy.” I smiled as she drew me into a tight hug.

“Alyce, darling. What are we up to here and how can I help?” She asked as I stepped back from the hug to stand by Tristan.

“Research mostly. Trying to locate whatever tidbits I can find on Silver Moon and Crimson Wolves as well as the Fae. I just don’t know where to start. This place is massive.”

“I thought you might be able to send us to the right locations, as you have spent a lot of time here.” Tristan filled in his mother.

“I may, or may not have reorganized it while no one was looking a few years ago.” Ivy said nonchalantly, as if it was no big deal.

“Oh, we knew… We just pretended to not be looking. You were happy and it worked out in our favor to have someone with intimate knowledge of how this library is sorted.” He smiled at his mother who was laughing at this point.

“Ok, let’s get started then. Pack information is going to be the left hand wall. Organized alphabetically by pack name including those that no longer exist. Compilations of information on multiple packs will be at the beginning. Crimson Wolves, if we have anything, will likely be in the archives. All the way in the back, away from the windows. Last two shelves, we don’t have much that is that old. You may find information on the Fae there as well. We do have more information on the Fae, but given the nature of their race we keep it locked away for safekeeping. I can show you where later.”

I listened intently, taking in the information and locations of where we might find what we were looking for. Both Tristan and I expressed a bit of shock to find out that there was information on the Fae locked away when the archives were housed here with everything else. Ivy just gave us a knowing smile.

“I will start perusing information on Silver Moon if you and mother want to hunt for information on Crimson Wolves and the Fae in the Archival section.” Tristan offered, smiling at me as he kissed my temple lightly.

“That sounds like as good a plan as any my love.” I looked at Ivy, “Shall we?”

“We shall! Any excuse to spend some time with my God-Daughter-In-Law-To-Be.” She seemed the most excited of us all.

Tristan was stunned at her title for me and I stumbled, nearly tripping over my own two feet in astonishment. Yes, we had mated and marked each other which was essentially marriage in the wolf world, but few wolves ever went through the human legality of marriage. We rarely saw the need for it. I glanced over my shoulder at him briefly and he gave me a small shrug and his amazing smile in response. I couldn’t help but grin back with a shake of my head. We both knew Ivy would be Ivy and she had likely not even thought twice about the words coming out of her mouth with us.

Ivy and I spent three hours searching through the archive section, pulling out everything that mentioned Crimson Wolves or Fae even just in passing. Unfortunately it was not much, maybe a dozen documents. We had set them on the end table and drew the curtains to keep them out of direct sunlight. Tristan was steadily adding books to the table, causing my eyebrow to raise a bit. I wasn’t expecting to find so much that referenced Silver Moon, but then we hadn’t looked at anything yet so how much was original information and not just the same stuff in various content was yet to be seen.