Chapter 15: Moonlight and Blood

The night was silent, but for Alex it sang. Snow drifted in slow, quiet swirls, each flake catching the pale light of the moon and hanging in the air like frozen stars. The clearing behind Night Fang keep glimmered with frost; pine branches were heavy, bowed, trembling under the weight of winter. Alex had chosen this spot to rest, to sleep beneath the open sky. Not out of fear, not out of whimsy—because here, the moon was strongest, and her wolf had insisted.
She lay flat on her back, eyes closed, letting the cold press into her skin, grounding her. Aeron sat a few feet away, silent and still, his presence a shield that she didn’t need but welcomed nonetheless. Her wolf stirred beneath her ribs, heartbeat synchronized with the earth and the moon above.
A soft vibration began in her chest, subtle at first, like a whispered note. Her pulse quickened—not with fear, but recognition. This was the call of the Moon Goddess, the bloodline’s own guardian, drawing her into a vision she had never truly been ready to see… until now.
Alex inhaled deeply, and the world around her dissolved. Snow, wind, and trees melted into silver and shadow. The cold was gone, replaced by a luminous glow that made the darkness beneath the forest canopy seem distant, unreal. Her wolf lifted its head inside her mind, alert and reverent. She was not alone.
And then she saw her mother—Elara Stone—standing at the center of a silver pool of moonlight, robes flowing like liquid starlight. Her eyes were as calm and infinite as the night sky, and her voice was the soft echo of wind through pines.
“Alex Stone,” the voice said, resonant and gentle, but layered with authority, “child of the Blood Moon, heir of the Moon Goddess’s line… you awaken.”
Alex felt a tremor—not fear, but awe—stir inside her. Her wolf responded in kind, muscles flexing as if it knew that what was coming would demand everything of her. She spoke, even in the dream-walk, her voice steady, though quiet.
“I… I am awake,” she whispered.
The Moon Goddess’s image did not waver. “More than awake. You are ready, though your heart must still learn to trust itself. The evil rising in the shadows of the world waits to extinguish what blood and moon have protected for centuries. It will come for you, and for your brother.”
Alex’s throat tightened. Her chest rose and fell quickly. She had already seen Marcus, already felt the flicker of hope in her chest when she reunited with him. But now… to hear it, to feel the Goddess’s certainty, was like ice and fire all at once.
“My brother?” Alex’s words trembled, though her voice tried to hold steady.
“Yes,” the Goddess replied. Her arms stretched outward, revealing a vision: Marcus, standing beneath a silver-leafed tree, tall and strong. His wolf stood alert, tail stiff. Beside him, a figure she did not immediately understand—until the glow shifted and revealed eyes like molten moonlight, hair pale as frost, energy calm yet sharp. A wolf-witch hybrid.
Alex gasped.
“Who is…?” she began, but the Goddess’s voice cut through softly.
“Her name is Soren. She is his mate, chosen by blood and moon, by prophecy and fate. She has guided him, protected him, and prepared him for your return. He is not alone. And neither are you.”
The vision moved. Marcus extended a hand, and Soren mirrored him perfectly. There was no hesitation, no doubt in the bond they shared. They radiated quiet, measured power. It was magnetic, yet serene, unthreatening to Alex. She realized immediately that the connection between them was not of desire alone—it was destiny.
“She… is his anchor?” Alex whispered to herself.
The Goddess tilted her head, eyes luminous. “She is his strength and his balance. As you are his sister, he is your reflection. Together, all three of you are pieces of what the Blood Moon Pack once protected. Know this, Alex Stone: the bond that ties you will shape the battlefield, guide the lost, and challenge the darkness.”
Alex’s heart raced. She saw herself in the vision, standing across from Marcus and Soren, their wolves curling around them protectively, their hands almost touching in silent communication. Something in her chest loosened—the fear, the uncertainty of what had been taken from her, the disbelief that she could even command such a moment.
The Goddess continued, voice softening, yet layered with gravity. “You will not face them alone. Your awakening is not just a recognition of power—it is a recognition of family. Trust in the blood. Trust in the moon. Trust in what you are.”
Alex’s wolf stretched inside her, and the resonance between them hummed like a distant drum, like the heartbeat of the world itself. The wind whispered in the dream, carrying the faintest scent of pine and river stone—Marcus’s scent—and moonlight brushed against her skin as if brushing her hair. She felt the invisible threads of destiny connecting all three of them.
“Mother,” Alex breathed. “I… I see them. Marcus. And Soren. They are… real. They are already part of this. I don’t have to fight alone.”
The Goddess smiled, and the vision shifted subtly. The moon itself seemed to bend toward them, light forming a pathway over shadowed terrain. “You are not alone. But you must awaken fully. Walk into the world with eyes open and heart unbound. They will come for you, Alex Stone. And when they do, your choices will shape not only your future but the survival of all you hold dear.”
Alex’s wolf stirred. Its energy surged outward in a low, resonant hum that seemed to echo through the dream-space, through the moonlit forest, through the clearing where Night Fang wolves had rested just hours before.
And then, slowly, the vision receded.
The snow and wind returned. The pine branches bowed under their frost once more. Alex opened her eyes.
She was back on the cold ground, lying beneath the moonlight. Her body shivered—not with fear, but with awakening. Aeron’s calm presence was beside her, but now, more than ever, she felt herself—strong, ready, and tethered not just to him but to the bloodline and prophecy that ran through her veins.
“Alex,” Aeron said softly. “You are… different.”
She nodded, slow and deliberate. “I saw them.”
“Who?”
“My brother… Marcus. And his mate, Soren. They’re ready. They’ve been waiting.” Her words held weight, authority. Not childlike hope. Not pleading. Pure certainty.
Aeron studied her, expression unreadable. “Then it’s time.”
Alex rose to her feet, letting the snow crunch under her boots. Her wolf stirred under her skin, powerful, awake, and entirely hers. She lifted her head to the moon, letting the light wash over her.
“It’s time,” she said again—this time to herself.
Somewhere deep in the mountains, a distant howl answered her call. Not just her wolf. Not just Marcus’s. Something older. Something destined.
The moonlight fell over the clearing like a crown, and Alex Stone knew without a doubt: she was no longer running.
She was returning.
And her family—blood, moon, and destiny—would meet her on the path ahead.