Bloodhound Moon

Chapter One — The Moon Finds MeI learned early that survival meant silence.Silence when the itch crawled beneath my skin like ants trapped under glass. Silence when my bones ached before storms that never came. Silence when the moon felt too close, too heavy, like it was leaning down to whisper my name.I lived among humans because they didn’t listen to the dark. They didn’t hear the way the night breathed. They didn’t notice how the world tilted when the moon grew full, how shadows stretched just a little too long, how my pulse stopped belonging to me.I worked at a diner on the edge of town, the kind with flickering neon and cracked vinyl booths that smelled permanently of grease and old coffee. Graveyard shifts suited me. Less people. Less questions. Less chance someone would notice the way I flinched at sudden sounds or how my eyes reflected light wrong when I was tired.I kept my hair tied back. Long sleeves even in summer. Gloves when I could get away with it. I avoided mirror

Chapter Three — The Weight of the MoonSleep didn’t come gently.It dragged me under by the throat.The moment my eyes closed, heat poured through my veins like molten silver. My body arched off the bed, breath ripping from my lungs as images slammed into my mind forests older than memory, moons bleeding red, wolves bowing not to kings but to something else.To me.I woke with a scream tearing from my chest.The sound echoed off stone walls, raw and animal. I curled inward, clutching my ribs like they might split apart. My skin burned, every nerve buzzing like I’d been flayed and stitched back together wrong.The bond pulsed.Not violently this time steadily. Like a heartbeat that wasn’t mine.Ronan.I could feel him distantly, a presence at the edge of my awareness. Awake. Alert. Unmoving. It was infuriating how calm he felt while I was unraveling.Get out of my head, I thought viciously.Amusement brushed against the bond.I froze.You felt that, I accused.Yes, his voice answered n

Chapter Five — The Law of Teeth and SilenceThey didn’t call it a capture.They called it escort.That was the word murmured as I was led through the inner keep the following morning, flanked by four wolves whose hands never strayed far from their weapons. No chains this time. No iron biting into skin. Just the invisible weight of authority pressing against my spine, reminding me that running would be pointless.The Blackthorn Pack was awake.I felt it the moment I stepped beyond the private corridors—hundreds of minds brushing against mine, some curious, some hostile, some sharp with hunger. The bond hummed uneasily, responding to the proximity of Ronan even though he walked several paces ahead of me, back straight, shoulders tense.We entered the Great Hall.Stone pillars rose like ancient sentinels, carved with scenes of wolves bowing, kneeling, fighting, dying. Torches lined the walls despite the daylight spilling in through high arched windows. The room was already full—pack memb

CHAPTER 7 — THE WEIGHT OF THE OMEGALyra’s POVThe first thing I learned about being claimed by an Alpha was this:You are never alone again.Even in silence.Even in sleep.I woke before dawn, breath shallow, heart racing—not from a nightmare, but from awareness. From the steady thrum of something vast and watchful brushing against the edges of my mind.Ronan.Not his thoughts. Not his voice.Just… him.The bond.It lay coiled around my chest like a living thing, warm and heavy, tightening every time I tried to ignore it. I hated it. Hated how real it felt. Hated how my body responded without permission—how my pulse calmed when his presence neared, how my instincts leaned toward him even as my mind screamed no.You’re alive, my wolf murmured softly.I froze.The voice was clearer now. Stronger.“You’re not supposed to talk,” I wh

CHAPTER 9 — LEARNING TO STANDLyra’s POVThe first rule Ronan set for me was simple.“You will stop calling yourself weak.”I stared at him across the training ring, arms crossed, bruises blooming beneath my borrowed tunic. “I’m not calling myself weak. Everyone else already did that for me.”His jaw tightened. “Then stop believing them.”“Easy for an Alpha to say,” I shot back. “You were born powerful. Respected. Feared.”“And you think power feels like freedom?” he asked quietly.I hesitated.That wasn’t the answer I expected.The morning air was sharp, heavy with pine and iron. The training grounds were empty—Ronan had cleared them personally, ordering the warriors away under threat of punishment.Privacy.Control.Protection.Or maybe he didn’t want witnesses if I broke.“You’re tense,” he said.“No kidding.”