Bound by the Moon

I was seven years old the night the world ended. I remember the scaling, the scream, and the panic. I remember not wanting to die then wishing I could. I remember it the way your body remembers pain before your mind catches up. Before you have the language for it. Fire. And the smell of pine turning to ash. My mother’s hands were the safest place I had ever known. Rough from the herb gardens, always a little warm, always finding me in the dark without needing light to do it. That night she found me the same way. She pulled me from my bed before I was awake. The sounds came next. Things I didn’t have names for yet. A crackling that was too loud and too close. Underneath it were voices, many of them. And underneath that, something that wasn’t a sound at all. A feeling. Like the air itself had decided to become an enemy. “Don’t stop,” my mother said. Her voice was steady, it didn't match the world burning around us. “Whatever you hear, whatever you see. Don’t stop.” I didn’t ask

“Mate.” The word shouldn’t have meant anything to me. But my body refused to ignore it. I never had time for fantasies or romance - nothing like a first crush or a first kiss. Girls like me don’t get that. So at this moment, I had no idea what to do. “What’s your name?” His voice dropped, rougher now. I adjusted to my feet when I realized my weight still rested on him. “Aurora.” “Aurora.” He growled, with a dire stroke in his voice. The way he said my name drove me into a sweet trance. It made my wolf pace, awakened and curious. Who is he? I want him, she whined. Me too. “Who was chasing you?” His voice tightened as he peered above my head. His brows clashed together. He was annoyed that someone was after me? This was strange - seeing someone become protective over me. It almost didn’t feel real. “No one.” I lied. Eris would have my head if I uttered a word against the family. Suddenly, my mind brought back the scene I left behind. The

“Hey. Wake up.” Claws screeched against iron. The sound tore through the dungeon. Prisoners scrambled awake. An enforcer was here, it was morning. I wasn’t asleep, but it was hard to notice the difference in the cage. This was how it always was: constant dim lights and the gothic stench of rotten food and dead rodents. From the tiny window in my cage, I knew the sun had risen once since that night. That was the only light I had and it still had heavy bars against it. It was almost like my family had prepared me for this moment. Everything in the dungeon was familiar. Just like the hole, I mused. Home sweet home. Another cage opened, the clang echoing through the dungeon. I heard a loud cry as someone was carried into the cell next to mine. The way they carried him – careful, almost scared – made other prisoners go quiet. I smelled his blood before I heard his whimpers. It was familiar in a way that made my palms itch. “You.” I looked up, and regretted it i

Waves of nausea hit me with every quick stride we took. Skylar ahead of me had her fingers hooked into my chains, dragging me without a backward glance. As we stepped out of the dungeon and into an unending hallway, light from the sky swam into my eyes. I hissed and tried to use my arms to guard my face. “Faster,” Skylar yanked my chains. I tried, but my knees and wrists stung with every step. The metal ate into my skin and I could feel the scars breeding in my flesh. “What if I’m wrong?” I managed to whisper. It was the only thing I could think about from the moment she pulled me from my cage. “Then you get to say your last prayer today.” I swallowed hard. Sweat pooled through my scalp and down my back. She was bigger than me, especially now that my limbs had thinned to something close to twigs. I couldn’t run – she’d have my neck open in a second. But I couldn’t face the alpha either. What could I possibly do? I wasn’t ready to face him again. And I knew it was

Sooner than I expected, the forest went quiet. The air still smelled of blood but it was fading, the chaos swallowed slowly by something that felt almost like relief. Almost like victory. Skylar was no longer beside me. Ralph had found her at the edge of the treeline, she was assessing damages. He seemed to pull her into a hug. I looked away – it felt wrong to spy. “Let’s go.” An enforcer appeared behind me. I turned and immediately my wrists were back in chains. The metal clicked into place like it had been made specifically for my bones. I hated that sound more than the cold of it. More than the weight. Nothing about the past hour matters, I reminded myself as we walked. You’re simply lucky to be alive and not headless. Whatever I had done out there in the trees — whatever that scream had been, it didn’t follow me back. No one looked at me. I kept my chin up and said nothing. By the time we reached the centre of pack territory, a sea of bodies filled every corner. The