The Red moon

Amber’s POV

It was as though electricity ran through my body. From my head, it shook me, running through my spine and going down my legs. I had to grip the washbasins sitting on the table before me for support. The feeling was gone as soon as it came.

I turned around, casting a quick glance at the girls to see if they had felt it too, but they did not appear like they felt anything. Celia, the leader of the gang, had her hands folded across her chest and was walking slowly towards me.

Her team formed a half circle in front of the door in case I tried to run. I ran through various scenarios in my head that could get me out of this, but there were none. Celia was just as vicious as her mother. If I managed to escape her here, she would just corner me elsewhere, and my punishment would be worse.

Taking a deep breath in, I prepared myself for whatever hell she was about to unleash on me when she came to a stop in front of me.

“Someone thinks she’s big enough to talk back at us now that she’ll become the Alpha’s mate.” She taunted, clearly enjoying herself.

“Then show her that will forever remain beneath our feet where she belongs,” one of her guard dogs shouts, and the rest holler. I had no idea what their names were. I never bothered to learn their names because, well, I was not meant to address them directly, and I never needed to. Besides, I was too busy working and serving punishments to care about that.

Celia laughed, a harsh bark that grated against the walls of my ears. “No, guys. I will show her that she is less than the dirt under our feet. After all, she is never going to be Luna. Alpha Derrick is only mating her out of pity because after so many years, she is yet to find her true mate. I will be his mate and slave here, and I will be an outsider. Forever.” She stopped and growled.

I cringed. I could almost feel her wolf, and it hated me just as she did. “You should be grateful. Alpha Derrick decided to do you a favour, you wolfish pig. If I were him, I would throw you back to whatever hell you crawled out of.”

I sunk my nails into flesh, pressing hard until I felt the warm comfort of blood trickle out of my vein. It would be over soon. I reminded myself. Celia, her mother, and everyone in this pack would not have the privilege of terrorising me anymore.

I will be free.

“Rella!” she called. “The whip.”

Rella, a girl whose skin was as black as her hair, stepped out of the line and began walking towards us. My skin shivered, then crawled. No, no, no, no. Not this again.

Almost immediately, I fell to my knees, pinning my head to the ground. The injuries from a flogging three days ago werestill fresh on my back and not healing properly. I hated to think of the state my body would be in if I was flogged again. Imight miss the red moon and then the Culling...

Sobbing, I clutched Celia’s feet, wishing she would just be merciful for once.

But no, Celia had the heart of stone. A heart as black as her truemate’s eyes. Rella handed her the whip with a smile onher face.If I could, I would have spat on it, but the thought of the punishments that would follow stayed me.

Before I could take the next breath, I heard the swish of the whip as it sliced through the air. I felt the pain before the whip touched my broken flesh. The pain reverberated through me, but no words left my mouth.

Celia’s hand went up again, perhaps to deliver the blow that would kill me—it was a shame that no matter how much my body broke, it never took my life—but someone came in. I had no wolf, but I could tell who it was by their scents.

It was one ability I had that made me not question if I was really a werewolf and not human. I could always tell scents apart, not that it ever saved me from my ill-fated existence.

“Noah,” Celia said sharply, clearly annoyed that someone was disturbing her fun moment. “Why are you here?”

“Your mother wants you. The Lycan King’s entourage is here,” he answered softly.

Whistling, Celia let the whip fall to the ground, and I heaved a huge sigh of relief. “I guess we’ll finish this later. Get towork, slave.”

I jumped to my feet immediately, grateful her command did not come with another stroke of the whip. Once she was out of the room, I breathed another sigh of relief and then stiffened when I recalled that I still was not alone.

“You can relax, and here, take this. You are bleeding.” Noah said softly, stretching forward a small piece of clothing. “You can take it; no one is here to see.”

Hesitantly, I accepted it, pressing the cloth to my hand where the blood was coming from. Noah was one of the few people who never touched me, but he never intervened either when I was being bullied.

Once, when I was seventeen, I had the stupid fantasy that he would be my mate. My savior. Until we both turned eighteen and he found his mate. They were a good match. And I learnt the lesson of never fantasising again.

“You should probably get that looked at,” he said, leaning on the countertop.

I offered him a small smile before turning back to what I had been doing.

“I’m fine.” I answered, but it was a lie. We both knew that. Still, it was better than enumerating that I could not go to the infirmary because I would never be attended to. I had learnt from a young age how to take care of my injuries no matter how bad they were since I could not heal quickly like the rest of the other werewolves.

Noah shrugged, pushing himself off the countertop and dusting his shirt. “Whatever you say, slave.” He walked to the door, then stopped. “I hope to see you at the Culling.”

Without waiting for my reply, he eased himself out of the door.

The red moon finally came, and it was beautiful. In a few minutes, it would be at the centre of the sky in its full glory. The hall was almost quiet, save for sounds of chairs scraping the tiles. If I paid more attention, I could almost feel the pull of the moon as it called my wolf to come out for the night.

Alpha Derrick was giving a speech, but I could not pay attention. Something was going on in my body that I did not understand. It was a foreign feeling, an energy that was exciting and at the same time perplexing.

I stood when everyone did and went outside, where the moon was now at the centre of the sky. It was golden now, almost the same colour as my eyes. In a few minutes, it would be red—a blood moon—and the transformations would begin.

I glanced around me. Everyone had their eyes on the moon, and most of them were beginning to take off their clothes. The transformations from man to wolf usually ripped through clothes. I guess people wanted to keep their clothes for when they changed back.

Following their example, I began to take my clothes off one by one until there was not a piece of clothing on my body. Then, I waited.

The first transformation began with an ear-piercing shriek, then the crunching sound of breaking bones. It was an exciting and horrifying one-minute transformation that actually felt like hours. Once it was over, the girl transformed into a brown wolf, which was neither big nor small. Applause rang out from various directions.

After that, a handful of others transformed, then more. I glanced at the moon, hoping and praying for a miracle, but the more time ran by, the more reality began to dawn on me.

Another year was going to pass without me getting my wolf.

There were only a few people left who had not turned, but I knew they would get their wolves before the red moon passed, and then it would be left with just me. The outcast.

Not waiting to see what scorn awaited me when everyone realised I was the only one left out, I ran out of the gathering and into the confines of the forest.

My heart ached, but this time the ache was different. It went deeper. Maybe it was because this time I knew what fate awaited a wolf-less and mateless werewolf such as myself.

The tears ran down freely from my eyes. I did not try to stop them this time. My existence was meaningless, and after this, it was going to be worse. There was no need for me to hide anymore. Or so I thought until I heard the snapping of a twig behind me.