02| LUNA.

Present Day:

It’s no secret that working during the blood moon sucks for us that are stuck working the graveyard shift at the hospital tonight. 

I have seen everything from shifters coming in with fierce wounds that are unexplainable, to psychotic outbursts, then within hours, they are walking out of here as if nothing has happened.

But… this time two years ago, a male in his early thirties was rushed through the emergency doors riddled with bullets, and he’s been back every year since.

He’s currently lying on my operating table as we speak, but this time something is different because he’s not conscious, which is highly unusual. If this were a hospital for non-shifters, it would be expected, but I don’t work in a regular hospital for humans. 

I work in one out of six shifter hospitals within the country, and my patient lying on my operating table unconscious has me feeling a little nervous.

It’s just after midnight, the moon is shining stunningly brightly outside and for some unknown reason, tonight I feel a strong connection with it.

“Luna, is everything okay?”

I raise my gaze and meet Jaymes’ chocolate brown irises, which shine brightly with concern and uncertainty as she calmly waits for my response.

I shake my head, mentally getting myself back into the game, “What do we know?”

“He has eight gunshot wounds scattered across his torso. This year he was standing face to face with his shooter as there was gunpowder splattered across the front of the shirt he was wearing."

I snap my gloves on as I listen to Jayme, and then tie a surgical mask over my face. “This is the third year in a row he has been back, and gunshot wounds every time. Is he purposely looking for trouble?”

Who am I kidding? 

Shifters are the definition of trouble around here.

“Who knows? Perhaps he is a trouble magnet… But the bullets are different this time, Luna.” She lowers her voice as she peers down at our patient, brushing his ash blonde hair away from his eyes.

“Different how?” I ask, intrigued, leaning forward to take a closer look at the bullet holes covering my patient like a messy canvas painting only the rich and famous could understand.

“The bullets are real silver laced with wolfsbane.”

My eyes snap up, gleaming with alarm, “How do you know?”

“Because I have seen something similar to this years ago.” She sighs with grief.

“Would you care to elaborate?” I ask in a high-pitched tone, failing to keep my voice low.

“Twelve years ago, an Alpha was brought into the hospital during the blood moon. It was said that he was searching for his fated mate, which he formally rejected during his mating ceremony.”

My brows crease as my eyes narrow into thin slits, “It’s very rare for a wolf to reject his mate.” I reply with apprehension.

“It is, but this Alphas’ mate wasn’t a wolf or a human like you and me.” She mumbles.

“What was she, a coyote?” I snort loudly, knowing that it’s highly unlikely I am right.

“Nope, she was a witch, and she put a curse on the Alpha and his pack. A curse created from heartbreak, and when the Alpha came into town to find the witch, she shot him right in the heart with a bullet made from pure silver that was laced with wolfsbane.”

“So… in the end, this big bad Alpha wolf failed to murder his mate and lift the curse?” I ask skeptically.

“Yes, but I also heard through the grapevine that this witch had a daughter to a human, and she is the only one who can save them.”

“How so?”

“If the witch’s daughter finds her mate within the fallen pack and gives birth to a female, she will break the curse.”

“Oh, my Gawd!” I crack up laughing, “That is the stupidest story I have heard. I’m sorry, but I can no longer entertain your theory. He’s no Alpha,” I regard our motionless patient. “Maybe it’s just a coincidence.”

“Perhaps he is from the fallen pack, who continuously seeks the Moon witch who conjured the curse.”

“No, I refuse to believe that the cases are related, even if what you are saying is true. Our patient looks like a rogue more than anything.” I say as I examine the rest of his body, which is covered in some feisty silver faded scars.

Jayme shrugs her shoulders, “Yeah, you’re probably right.”

“If it’s true that the bullets are laced with wolfsbane, we need to give him a blood transfusion to try to dilate the poison in his veins long enough for me to remove the bullets and give him time to heal.” I cut Jayme off, reminding myself that the shifter, who usually jumps off my operating table by now, may not exit this room alive if I don’t act quickly.

“We are waiting to hear back from the lab to see what blood type he is.”

“Jayme, he’s a werewolf. No matter what blood we give him, his body will adjust. There are two bags of O negative in the fridge.”

“There was…”

“What do you mean there was?” Icy pins and needles slither up the back of my neck as I wait for her to mention the Devil himself.

“Dr. Marcus came through about an hour ago and…”

“Of course, he fucking did,” That jerk has no boundaries where I’m concerned, so I’m not surprised in the slightest. “Shit…” I mutter, lowering the sheet to take a closer look at the wounds I gotta work with. “The wounds are already starting to turn yellow and his blood is resembling thick ink. He is running out of time,” I say over my shoulder as I rip my mask off and make a beeline toward the door.

Not to mention, his body temp is through the roof.

“Where are you going?”

“I need to find a shifter who is fit enough, so we can use him to perform the transfusion.”

“It will take too long for us to draw enough blood bags-”

Crashing through the doors, “I intend to run a line from our donor to our patient.” I yell over my shoulder

It’s unethical, but I don’t have any other choice if I want to save my patient’s life.

 I can possibly lose my job by doing this, and I can hear my mother thanking the goddesses in prayer as I run into the waiting room.

 My mother, bless her old soul, loathes that I work in a shifter’s hospital, she strongly believes I am wasting my potential away.

As I shift my attention to the far corner of the waiting room, my breath catches when my gaze collides with a set of eyes that glimmer with a pale shade of crimson. My heart begins to race as the world feels like it is shifting beneath me.

The shifter pushes off the wall with his eyes never straying from mine, and he crosses the room, eating up the distance between us, like a wildfire losing control. 

My breathing quickens as heat thrums through my core, making my nipples hard, and I can’t help but feel like I am drawn to him; like I know him.

This is odd because I’ve never seen this beautiful man before; I’d know because he isn’t a man you could forget so easily.

As he draws nearer, my fingertips begin to tingle like they are experiencing baby surges of electricity thrumming through them and the smell of rain mixed with wild berries fills my senses, causing me to sway on my feet.

What is happening to me?

“Mine…” He growls possessively in a deep voice that I could bathe in as he reaches me.