The Blood Moon

Ashton's POV

The air in the northern woods tasted like metal and old frost. My hand pressed against my ribs as I tried to breathe, but my heart was beating fast and loud in my chest. The forest felt  wrong tonight. "Damn."

Being out here wasn't a choice. No smart wolf would walk near the border when the sky looked torn open like a wound. But back at the packhouse in Noctaryn, my little sister El was burning up with a fever that normal medicine couldn’t fix.

She was getting worse, and the only thing that could help her was the silver-veined moon herb. That herb only grew deep in the damp part of the pine forest. 

Above the trees, the moon hung low and red. It cast a dark red light over everything, and the clouds hung low.

“Found you.” I pulled the herbs out and tucked them into the inside pocket of my tunic. “Hold on a little longer, El.”

The herb was believed to cure almost all disease. Mama had used it once when I was sick with a deadly fever and I was cured in a few days. 

Before I could turn back to the path, the sky opened up and cold rain started falling, blurred everything in front of me.  

“Great,” I muttered, brushing wet hair out of my eyes. “Of course it starts raining now.”

I ran under the thickest pine I could find and pressed my back against the rough bark. My body was shivering, and since I was an omega, it was impossible to shift into my wolf form to warm myself up. 

Then I heard a rustle. My head snapped toward the bushes on my left. That sound wasn’t rain. It was too careful, too deliberate. A cold shiver ran down my spine as I stared into the dark.

Suddenly, three figures stepped out from the brush. They didn’t move like normal wolves. Their bodies were too big and twisted, and they smelled like rot and old blood. When the red moonlight hit their faces, my breath caught in my throat.

Their fangs and claws gleamed, and their eyes were black. No white, no color... just empty darkness.

Crescent wolves.

“Look what we have here,” the one in the middle growled. His voice sounded like stones grinding together.  

I took a step back, and my heel sank into the mud. I wasn’t getting out of this alive. My fingers gripped my wet shirt so tightly, my knuckles turned white.  

“He smells like a moon wolf,” the one on the left hissed, showing his sharp teeth.  

The moment they realized what I was... an easy target from the kingdom they hated, their eyes changed. They didn’t just want to hunt me. They wanted to destroy me.

The lead Crescent wolf lunged forward.

I screamed and threw my arms up to protect my face. I was sure this was the end. But the attack never landed.

A flash of golden light cut through the rain. A roar shook the ground, and a massive figure slammed into the Crescent wolf in mid-air near the rocks.

The blazing gold light under his skin identified him instantly.

Sun wolf from the Aurion pack.

They were sworn enemies of our pack for centuries. We were not even permitted to breathe the same air as the sun wolves.

"Fuck. This night is about to get even messier," I said under my breath.

He was still in his human form, shirtless even though the rain was freezing. The heat from his body turned the rain to steam before it touched him. His face was hidden behind a dark warrior’s mask, so I could only see his eyes.

I moved backward even more but his focus was not on me. It was... On them.

He moved fast and with deadly precision.

With one brutal twist, he grabbed the first Crescent wolf by the jaw and tore its head off. Blood sprayed onto the wet ground and steamed from the heat coming off his body. The other two rushed him, but he didn’t flinch. His hand caught one by the throat, and his fingers burned through flesh like it was butter... Tearing the beast apart.

Something was wrong with him, though. Muscles twitched, and his movements were wild and out of control. The red moon was driving him into a frenzy, making his sun wolf instincts take over.

He crushed the last wolf’s skull against the rock, and then the forest went silent again.

It was impossible to defeat a crescent wolf... let alone three of them, because they were the most dangerous creatures on the continent. People said their souls had been taken by the Black Moon God, and now they were nothing but mindless killing machines.

Slowly, the masked warrior turned toward me. I slid down the tree trunk, ready to run or fight, but when his eyes met mine, the rage in them changed. The burning gold in his irises flickered, like something inside him was fighting to stay calm.

He didn’t attack. Instead, a wave of heat rolled off me, strong and overwhelming. My wolf, the one that had been quiet for twenty four years, stirred inside me.

"What the hell..." I whispered as I connected to this stranger. My wolf felt warm and safe for the first time.

With a low groan, he turned and ran toward a dark cave in the rocky ridge nearby. I didn’t think. An invisible thread pulled me forward, and I ran after him.

Inside the cave, the air was dry but hot.  The stranger was on his knees, holding his masked face with both hands. He growled low in his throat, and his whole body shook. 

The red moon was making him lose control. He was burning up and needed something to calm him down, something to bring him back.

The wolf inside me woke up fully. A soft blue light rippled under my skin, and a calm, cool energy flowed out of me. I didn’t know I could do this, but I understood what it meant right away. I could help him. I could pull him back from the edge.

He sensed the change in the air and lifted his head. Before I could blink, he was in front of me.