The Midnight Hunt

I was barely three miles into the Black Woods when the first howl echoed behind me. It wasn't a warning. It was a kill-call.

"They couldn't even wait until sunrise," I hissed, tripping over a root.

"Why wait for the sun when the moon is so bright?" A voice mocked from the canopy above.

A massive gray wolf plummeted from the trees, shifting mid-air. It was Kael, Fenris’s Beta and his loyal lapdog. He stood there, naked and grinning, his muscles rippling with predatory intent.

"Kael," I breathed. "The Alpha gave me until dawn."

"The Alpha did," Kael said, cracking his knuckles. "But the Luna... well, Sarah thinks you know too many secrets. She doesn't like loose ends. Especially loose ends that might try to claim a share of the family inheritance."

"I don't want anything from that house!"

"Doesn't matter." Kael lunged.

I dived to the left, my heart hammering against my ribs. "Kael, stop! If you kill an unmated female, the Moon Goddess will curse you!"

"The Goddess doesn't watch the weak, Elara. She watches the winners."

He caught me by the hair, yanking me backward. I screamed as my head hit the dirt. He pinned me down, his heavy knees crushing my lungs.

"You always were pretty, for a defective," he sneered, his hand moving to my throat. "Maybe I’ll have a little fun before I rip that jugular out. Sarah won't mind as long as you're dead by morning."

"Touch me," I whispered, my vision blurring, "and I'll drag you to hell with me."

"With what claws, little girl?"

He squeezed. The world started to go dark. But as my consciousness slipped, the Silver Crescent necklace—still clutched in my hand—shattered. It didn't just break; it exploded.

A pulse of violet energy erupted from my palm.

Kael was blown backward as if he’d been hit by a freight train. He slammed into an oak tree with a sound of breaking bones that made me wince.

I scrambled up, gasping for air. My hand wasn't bleeding anymore. The silver had melted into my skin, forming a glowing, intricate mark of a crescent moon surrounded by thorns.

"What... what did you do?" Kael gasped, coughing up blood. His Beta strength was failing him. The wound on his chest was black, smoking as if it had been hit by lightning.

"I told you," I said, my voice sounding deeper, echoing with a power I didn't recognize. "Don't touch me."

I didn't stay to finish him. I ran. I ran toward the Silver River, the neutral zone that separated the Blood Moon from the most feared territory in the northern hemisphere: The Shadow Realm.

"Elara! Stop!"

It was Fenris. I could hear his massive paws thundering behind me. He was in his Alpha form—a black wolf the size of a small car.

I reached the cliff overlooking the river. The water was a churning white vortex below.

The black wolf skidded to a halt, shifting back into Fenris. He looked furious, but also... confused. "Kael is dead, Elara. What did you use? What silver-poison did you hide?"

"I didn't use anything, Fenris! You rejected me! Why won't you let me go?"

"Because you belong to the pack! If you have a weapon that can kill a Beta, it belongs to me!" He stepped forward, his hand outstretched. "Give me the necklace, and I’ll let you live in the dungeons. I’ll even let you see Sarah once a month."

"The dungeons?" I laughed, a hysterical, sharp sound. "You think I’m going back to be your prisoner?"

"You have nowhere else to go! Cross that river and the Shadow Alpha will peel the skin from your bones! He kills every trespasser!"

"Then I’ll die free," I said.

I looked him in the eye—the man I’d loved since I was a child—and I saw nothing but a greedy stranger.

"Goodbye, Fenris. I hope the throne was worth it."

I jumped.

The wind whipped past my ears, and then—the cold. The Silver River didn't just feel like water; it felt like liquid needles. I was sucked under instantly, the current dragging me toward the jagged rocks.

I felt my lungs burning, the darkness closing in. Is this it? Is this how the 'defective' Luna dies?

Suddenly, a hand—strong, cold, and massive—grabbed my waist.