Blood and Fire

(Lyra)

The moon hung high above the trees, swollen and red. It was the sign of the Blood red moon which could only mean one thing, it was time.

I stood at the edge of the sacred spring, the ceremonial red paint was drying cold against my skin. My fingers trembled as I held the dagger carved from moonstone. It had been passed down through generations of firstborn she-wolves in the Moonshade line. I was dressed in a white silk gown which covered my knees as custom demanded. I was supposed to imitate the white silver of the moon.

This was it.

My coming-of-age ritual.

The night I would shift under the blood moon, in front of the entire pack, and bond to the spirit of the moon-goddess within me. If it was successful, I would take my place as heir to our Alpha. If I failed… well, failure wasn't spoken of. Because it didn't happen.

At least, it wasn't supposed to.

"Lyra," my mother called softly from the shadows, bringing out of my thoughts. She was dressed in a dark silk gown and crowned with moonlit jewels which showed her place as Luna of the Moonshade Pack. She looked like something out of a prophecy. Her face was calm, but her eyes held something else tension, maybe. Or fear.

"Everyone is waiting."She added as she stroked my chin softly.

I nodded slightly at her, not trusting my voice to speak up as I was too nervous. Immediately I took a step, the drums began to beat an ancient tone. I had never heard it before but the chills down my spine made me realize those tunes were older then life itself.

As I walked forward, the ground seemed to vibrate underneath my feet. I stepped into the spring as the cold water climbed my legs. I raised the dagger and sliced across my palm, letting blood drip into the sacred pool. The surface shone as if the moon itself had come down from the skies to watch.

Pain exploded in my chest and I screamed out and fell forward. I could feel fire coursing through my limbs. My bones began to crack and my muscles tore. I felt my skin split as the sensation of a thousand dangers lodged in ran through me.

My scream turned into a howl.

White fur burst from my skin. My claws hit the stone with a wet slap as I shifted for the first time into my wolf.

I did it.

I felt the bond of the moon goddess tear through to my body as a voice rang through my head. It was soft but still as it repreated one word over and over again. "Blood,"

The pack howled in celebration and I joined them ignoring the voice in my head. I felt fierce, pure and reborn. It was as though nothing in the world could stop me.

That was when it happened.

A blast rang through the trees, louder than lightening. Another blast rang through and the chaos started.

They came like thieves in the night without warning, dressed in black cloaks. One of them threw a flaming orb into the center of our clearing.

We were under attack. But how can that be?

We were a myth, hidden from the world of other werewolves as we carry the direct power of the goddess.

"Lyra," I heard my mom scream through the chaos.

"Mama," I called back. I tried to find her but I was still staggering in my wolf form.

She finally found me and i could see her eyes glowing unaturally. I shifted back into my human form and evenry crack of my bone was painful. I fell toward the ground in exhaustion but my mother caught me.

"Listen," she said, her voice trembling with urgency. "There's no time."

She placed both palms on my cheeks and whispered in the old tongue. Words I didn't understand, but that cut into my skin like heat and light.

A wave of moonlight surrounded me, it was her magic.

"You are marked," she said, tears running her face. "They will come for you. Run, Lyra. Run and never….."

A man behind her. He was quick and silent as neither I nor my mom saw him coming.

"NO!" I screamed.

I watched in terror as the blade pierced her back and burst out through her chest. It was glowing with a sickly green color. It was cursed steel,the only weapon that could kill a member of the Moonshade pack, Green Ashrend.

Tears dropped from my eyes as I saw her body arch.

She gasped as blood spilled from her lips.

I saw his face over her shoulder. He had a scar running from his left eye to his jaw. His eyes were black like death itself. He gave me a wicked smile and I immediately knew who he was.

The Shadow Alpha.

His face was calm, merciless, as he removed the blade from my mother's chest and let her fall.

"MAMA!" I screamed again, running forward to her, but the force of her magic barrier threw me back.

I tried summoning my wolf powers but I couldn't, it felt like I had no connection to the moon.

Her eyes found mine across the clearing, glowing silver even as the blood soaked her ceremonial robe. Her lips moved, forming words which were soft and ancient but forbidden. The kind our pack was warned never to utter to risk losing ourselves to the madness. Her magic around me amd wrapping itself around me like a second skin.

"Run," she mouthed and close her eyes in death.

I didn't wait to see what the Shadow Alpha would do next.

I ran.

My bare feet hit the ground as I ran not knowing where I was going. I just had to get out of here to anywhere.

I could hear them behind me. The cursed ones who were loyal to the shadow Alpha.

The pack that shouldn't have found us. The Shadow Alpha who had hunted us for years had finally succeeded.

But I was still alive.

And Mother's magic burned in my skin.

"Don't stop," I whispered to myself as I stumbled over a root. "Don't stop, don't stop…"

A howl rose in the forest but it was not one of mourning. It was for bloodlust.

I ran through the woods, ignoring the pain underneath my feet which was caused by thorns.

Even with Mother's protection, even with the spell she cast with her final breath… they were coming.

I forced my way through a tangle of thorns, each one slicing into my skin until I finally broke into a clearing. The moon hung low above, full and white and watching.

And that was when I realized—

I couldn't smell them anymore.

No footsteps. No growls.

Only my ragged breathing and the pounding of my heart.

My legs buckled beneath me. I dropped to my knees, gasping for air as the wind carried the faint scent of blood from my body.

Mother was gone.

I was alone.

And I was now what the wolves would call a myth.

The last of the white wolves.

My head began to spin as I saw my mom's face in my head one last time. Mouth filled with blood, eyes closing and her last word. Run.

My body hit the ground and the last thing I saw before I accepted the darkness was a Brown wolf growling at me.