Chapter Six – Red Moon Secrets

Mira snatched the radio from the hunter’s belt.

Her hands trembled, but her voice came out steady. Cold. Calculated.

“He’s down,” she said into the speaker. “The Luna is not secured.”

Silence.

Then the voice returned, sharp and venomous:

“Then you’re dead.”

A high-pitched screech exploded through the speaker.

Mira dropped the radio, just before it sparked and erupted into flames.

“Shit!” Grey cursed, stomping it out before it could catch the carpet.

“What kind of tech is that?” Mira gasped, staring at the melted plastic.

“Black-market,” Grey muttered. “Hunter grade. Self-destruct failsafe. He was never meant to survive this job.”

She turned back to the unconscious body. “Then he’s not just a grunt.”

“No,” Grey said. “He’s a warning.”

Mira crouched beside the hunter, grabbed his jaw, and forced his head to the side to check the scar again. It wasn’t just burned, it was ritualistic. Carved deep. Symbolic.

The crescent. The daggers.

Ghost Howlers.

“They were wiped out a decade ago,” she said. “The Council claimed victory. But if they’ve survived, if they’ve rebuilt in secret….”

“They’ve been waiting,” Grey finished grimly. “For you.”

Mira stood and paced the room, adrenaline pulsing in her blood. “Why? What do they want with me? I’m not part of any prophecy, Grey. I’m not even connected to that life anymore.”

“You think you get to choose that?” he asked, rising slowly. “You think fate gives a damn that you became a surgeon instead of a Luna?”

Mira turned on him, eyes blazing. “I gave up my wolf to live! To save myself from the monsters who tore my pack apart!”

Grey’s voice softened, but didn’t lose its edge. “And now they want to finish what they started.”

She looked away.

The pain was still raw. Her parents’ blood on the snow. Her brother’s scream. The fire.

“I was twelve,” she whispered. “I shouldn’t even have survived.”

“You didn’t just survive,” he said quietly. “You escaped. You slipped through the cracks of every power-hungry beast who wanted to own you. And now that they’ve found you…”

He nodded to the hunter’s limp form.

“They’ll come harder. Stronger. More prepared.”

Mira gritted her teeth. “Let them.”

Grey gave a half-smile. “That’s the Luna I’ve been looking for.”

She exhaled, trembling, but held her ground.

Then she caught movement out the window.

A flicker of shadow on the rooftop across the street.

Her instincts screamed.

“We’re being watched.”

Grey rushed to her side. He peered out carefully, then cursed. “Two sentries. Masked. Armed.”

“Backup,” she said. “The hunter wasn’t alone.”

“I can take one.”

“You’re not fully healed.”

“I’ll manage.”

She grabbed his arm. “Then I take the other.”

“You’re still recovering from the collar.”

“I’ve been recovering for a decade, Grey,” she said, eyes sharp. “I’m done waiting.”

Before he could argue, she was already moving.

She slid a blade down her boot, checked the window, and flung it open. Cold wind rushed in.

She glanced at Grey. “On three.”

“Three,” he growled.

They leapt.

Mira hit the adjacent rooftop hard but rolled to her feet. One of the watchers turned just as she charged. He drew a blade, but she was faster, ducking low, sweeping his legs, driving her elbow into his throat as he fell.

He gurgled, trying to rise.

She kicked him in the temple.

He dropped.

She turned to see Grey engaged in brutal hand-to-hand with the second guard. Blood flew. Claws tore.

Grey slammed the man into a vent and drove his fist into his skull with a sickening crunch.

Silence fell.

Mira’s heart pounded. She wiped blood from her cheek.

Grey was panting beside her. “You good?”

She nodded. “You?”

He grinned. “Getting better.”

Mira turned to search the first body but this one had no brand.

She checked the pockets.

A knife. A vial of wolfsbane. A slip of paper.

Her stomach twisted as she read it:

"Deliver the Luna alive. Or die trying."

She folded it, pocketed it, and turned to Grey.

“We need answers,” she said. “From someone who knows the Ghost Howlers. Someone who was there at the beginning.”

His eyes met hers. “You want to find your past.”

“I want to finish it.”

A beat of silence.

Then he nodded. “I know someone. A war seer. Old. Blind. Crazy. But he remembers everything.”

Mira arched a brow. “Sounds trustworthy.”

“He drinks blood tea and claims the moon speaks to him.”

“Oh, great.”

“But if anyone knows what the hell they want with a red-moon Luna… it’s him.”

She sighed. “Where is he?”

Grey hesitated.

Then:

“Deep in Ghost territory.”

Mira’s eyes narrowed. “So we walk into the lion’s den to ask for bedtime stories?”

He smirked. “Pretty much.”

“You better heal fast.”

“I will,” he said. “But Mira…”

She turned to face him fully.

His voice dropped to a whisper.

“You need to prepare for what he’ll tell you. You think your past is dark now?” He stepped closer. “You have no idea what you were born for.”

Before she could ask what he meant, a howl split the night.

Low. Broken.

Calling her.

Not a rogue. Not a threat.

A cry of pain.

Of recognition.

Mira’s blood froze.

It was familiar.

She looked down the street, heart slamming against her ribs.

“Who was that?” Grey asked.

Her voice came out hollow.

“My brother,” she whispered.

End of Chapter Six

………………….

Mira believed her brother died the night their pack fell. But if he’s alive and calling to her, what role does he play in this twisted fate? And whose side is he truly on?