CHAPTER 4 — “Blood on the Moonlight”

Suddenly, hands covered Aeris’s mouth before he could scream.

He was pulled back, his feet lifting off the ground.

“Got him!” a rough voice hissed close to his ear. “Move now!”

Aeris fought hard, biting and kicking, but another pair of hands grabbed his legs. They dragged him through the doorway and into the dark night.

“Stop struggling,” a voice sneered. “You’re only making it worse.”

He was thrown onto the ground. Stones dug into his back. Roots scraped his skin. The hand over his mouth squeezed tighter.

Where was Killian? Was their bond broken? Was Killian even alive?

“Hurry!” a third voice called from the trees. “The Alpha will know soon.”

“Let him know. We’ll be long gone before that.”

They ran through the woods. Thorns scratched Aeris’s arms. Branches whipped his face. His shirt tore. Fresh blood bloomed on his skin.

Finally, they stopped and dumped him hard on the earth.

Above him stood three dark shapes in the moonlight.

Wolves. But not from his old pack. Their scent was strange.

“Please,” Aeris croaked. “I don’t know you. I didn’t do anything.”

“We know who you are,” the tallest one said. A woman with a silver braid knelt beside him. “The scentless one. The omega who shouldn’t exist.”

“Then you know I’m not worth killing.”

“That’s where you’re wrong,” she said, drawing a knife that gleamed in the moonlight. “Your death is worth everything.”

“I don’t understand.”

“You don’t need to.” She pressed the cold blade to his throat. “You just need to die.”

The bond in Aeris’s chest flared sharply, full of rage.

Killian had felt it.

“He’s coming,” Aeris whispered.

The woman’s eyes went wide.

“What?”

“The Alpha. He’s coming for me.”

“Impossible. We masked our scent. He can’t.”

A roar ripped through the night. Not fully human or wolf. Something darker.

The attackers spun around, panic on their faces.

“He’s here,” one man breathed. “Already?”

“The bond,” the woman said, looking at Aeris. “He felt you.”

Trees shattered nearby. Wood splinters flew.

Killian stepped through the wreckage.

His eyes burned gold. His hands ended in sharp claws. His shirt was stained with blood.

He wasn’t fully shifted,part man, part wolf, something terrible.

“You touched what’s mine,” he growled low. “Now you die.”

One man began to shift, fur bursting through his skin.

Killian moved faster.

His claws ripped the man’s throat before the change finished. Blood sprayed the leaves.

The body fell, twitching, then still.

Aeris covered his mouth. His stomach turned.

“Run!” the woman screamed at the last man.

They barely took two steps.

Killian grabbed him by the spine and snapped it with one brutal jerk.

The scream haunted Aeris forever.

Killian tore into the man, cold, ruthless, efficient.

The silver-haired woman dropped to her knees.

“Please. We were following orders. We had no choice.”

“You had a choice,” Killian said, stepping close, blood dripping from his claws. “You chose wrong.”

“Wait!” Aeris forced the word out. “Don’t kill her. We need answers.”

Killian stopped, looking at Aeris. The fire in his eyes still burned, but for a moment, the man was there too.

“She tried to kill you.”

“I know. But she knows something. About me. About why they want me dead.”

Killian’s jaw tightened. He turned back to the woman.

“Talk. Now.”

Her eyes darted between them.

“You really don’t know, do you?”

“Speak.”

“What he is. What he’s always been.” She looked at Aeris. “You’re not broken, omega. You’re dormant. There’s a difference.”

“Dormant?” Aeris repeated. “What does that mean?”

“Sleeping. Waiting. Your power hasn’t woken yet.” She laughed bitterly. “Your pack kept you weak to keep you asleep. To stop the prophecy.”

“What prophecy?” Killian demanded.

“The First Curse,the one that made all shifters.” She coughed, blood dripping. “When the scentless one wakes, the curse will end. Wolves will lose their power. We’ll become mortal humans, weak.”

Aeris struggled to breathe. “That can’t be true.”

“Your existence proves it. No scent means no wolf. But you live. You’re still connected.” She coughed again. “You’re the key to ending it all. The Elders want you dead before you can rise.”

“The Elders?” Killian’s voice dropped. “The Council sent you?”

“They’ve sent hunters across all lands.” Her eyes faded. “You can’t protect him forever. Someone will succeed.”

“Not while I’m alive.”

“She’ll destroy you too, Alpha. When he wakes, everyone loses.” Her eyes fixed on Aeris. “Even your mate.”

Then her head fell back. Her breath stopped.

Silence closed the woods. Heavy and cold.

Aeris stared at the bodies,three wolves dead because of him.

Not just because of him, but because of what he might become.

“She’s lying,” he whispered. “She has to be.”

Killian knelt beside him, blood on his fingers. He reached for Aeris’s face.

Aeris flinched,not from Killian, but from the blood and what it meant.

“I’m sorry you saw that,” Killian said, voice softer. “I felt your fear and lost control. I just”

“You killed them.”

“Yes.”

“Without hesitation.”

“Yes.” Killian’s hand hovered near Aeris’s cheek. “Does that scare you?”

It should have. Aeris had just seen the monster beneath the calm.

But he didn’t feel fear.

“No,” he said quietly.

Killian’s eyes widened.

“You killed them because they hurt me. Because they wanted me dead. That’s different from my pack. You’re not like them.”

“I’m worse.” Killian touched his face gently, despite the blood. “But I won’t hurt you.”

“Never.”

The bond hummed stronger than before, making a clear promise.

“Tell me everything,” Killian said, thumbs brushing Aeris’s cheeks. “Why do they want you dead? What prophecy? What power?”

“I don’t know.” The words tumbled out. “I swear I’ve never had power. I’m just”

Fire flared behind Aeris’s eyes.

He gasped and stumbled back.

Light glowed under his skin,not around him but inside him, like something waking from a long sleep.

“Aeris!” Killian caught him. “What’s happening?”

“I don’t know. It burns. Make it stop!”

“I can’t. I don’t know how.”

Aeris shut his eyes tight, chest tight like something was breaking inside him.

Images flashed,not memories, but something old.

A woman with pale gray eyes. A circle of stones. Blood on the ground beneath a moon. Ancient words.

Then darkness swallowed everything.

A voice, older than time, whispered:

*The key turns. The lock breaks. The door opens.*

The light faded as fast as it came.

Aeris slumped against Killian, shaking and gasping for breath.

“What was that?” Killian held him tight.

“I saw something,” Aeris whispered. “A memory. But not mine.”

“What did you see?”

“A woman. A ritual. I think she’s the one who cursed all shifters.”

“That was thousands of years ago.”

“I know.”

“You couldn’t have seen that.”

“But I did.” Tears ran down Aeris’s cheeks. “She looked like me.”

Killian went very still.

“What if they’re right?” Aeris whispered. “What if I’m the key? What if I destroy everything?”

“Then we face it together.”

“You don’t understand. If the prophecy is true, I’ll take away your wolf. Your power. Everything.”

“I don’t care.”

“Killian.”

“I. Don’t. Care.” Killian’s grip tightened. “You’re my mate. That’s more important than any prophecy. More than any power.”

The bond sparked again, softer this time,like an answer, like hope.

Aeris tried to believe him. To hope they could face what was coming.

But the light still pulsed under his skin, waiting, growing.

Somewhere out there, more wolves were moving.

Dozens, she said.

Hunters in every land.

All hunting him.