Blood Moon Novels & Stories

She turns to me and frowns, "Xander didn't tell you?" "Tell me what?" My ears are wide open, ready to listen. "It's tradition to always celebrate the Luna Ceremony when at a Lunar Eclipse. A Blo-" "Blood Moon." She nods, "Yes. So I was trying to find more bold and dark dresses because honey there ain't gonna be no moonlight at this celebration." "Is there anything else he wasn't supposed to tell me that he should have?"

The next morning, the maid came to dress me — in a long red gown. The color elves hate most. Red is the color of slaughter and betrayal. "There's a Blood Moon Feast tonight. The Luna asked for you by name." The Blood Moon comes once a year. It is the largest of the wolven festivals — and the most fitting night for executing traitors and offering sacrifices.

It's like watching a very weird food chain in real time. “The Bloodmoon is in three days,” she says eventually, setting down her knife. “We'll need to begin preparations.” Alaric doesn't look up from his plate. “Proceed according to standard preparations.” He cuts into his food before adding, “Clara will assist.” Excuse me? Since when was I consulted to work for Bloodmoon? “Bloodmoon,” I mumble. Right. Bloodmoon. The giant wolf holiday where the moon turns magically red and everyone gathers together to thank the Moon Goddess for things.

She didn’t belong to anyone, certainly not these… these monsters… these men… whatever they were. Kael’s storm-gray eyes locked on hers, and the weight of his gaze made her stomach clench. “Mate,” he growled under his breath, voice low, and sharp. “M…mate?” Aria stammered, her voice barely audible. The word sounded foreign and dangerous, almost like a curse. Her mind spun. What was a mate? And why did it make them look at her like that, with a hunger she couldn’t understand? The three men exchanged tense glances. The word hung in the air, unspoken but heavy. Something in the forest seemed to react to it, the shadows shifting, the wind whispering through the trees.

I will do the stupid Hide and Go Seek in the woods. ‘Thank you. And Sugar?’ “Yeah?’ ‘Whatever happens during the ritual, don’t run and don’t fight me.’ ‘Excuse me?’ He doesn’t answer. I pace my room. The once full blood moon is starting to become a waning gibbous. I always preferred a waxing gibbous. My chest is tight and it feels as if something is trying to claw its way out. I look away from the window and instead sit on my bed and stare at the ceiling. I barely slept because of the strange feeling.

Finally we reached a door carved with thorned vines. Lucien pressed his palm against the wood and it swung open silently. The garden beyond stole my breath. It should not exist this far underground but somehow it did. A courtyard open to the night sky above where stars glittered like scattered diamonds. Black roses grew everywhere climbing walls and spilling from their stone planters. Their petals absorbed light rather than reflecting it just like Queen mother seraphine's hair and at their centers had a faint crimson glow pulsed like heartbeats. "My mother's blood garden." Lucien moved down a path between the roses. "Each plant is fed with vampire blood mixed into the soil. It sustains them

Zaya looked at the sky. "The full moon in two nights," she said. "But it's not an ordinary full moon." "What do you mean," I said. "Blood moon," Jade said quietly. "The whole sky goes red. Our pack elders say it amplifies everything. Magic. Power. Pack bonds." She looked at me. "Everything is stronger under the blood moon. For better or worse." Two nights. Everything was timed to two nights from now. And I was out here in the forest looking at sophie

It wasn’t signed. Kael would never let me go. Lucien would only follow if it amused him. But the words burned in my mind until I could think of nothing else. When the moon hung high, I slipped out, hood drawn low. The streets of Ebonveil were slick with fog, lamplight bending in the mist. The Blood and Moonlight Tavern stood at the edge of neutral territory—a place where vampires, wolves, and even humans could meet under strict rules of truce. Inside, the air was thick with smoke and candlelight. Shadows clung to the corners, and the scent of spiced wine mingled with the metallic tang of blood.

“Five hours to end all of this.” “Then you better start talking,” I said decisively. “What the hell is a blood moon and what does it have to do with us?” I noticed how everyone was looking at me differently. The air felt like a mix of somber and reverent. It was strange. I didn’t understand. I didn’t like not understanding. Not now. Raphe…?” “The blood moon is a phenomenon that happens once in a millennium,” he stated. “It has different connotations throughout our history but it always signals one thing.”

The Moon, just clearing the ridge of the eastern mountain, should have been silver. She was not. She rose, huge and low, swollen and *red.* A deep, dark crimson, as if someone had wrapped a veil of blood around Her. Gasps rippled through the hall. Rhea swore. Kerran dropped his quill. Elia whispered a curse from an old tongue she rarely used. Scar stared, eyes gone sharp and wary. “A Blood Moon,” Kerran breathed. “But… no. That should not be. The charts—” “The charts did not account for *this,*” Luna said.