Blood Moon: Lunar Eclipse

Logan

“Clara, prepare a room!” I yelled through the mind link to our healer.

I scooped my mother in my arms, the room eerily silent. How could my mother collapse like this? She was fine one moment, then the next she was…

What would have caused it?

I had so many unanswered questions paddling in my mind, but all I could think about was my mother. By the time we reached the pack hospital, she was already sweating and fighting a fever.

I placed her on the bed that Clara had already prepared before allowing her to do her job.

Ariella

I fought through my tender muscles as I made my way to the training grounds. I searched for Hailey, but she was nowhere to be found, so I decided to train alone. I mimicked Hailey’s movements from our last fight and added a little twist to make it my own.

But with every punch, kick or swing, my mind incessantly drifted towards Logan and last night. I was now thoroughly sore from head to toe and sexually frustrated. The dominant side to Logan conquered last night, and secretly… I liked it.

No matter how gross the conversation, I now understand what my father meant.

But all of my tension vanished the second I received a link from Ethan.

“Luna, we need you at the pack hospital. It’s Logan…” was all he said before I took off running.

My wolf was hysterical, praying to the moon goddess my mate was ok. Once I reached the hospital, I could feel Logan’s presence. His scent was scattered everywhere as though he had been pacing the halls several times over.

Then I saw him. Crouching against the wall, his head in his hands. His Beta’s beside him. As I inched closer, I could see his breathing was ragged, his chest heaving as though he was doing everything in his power from not tearing this place apart and everything in it.

I crouched down. Hailey and Ethan decided to use this moment to step further away.

“Logan,” I half-whispered.

He stayed silent. His muscles unmoving.

“Logan,” I tried again but received the same reaction.

I don’t know why I did it, but my hands cupped his face. I gently lifted until his face was level with mine. He didn’t fight. He didn’t try to stop me. And I understood why…

His eyes were dark; his skin was bristled with inches of thick ebony fur. His wolf was close to taking over. Close to shifting.

I rested my head on his and kept my hands plastered to his stubbled cheeks.

“Breathe,” I muttered as I mimicked deep breaths for him to follow.

He did. And slowly, his skin reverted to its original touch; his eyes lightened, the turquoise fighting to come forth.

I weakly smiled, still perplexed by what had gotten him so riled up.

“What happened?” I tenderly asked.

Before he answered, his stout arms surrounded me, drawing me into him as his head rested in the crook of my neck. We stayed like that for a few moments until he responded.

“It’s my mother. She suddenly collapsed. The healer is with her now.”

“She’ll be ok. Your mother is stronger than you think,” I reassured as I recalled the moment before Logan’s Alpha ceremony.

“I’ll head back to the pack house, grab some things for her for when she wakes up,” I said, scarcely pulling away from the gripping hug so I could peer into his eyes.

I have no idea where this tenderness came from, yet it came so naturally; it felt so natural with Logan, just like everything did whenever he was around.

“No,” was his sharp reply.

“I won’t be gone long. Besides, I am probably the only person who knows your mother well enough to know what she will want and need,” I said with a soft, genuine smile.

He eased up, slowly standing from his crouching position until he towered over me as he usually did.

“Don’t go too far. Stay on the path. If you see anything suspicious, come straight back,” he said sternly.

I cocked my head to the side, insinuating for him to elaborate.

He sighed, then continued, “Rogues have been going missing. We don’t know why, but until I do, I don’t want anyone alone, especially in wolf form.”

“Ok, I won’t stray,” I said and placed my hand on his chest. He stared at me for a while as though he wanted to say something else. But the silence became too much for me, my frustrations from earlier threatening to rise the closer I was to him.

“I should go…” was the last thing I said before pacing towards the exit and releasing a deep breath I never realised I was holding.

The walk back was quiet. The evening air helped me regain composure from my earlier afflictions.

Then something abnormal caught my attention…

Something that smelt bitter and stale.

A rogue…

Most rogues had a distinct scent. It was usually foul because they never belonged to any pack. Think of a tree of healthy growing apples; the ones that fall to the ground and abandon the tree end up rotting, the core turns brown, and the skin softens. That’s precisely what happens to rogues.

The scent was still strong but not as prominent as if a rogue was lurking nearby.

No.

It was still close. It passed through here not too long ago. But how did it get past Logan’s patrols?

I was about to return to the hospital to inform Logan, but I decided against it. Considering what Logan told me about the rogues, even one could pose a fierce threat. And the fact one got across the border unnoticed begs the question that someone might be hurt or worse…

Even now, its scent is drifting further away. The longer I wait, the more time it has to get away. I can’t let that happen. I am the Luna. I owe a duty to this pack to protect it, and letting it get away could put someone in danger.

If I catch them, it will help Logan. I’ve trained my whole life for this; I know I can take them. Besides, Logan’s mum just collapsed out of the blue, so he doesn’t need added stress. He was close to forcing a shift; if I can prevent that, I will.

Instead, I strayed from the path, following the bitter and stale scent of rogue. It was growing more robust, more rancid. Then my heart stopped in my chest, my body froze, and a rush of cold stormed over my skin.

I saw two pups playing in the green, utterly oblivious to the battered and scar-ridden rogue just meters away from them in wolf form. They were young, so their senses weren’t as refined.

I didn’t want to but right now, I had no choice; I had to shift. I would have a lesser chance to beat him in wolf form unless I found a miraculous way to get him to shift into his skin. But that seemed highly unlikely.

I called my wolf forth, my clothes shredding beneath my growing pelt. I felt relieved knowing I hadn’t waited for Logan; if I had, who knows what might have happened to the pups.

I would have preferred to avoid fighting with my wolf; I hadn’t practised much with my wolf, so I knew I was a little rusty.

I sprinted forward, heading straight for the rogue. I saw him bend his hind legs as though he was about to pounce on the pups. Luckily, I reached in just in time. I tackled him to the ground just in time. I kept my stance steady as I landed firmly on my paws. The sudden attack caused the rogue to roll in the dirt, a little further from the pups.

I faced the pups, whose attention was entirely on me, and I growled, signalling for them to run. The protocol would be to inform the Alpha, Beta or Zeta immediately. It was likely they would reach Logan first as he was the closest. I would mind link him myself, but it could distract me, and right now, I needed as much of an advantage as I could get.

I turned when I heard a threatening snarl. I faced the rogue, who was now back on his feet, shaking his head to regain composure. He bared his teeth and slowly stalked forward. He was a lot larger than I had thought, slightly bigger than me. He had scars along his body and dried blood days old and probably from previous hunts.

I had never met a rogue before, but if he were any indication, I wouldn’t want to.

He quickly seized forward. I just about evaded, besides the slight nip he managed to inflict on my hind leg. I retaliated with a slash of my elongated claws. I meagrely sliced his side, causing a trickle of blood to escape. But he didn’t even flinch.

A few more strikes and attacks later, I was depleted.

He was strong and well-skilled at fighting. He managed to dodge or defend most of my attacks. I could only hope that Logan would find me soon.

The rogue lept forward, his claw extended. I thought I avoided his attack, but he manoeuvred his assault and, with his giant jaws, clamped down on the back of my neck. He landed on top of me, restricting the air in my lungs as his jaw locked into place and the pressure of his bite increased.

I felt something warm seep from my neck in several places. I noticed the blood as it oozed onto the blackened soul beneath me.

The pups would have reached someone by now. Help would be on the way. I had to keep my eyes open long enough for them to get to me. Yet the more prolonged the seconds, the more I felt my consciousness slip.

This rogue wanted submission, and if he didn’t get it, he would kill me.

But I submitted to no one—especially not a filthy rogue.

I felt the edges of my eyes darken, my body growing limp in his hold.

I thought of Logan—my mate. No matter how argumentative or how stubborn I could be, there was something undeniable between us, even in the absence of the mate bond. It was something deeper. I was finally starting to get along with him, and now, because of a rash decision, I might jeopardise that.

Logan

Ariella had been gone for too long. I had a feeling she might have strayed and disobeyed my command. But I told her why. She knew the risks.

I turned to my Beta’s. “I’m going to the pack house. Ariella should have been back by now. Keep me updated on my m…” but before I could finish, a searing throbbing invaded my neck. I stumbled, managing to keep my body upright by balancing on a chair beside me.

I could feel my breath restricting. My heart rapidly beating in my chest.

“Alpha!” Hailey came running.

“What’s wrong,” a troubled Ethan asked.

I knew what was wrong. I didn’t want to think it, but it was the only reasonable explanation…

“Ariella,” was all I said before shifting and running through the pack hospital.