Blood Moon: Lunar Eclipse

Logan

I darted through the dense foliage. Aleksi, Hailey and Ethan were quick on my trail as I tracked my mate. Her scent was getting more precise, yet the pain encasing my neck only cultivated.

I saw two frenzied and petrified pups heading towards us. They were in their human form and almost cowered once they saw me. Ethan shifted.

“What’s the matter?” he asked softly. I could smell Ariella on them, so they were with her not too long ago.

“Rogue, he attacked, and a wolf jumped in and saved us,” the younger girl stuttered.

“Where are they now?” he asked more firmly.

“Back there,” the eldest one said whilst pointing in the direction of the forest.

“Get to the hospital, it’s not too far. Your parents will pick you up soon. Aleksi,” Ethan called. Aleksi immediately knew what he wanted him to do as he gestured for the pups to follow him.

Before Ethan shifted, I was off. Catching onto the scent of my mate.

I had never been so fearful in my life. Never have I wished I could go back in time and make her stay by my side.

I tried mind-linking her, but she was either unconscious or too weak to answer…

Or she was…

No!

I couldn’t think like that. I would feel the bond breaking if she died.

But the longer I was away from her, the more that fear grew and the more at risk my mate’s life was…

Ariella

I woke from consciousness through a throbbing in my head. Someone was trying to mind-link me…

Logan…

“Ariella! Please be okay,” he spoke through the link.

That was enough to give me a slither of strength. It gave me enough determination to refuse to give up and submit to this filthy rogue.

I fought.

I struggled.

His latch only got tighter. But so did my resolve.

He snarled in warning as his teeth pushed deeper into my broken flesh. I started to feel my life force leave my body until something clicked. Mental or physical; I don’t know. All I know is that I was engulfed by a newfound energy that surged through my veins with such heat it woke me from my fainting spells.

I felt an indescribable loathing. Something pushed inside of me as though it wanted to be released. Then, like flicking a switch, something unlocked…

Something that felt as though it had been concealed until this very moment.

My blood grew hotter; I could feel the rogue’s temperature turn into an icy cold as my blood boiled in a way it never had before.

I feel powerful, capable and…

Alive!

I could feel the rogue slowly loosen his grip. I channelled that inner strength and watched in amazement as my fur blazed a brilliant and blinding red, as though it was actually on fire.

This time, the rogue detached himself from me. Giving me the perfect opportunity to pounce and snap his neck. I watched as his body limped to the forest floor, his eyes still open but no life existing in them.

Everything happened so suddenly. I failed to notice he was my first kill.

But deep down, I didn’t care.

I felt no remorse.

He tried to hurt pups, and that…

That was something I would never stand for.

Through the thick of the foliage, I heard a noise. I was readying for another attack until I saw my mate in his wolf and two companions following closely behind. I knew who it was based on Ethan’s sweet honey scent and Hailey’s scent of exotic spices.

I assumed Hailey was the bright ginger wolf, accompanied by specks of strawberry blonde and white. She was significant for a female wolf but not as big as Ethan, with an orange and white coat decorated with dark browns.

I instinctively raced forward, nuzzling into Logan’s soft, thick fur.

I felt his pelt turn to skin as he shifted, bewildered at the lifeless rogue behind me. I followed suit and shifted, unashamed of my naked skin. I felt warm; burly arms surround me. I touched my neck, still sore from the struggle, and watched as a generous coat of red covered my palm. I was still bleeding, but not as much as I had thought.

“Clean this up,” Logan said to his Beta’s before picking me up bridal style and heading towards the infirmary.

After explaining everything to Logan, he sat deliberating what to say next. He hadn’t left my side, lying beside me on the bed and practically latching me to his chest. Even when the pack healer, Clara, tried to get him to move, he almost ripped her arm from its socket.

I was still confused as to how I got the upper hand. In the moment, I was too blinded by pure rage to even comprehend what really happened.

“Logan…” I asked. “Has my wolf ever looked as though it’s actually on fire? Like, has it ever… glowed?” I asked, slightly embarrassed by my question.

It sounded ludicrous.

“Besides the unusual red, no. Why?” he asked, tilting his head to look at me.

“No reason,” I lied.

Maybe what I saw was because I was near death. I could have imagined it. I was angry; perhaps I literally saw red and thought I was on fire.

But why didn’t I believe that?

“I don’t want to encourage you, but you surprised us. Taking on a rogue that big and wild was somewhat impressive,” he grinned.

I smiled and snuggled into his chest.

“Just in for a routine check,” Clara popped her head around the door of my private room, interrupting our little moment. “May I? Or am I in trouble of becoming a shredded chew toy if I check my Luna?” she asked playfully, cocking her eyebrow in the process.

“You can come Clara,” I answered reassuringly, then shot Logan a cautionary glare.

She approached me, warily watching Logan on her way.

Clara was a light blonde, sheepish girl with straight hair. She is soft-spoken with gentle blue eyes and a small frame.

Clara was timid. She wasn’t a wolf but an earth healer. It was common among packs to have earth healers. She wasn’t a witch, but they were closely related; healers’ powers feed off the earth and nature around them, but not in a way that would damage it. They have powers that help speed up the healing process as their abilities connect them to the earth; hence the name earth healer. It’s particularly helpful in cases involving wolfsbane or silver.

“Your vitals are fine, and you’re healing particularly well considering the injuries you described,” she said interestingly.

“Great, so I can go?” I asked hopefully.

“I would like to keep you in, just in case,” she softly smiled.

“You’re staying. That’s final,” Logan commanded.

I was about to argue when the sound of two masculine voices resounded throughout the room. Denzel and Damon came bustling through the doors as though they were high on adrenaline.

“I had Ethan call them,” Logan said smugly, as though he knew what I was thinking.

“Are you okay?”

“Where are you hurt?”

“I am fine! I don’t know why Logan called you. It’s nothing serious,” I interrupted them.

I felt Logan tug me into him tighter, clearly dissatisfied that I said my injuries were nothing too serious.

My brothers continued bombarding me with questions until Damon spotted Clara in the corner of the room.

“Why hello,” Damon, the womaniser, spoke seductively. I knew this tactic; he did it when he wanted a girl. But Clara just stood, blushing and unable to speak, clearly embarrassed by the sudden interest.

“Leave the poor girl alone,” Denzel rushed, a little irritated.

“I ain’t doing anything wrong,” Damon quarrelled.

“What’s wrong with him?” I asked, hinting to Denzel.

“Oh, him,” Damon pointed to Denzel with his thumb. “He’s been funny since we arrived. Said something about an intriguing scent.”

Damon winked at Clara, causing her to look to the floor hastily. I rolled my eyes, embarrassed my brother, Damon, had no filter.

“I… erm…” Clara stuttered, then dropped the stethoscope in her hand. She reached down to retrieve it just as Denzel did the same. Their hands grazed ever so slightly, but the next thing that happened was something no one would have expected…

“Mate,” Denzel muttered, his eyes dilating.

It made sense. As Clara wasn’t a wolf, the only way they would know they were mates was if they touched. Denzel would still be able to smell her, hence his irritation on being unable to locate the ’intriguing’ scent he had described.

“What the fu…” Damon began, but I interrupted by leaping off the bed and jumping into their arms.

“You found her! I told you you would,” I squealed.

Denzel had lost hope in finding his mate; it was the one thing he truly wanted and deserved.

I moved back, allowing them some space. They hadn’t taken their eyes off one another, their hands now looped into one.

Clara removed the top two buttons from her shirt in haste as a mark, small and gentle, entwined on her neck.

It was her submission mark.

As Clara wasn’t a wolf, she wouldn’t be affected by the heat, but the mark would still imprint on the submissive, no matter the species.

“I… erm…” Denzel said, speechless.

Everyone else in the room used this opportunity to escape the growing tension in the air. They needed space… and a lot of it.

“Well, I wasn’t expecting that…” Denzel said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.

“That should teach you not to try and get into the knickers of every woman you see,” I scolded.

Denzel scoffed before I saw my parents, Caroline and Noah, rushing towards me through the narrow hall.

Who else did he bloody tell? The whole damn pack!

Before I could react, Caroline gripped me in a suffocating hug. I held back the wince as her arms wrapped around my still-healing wound.

“It’s nothing serious!” I quickly spoke.

“You fought with a rogue and won. That’s not nothing serious,” Noah said, a slight proud grin on his lips.

“You scared us baby,” my mother said, engulfing me in another warm hug the second Caroline released me.

The rest of the day was spent in the cafeteria. My family and friends eventually left, leaving me, Logan, Hailey and Ethan. Aleksi dropped the young pups home and investigated how the rogue managed to get past patrols in the first place. Apparently, he used a scent-masking herb, so now Logan has increased patrols.

Clara returned a few hours after she found her mate, Denzel. He left along with my family; Clara said he would be a distraction if he were around, and she needed to focus on her patients.

“Your mother is perfectly healthy,” Clara said as Logan and I stood in Vera’s hospital room. She looked as though she was asleep and would wake up any second; it was eerie how calm and peaceful she seemed.

“Clearly she’s not,” Logan hissed, his anger starting to bubble.

I held his arm in a firm yet reassuring hold, gently urging him to calm down. Luckily, it worked.

Before Clara could reply, a frantic Ethan came rushing into the room. His complexion was pale; his heart rate accelerated as though he had been frightened half to death. And the expression on his face was one of sorrow and sympathy.

“There’s something you need to see urgently,” Ethan spoke, his voice cracking in the process.

Logan hurriedly followed him to a semi-empty room in the hospital. I followed close behind.

Hailey, Aleksi and Michael stood around a hospital bed—an old, tattered box placed in the middle. The stench of wolfsbane coated the box as though masking a scent of some sort.

Michael looked solemn as though a part of him had been ripped away. The look of anguish and misery on his face only made me more disturbed.

Hailey was on the brink of tears, something I never expected to see, whilst Aleksi had a face of fury, pure distaste as though he had drunk something foul and putrid.

I didn’t want to know what was in the box. Whatever it was was far from good.

As Logan approached, he removed the lid. I couldn’t contain my distress. Tears began to pool in my eyes, but not for me…

For my mate.

Logan’s Alpha aura filled the room, almost making me cower. His wrath was limitless, his pain boundless as he looked at the contents.

At that moment, an earth-shattering cry tore through the hospital.

It gave me tremors; my heart palpitated at the level of despair and suffering that came from the source of that ghastly cry.

I placed my hand on Logan’s shoulder. I peered up to see a lone tear slither down his cheek and fall to the floor. It was so silent you could hear the tiny plop his salty tear made once it connected with the cemented floor.

“Logan,” my horse voice broke the silence. My voice cracked, threatening to break.

This act meant war, and every single person in this room knew it.

Logan’s rage, the stories of his ruthless acts, would amount to nothing compared to what would happen to the one responsible…

Fenrir.