Enid's heart rose in her throat as the first scream of the night echoed in the forest. Painful, afraid.
It was not hers, not yet.
The moon- red and gnawing at the already tense night like an open wound, looked down upon the village. It was called the Blood Moon. A curse for those unfortunate enough to be born under the power of this entity.
But Enid was not one of those unfortunate souls. No, she was just extremely unlucky.
The chilly air of the forest was harsh as it burned through my mouth, making my lungs scream at the frost that settled there. Every breath she took tasted of iron, her heart beating like there was a war drum buried in her chest, only there for her to hear. She could hear there footsteps behind her, just a little distance away, closer and closer all the while. Twigs breaking, not under boot or feet-no, but under claws. Giant claws that belonged to equally large beasts.
The Hunt had begun.
Enid cursed her luck as she thought back to when she had been outside the small cottage she lived in just the hour before. It was foolish, she knew, to get out on a blood moon night to draw water from the well. But no one had seen the hunters in that side of the village for years. She had been foolish, and unlucky, and she had been caught by the hunters who wanted to find a new prey to make up for another one who had escaped The Hunt.
She sprinted through the undergrowth, her thin skirts getting caught in the branches and gathering tears. But she kept running.
A howl echoed through the night. The sounds were getting close. Too close.
She wanted to look back. Wanted to see what was chasing her, but something in her told her not to. If she looked back, she knew she would lose. She's lose time, focus, and likely her life.
So she ran. Her legs burned at the unfamiliar ache.
They called it a tradition, something for the wolves to amuse themselves with. But she knew what it was, everyonw who had been in her place, who she had lived with in the village knew what it was- it was a mass killing. A way to thin the 'polluted cursed bloodlines'.
For them, and now for her, it was no game, no tradition. It was only death.
Right in front of her eyes, in the dark shadows of the tall trees, something moved. Something strong, something predatory.
She froze, her heart slamming against her ribs as her feet came to a halt. The sounds behind her did not stop, but she dare not move. Not towards whatever was in those shadows.
There!
The figure stepped into the moonlight, and she almost collapsed.
Not a wolf. A man.
He was tall, broad-shouldered and draped in a black jacket. Leather. His striking blue eyes glowed unnaturally in the moonlight. Predatory.
He stepped into her path naturally, unsurprised by her presence. Like he had been waiting for her.
For his prey.
Her instincts screamed at her to run. Run. RUN!
She turned sharply to the light, noting the amusement in the blue eyes fixed on her, and slammed into a wall of muscles.
Steel-like arms caged around her waist, trapping her in. A strong scent of wood and frost hit her, enough to shudder her breath.
"Found you." A deep voice murmured, air hitting her ears at the proximity. She looked up, her eyes meeting the same striking blue ones that had stared at her from across the clearing.
She thrashed in the hold, desperate, but the arms didn't loosen.
"No! Let me go-"
Another howl sounded through the night, closer than ever, menacing. She could almost hear the clasp of jaws, as more and more howls joinined the first.
The man turned the both of them around in one swift motion, Enid swirling in his arms, as they both turned to face the many yellowish eyes watching them through the thickening in the trees.
Slowly, one wolf stepped forward, then then next, until there stood at least a dozen in front of them.
Enid's breath caught in her throat. The man, whom she had been trying to get away from just a second ago, didn't look quite as threatening as she involuntarily pressed herself back against him. Away from the wolf pack in front of her.
They stalked in front of her, through the mist, lethal and menacing.
He growled, the vibrations from his chest flowing through her as he pushed her behind him, his hand on her waist.
"Mine." He said, voice low, filled with warning.
The words flowed over the clearing like the command it was, as a very visible unease passed through the pack. Enid watched from behind the man, her eyes peeking from around his arm at the beasts in front of her, her hands gripping the man's leather coat.
The wolves grumbled, hackles rising, but they stopped advancing.
Enid watched with baited breath.
"Come." The man in front of her caught her wrist in his hold, never looking away from the wolves in front of him, as he pulled.
She didn't have a choice.
His grip was unyielding, as she was dragged through the forest at an unrelenting pace. She struggled, her breaths coming in ragged bursts as her short legs barely caught up with his pace.
When they stopped, finally, it was at the edge of the forest, in a small clearing ringed by stones, and near the sound of rushing water.
The moon's glow, ever red and foreboding, spilled like blood on the fresh snow. Enid was mesmerised.
She had watched the Blood Moon her entire life, yes, once each year in the many years as she had been in the village. But over here, the moon was especially large and red.
He turned towards Enid, facing her dully as his gaze raked over her body in a terrifyingly intimate way. Invasive, yet, but intimate.
A shiver raced down Enid's spine as she found herself being examined by the stranger. He had yet to let go of her hand, as he took the last step that separated them.
Bending his head down, he put his face near her neck, nose brushing her pulse.
Enid's heartbeat fastened as the tendrils of his hair brushed her neck, tickling her skin.
"Hmmm." He hmmed against her neck, inciting a shiver to run down her spine. Though this one was for completely different reasons that the one before.
"You smell like her." He said softly, as he finally backed away from her neck, though still remained close.
Enid opened her eyes that she didn't remember closing, looking up at the man.
She cleared her throat as the surroundings came back to her, "W-a-who?"
His lips curved in the mockery of a smile, and it chilled Enid to the bone. Whatever spell had been holding her close to him broke as she tried to back away from him. He didn't let her.
"My mate."
"I'm not her." She said as strongly as she dared.
He scoffed, his eyes twinkling with mirth. "Not yet."
She renewed her struggles as the voice which had been looming at the back of her mind, the voice which knew that he was dangerous, maybe more dangerous than the wolves back there, came to the front with full force.
He easily averted her hands as she tried to strike him, holding her close.
"Let me go!"
He opened his mouth to reply when another voice cut in.
"Kaelith. I see you've found my prey."
Another man stepped into the clearing as they both turned to face the intruder. The light of the blood moon bounced off him, reflecting his hazel eyes. They flashed gold just for a second, long enough for Enid to wonder, before they were back to their original colour.
He looked at where Enid was caught in Kaelith's hold, his jaw clenching before he shifted his gaze to Kaelith.
Kaelith, ever unbothered, returned his stern gaze with a mocking smile of his own.
"Thorien. What do you want,."
"Let her free, brother." What?
Thorien's intense gaze shifted to Enid, as he continued. "She runs well. Like a good prey." His eyes which had seemed so benovelent a second ago, reminded Enid of the predators she had been warned about since her childhood.
She gasped as she tried to take a step back, away from the monster. But Kaelith's hold on her remained strong.
He pushed her back once again, his grip unrelenting on her arm. He offered his brother a cold smirk.
"She's mine, Thorien. I found her first."
"You should learn to share." He grinned, a dark menacing grin that was somehow more frightening than anything Enid had experienced the entire night.
Kaelith's smile vanished as he stared down the man in front of him, the one after his prey.
The wind changed, moving through the clearing as the men stared each other down, determined to claim the new toy as their own.
Enid trembled, not enough from the cold as from the fear which swam through her veins. She knew, that these men were not really human. She had heard only stories, and had never really believed them like she should have.
But right now, she knew.
These were the beasts the elders warned about. They were the Alphas.
And she was caught between them.
The howl that echoed this time wasn't far away, it came from everywhere all at once.