(Luna's POV)
The night felt wrong.
I had been traveling for days, moving farther from the pack, deeper into unfamiliar forests where the air grew thicker and the silence heavier. My feet were blistered, my body tired, but what unsettled me most wasn't the exhaustion. It was the sky.
The moon has always been a comfort to me. It was the one constant in my life, a light that followed me wherever I went. But tonight, it wasn't the same. Tonight, the silver glow was sharp and strange, tinged with a faint red haze that made my skin crawl.
A Blood Moon was coming.
I had only heard whispers of it when I was younger. Old stories told by pack elders, tales of omens and curses that followed the rare red moon. They said the Blood Moon revealed truths that were hidden, tore open bonds, and awakened the darkest parts of the soul. Most wolves dismissed it as superstition, but standing here now, staring at the sickly red tint bleeding into the sky, I couldn't shake the fear twisting in my chest.
It felt like the world itself was warning me.
I pulled my cloak tighter around me and sat near the small fire I had built. The flames crackled weakly, doing little to chase away the chill that clung to my bones. My wolf shifted uneasily inside me, her voice rising in my mind.
We should not be alone tonight.
I sighed. "We don't have a choice."
Ever since Damien's rejection, my wolf had been restless. The bond still pulled at us, sharp and painful, refusing to break completely. Every step away from him was a battle, every breath without his scent a weight pressing harder against my chest. Sometimes I wondered if the bond was mocking me, reminding me of everything I could never have.
I hated him for what he did. For throwing me aside like I was nothing. But at night, when the silence pressed too hard and my heart ached too much, the truth clawed its way out of me.
I missed him.
I wanted to forget. I wanted to move on. But the bond refused to let go, and the closer the Blood Moon crept, the more unbearable the pull became.
A branch snapped in the distance.
I jolted, my heart racing. My wolf's ears perked, alert. Slowly, I rose to my feet, scanning the darkness beyond the firelight. The forest was too still. The air is too thick.
And then I heard it.
A whisper.
It was soft, almost like the rustling of leaves, but the words were clear enough to chill me to the bone.
Luna…
My breath caught. I spun around, searching the shadows, but there was nothing. Only the fire, flickering weaker and weaker, as if even it was afraid.
"Who's there?" I demanded, my voice trembling despite my attempt to sound strong.
Silence.
I swallowed hard and shook my head. Maybe it was exhaustion. Maybe the bond was playing tricks on me. But deep down, I knew it wasn't just that. Something was out there. Something was watching me.
My wolf growled low. Danger. We should run.
Before I could move, the whispers came again, louder this time.
The Blood Moon rises… the bond cannot be broken… He is cursed, and so are you.
Fear surged through me, cold and sharp. My knees weakened, but I forced myself to stand tall, clutching the pendant I wore around my neck. It wasn't magical, just a simple charm my mother had given me before she died. But holding it made me feel less alone.
"Show yourself!" I shouted into the night.
The forest answered with silence again, but the air shifted. The fire hissed and went out in a sudden gust, plunging me into darkness. My wolf bared her teeth inside me, ready to fight, but I was trembling, my hands shaking.
And then, between the trees, I saw it.
Eyes.
Glowing red, like embers burning in the dark.
I froze, unable to move, my breath shallow. Whatever it was, it wasn't just a wolf. Its presence was wrong, heavy, suffocating. I could feel it pressing against me, like the whispers made flesh.
The eyes blinked once. Then vanished.
I stumbled back, gasping for air as the shadows seemed to retreat. My heart pounded wildly, my mind racing with what I had just seen.
It wasn't a dream. It wasn't my imagination.
Something was hunting me.
And the Blood Moon was calling it closer.
I fell to my knees, clutching my chest as pain shot through me. Not just fear- bond pain. My connection to Damien flared like fire, sudden and sharp. I saw flashes in my mind: his face twisted in anger, his fists clenched, his eyes glowing with something dark and dangerous.
"Damien," I whispered, tears burning my eyes.
Why was I seeing him now? Why was the bond tightening when I had run so far?
The Blood Moon.
I understood then. It wasn't just an omen. It was a force. A reminder that no matter how far I tried to escape, fate had already tied me to him. The whispers, the shadows, the red eyes, they weren't random. They were connected.
To him.
To me.
To us.
And as much as I wanted to deny it, I knew the truth.
I wasn't just running from rogues. I wasn't just running from heartbreak.
I was running from fate itself.
But how long could I keep running, when even the moon had turned red against me?
I wiped my tears and forced myself back to my feet, determination sparking in my chest despite the fear. I didn't know what was coming. I didn't know what the Blood Moon would reveal.
But one thing was certain.
Damien and I were bound, whether we liked it or not.
And the Blood Moon would make sure neither of us could hide from that truth any longer.