Her moans and whimpers echoed off the ancient stone walls, a symphony of surrender and ecstasy. Her body yielded to their every touch, every demand, bending and breaking not in agony, but in a profound, shocking fulfillment. Through it all, her eyes, when they fluttered open, held a deep, unsettling satisfaction.
I turned to Mr. Shadow, my own body trembling, my breath caught in my throat. His face was a mask of grim pain.
"She is an Elder Luna, Sophia," he said, the words heavy with history and sorrow. "She accepted this curse long ago, but she hid it from you. Those five Alphas were her destiny. And now, it is your turn—but with three." The ground seemed to liquefy beneath my feet. My mother was alive, but she was a cornerstone of this very darkness I was being pulled into.
Suddenly, a black mist rose from the temple's foundations, and a disembodied voice, ancient and cold, echoed around us: 'The Luna's bond, the law of blood.'
My mother's eyes snapped open. Her gaze locked directly onto mine and Mr. Shadow's. A piercing, agonized scream tore from her lips, a sound of pure maternal terror. The Alphas tightened their hold on her, their bodies forming a protective, possessive shield around her.
Mr. Shadow gripped my arm, his touch like ice and fire, and pulled me away from the devastating sight. "She is trying to protect you," he hissed as we fled back into the oppressive darkness of the woods. "But this curse will not be broken. You must choose your own destiny."
We ran, branches whipping at my face, but the physical pain was nothing compared to the tempest raging in my mind. My mother's double life, her hidden truth, my fractured future—it was all an unsolved puzzle, and the pieces were cutting my hands as I tried to force them together.
Back at home, unaware of the horror I had witnessed, Emma sat on her bed. She was staring at the silver ring, now placed on her own finger. Her hand trembled violently. A strange, ethereal light flickered in the depths of her wide, frightened eyes. Was she, too, being drawn into this legacy? Was my little sister standing on the precipice, destined to become a new Luna, just like our mother?
My life was now a tangled web of deep secrets and unbearable suspense. My mother was alive, but her truth had terrified me more than any monster. Could I escape this curse? Or was I, like her, destined to be lost forever in this beautiful, terrifying darkness? A black road stretched out before me, and its end was still shrouded in an impenetrable fog.
Emma's whimpers dissolved into the air, echoing in a sinister harmony with my own ragged breaths. David's hand was still tangled tightly in my hair, his other arm wrapped around my bare shoulder, pulling me flush against his body. Damian had pinned Emma against the wall, his grip possessing a bestial strength that was already leaving red marks on her delicate wrists. And Mr. Shadow… he stood between the two scenes, his crimson eyes flicking from me to Emma and back again, like a director choreographing a struggle between his actors.
"Let her go!" I screamed, my voice strangled, my body still trembling from the shock of their previous touches. "She has no part in this!"
"Wrong, Sophia," Mr. Shadow stated, his voice calm, yet it resonated through the room like a poisonous shahnai. "She is your blood. Your bond is her bond. The Luna's curse flows through bloodlines, it does not skip one."
His words sent a new, icy sensation trickling down my spine. Emma's wide, terrified eyes met mine. Was it true? Had my curse, this mysterious power, seeped into her as well?
Damian gripped Emma's chin, forcing her face towards his. "You feel it too, don't you?" he growled, his nose grazing the side of her neck, inhaling her scent. "The fire inside you? It's not fear, it's your very essence awakening."
Emma tried to turn her head away, a choked sob escaping her throat. But then, suddenly, a spasm wracked her body. Her back arched, and the pupils of her eyes flashed with an impossible, brilliant gold. She drew a sharp, deep breath, and her lips parted slightly, a moan escaping that was no longer just of fear, but of a deep, unknowable desire.
I saw David's eyes light up, like a predator that has seen its quarry stir. "See," he rasped. "She accepts."
"No!" I protested again, thrashing against their hold. But my efforts were feeble. The night's events had drained me, physically and emotionally. I could only watch as Damian tilted Emma's head back, exposing the vulnerable column of her throat, and pressed his lips to that soft skin.
Emma's body convulsed again, but this time it was a clear signal of surrender. One of her hands rose and tangled in Damian's hair, not to push him away, but to pull him closer. Her eyes fluttered shut, and a long, trembling sigh left her lips.
Mr. Shadow turned his gaze to me, a satisfied, cryptic smile playing on his lips. "The bond of blood," he repeated, as if it explained everything. "Now she is ours, too."
And across town, in our home, our mother sat on the edge of her bed, her palm clenched so tightly around the silver ring that its imprint was carved into her own flesh. She was struggling to breathe, a sharp, stabbing pain rising in her chest. She knew. Somehow, in the deep, intuitive way only a mother and an Elder Luna could, she knew that both of her daughters were now ensnared in the very darkness she had failed to escape herself.
A painful, ancient memory flashed in her mind—five pairs of wild eyes, gleaming in the moonlight, and a multitude of hands on her own body, claiming, tearing, marking. She squeezed her eyes shut, a single, agonized tear tracing a path down her cheek. She had tried. God knows, she had tried to shield them. But the curse was so strong, and the call of the Alphas so powerful.
She looked at the ring, which now felt like a warm, living thing in her palm. It wasn't just a memento; it was a tether, a warning. And now, it was ringing like an alarm. She picked up her phone, her fingers shaking uncontrollably. She had to call someone. The only one who might understand… the one she never wanted to see again.
---
Back in my room, the atmosphere had shifted. Emma's surrender had brought a kind of peace, but it was a dangerous, fragile one. David finally released me, smoothing down my hair with a final, possessive stroke. Damian now stood before Emma, his lips adorned with a fresh red mark on her neck. Emma's gaze was dazed, her body slack against the wall as if its strings had been cut.
"This is only the beginning, Sophia," Mr. Shadow said, his eyes reading the turmoil within me. "You are not alone. And you cannot fight it."
"What do you want from us?" I asked, my voice little more than a whisper. "What is it you want from us, in the end?"
"Everything," David answered, straightening his suit as if he had just concluded a business deal. "Your body, your loyalty, your power. You are the Luna. You are what completes us, what balances our pack."
"Pack?" Emma repeated softly, her voice hoarse.
"We are the Alphas," Damian explained, his gaze still glued to Emma, hungry for his new acquisition. "And you two are now our Lunas. Our mates. Our bond gives us strength, and in return, we offer you protection and a place that is yours."
"Protection?" I let out a bitter laugh, gesturing to my trembling hands. "You call this protection?"
"The world is a dangerous place for ones like you, Sophia," Mr. Shadow intoned. "Alone, you are a target. With us, you can be a power."
Suddenly, Mr. Shadow's phone vibrated, emitting a soft yet insistent chime. He glanced at it, and his red eyes narrowed for a fraction of a second. Without a word to any of us, he slipped it back into his pocket and turned towards the door.
"Our work here is done... for now," he announced. "Be ready. The next time we meet, you will begin your first lesson."