🩸 Crimson Moon Oath
A Fantasy Romance by Chizzy
Chapter Four – The Whisper in Her Veins
The world was hushed after the battle, as though the forest itself were nursing its wounds. Smoke from Kael's blade still lingered in the air; the scent of iron clung to every breath.
Avaline sat beside the well, her palms pressed to the cool stone. Her mind would not still. Every blink brought flashes of claws, teeth, and crimson eyes—his eyes—shining through the dark.
Kael moved like a ghost through the wreckage, silent and precise, finishing what the wolves had begun. When he finally turned toward her, the faint silver light picked out the thin line of blood along his jaw.
"You shouldn't look at me like that," he said.
"Like what?"
"Like I'm still human."
Avaline stood, wrapping her arms around herself. "You saved my life."
"I saved what I owe," he replied. "There's a difference."
Before she could answer, Lycian emerged from the trees. He had cleaned the worst of the blood from his hands, but the wildness still clung to him. His golden eyes met hers, softer now, touched with something close to regret.
"You feel it, don't you?" he asked quietly.
Avaline frowned. "Feel what?"
"The pull. The whisper in your blood."
Kael stiffened. "Enough."
But Lycian only stepped closer, ignoring the warning. "The moon calls to her, vampire. Even you can hear it."
Avaline's heartbeat stumbled. A faint hum had been growing inside her since the night she found Kael—an echo that pulsed beneath her skin whenever either of them stood too near. She had blamed fear, or exhaustion. Now it throbbed like a secret she could no longer deny.
"What am I?" she whispered.
Kael's gaze softened. "Still human," he said, almost pleading. "At least for tonight."
Lycian shook his head. "Half-truths will kill her faster than the wolves." He crouched before Avaline, his voice a low growl. "Long before the feud began, there was one born of blood and moonlight—a bridge between our races. Her power was hidden in mortal flesh, waiting for the crimson moon to wake it."
Avaline took a step back. "You think that's me?"
"I know it." His eyes searched hers. "The way the pack scents you, the way his kind burns under your touch and yet heals—it's in you, girl."
Kael's hand closed around the hilt of his sword. "Careful, wolf."
"Enough," Avaline snapped. The word came out sharper than she meant, but it stopped them both. "I don't care about your legends. I just want my life back."
"You can't unmake what you are," Lycian said. "But you can choose which side of the night claims you."
The wind stirred, carrying the distant toll of the village bell. Dawn was coming.
Kael stepped forward, his voice quiet. "There is an old seer in the ruins beyond the eastern ridge. She served the first queens of both bloodlines. If anyone can tell you the truth, it's her."
Avaline met his gaze. "Then take me to her."
He hesitated. "It's a dangerous road."
She looked from him to Lycian—the cold prince and the wild alpha, both bound to her by something older than love—and felt the whisper again, pulsing beneath her ribs like a heartbeat that wasn't hers.
"Danger," she said, "seems to find me anyway."
Kael's expression flickered—something between admiration and fear. "So be it," he murmured. "At first light, we go."
Lycian smiled, half wolf, half man. "And if the moon rises before we return?"
Kael answered without looking at him. "Then we'll see which side of her the darkness favors."
To be continued....