CHAPTER ONE Luna
Prologue — Thirteen Years Ago
Sapphire's POV
"Sapphire…... hide. Go to the back of the trees."
Daven's voice trembled as he scanned the dark forest, ears twitching, breath sharp. "They're close. I can hear them moving in."
My heart hammered. I clutched my daughter tighter against me, little Trisha, barely five, shivering in my arms.
"But Daven...."
I never finished.
Thwip.
An arrow sliced through the air, embedding in Daven's back and bursting out through his chest.
"No!!!" The scream ripped itself from my lungs before I even realized it.
He staggered, collapsing to his knees. I rushed toward him, but he lifted a weak, blood covered hand.
"Run….. Sapphire." His voice shook, breath fading. "Run with Trisha. They're coming for her, for the last Moon Blooded child. You have to protect her."
"Daven, please.."
He coughed, blood spilling from his lips. "Go, live for her. The line cannot die tonight."
His eyes dimmed. His hand dropped.
And Daven, the strongest warrior of the Blackwood Pack was gone.
The love of my life, just gone...
My throat burned. The air itself felt like it was collapsing around me, pushing me down. But I forced myself up, wiping my tears with shaky fingers.
I ran.
Branches whipped against my skin as I sprinted through the forest, feet numb, heart shattering. Behind me, I heard the hunters voices, footsteps, snarls. They were gaining.
When I reached a clearing, my legs gave out. I dropped to the cold earth, breathless, exhausted, bleeding.
Trisha looked up at me with wide, innocent silver flecked eyes. Dirt streaked her cheeks. She hugged her little doll to her chest, tears trembling on her lashes.
"Mama…... I'm scared."
Her voice broke me.
I cupped her face gently. "Mummy loves you, Trisha. More than my own breath."
She sniffled. "Don't leave me."
"I have to." My tears finally fell freely. "I can't run anymore, baby. I don't have the strength. But you, you will survive. You must."
I pressed my forehead to hers.
"I'll leave this battle for you to finish. You, my little moonlight will end what they started."
I pushed her behind a hollowed tree trunk, hiding her small trembling body in the shadows.
The last thing I whispered before the forest swallowed us both was;
"Forgive me."
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Present Day
Thirteen Years After the Massacre
Trisha's POV
The girls saw me the moment I stepped out of the alleyway, like sharks scenting blood.
"There she is, the witch!"
Lina's voice sliced through the air. Her minions giggled behind her.
I ignored them at first. I had learned the hard way that reacting only made things worse. My hood fell slightly, and I pulled it up, focusing on my walk home.
But I could feel their eyes on my back. Heard their whispers.
Witch.
Freak.
Curse child.
My fists tightened.
When Lina called it again, something in me snapped.
I turned sharply. "If you call me a witch one more time," I said, voice trembling with rage, "I'll show you exactly how witches behave."
They burst out laughing.
"You?" Lina scoffed. "You can't even talk to people normally, ugly witch."
The others joined in. Their laughter echoed cruelly through the street.
I swallowed the sting in my chest and turned away, but then a sharp pain exploded at the back of my head.
One of them had thrown a stone.
That did it.
I turned back slowly. Too slowly. My pulse roared, my skin hummed, and the air grew dangerously still.
Their faces paled.
"Lina. …" one girl whispered, pointing at me.
"My eyes," I realized as heat burned behind them, "they're...."
"Red! Her eyes, they're turning red! She's really a witch!"
Before I could comprehend what was happening, the ground shook beneath my feet. Cracks splintered through the earth like lightning.
The girls screamed, stumbling backward.
I tried to stop. I tried to breathe.
But it was like something else had taken control of my body.
Each step I took made the earth tremble. My vision blurred at the edges, glowing with an unnatural crimson hue.
And then...
I raised my hand.
All four girls lifted into the air, suspended by a force I didn't understand, their limbs flailing helplessly. They screamed, blood dripping from their noses as if the pressure itself was crushing them.
"Stop.. please!!!"
"Let us go!"
"We're sorry!"
I wanted to release them.
But I couldn't.
I wasn't the one holding them. Something inside me was.
"Please.....…" I whispered, tears streaming. "Stop. Stop. Stop."
And then.
A voice I had never heard before cut through the chaos.
"Trisha. Let them go."
Everything froze.
The shaking ground stilled. The girls dropped heavily onto the pavement, scrambling away in terror. And I...
I staggered backward, chest heaving, vision spinning.
Because the boy who stood at the end of the street was not normal.
He was breathtaking.
Tall. Strong. Eyes glowing a deep, unnatural gold that shinned like wildfire. Shadows bent toward him as if bowing.
He stepped forward, gaze locked on mine.
"I said let go."
And somehow, my body obeyed him instantly.
But in the same moment, he vanished, like mist dissolving into the night.
The street was empty.
The girls had fled.
I was alone.
I pressed a shaking hand to my chest, heart racing so violently I thought it might burst.
Who was he?
That wasn't the first time I had seen him.
That same golden eyed boy had appeared when Lutana and his gang cornered me last winter. He had shoved them aside like toys. Another time, when I had slipped into the river and nearly drowned, he had appeared by the riverbank watching. Silently. Calmly.
Then disappearing before anyone else could see him.
A guardian angel?
A ghost?
A hallucination?
None of those should exist in the human world.
But neither should I.
My eyes returned to their normal color, but my heartbeat did not slow.
"Who are you..…" I whispered to the empty street. "And why do you keep saving me?"
Only the echo of the wind answered.
But deep down, in a part of my soul I tried to ignore, I already sensed the truth..
Whoever he was…
He wasn't human.
And for some strange reason...
He was connected to me.
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The moment I got home, my heart nearly stopped.
Lina was in my house, with two police constables.
They were turning the place upside down, searching every nook and cranny like criminals lived there. Normally, I wouldn't have been too shocked. After all, Lina's parents were freakishly rich, and people like that believed money gave them power over everything and everyone.
Just then, Lina spotted me.
"There she is!" she screamed, pointing dramatically. "That ugly witch!"
I said nothing.
I simply walked toward them, my steps slow and calculative.
"Constable, please arrest her!" Lina shouted.
As expected, they came straight for me and grabbed my arms.
"Little girl," one of them said coldly, "you're coming with us."
Still, I said nothing.
I only watched the old woman who had raised me, the only family I had, as she fell to her knees, begging them to stop. Her voice trembled, her hands shook, but they ignored her completely, as if she didn't exist.
That hurt more than the handcuffs.