CHAPTER 4: MOONLIT TRUTHS
We ran through the woods, my paws somehow knowing exactly where to step despite never having four legs before. The sensation was terrifying and exhilarating all at once – the way my muscles bunched and stretched, the rich scents flooding my nose, the feel of earth beneath my feet. Despite being chased by monsters, I felt amazing.
Ash led our small pack, his black form somewhat blending in with the shadows. Kai flanked my right while Felix guarded our rear, all of them moving with practiced precision, protecting me from all sides. I could still hear the howls of our pursuers behind us, warning me that they were still close.
"Stay close," Ash's voice echoed in my mind. "The sanctuary's just ahead."
I wanted to ask what exactly the sanctuary was, but speaking mind-to-mind still felt strange. Instead, I focused on keeping pace, trying to ignore the burning in my unused muscles. Whatever body this was, it wasn't used to running for its life and definitely not in this manner.
A branch cracked somewhere to our left and Kai veered sharply, intercepting a russet-colored wolf that lunged from the underbrush. They collided in a fury of teeth and claws. I hesitated for a second but Kai shouted at me.
"Keep going!" Kai's mental voice commanded as he grappled with our attacker.
I still hesitated, not wanting to leave him behind, but Ash's presence in my mind was insistent.
"He can handle himself. Run!"
The forest blurred around us as we picked up speed. Ahead, stone walls emerged from the darkness. Ancient looking and vine-covered walls, humming with something that made my fur stand on end. Magic, I realized with a start. I could sense magic now?
"Almost there," Felix encouraged as more howls erupted behind us. "Just a little further…”
A massive gray form slammed into him, cutting off his words as they rolled away in a tangle of snapping jaws and flying fur.
“Felix.” I screamed at him, not knowing what to do but as before Ash was there to guide me.
"The entrance!" Ash's mind-voice carried equal parts command and desperation. "Run for the entrance!"
An archway loomed before us, runes carved into its weathered stone glowing with soft blue light. Beyond it, I caught glimpses of what looked like ruins – broken columns and crumbling walls forming a circular space beneath the moon.
We were less than twenty yards from safety when they caught up to us.
Red eyes materialized from the darkness as wolves emerged from all sides, bigger than natural wolves, with an air of danger about them. Their minds pressed against mine, alien and hungry.
"The moon-blessed," they whispered. "Take her."
Ash spun to face them, placing himself between me and our attackers. His massive form radiated power, and when he growled, the sound seemed to shake the earth itself.
"Last warning," his mind-voice rang with authority. "Back off."
Their only response was to attack.
Everything dissolved into chaos. Ash fought like a demon, his black form a blur of motion as he held off three attackers at once. But there were too many. A heavy body slammed into my side, teeth grazing my throat. I snapped and clawed instinctively, drawing first blood with beginner's luck. I did not sign up for this.
"Luna, run!" Ash commanded as he tore into another attacker. "Get inside the sanctuary. Now!"
I bolted for the archway, blood dripping from my mouth, hearing paws thundering behind me. Just as I crossed the threshold, something caught my back leg. Pain lanced through my body as teeth sank deep. I whined in pain, feeling my muscles tighten but as soon as I felt the pain, it disappeared. I turned to see Kai battling the wolf that latched onto me.
Felix materialized a moment later, limping but alive, helping Ash drive the remaining wolves back.
As soon as we were all through the archway, the runes blazed to life. A barrier of blue light sprang up, sealing us inside and acting as a wall. Our pursuers crashed against it like waves against stone, snarling in frustration since they couldn’t get to us.
The change came over me suddenly. My bones shifting, fur receding, human skin replacing wolf hide. I collapsed onto cool grass, my body not in as much pain as the first time I shifted, gasping as my body returned to its original form. The others changed too, their wolves melting away to reveal familiar faces.
"Everyone alive?" Kai asked, helping me sit up. Blood matted his hair on one side, but his smile was unchanged.
"Mostly," Felix groaned, prodding at what looked like bite marks on his arm. "Derek fights dirty these days."
"Luna?" Ash crouched beside me, his eyes steady on mine. "Are you hurt?"
I meant to say I was fine, but what came out instead was,
"What the hell is going on?"
He sighed, looking suddenly tired.
"That's... a long story. But you deserve to know everything." He glanced at the barrier where red eyes still watched us hungrily.
"Your mother was part of this pack once. The original pack, before the Blood Moon corruption spread. She left to protect you, to hide what you were becoming. She knew that if she stayed, they would use you for their own horrid purposes.”
My mind raced. My mother was a wolf? That would explain some of the things she did when she was still alive. Why we had to move so much but still, it didn’t explain why they would have to kill her. I was the one they wanted.
"What am I?" My voice shook. "What are we?"
"Werewolves, obviously," Felix chimed in, earning a glare from Ash.
"We're guardians," Ash corrected. "Protectors of the old ways. The moon-blessed, like you, are rare – born to help maintain balance between wolf and human, between magic and mundane." He took my hand, his touch gentle. "But others want that power for themselves. The Blood Moon pack corrupts everything they touch, turning wolves into the monsters you saw tonight."
“But you’re the same as me. I mean you can turn too.”
Kai chuckled, stepping forward.
“It’s not the same. We can only turn and do the normal werewolf stuff you see in fairytales but you are so much more. You can break bonds between our human and wolf selves. In short terms, you’re the key to everything. And if done right, even immortality for a werewolf.”
I looked down at our joined hands, then at the ruined sanctuary around us, remembering the wrongness I'd sensed in Derek and the others. They wanted me for what I could do. To grant them immortality? It still didn’t make any sense. There was so much that I didn’t know.
"My mother..."
"Died protecting you from them," Kai finished softly. "Just like we will."
"We're your pack now," Ash promised. "If you'll have us."
“It’s a bit too early to bring it up but you’ll need to start training.” Felix brought up, his eyes trained on the barrier and the wolves outside.
“And since we’re stuck here. You can ask us anything. We have the time.” Kai added, sitting down beside Ash and I.
I stared at him for a long moment, then at Ash and then Felix. At these boys who'd risked their lives for me before I even knew what I was. Outside the barrier, more corrupted wolves gathered, their red eyes gleaming with hunger and hatred.
This wasn't the college experience I'd imagined but as the moon rose higher and my new pack gathered close, I realized maybe it was exactly where I was meant to be. Maybe, I could find out exactly what happened to my family. How my mother died and where the hell my father was.
