Chapter 1— The Night I should have Died
356 Words
The moon was red that night.
Not the soft kind that kissed the forest with light — this one bled across the sky like a warning.
I ran.
Branches tore at my skin, the ground slick with mud and blood. My heart thumped so loudly I swore it would give me away. Behind me, screams echoed — my pack, my family — burning, dying.
“Don’t stop, Aria!” my brother’s voice shouted through the chaos. “Run to the east woods!”
But when I turned back, he wasn’t running toward me.
He was walking… toward them.
I didn’t understand then. All I saw was fire, shadows, and the man who stood at the center of it all — Alpha Kael Blackthorn, his silver eyes cold as stone, watching everything burn.
They said he was the Blood Moon Alpha.
A monster born from darkness.
The one who slaughtered my pack.
I made a promise that night — I would find him, and I would make him pay.
Years later, I stand before the gates of the Blood Moon Pack, disguised as a rogue. The same moon burns above me, red again, as if the heavens remember my vow.
A guard sniffs the air.
“Name?”
“Aria,” I whisper, lowering my head. “Just Aria.”
He studies me for a moment, then nods. “Alpha Kael is expecting you.”
My heart stutters. Expecting me?
I’ve never met him. How could he—
The heavy gates open with a low creak. Cold mist curls around my legs as I step inside.
And then I hear it.
A deep, low growl — the kind that freezes blood.
From the shadows, a tall figure steps into the moonlight. His silver hair glints like a blade, and his golden eyes lock onto mine.
“You’ve finally come back,” he says, voice rough, knowing. “My Luna.”
My breath catches.
How does he know who I am?
And why does my mark — the one I’ve hidden for years — start to burn?
The monster who killed my family just called me his mate.
- Writer
