CURSED By the Moon

Chapter 2.

Chapter Two: The Wolf in the Storm

The rain hammers my face as I stand frozen in the courtyard, Torin’s voice slicing through the storm like a blade. His silhouette looms at the edge of Blackthorn Academy’s cobblestone expanse, the moonlight glinting off his steel-blue eyes. My heart slams against my ribs, each beat screaming run, but my legs won’t move. My wolf—silent for three years—claws at my chest, a desperate howl trapped inside me. I thought I’d buried him, my ex-husband, the Alpha who owned me like a prize. But here he is, hunting me again.

“Cecilia!” Lila’s grip on my hand tightens, her voice sharp with urgency. “We need to move. Now.”

I blink, the world snapping back into focus. The courtyard is chaos—trainees scattering, instructors barking orders, the air thick with the metallic scent of Ironclaw Pack. Torin’s pack. My past. I force my feet to move, following Lila toward the main hall, but my eyes stay locked on that shadow. He’s closer now, his cloaked figure cutting through the mist, his smirk as cruel as I remember.

“Raelle, get your head in the game!” Lila hisses, yanking me behind a stone pillar. Her green eyes dart to the courtyard, then back to me. “You okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“He’s not a ghost,” I whisper, my voice shaking. “He’s worse.”

Eryx appears beside us, silent as a predator, his amber eyes scanning the darkness. His leather jacket is slick with rain, and the scar on his cheek gleams under the torchlight. “Ironclaw’s here for a reason,” he says, his voice low, dangerous. “And I’m betting it’s you, Cecilia.”

I flinch, hating how his words land too close to the truth. “This isn’t your fight, Maddox,” I snap, but my voice wavers. His presence—too close, too warm—makes my wolf stir again, and I hate her for it. I rejected Torin. I killed my mate bond. So why does Eryx’s nearness feel like a spark in my blood?

“Wrong,” he says, stepping closer, his breath hot against my ear. “You’re in my territory now. That makes it my fight.”

“Back off,” I hiss, shoving at his chest. It’s like pushing a wall, but he steps back, his eyes narrowing. There’s something in his gaze—anger, maybe, or something softer, something that makes my stomach twist.

“Enough flirting,” Lila cuts in, her tone sharp but laced with a smirk. “We’ve got company.”

She nods toward the courtyard, where three Ironclaw wolves emerge from the mist, their eyes glowing red in the dark. They’re massive, their fur matted with rain, and the lead one—a brute with a torn ear—snarls, his gaze fixed on me. My breath catches. I know that wolf. Kael, Torin’s enforcer. The one who held me down while Torin—

“Cecilia,” Eryx’s voice pulls me back, low and steady. “Stay behind me.”

“No,” I say, my voice harder than I feel. “I’m not hiding.”

Lila snorts, already crouching, her fingers flexing like she’s itching to shift. “That’s my girl. Let’s show these mutts what Blackthorn’s made of.”

Before I can respond, a howl splits the air, and the Ironclaw wolves charge. Eryx moves like lightning, his body a blur as he tackles the lead wolf, their snarls echoing off the stone walls. Lila shifts in a flash, her platinum fur gleaming as she leaps at another. I’m left standing, my heart pounding, my hands useless without my wolf. I’m a healer, not a fighter, but the sight of Kael’s red eyes locks me in place, memories flooding back—his claws, Torin’s laughter, the pain.

“Move, Cecilia!” Eryx’s shout snaps me out of it. He’s pinned Kael to the ground, his fist slamming into the wolf’s jaw, but the other two are circling, and Lila’s struggling against her opponent. I need to do something, anything.

I reach inside, searching for my wolf, that faint spark I felt in the locker room. “Come on,” I mutter, my hands shaking. “Don’t leave me now.”

A pulse of heat flares in my chest, and my vision sharpens, colors bleeding into silver. My wolf. She’s there, weak but alive, her howl vibrating in my bones. I don’t shift—I can’t, not yet—but I feel her strength, a flicker of lunar energy tingling in my fingertips. I don’t know what I’m doing, but I thrust my hands forward, willing that energy out. A faint shimmer ripples through the air, hitting the wolf circling Lila. It staggers, whining, its eyes dimming.

Lila glances back, her wolf form grinning. “Well, damn, Cecilia! Where’d you learn that?”

“No idea!” I shout, my voice raw with adrenaline. But there’s no time to celebrate. Kael throws Eryx off, his massive form lunging toward me. I scramble back, my boots slipping on wet stone, and crash into the pillar. His claws rake the air inches from my face, and I scream, my wolf howling in panic.

Eryx tackles him again, his own claws extending as he half-shifts, his eyes blazing amber. “You don’t touch her,” he growls, his voice more beast than man. He slams Kael into the ground, blood splattering the cobblestones, but Kael laughs, a sick, guttural sound.

“She’s already his,” Kael rasps, his red eyes locked on me. “Torin’s coming for you, Cecilia. You’ll never be free.”

The words hit like a blade, and my vision blurs with tears. Torin. His name is a chain, dragging me back to the nights I can’t forget—his hands, his cruelty, the mate bond that choked me. I rejected him, but the shame, the Lunaris Reiecta brand on my soul, it’s still there.

“Shut up!” Eryx snarls, his fist connecting with Kael’s jaw. The wolf goes limp, but the other two are retreating, their howls fading into the storm. Lila shifts back, panting, her arm bleeding but her smirk intact.

“Nice work, Alpha,” she says to Eryx, then turns to me. “You okay, C?”

I nod, but I’m not. My hands are shaking, and my wolf is silent again, retreating into the dark corners of my soul. Eryx stands, his chest heaving, blood dripping from his knuckles. He looks at me, and for a moment, I see something raw in his eyes—concern, maybe, or something deeper. It makes my chest ache.

“Don’t,” I say before he can speak. “Don’t say it.”

He steps closer, ignoring me. “You felt it, didn’t you? Your wolf. She’s not gone.”

“Stop,” I whisper, my voice breaking. “I can’t do this. Not again.”

His jaw tightens, but he doesn’t push. Instead, he turns to Lila. “Get her to the infirmary. I’ll deal with Vey and the others.”

Lila nods, slinging an arm around me. “Come on, hero. Let’s get you patched up.”

We head toward the main hall, the rain soaking us through, but my mind is stuck on Kael’s words. Torin’s coming for you. I thought I’d escaped him, thought Blackthorn was my sanctuary. But the Ironclaw Pack is here, and Torin’s scent—pine and blood—lingers in the air, a promise of pain.

Inside the hall, the infirmary is a blur of activity. Trainees are bandaged, instructors shouting orders, the air thick with antiseptic and fear. Lila sits me on a cot, her hands steady as she cleans a cut on my arm I didn’t even notice. “You’re tougher than you look,” she says, her voice soft. “But you’ve got to tell me what’s going on. Who’s Torin to you?”

I swallow, my throat tight. “My ex-husband,” I say, the words tasting like ash. “The Alpha I rejected.”

Her eyes widen, but she doesn’t push. “Okay. That’s… heavy. But you’re not alone, C. I’ve got your back.”

I want to believe her, but the weight of Torin’s presence crushes me. I rejected him under pack law, fled before the ritual was complete. The bond is still there, a thread he can pull to find me. And now, with Eryx’s words ringing in my ears—You’re mine—I feel trapped between two Alphas, two fates I don’t want.

The door to the infirmary swings open, and Instructor Vey storms in, her scar twisting as she glares at me. “Raelle, you’re wanted in the council chamber. Now.”

“For what?” I ask, my voice barely above a whisper.

She doesn’t answer, but her eyes flick to the window, where the storm rages on. “Move.”

Lila starts to protest, but I shake my head. “It’s fine,” I lie, standing on shaky legs. My wolf is silent again, but my heart races as I follow Vey through the hall’s torchlit corridors. The council chamber is at the heart of Blackthorn, a cavernous room lined with lunar carvings, where the pack elders judge and punish.

Inside, the air is heavy with incense and tension. Three elders sit at a stone table, their faces stern, but it’s the figure at the far end of the room that stops my heart. Torin Varn, in the flesh, his black hair slicked back, his red cloak pooling like blood on the floor. His steel-blue eyes lock on mine, and that cruel smirk curves his lips.

“Hello, Cecilia,” he says, his voice smooth as poison. “You didn’t think you could hide forever, did you?”

My knees buckle, but I catch myself, my nails digging into my palms. The elders watch, silent, and I realize this isn’t a council meeting. It’s a trap. Torin steps closer, his scent overwhelming, and my wolf whimpers, trapped in a cage of fear.

But then another scent cuts through—leather and storm. Eryx. He’s here, somewhere in the shadows, his presence a spark in my blood. And as Torin reaches for me, his fingers grazing my cheek, a low growl echoes behind me, and I know—whatever happens next, the Moon Goddess isn’t done with me yet.