Chapter Two: When the Moon Remembers
1222 Words
“BANG”!!
The door was shattered open.
Wood splintered inward with a violent c***k, shards flying across the room as a heavy body slammed through. I screamed, instinctively ducking, my hands flying over my head as debris rained down.
Before I could process what was happening,
he was already moving.
The stranger the werewolf stepped fully in front of me, broad shoulders blocking my view, his stance wide and protective. A low, vibrating growl rolled from his chest, deep enough that I felt it in my bones.
Three figures stood in the doorway.
They were human-shaped, but nothing about them felt human.
Their eyes glowed faintly in the dim light gold, amber, something predatory. Their gazes snapped straight to me, sharp and hungry, nostrils flaring as they inhaled deeply.
“She’s awake,” one of them said. His voice was rough, excited. “I can smell it.”
My heart slammed painfully against my ribs.
“She doesn’t belong to you,” my protector snapped.
A cruel smile stretched across the intruder’s face. “She belongs to no one. That’s the problem.”I didn’t understand what was happening, but my body did.Fear surged and with it, something else. Heat.
It coiled low in my stomach, spreading through my veins like wildfire. My skin prickled, every nerve suddenly awake. The room seemed too small, the air too thick.
The stranger,no the werewolf in front of me noticed immediately.
“Aria,” he said sharply, without turning.
“Breathe. Do not let it rise.”
“I— I don’t know how,” I whispered, voice
shaking.
The men laughed softly.
“Too late,” one of them murmured. “She’s
already slipping.”
The growl from my protector deepened,
turning dangerous. “Get out.”
Instead, they stepped closer.
That’s when it happened.
Pain ripped through me without warning white-hot and blinding. I cried out, collapsing to my knees as my vision fractured. It felt like my bones were rearranging, my blood burning, my senses tearing open all at once.
Images flooded my mind.
Moonlight spilling over silver fur.
Bare feet pounding against forest ground.
Hands clawed, powerful soaked in blood.
A woman screaming my name.
Aria, run.
I gasped, clutching my head. “Make it stop!”
“They triggered her,” my protector snarled.
“Good,” one of them replied. “Let’s see what
she really is.”
Before I could scream again, arms wrapped
around me.
Strong. Solid. Familiar.
He pulled me against his chest, crouching with me as if shielding me from the world. His heartbeat thundered beneath my ear, steady and grounding.
“Listen to me,” he said urgently, his mouth close to my ear. “Focus on my voice. On my scent. You are safe right now.”
Safe didn’t feel possible.
But somehow… his presence cut through the
pain.
I inhaled.
Pine. Smoke. Rain-soaked earth.
The burning eased, just a fraction.
“That’s it,” he murmured. “Stay with me.”
The intruders hissed, displeased. “You
shouldn’t be this close to her.”
“That’s not your concern.”
“It is when you’re breaking the law,” one of
them snapped. “You know the rules.”
My protector went still.
“What rules?” I croaked weakly.
He hesitated.
Just long enough.
“Alpha blood cannot bond,” the man said
cruelly. “Not with anyone. Especially not you.”
My protector’s jaw clenched.
Bond.
The word echoed through me like a bell.
“What does that mean?” I whispered.
The intruder tilted his head, studying me with fascination. “It means he’s already too late.”
Something snapped.
My protector surged to his feet, placing me gently behind him before turning fully toward them. His control shattered and I felt it.
The room shook as his body shifted violently, bones cracking, muscles expanding. Fur burst across his skin, dark and sleek. In seconds, a massive wolf stood where the man had been, eyes glowing an electric blue that matched the moonlight pouring through the broken doorway.
I stared, frozen.
Beautiful. Terrifying.
Alive.
The other men shifted too, their transformations rougher, uglier. Three wolves circled the room, hackles raised.
I scrambled backward until my spine hit the wall.
“Stay behind me,” the blue-eyed wolf growled without looking back.
They attacked.
The fight was brutal and fast claws slashing, teeth snapping, bodies colliding with bone-shaking force. Furniture splintered. Walls cracked. The sound was animal, raw, primal.
I screamed when one of them was thrown against the wall inches from me.
“Aria!” my protector barked. “Run!”
“I can’t!” I cried.
Another wave of heat surged through me stronger this time. My hands trembled, nails lengthening painfully, senses sharpening until every sound was too loud, every smell overwhelming.
“You don’t have a choice,” he snarled. “Shift!”
“I don’t know how!”
“Yes, you do,” he shouted. “You just forgot.”
One of the wolves lunged toward me.
Something ancient woke up inside my chest.
No thoughts.
No fear.
Just instinct.
I screamed and the scream turned into something else.
My body burned, twisted, broke apart and rebuilt itself in a heartbeat. The pain was unbearable, then suddenly… gone.
I hit the floor on four legs.
Fur,my fur brushed against the ground. My vision sharpened, colors brighter, movements slower. I inhaled and the world exploded with scent and sound.
I was a wolf.
A white one.
Silence fell.
All eyes turned to me.
The intruders froze, shock rippling through them. “A white alpha,” one whispered. “That’s impossible.”
My protector stared at me, stunned.
“Aria…” he breathed.
I didn’t recognize my own growl as it ripped from my chest.
The intruders backed away slowly.
“This changes everything,” one muttered. “The
council will want her.”
They fled.
The room was destroyed. Silence rang
painfully loud.
Slowly, painfully, I shifted back.
He turned human moments later, rushing to
me and dropping to his knees.
“Are you hurt?” he asked urgently, hands
hovering but not touching.
I shook my head, trembling violently. “What…
what am I?”
His expression softened, something aching
and reverent in his gaze.
“You’re the reason the world almost burned once before,” he said quietly. “And the reason it might again.”
Tears burned my eyes. “I didn’t ask for this.”
“I know.”
“Then why does it feel like you’ve known
forever?”
He swallowed.
“Because I have.”
My breath caught. “Tell me the truth.”
He hesitated and that hesitation hurt more
than any lie.
“My name is Ryker.” he said finally. “I was
sworn to protect you.”
“And instead?”
His eyes dropped to my lips. Just for a second.
“And instead,” he whispered, “I fell in love with
you.”
The words stole the air from my lungs.
“That’s not allowed,” I said weakly.
A sad smile touched his mouth. “No. It isn’t.”
The moonlight spilled over us, silver and
unforgiving.
And somewhere far away, I knew something
ancient had stirred.
The hunt had begun.
- Writer
