The Crimson Oath

Chapter One: The Blood Moon Curse POV: Seraphina Vale “What is an outcast doing here.” “She is a disgrace to Silvercrest.” The murmuring voices kept rising from the crowd as I stood at an edge. "They told me the Blood Moon would mark my end. But no one said it would begin with a pair of steel-grey eyes locking onto mine." Their eyes pierced my skin like a cursed blade. Probably I was. The clearing at the middle of the Silvercrest forest was filled with wolves in their beautiful robes, their faces lit by the strange crimson reflection of the moon above us. Lanterns floated midair, carried by the night wind, casting flickering shadows that danced across the grass. This was the Blood Moon Ceremony—where every wolf who turned eighteen shifted for the first time and met the mate which the Moon goddess fated. Possibly mine will be somewhere waiting, although I... I didn’t even know if I’d shift in the first place. I clenched my fists beneath my sleeves, trying to keep my pulse steady. The elders that sat close to me whispered behind their silver masks, “What does she think she is doing here.” Elder Maron spoke. “Hey, young girl, you should be serving. Not sitting.” The bell rang, “All hail the Alpha,” “Hail!” the response reverberated through the tensed air The Alpha stood tall with his mate beside him. The Beta heir, Rowan, looked like he wanted to be anywhere else. And then, my eyes caught hold of him—Kael Thorn, the future Alpha, standing like a statue carved from frost and fire, steel-gray eyes piercing through the dark. For a moment, I felt my fingers twitch in my sleeves. “What is happening Sera. Calm down. Calm down.” I muffled when I felt a line of sweat on my face. I turned my face back to the Kael, anticipating if he could catch my eyes. But he didn’t look at me. He never did. That was the first sign I felt something was fishy. What the hell will be a man I hated so much because of his brute nature towards omegas like me, now turned into a chemistry I can’t fathom. "Seraphina Vale," Alpha Silversten called. "Please step forward." My breath caught, “What. Me!” My knees nearly buckled. “Seconds ago I was told to serve and now, am the point of view of the Silvercrest,” Every step toward the center of the circle felt like walking to my own execution. Because I wasn’t like the others. I wasn’t a proud daughter of a noble line. I was an omega, an outcast, the girl found in the woods wrapped in bloody cloth whose body was glowing with a cursed sigil. I always hear some pack members call me a witch. Others said I’d been born of rogue blood. And yet, I was here. Barefoot in the moonlight. Praying I didn’t embarrass myself in front of the entire pack. "Seraphina, it was an instruction from the moon goddess we summon you today.” There were kidding. How in this world could divinity have an interest for an outcast. A weak omega like me. For a moment I hesitated to give a reaction to those words from the Alpha. Or maybe the central point was to publicly humiliate me as the pack normally do. “Seraphina, let the Blood Moon witness your shift," Alpha Silversten said. This was it. No proper Introduction. No greetings. No questions or awareness. Just me coming to show how I shift. I became confused for a moment, trying to stealth the confusion that filled my thoughts. Betas were shifting tonight, gammas were shifting tonight, deltas were also shifting tonight. So why me; one of the lowest ranked, even among the omegas. I closed my eyes, praying to the Moon goddess I didn’t know if I believed in. Please. Let me shift. Let me belong. Just once. Heat licked up my spine. Pain pierced through my ribs. And then--Snap. Crack. Burn. My scream tore through the air as my body contorted. Bones shifted. Claws burst from fingers. Fur crawled over my skin like wildfire. I fell to my knees—no, paws. Gasps echoed around the clearing. My wolf stood tall and lean, shimmering with silver fur so pale it nearly glowed under the Blood Moon. And my eyes—still mine—burned red. The once merry gathering turned into chaos. Elders, dignitaries and Lycans picking on their race from the fear of what I carried. What I looked like. "She’s not normal," someone whispered. "Her eyes—that’s the crimson….” "No. Impossible." I turned to the crowd—and the moment I did, I felt it—A pull. The magnetic force of fate slamming into my chest like a blade of lightning as the pungent smell of lavender mixed with rose filled my nostrils. I lost patience of setting my gaze snapped on whoever the goddess must have gifted me with to share this bond. Boom. It was Kael Thorn. His steel-grey eyes locked with mine. His aura crashed into me like a wave—Alpha. Cold. Controlled. Overwhelming as he stood at a distance. It looked as though he felt the bond before I did. And I knew, fate has made him mine, and I was his. “My mate. Our mate. I am so excited.” A voice echoed in my head. “HEY! Don’t be confused, Seraphina. I am your wolf, Lysandra.” I shifted back into my human form, breathless, raw, trembling with the weight of the bond blooming between us. My body was bare, but I didn't care. My entire world had just tilted. I stepped forward with legs that couldn’t withstand the breeze of the night. "Kael..." My voice was a broken whisper. But something was wrong. He wasn’t moving. Wasn’t coming closer. His face was unreadable as though something had never happened. What interrupted my already furred thoughts was the murmuring from the elders. The crowd was dead silent. "Say something," I begged, turning back to Kael who at this moment was the only thing that mattered to me. Kael’s jaw clenched. His voice, when it came, was a hammer. "What was that display.” His voice I anger, “You come here to show yourself, ruining a ceremony meant for peace and alliance.” “But. But. But……” I stuttered. “But what?” Alpha silversten stepped in. “I just followed the simple instructions of the Moon goddess, unknowingly to me was a free platform to let you be the witch that you’re.” The words sliced through me. I cringed, my mouth parting in disbelief. "But anyways, she didn’t kill anyone. Isn’t it?” he asked with an unreadable smile on his lips. “No one was hurt.” “Yes Alpha. Everyone is fine.” “Kael Thorn, my son. Please step forward.” His voice becoming unreadable, “So, while the chaos erupted, through the link I ad my son share, I felt that he had something linked with this witch. Sorry, pardon my manners. My son had something linked to Seraphina here.” His words raised cacophonous murmur. “Seraphina, you can step forward. Let’s finalize the rite of bond once and for all. Let’s obey the will of the Moon goddess.” He said, but his expression wasn’t matching his words. Kael’s eyes were like ice. "I pledge this day, under the Blood Moon and in the midst of the entire Cloven dynasty,” I could feel Lysandra wanting to jump out from me with over excitement, “That I, Kael Thorn future Alpha of Silvercrest reject you, Seraphina Vale as my mate. I reject anything that bonds us together."