Revna: The Last Luna

The disease hit Revna's pack the day of her 16th birthday, the day her wolf awoke. She can remember it all clearly. As if she could close her eyes, and still see the light leave her mother's eyes. Rowan, her mother, was the only one in the world who understood Revna. Her father, Castiel, a cruel alpha who ruled over his pack with fear, always resented how much Revna was like her mother. Her mother was the heartbeat of their pack. Warm, compassionate, thoughtful and endearing. Revna lost so much the day Rowan died. Fated mates had been a tradition that had faded out generations ago. Now all that was left was alphas claiming what they wanted when they wanted. Or who ever was left to claim. Her mother was beautiful. She looked just like her. Long thick curly black hair with bright pulsing violet eyes. She was unique, so he claimed her just so no one else could. Revna didn't want to live like that. She knew that as soon as her mother was in the ground, her father would turn his sights on her. He would use her to build his pack or worse. So she fled. She has been on her own ever since. Just her and Ayla, her wolf, who has been her only friend for almost thirteen years now. They hunt in the mountains and sleep in the caves. They never stay in one place very long for fear of some herd of alphas sniffing them out, desperate to hold on to some sense of the old balance that used to be. Most of the lower ranking members, who are females that are left, are in hiding for fear of what the massive herds of alphas would do if they ever found them. On a day that started unlike any other, Revna was resting to drink some cool water out of a flowing stream and Ayla pulled at the back of her mind. 'Danger.' Ayla's message didn't come to her in words, more like a feeling that seeped into her very bones. As Revna sits up, she sniffs the surrounding air. The mountain air is thin and sharp, carrying the scent of pine and something else. Something heavy, overwhelming, and unmistakably alpha. Before Revna could react and disappear into the trees, six alphas came into the clearing locking their eyes on her. The troop had been tracking for weeks, a ghost of a trail that led them up these jagged slopes. They hadn't expected this. They hadn't expected her. Adam, the eldest and largest of the six, stands at the front of the group. His eyes are wide, nostrils flaring as he takes in Revna's scent. The scent of a female. He couldn't tell what rank she was by her smell, but he knew she was no alpha. Her scent was potent. Beside him, Mayson's hand the hilt of his blade, not as a threat, but as a reflex, making his knuckles white. "Is that..." Another of the alphas, Nolan, starts to ask, his voice barely a whisper. He looks like he's seen a miracle or a curse. Aron, another alpha, is already moving, his boots crunching on the loose gravel as he took a step forward, instinctively trying to close the distance between him and Revna. "Don't move!" Aron bellowed as he stepped. 'Not a chance.' Revna, without hesitation, without even twitching at first to let them know she was about to move dove into the trees behind her and broke into a dead sprint. Revna was abnormally fast. Especially in her human form. She has always had heightened senses and was always a little more agile than others. The sudden movement caught the six alphas off guard. Renva's body blurs into motion, a streak of black hair and dark clothing cutting through the gray mountain mist before they can even process it. "She's running!" Fyre barks, his voice cracking with a mixture of shock and desperation. He's the youngest of the six, his eyes wide and wild. "Don't let her go into the thicket." Raven shouts, already breaking into a sprint. His movements are calculated, eyes locked on the path that she took. Adam doesn't run immediately. He stood frozen for a heartbeat longer than the others, his gaze fixed on the spot where she disappeared. The scent she left behind was intoxicating—sweet, wild, and entirely too precious to lose. "Form a perimeter," he commands, his voice dropping into a low, authoritative growl that vibrates through the clearing. Revna knew exactly where to go. She knew this mountain like the back of her hand. She knew every inch of the intricate cave systems that wound their way through the heart of the mountain. She just had to make it up the ridge. The trees here are old and dense, their branches interlacing like skeletal fingers overhead. The ground is uneven, a tangle of roots and decaying leaves that should slow anyone down, but Revna's feet find purchase with practiced ease. Behind her, the sound of heavy boots and snapping branches follows. They aren't just running; they are hunting. The alpha scent is thickening, pressing against her senses like a physical weight. "She's fast," Mayson's voice drifts through the trees, sounding strained. "Too fast for a low-ranking wolf." "Then she is even more valuable," Aron replies, his tone cold and determined. Revna hears a sudden rustle over her head. Not even thinking, she dove to the right of her path to dodge whatever was dropping from above. A branch snaps with a violent crack just inches above where Revnas head had been. It wasn't a trap—it was Raven, leaping from a lower limb to intercept her path, his eyes narrowed and focused. He lands heavily on the forest floor, skidding in the dirt as he tries to cut off her angle. His chest heaves, his nostrils working overtime to catch her scent. "Stop!" Raven calls out, his voice strained. "We aren't going to hurt you!" It's a lie. Or at least half of one. They don't plan on hurting her, but they don't plan on letting her go either. Behind her the pursuit intensifies. Fyre has caught up, his breathing is loud and ragged. "She's heading for the ravine!" he yells back to the others. The ground begins to slope downward sharply. Revna's feet tearing into the earth beneath her, she launches herself down into the ravine with supernatural-like reflexes and speed. The steep offers no resistance to Revina's momentum. She scales down the ravine like a shadow, her muscles working with a fluid, predatory grace that defies the laws of her biology. She sees the mouth of a cave hidden behind a curtain of thick moss and hanging vines and darts in before the alphas make it down the ravine behind her. Revna is hoping the earthy smells of the stones will mask her scent. The smell of wet earth and old stone fills Revna's senses as she crouches down in the deepest part of the cave. Outside, the pursuit falters for a moment. "Did she just climb down that?" Nolan's voice rises above the crunch of leaves, his voice thick with disbelief. "That's not possible." "She is not just a lower ranking wolf," Adam says, his voice low and dangerous. He is already moving down in to the ravine, his eyes still scanning the treeline with an intensity that borders on obsession. "She is something else entirely." Hiding in the damp cold cave, Revna tries to think of a plan in case they find her. This cave is a dead end. She will have to fight her way through if they corner her. The cave walls are slick with moisture, the air smelling of minerals and ancient dust. Revna presses herself further into the narrow crevice, her breathing shallow, controlled. Ayla's presence in a low hum in the back of Revna's mind, steadying and fierce. 'We fight! We don't just let them take us!' Outside, the sounds of the forest change. The heavy, rhythmic thud of boots slows. The frantic snapping of branches gives way to something more methodical — the sound of hunters who had found their quarry's trail. "She couldn't have gone far," Maysons voice carries into the cave mouth, closer than before. "The terrain gets too steep here." Footsteps crunch on the loose stone at the cave's entrance. A shadow stretches long across the damp floor, accompanied by the heavy, oppressive scent of alpha dominance. Revna had been holding her breath to drop her heart rate so they wouldn't hear it as she sat perfectly still hoping they would just pass by. The shadow at the entrance lingers. The alpha who is standing there is broad-shouldered, his silhouette cutting a massive shape against the dim light filtering through the vines. Its Adam. He steps into the cave, his boots scraping against the stone. He doesn't rush in. He stands at the mouth, head tilted slightly, nostrils flaring. The silence stretches, heavy and suffocating. "The scent stops here," Adam says, his voice echoing off the walls, low and resonant. He speaks to no one in particular, but the weight of his words fill the small space. There is a pause. He takes another step forward, his eyes scanning the darkness with a calm, terrifying precision. He isn't frantic like the others; he is methodical. "She's here," he murmurs, more to himself than to anyone else. He reaches out, his hand brushing aside the hanging vines at the entrance, revealing more of the cave's interior. Ayla responds by taking over. Heat surges through Revna's veins. The transformation is a seamless one, like smoke pouring over a cliff. Within seconds, the woman is gone, replaced by a tall but lean, powerful black wolf, low to the ground and coiled like a spring. The shift happened just as Adam's gaze swept deeper into the cave. He froze. His eyes lock onto the dark shape crouched in the shadows. The others are already closing in. Mayson and Raven burst into the cave mouth, weapons drawn but held loosely, their faces pale with disbelief. "A wolf?" Fyre skids to a halt behind them, his mouth agape. "She's a wolf?" Ayla is a blur of muscle and fur, slamming into Mayson's side with enough force to knock him back a step. He doesn't even have time to grunt before the gap is closed. Ayla's paws strike the forest floor in a rhythmic, powerful cadence, her claws digging into the earth as the tears through the tree line. "She's gone again!" Raven yells, stumbling after her. "Don't let her break the line of sight!" Adam's voice booms from the cave mouth, authoritative and commanding. Behind her, the pursuit is relentless. The six alphas are scattered now, trying to flank her. Fyre and Aron are pushing through the brush on her left, their heavy breathing audible even over the rustle of the leaves. "She's not stopping!" Aron calls out, his voice strained from the exertion. "She's running like she's got nothing to lose!" 'Ayla! Run! We can't let them catch us!' Revna's voice is a frantic, rhythmic drumbeat, urging Ayla's legs to move faster, her lungs to pull deeper. 'The river. The river is ahead! The current will carry us, mask our scent.' The sound of rushing water begins to grow, a low roar beneath the crashing of the branches and the heavy footfalls behind them. "She's heading for the gorge!" Mayson shouts, his voice closer than before. "Cut her off at the bend!" The ground begins to slope sharply downward. Ayla's paws hit the wet earth, mud splashing against her dark fur as she nears the edge of the steep embankment. Below, the river churns white and angry over jagged rock. "Stop!" Adam's voice rings out, closer now, authoritative and desperate. He's not shouting like a hunter; he's calling out like a man who is about to lose everything. "We won't hurt you! Just stop!"