Blood Moon Rising

Prologue

The moon hung low in the sky; its light is like a sliver of silver casting a ghostly glow over the dark forest where the Crimson Claw Pack lies. The night was eerily quiet, the usual chorus of nocturnal creatures silenced by an unspoken tension. It was deafening, bringing fear and sadness to the area. In the heart of the forest, a lone figure stood, her breath visible in the cold night air as she hears the thumping sound of her heart.

Karina never felt like she belonged to her pack, her fellow pack members never fail to make her feel that. Karina had been different since she was young—more reserved, more introspective. She found comfort in the quiet moments, in the rustle of leaves and the whisper of the wind, while others found excitement in the hunt and the thrill of the chase. But being different in a pack of wolves was a dangerous thing.

She was treated like an outcast, a rogue that has no pack she could call hers. The members of her pack treated her indifferently and would never fail to let her feel broken one amongst the group.

Her life had been a series of harsh lessons in submission and survival in the hands of her fellow pack members. As the runt of the pack, she was frequently the target of all the mental, physical, and emotional abuse because they see her as the weakest member of the pack. Her status as a female only compounded her misery, in a world where strength and dominance were revered above all else. She bore the bruises and scars of countless beatings, her spirit worn thin but never completely broken.

The greatest blow had come just days before, delivered by the one who was supposed to be her other half. Karina had always known that she had a mate somewhere in the world, someone destined to be hers by the will of the Moon Goddess. A glimmer of hope ignited inside her heart when her wolf tells her that their mate was close by, but everything was shattered when she discovered that her mate was none other than Damien, the Alpha of their pack. Even if the chances were slim to none, she had dared to dream of acceptance, of love, of a future free from pain.

But that dream had been shattered with brutal efficiency. Damien had taken one look at her and scoffed, his rejection cutting deeper than any physical wound. "You're not fit to be my mate," he had declared, his voice dripping with disdain. "You're weak, worthless. I, the Alpha, deserve better."

She stood alone in the forest, her heart heavy with the weight of rejection, Damien’s words kept repeating in her head. Karina could hardly breath as the pain wrapped around her chest and tightened as if it was depriving her air. Yet, beneath the pain, something else simmered—a quiet, fierce determination.

Karina knew she couldn't stay. She realized she had been a prisoner of her pack that had once been her home, and her mate, her jailer. She needed to leave if she wants to find her own strength and survive. She needed to find a place where she could heal, where she could become something more than the broken girl they saw.

Karina let out one last, determined breath and turned her back on the only world she had ever known. The path ahead was uncertain, uncharted territory and lonely. But she had made up her mind, it was her path, and for the first time in her life, she was determined to walk it on her own terms, by herself.

As she disappeared into the darkness, the moon was her silent guardian. Karina promised herself that it is her, who would one day rise from the ashes of her past and reclaim her destiny.