Moonlight forgotten

Episode 7

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**Cold Nights: **

**“Sprint!”** I yelled.

However, my legs were not moving quickly enough. The outlaws were getting closer. In the moonlight, their fangs shone. My lungs were burning, and my heart was racing.

Then I saw a glimpse of silver fur.

A howl broke the silence.

With a crunch, one of the rogues flew backward into a tree after yelling.

Liana.

She had changed.

Sleek, silver, and fierce, her wolf hissed at the outlaws. She was unlike anything I had ever seen. She had anger and protection in her eyes, which shone like twin moons.

A second outlaw lunged toward her.

I attempted to assist by throwing a rock or anything else, but my body hurt and moved slowly.

Liana was quicker.

She bit into the rogue's neck and threw it as if it were weightless as she twirled in midair.

One outlaw retreated. Unsure, the others snarled.

At that point, a second wolf—a huge one, blacker than night—joined the battle. His roar was ancient and deep. He fixed me with his gaze.

Then—

He bowed.

Blood on her fur, Liana moved between us. She growled, "He's not ready."

With a groan, the dark wolf pushed the others away. The outlaw pack gradually vanished into the woods, their eyes gleaming in the darkness before they vanished completely.

Liana shuddered and shifted back. With trembling hands, she knelt next to me and felt my pulse.

"Are you alright?" she muttered.

"I believe so." I spoke in a raspy voice. "I was saved by you."

She turned her head away. "I always will."

In silence, we limped—well, walked—back to the cabin. Before starting the fire, she covered me with a blanket and assisted me in sitting by it. Despite the heat, I felt the chill of the night grow stronger as I gazed at them and watched the logs crackle.

I swam my head. The letter. The enchantment. The outlaws.

as well as her.

"Liana."

She was stirring a pot of broth when she looked up. She had red-rimmed eyes.

I whispered, "I need you to tell me everything immediately." "No more secrets."

She nodded as she sat next to me. "All right."

Thus, she informed me.

Concerning the Moonfall Pack.

About me, Kal, the son of the legitimate Alpha. How I have become courageous, smart, and strong. How everyone in the community admired me. And how everything came apart the night I was supposed to be named Alpha.

She said, "They set fire to the hall." made the ceremonial wine poison. You were flung from the precipice. Everyone believed you were dead.

My chest constricted. "And you?"

"I went with the flow of the river. I discovered you unconscious and bleeding. Your wolf was quiet now. I could not let anyone discover you. I thus applied the moonroot magic.

I whispered, "To erase my memories."

With remorse in her eyes, she nodded. "I wanted to avoid losing you once more."

There was silence.

The fire was the only thing that crackled.

Snow had started to fall outside, turning the trees white.

After some while, I said, "I had dreams." Of a girl whose eyes are silver. You were that person.

She gave a sorrowful smile. "You called me your moonlight all the time."

Heat rose to my face as I swallowed hard. "What brought Varek here now?"

She muttered, "Because he knows you're waking up." The rogues—they can sense your strength. They are aware that you are recalling. The call of your alpha blood is loud and clear.

I said, "I don't feel like an Alpha."

"You will," she murmured quietly. "But not this evening."

We sat quietly. Long and frigid, the night went on and on. Shadows danced against the walls as the fire became lower.

Liana, covered with a blanket, reclined on the ground. Staring at the ceiling, I laid on the bed.

There was no sleep.

Questions asked instead.

What have I been as a leader?

Who attempted my murder?

Is it possible that I will still develop into the Alpha that I want to be?

Like wolves lamenting the dead, the wind howled outside. As if fending off nightmares, Liana's brow furrowed as she shifted in her sleep.

I observed her.

She appeared fearless even when she was sleeping.

And something deep and ancient stirred inside of me. Something **not human**.

I shut my eyes.

My chest began to feel oddly heated.

Then I noticed it.

One of the memories.

An actual one.

---

It was a moonlit field where we stood.

She and I.

Her eyes gleamed with happiness, and her hair glistened silver in the darkness.

She gave me a tiny stone with carvings. She said, "For when you forget." "Therefore, you will return to me."

"Even if I lose everything I remember?" I had inquired.

She grinned. "Your heart won't."

---

I gasped when I woke up.

It was a low fire.

Outside, the snow had gotten thicker.

Liana was... gone.

Her blanket was empty.

I sat up, feeling anxious. "Liana?"

No response.

"Liana!"

With the snow digging into my feet, I limped outside barefoot. The cold made my head spin.

Next, I noticed footprints.

Prints of wolves.

As well as drag marks.

Somebody or something had abducted her.

Kael stirred next to me as the fire crackled quietly. When he had eventually agreed to lie down, he had gone into a restless slumber. I remained motionless. I simply sat there and watched as the firelight danced across his face, highlighting the thin scar over his eyebrow and the sharp edge of his jaw.

For two years, I had dreamed about that face—tender, fierce, and scarred. But he was real tonight. Right here. Inhaling. alive.

Furthermore, he had no recollection of it.

Slowly, I extended my hand and pulled the shabby blanket closer to his shoulders. His eyebrows raised, and he muttered something that I couldn't quite make out. Then he froze once again.

Outside, like a pack wailing in the dark, the wind howled through the woods. My gut twisted at the sound. I made an effort to hide my fear. Not when he was tired.

However, I sensed it. That *pull* was awful.

The woodland was evolving.

The wolves were starting to stir.

I looked at the closed door and could feel the night crushing down on it. There was an impending event. I had no idea what that was. I simply understood that we were not as secure as I would have liked to think.

Then Kael sprang to his feet.

His eyes sprung awake, bright gold in the firelight and wide. His breath was frantic and piercing, his chest rising and falling too quickly. I briefly believed that he might change.

"Kael?" Without contacting him, I spoke softly. It's alright. You're secure.

He blinked. Once. Twice.

Slowly, his head rotated to face me. "I noticed eyes."

I went cold. "Eyes?"

Within the trees. Red, observing us. His voice sounded eerie and far away. "It was more than a dream. I am aware that it wasn't.

I felt a chill go through me.

Eyes that are red.

No. Not right now. Not so soon.

"Did you observe anything else?" I steadied my voice and asked.

His fingers curled around the edge of the blanket as if he were clinging to reality as he gazed into the fire. "I was in a forest. sprinting. You were also in my behind. We were being pursued. I detected a whiff of smoke. Growls were heard.

"Have you noticed who it was?"

He stopped after shaking his head. "I detected a scent. There's a problem. Not merely a wolf. Something *twisted.*

My breath caught.

He knew less than he remembered.

I also have dreams about that smell.

Taking a leaf off his shoulder, I whispered softly, "You're all right now." "I had a dream."

"No," he said, his eyes piercing. "It wasn't."

Abruptly, he sprang up and paced the tiny cottage. His body felt tight, like a coil of rage about to burst. His instincts were coming back to him more quickly than I had anticipated.

He muttered, "The scent is real." It's still there in my lungs." similar to rot and fire.

I also got up and moved to stand between him and the door. Kael—

He fixed his gaze on mine.

And suddenly they were more than simply gold. It was *glowing*.

He said, "I have to get out there." "I must know who is observing."

"No," I responded hastily as I moved in closer. "It's not secure."

"I can keep you safe."

"You can't even recall your identity!"

My remarks surprised him, and he blinked once more.

Guilt overtaking me, I covered my mouth.

Kael cast a downward glance. "You're correct. At the moment, I am nobody.

I caught his hand as he began to turn away. "No. That wasn't what I meant. You're *Kael.* You're not nobody, even if you can't recall everything. You are *you.* You have courage. You have strength. You're *still mine*, too.

Before I could stop them, the final words escaped.

He gave me the impression that I had just opened the stars.

"Remaining... yours?" He said it again, quietly.

My mouth opened, but nothing came out.

The wind howled louder than before. Nearer.

Kael tensed abruptly and turned to face the window.

"I can smell it," he muttered.

Hastily, I went to the window. Just shadows.

Then, between the woods, there was a flash of red eyes.

My heart stopped.

It was authentic.

"Kael," I inhaled. "Leap."

However, it was too late.

The cabin door crashed against something.

Hard.

Kael threw me behind him as he spun. He said, "Stay down," in a voice that was no longer merely human.

Another knock caused the door to creak. The wood broke. The beams sprayed dust down.

Kael trembled.

Then he *growled.*

A grotesque, deep sound.

I have already heard that roar.

His inner wolf was *awake.*

It was also prepared to battle.

Kael is starting to recall flashes of the past, including a red-eyed menace that might not be a dream, and his wolf instincts are quickly returning.