MOONBOUND. The Rise of Peter

Bonds Beneath Blood

Bonds Beneath Blood

Peter awoke on the floor again.

This time, it was his kitchen.

His hands were covered in soil. His shirt—ripped, caked in dried blood. Not his own.

He staggered to his feet, heart racing. The moon had done something to him again. He didn’t remember the night, but his muscles ached like he’d run a hundred miles. His nails were sharp. His skin sensitive to the sunlight bleeding through the curtains.

He dropped to his knees, panting.

“What’s happening to me?” he whispered.

A knock at the door startled him.

He froze.

Another knock. Softer. Hesitant.

“Peter?” came a voice. A voice like lavender on a breeze.

Melinda.

He fought the instinct to flee, straightening slowly. He opened the door just enough to peer out.

She stood there in a faded hoodie and jeans, her red curls tied back, a bag of something in her hand.

“You look like hell,” she said softly.

Peter blinked. “Thanks.”

She held out the bag. “You missed school. Thought you might want notes. And... food. I baked.”

He hesitated, then opened the door fully. She stepped in.

The scent of cinnamon and vanilla hit his nose. It was overwhelming. Her heartbeat—steady, calm—was a rhythm he couldn’t ignore. But beneath that... something else stirred. A pull. A warmth.

She was near him, and his body noticed.

He turned away, gripping the counter.

“You didn’t have to come,” he muttered.

“I wanted to,” she said.

There was silence.

Then she asked the question that had been burning in her since the festival. “What happened to you, Peter?”

He didn’t turn. “I got in an accident.”

“I know. But there’s more, isn’t there?”

He looked over his shoulder. “You wouldn’t believe me.”

“Try me.”

His jaw clenched. How could he explain the dreams? The claws? The beast inside him? The pack that visited him in moonlit visions? How could he tell her that everything she thought about Ravencroft was a lie?

Instead, he simply said, “It’s dangerous... for you to be here.”

She stepped closer. “You’re not dangerous.”

He turned then. His eyes glowed gold for a split second—reflected light or something else?

Melinda didn’t flinch. Instead, she said something that rooted him to the ground.

“I don’t scare easy.”

Peter stared at her.

For the first time in days, the roaring inside him quieted.

She grounded him.

But even as they stood there, a dark wind began to sweep through Ravencroft.

Cosmos Thorn had begun his hunt.