Blood moon , silver heart

Chapter 2

ARIAS POV

Run.

The word echoed through my mind again.

I didn't know where it came from.

I didn't know why I suddenly wanted to obey it.

But every instinct inside me screamed that I needed to leave.

Now.

I turned around and ran.

My boots struck the damp forest floor as I pushed through the trees, branches catching against my hoodie and scratching my arms.

I didn't look back.

I couldn't.

Something about that forest felt wrong.

The strange howl.

The glowing pendant around my neck.

The ancient symbol.

And Lucian.

Especially Lucian.

I had no idea what the vampire prince had been talking about, but I wasn't about to stand around and wait for whatever had been hiding in those woods to find me.

My lungs burned as I ran faster.

For once, I wished I had an awakened wolf.

Maybe then I wouldn't have to rely on my painfully human legs.

I could have shifted.

I could have sprinted through the forest without feeling like my lungs were about to collapse.

But no.

I was Aria Vale.

The Alpha's daughter who couldn't shift.

The disappointment.

The girl who needed protecting.

I clenched my jaw.

"I can protect myself," I muttered.

The voice inside me answered.

Not alone.

I stumbled.

I nearly fell.

"What?"

There was no answer.

I stood still for a moment, staring into the darkness.

My heart pounded.

Had I imagined it?

Maybe exhaustion was getting to me.

Maybe I was losing my mind.

I shook my head and continued running.

Eventually, the familiar scent of Mooncrest reached me.

Pine trees.

Smoke from the pack houses.

Fresh earth.

Home.

I slowed down.

The moment I crossed the boundary, I finally breathed properly.

Lights glowed from the windows of the large wooden houses scattered throughout the territory. Some wolves were still outside, talking around the fire pit near the central clearing.

Nobody noticed me immediately.

I quietly slipped between the houses.

I just wanted to reach my room.

I wanted to shower, crawl beneath my blankets and pretend tonight had never happened.

Then something caught my attention.

A movement above me.

I looked up.

My heart stopped.

Someone was sitting on the highest branch of an enormous oak tree.

A boy.

Black clothes.

Pale skin.

Dark hair.

Red eyes.

Lucian.

I stared at him in disbelief.

"How..."

He couldn't have followed me.

I had run the entire way.

There was no way a vampire could—

Lucian suddenly disappeared.

I blinked.

The branch was empty.

I looked around frantically.

Nothing.

Then I heard a faint rustle behind me.

I turned.

Nothing again.

I swallowed.

"Vampire powers," I whispered.

"Aria!"

I jumped.

My father came rushing toward me.

The Alpha.

His dark hair was slightly disheveled, and the sleeves of his shirt were rolled up as if he'd been searching for me for a long time.

Behind him were two pack warriors.

His face was filled with worry.

"Where have you been?"

I lowered my eyes.

"I'm sorry."

He stopped in front of me.

For a moment, he simply stared at me.

Then his expression softened.

"I was worried sick."

I looked up.

"I'm fine."

"That's not the point."

His voice wasn't angry.

It was frightened.

My father placed both hands on my shoulders.

"Aria, you disappeared from the pack without telling anyone. Do you understand how dangerous that is?"

"I just went for a walk."

"At night?"

I remained silent.

"Near the eastern boundary?"

My stomach tightened.

He knew.

"I wasn't planning to cross it."

"But you did."

I looked away.

My father sighed.

"Aria..."

There was something in his voice that made me look at him again.

He wasn't speaking to me as the Alpha.

He was speaking to me as my father.

"You don't have an awakened wolf yet."

I swallowed.

"I know."

"You don't have the strength other wolves your age have."

"I know."

"If something had happened to you..."

He stopped.

His jaw tightened.

"I couldn't forgive myself."

I felt guilty.

"I didn't mean to worry you."

"I know."

He pulled me into a brief hug.

I froze for a second before wrapping my arms around him.

His voice was quiet beside my ear.

"Next time you want to leave the territory, take someone with you."

"I can go alone."

"No."

I pulled back.

"Father—"

"You'll go with the Beta or one of the warriors."

"But—"

"No arguments."

I sighed.

"Fine."

He looked at me carefully.

"Promise me."

I hesitated.

Then nodded.

"I promise."

My father finally smiled.

"Good."

He kissed my forehead before walking away.

I watched him disappear toward the Alpha's house.

Then I looked back at the tree.

Nothing.

Lucian was gone.

I frowned.

Maybe I'd imagined him.

Maybe I was simply exhausted.

I reached for my pendant.

The silver was cold against my fingers.

But underneath it, something else was happening.

A strange warmth spread through my chest.

I closed my eyes.

And there it was again.

That voice.

Soft.

Almost like a whisper carried by the wind.

Aria.

I opened my eyes.

"Who are you?"

Silence.

I waited.

Nothing.

Then, slowly, the voice returned.

I am you.

My breath caught.

I looked around the empty clearing.

"Why can I hear you now?"

The voice didn't answer.

Instead, a strange image flashed through my mind.

A red moon.

A pair of crimson eyes.

A forest covered in snow.

And Lucian standing beneath a black tree.

I gasped and grabbed my head.

The vision disappeared.

I stumbled backward.

"What is happening to me?"

For the first time in eighteen years, I could feel something inside me.

Something alive.

Something powerful.

Something that had been sleeping.

And somewhere beyond the boundaries of Mooncrest, a vampire was watching the same red moon.

Lucian Veyre.

He looked toward the werewolf territory.

His expression was unreadable.

But one thing was certain.

He knew something about me.

Something my father had never told me.

And somehow...

I was going to find out what it was.