BloodMoon Desires

Chapter One

My wolf had been anxious for days, she whined and growled for reasons neither of us knew and it was beginning to drive me a little nuts.

"Please, Lady, you need to calm down. I can't think." I tried to dampen her cries but it didn't seem to make a difference, "Do you want to go for a walk? Will that help us?" I sighed as I felt her nudge in response. "Okay, let's go."

I had lived a short 23 years, however without a pack it felt like longer. When a wolf is alone, they were never meant to last long. Though we are strong beings, we also crave the social interaction a pack gives us. It builds bonds and friendships, but most importantly, a mate. Upon our sixteenth birthday, we enter our first transformation and I remember mine like it was yesterday. I had been in so much pain as I lay upon the forest floor, my bones stretched and broke with loud cracks and pops. I could feel my skin burn as if it were on fire as it molded to my new form. Sharp fangs sliced through my gums and claws pierced through what were moments before my fingertips. I was all alone with no pack to guide me. I had only the memories of what my mother had told me about Wolf Lore before she took her own life a month before I was to enter into my first shift.

"It's okay Seraphina, I'm here and we're together." It was the voice of my wolf, she cooed to me as we opened our brand new eyes and looked up at the moon. She had introduced herself as Lady and she was absolutely beautiful. Our eyes were as green as the bushes and leaves that surrounded us and our fur was lush and thick, trailing a shiny pale copper over our body. I looked down and noticed our front right leg was a deep black sock though, a trait we had inherited from our mother.

That night we had spent in the forest running as fast as Lady could, she showed me how strong she was for us and I had never felt more confident. I thanked her and I told her how scared I was that I would be alone for the rest of my days. She gave me a gentle nudge and assured me that we would be together and never again would I face this world by myself.

I walked the forest that sat at the edge of town and being extra cautious not to cross the boundary between the human town that I was bound to and the BloodMoon pack that owned everything else past the forest. They were one of oldest packs this side of the country, another thing my mother had taught me and their's was a pack that was hated by my family name. Long ago my Great Grandmother was to be wed to another pack's Alpha to strengthen the bond between two smaller packs but her wolf had already found their true mate in another, Alpha Tyr of the BloodMoon pack. However the Moon Goddess wasn't going to be so kind and allowed the marriage of the two packs, which insighted the rage and wrath of Alpha Tyr. In one night he had swiftly but violently dispatched every member of each pack acting out of a heartbreak so deep that all he could see was red and red was pouring from his hands as he finally came to his senses. In the blind rage that had gripped him he had lost sight of his true Luna until he looked down to her lifeless body in his arms. My Great Grandmother had been caught up in the onslaught and in Alpha Tyr's bloodthirst he had killed the one life he had wanted to spare. His intent was to destroy both packs and take her back to his packhouse, to be his life-long love and Luna.

Though the Moon Goddess wasn't wholly cruel that night, she spared one life, one that was not yet a wolf but just a young child, my Grandmother, Ruby. She'd hidden in the walls crawlspace of the packhouse but had seen the entire s*******r of her family, her friends and essentially the end to her life as she knew it.

Eventually, Grandma Ruby was adopted by a neighbouring pack that had heard news of the destruction and knew that she couldn't survive without her own kind to guide her. Which is where she met my PaPa Gusto, his name was Augustus but everyone called him Gusto. He was a very kind and loving man who had found his Luna in Grandma Ruby after her first shift and by the time they had married they were due to birth their only daughter, my mother, Isabella.

My mother's story was vastly different in that she found her mate in my father, a wolf named Julian and was so deeply in love that she wanted nothing more than to become the mother to his pups as soon as she could. One day, only barely into her pregnancy with me my father was assigned to join part of the pack to patrol their territory when he was attacked by two rogue wolves, they were feral and crazed and tore him to pieces. After his death, my mother wanted nothing more to do with her pack and rejected them.

Grandma Ruby and Papa Gusto couldn't do anything to sway her grief-filled decision but instead of letting her go out into the world by herself they, with their Alpha's blessing, bought a home in the human suburb closest to their territory and lived out their days with their daughter and grand-daughter. Their death came before I was eight and now truly alone the gravity of my mother's decision finally weighed upon her. For years she fought her inner demons, but her wolf had resigned to a life of nothingness and grief never to make an appearance again. These are the factors that contributed to my mother taking her own life. I don't blame her and I don't harbour any ill feelings towards her. I know she did her best with what life had given her, she was so strong for so long that eventually she just needed to be at peace.

The home was left to me and after my first shift I went out into the world a new person. I quickly found a job at the local Recreational Center that paid enough for me to survive while I finished school and took on extra studies to become a Vet Nurse. Which brings me back to that night in the forest.

It was especially chilly but Lady truly loved the cold, it soothed her wolf soul like the sound of rain soothed mine. We walked in silence, and I could feel her nerves begin to settle. Finally, maybe tonight we could get a peaceful night's sleep. But those thoughts were soon erased from our mind when we heard a twig snap in the near distance. It could have been anything but when Lady told me otherwise and to run, I knew it wasn't going to be just a squirrel. Quickly we picked up musty scent and our hearts began to pound. Lady was a very strong wolf but the scent carried an air of craziness that signalled to us that it wasn't just another wolf out there, it was one that was intent on murder.

We could hear it's paws pounding the damp forest floor as it raced towards us. We ran and as we ran Lady began to shift us into her wolf form. However, neither of us were quick enough and before we could fully shift, the sensation of large jaws clamped down over my shoulder. I screamed and shoved Lady back down. It was our instinct to protect one another, but I had gotten in first this time. My human form was weaker but I couldn't let Lady get hurt.

We landed with a crushing thud and I felt the pain again of teeth shooting across my ribs like larva being poured all over my body. Lady was practically screaming to let her fight for me, but my head was buzzing and my body now becoming numb in response to the attack. I could hear wet munching on my left leg as my eyes started to close, but before blackness took me, the sound suddenly stopped and was replaced by another savage sound. There was the snapping of jaws somewhere away from me. Lady whimpered and cried.

"Please Seraphina, listen to my voice. I've got you. If you go to sleep, my strength will keep you alive, but please keep listening to my voice, we're going to be okay."

Everything else around us was quickly fading past me and I felt like I was falling into a cold body of water. I was floating in darkness and it was just so comfortable there.