Moonlit Confessions
888 Words
Chapter Seven: Moonlit Confessions
The night air was heavy with ancient magic.
Lucien stood alone at the edge of the Oracle’s Grove — a place whispered about in fearful tones among the pack.
Moonlight filtered through gnarled branches, silvering the ground beneath his boots.
His heart pounded with more than the beast’s hunger.
This curse.
It had ruled him for decades—binding him in darkness and pain.
And now, it was unraveling.
---
“Alpha Draven,” a voice echoed—soft and ethereal.
From the shadows, the Oracle appeared.
Eyes like polished amber. Ageless. Knowing.
She gestured to a circle of stones.
“Sit. Speak your truth.”
Lucien hesitated—then knelt.
“I am bound by a curse,” he said, voice rough. “A prophecy says my true mate will either break it... or end me.”
The Oracle nodded slowly.
“Your curse is tied to blood older than you know.”
She traced a finger in the air, weaving visions.
“A bloodline of fire and shadow. The curse born when wolf and flame collided. It marked you—tied your fate to a girl who would either save or shatter your reign.”
Lucien clenched his fists.
“Aria.”
“Yes.”
The Oracle’s gaze pierced him.
“She is both your salvation and your reckoning. The bond you share is not just power—it’s war. Inside her flows a fire you cannot control.”
Lucien’s voice dropped to a whisper.
“Then why does she resist me?”
The Oracle’s lips curved faintly.
“Because she fears not the beast—but what it demands.”
“Control.”
“Sacrifice.”
Lucien looked up at the full moon.
“I will not lose her.”
---
Meanwhile, miles away, Aria crouched in the dense forest.
The bond throbbed against her skin—stronger now. More insistent.
But so did the hunters.
Wolves from Lucien’s pack—and others drawn by the scent of her cursed blood—were closing in.
Her breath came in ragged bursts.
A low growl sounded behind her.
She turned.
A dark figure stepped from the shadows—another wolf, eyes bright but wary.
“Run,” he said.
“Why?”
“Because they want you dead.”
Aria’s heart thundered.
She wasn’t just a prize.
She was a threat.
And every step she took was one closer to war.
---
Back at the Oracle’s Grove, Lucien rose.
“The war has begun,” he said.
And for the first time, he wondered if winning meant losing everything he held dear.
Betrayal’s Bite
---
The flickering torchlight cast long shadows across the Crimson Keep’s war room—a place where alliances were forged and broken with whispered words and bloodied hands.
Lucien stood at the center, his golden eyes narrowed, every muscle taut.
“Someone in my court has betrayed me.”
His voice cut through the murmurs like a blade.
The room fell silent.
Before him stood his most trusted advisor—Marek—a man whose loyalty had once been unquestioned.
Lucien’s gaze locked on Marek, cold and accusing.
“Why?” Lucien demanded.
Marek’s jaw tightened, but his voice was steady.
“Because the crown isn’t eternal if the bloodline is weak.”
Lucien’s fist slammed on the table, the beast roaring beneath his skin.
“You jeopardize us all.”
---
Outside the war room, Aria paced the darkened halls, her mind racing.
The bond tugged harshly—Lucien’s anger, confusion, pain—all mixing in a chaotic pulse she couldn’t ignore.
Why was he so desperate?
She hadn’t seen this side of him—the vulnerable alpha, the haunted man beneath the crown.
A sudden knock interrupted her thoughts.
Lucien appeared in the doorway, eyes blazing, but softer now.
“Aria.”
She met him halfway, heart pounding like a drumbeat of war and desire.
“Something’s wrong.”
He reached for her, fingers trembling just slightly.
“Betrayal cuts deeper than any wound.”
Their breaths mingled.
In that fragile moment, all the anger and defiance melted into something raw—something dangerous.
Lucien’s voice dropped to a whisper.
“Stay with me. Not as prisoner. As... mate.”
Aria’s pulse thundered.
The word hung between them, heavy with promise and peril.
---
Back in the war room, Marek’s betrayal unfolded like a poison drip.
He’d sold secrets to Kael Blackthorn—Lucien’s exiled rival—hoping to unseat the alpha king.
Lucien’s fury flared, but so did something else—an icy dread.
How deep did this betrayal run?
---
Later, in the dim light of Lucien’s private chambers, Aria and Lucien sat close, the tension between them electric.
Lucien’s hand brushed a stray lock of hair from her face.
“You could have run,” he murmured.
“I wanted to,” she admitted.
“But you stayed.”
Their eyes locked, the air thick with unspoken words.
Lucien’s lips hovered near hers.
“I don’t want to lose you.”
Aria’s breath caught.
“Then don’t.”
He closed the distance.
Their kiss was fierce—hungry and trembling with the weight of everything they couldn’t say.
But outside, the wheels of war were turning.
And betrayal’s bite had only just begun.
- Writer
