CHAPTER 3; Under the Moon
1126 Words
Kamari’s Pov;
I didn’t sleep that night. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw flashes of blood, fire, and the forest burning. My father’s voice shouting my name. Then silence.
The same nightmare I thought I’d left behind came back stronger. But this time, something was different.
There was a man standing in the flames. Not my father. My uncle. Reginald. And he was smiling.
When I jerked awake, I was drenched in sweat. My room was freezing, the air thick like fog. For a second, I thought I was still dreaming because there was a faint glow on my hands.
I blinked. The light faded.
“What the hell…”
I whispered.
The door creaked open. Keturah, the pack healer, stood there in her robe, holding a lantern. Her gray eyes found me instantly.
“You felt it, didn’t you?”
I swallowed.
“Felt what?”
“The pull of the moon,” she said softly. “It’s growing stronger.”
“I just had a nightmare.”
She gave me a look that made me feel seen in a way I didn’t want.
“Nightmares can be more than memories, child. Sometimes they’re warnings.”
I tried to laugh, but it came out weak.
“So now my dreams are trying to warn me?”
Keturah set the lantern down on the table, her hands trembling a little.
“You’ve been gone for years. Things have changed. You’ve changed. Have you felt… anything strange lately?”
I thought about the glow, the way my chest had burned under the moonlight. I shook my head.
“No. I’m fine.”
She sighed, clearly not believing me.
“If anything happens again, you come to me. Don’t hide it from the Alpha. He has enough to worry about.”
I bit my lip.
“Yeah, sure.”
But I didn’t go back to sleep.
By morning, the manor was alive again warriors training, voices echoing through the halls. I went outside just to clear my head, but of course, I found him there.
Reis.
He was at the far end of the field, sparring with Finley. The way he moved fast, precise, all control made it hard to look away. His wolf was close to the surface, I could feel it even from here.
He noticed me. Of course he did. His eyes flicked to me once, then he pretended he hadn’t seen me at all.
So I stood there, arms crossed, waiting for him to break first.
He didn’t.
After Finley left, I walked over.
“You’re avoiding me,” I said.
He didn’t look up from the blade he was cleaning.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
“You said that yesterday. Are you going to keep repeating it till I listen?”
“Maybe.”
I rolled my eyes.
“You can’t keep pushing me away forever.”
That got him. He turned, eyes sharp. “Watch me.”
For a moment, neither of us spoke. The tension between us was thick too thick. Every word we didn’t say hung in the air.
Then I saw the cut on his arm.
“You’re bleeding.”
“It’s nothing.”
“Let me see.”
“Kamari….”
I grabbed his wrist before he could move. My fingers brushed his skin, and something strange happened. The faint glow from last night sparked again under my palm.
He froze. His eyes flicked to our hands, then to me. “What did you just do?”
“I.. I don’t know,” I stammered. “I didn’t mean to”
The glow faded as fast as it came. The cut on his arm was gone.
My heart was racing.
“Reis, I didn’t”
He stepped back, looking at me like I’d just turned into something else.
“You healed me.”
“I didn’t do anything!”
“You did,” he said, voice low, rough. “Your mother… she was..”
“A witch,” I finished for him. “Yeah. I know.”
He looked away, jaw tight.
“Then this isn’t a coincidence.”
I took a step closer.
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying whatever you are, the council can’t know. Not yet.”
My stomach dropped.
“You think they’d hurt me?”
“I think they’d use you,” he said. “Like they did your father.”
The silence after that was heavy. My chest hurts. I didn’t know if it was fear or anger or both.
Before I could answer, Rheya came running down the hill.
“Reis!”
she yelled.
“The council’s messenger is here. They want to speak with you now.”
His eyes closed for a second, like he was trying to keep his temper from snapping.
“Of course they do.”
Rheya looked between us.
“What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” Reis said. Too fast. Too smooth.
He started walking off, but before he passed me, his hand brushed my arm. The touch was small, quick but it left my skin burning.
“Stay out of sight,”
he whispered.
Then he was gone again, heading toward the manor.
I stood there, staring after him, heart pounding so hard it hurt. I didn’t know what scared me more, the council coming for me or whatever was waking up inside me.
Later that night, the dreams came back. Only this time, I wasn’t watching from afar. I was there in the fire, in the screams. I saw Reginald’s face again, the same cruel smile, the same look in his eyes.
And then something new.
Behind him stood a man with silver eyes. Not Reis. Someone else. His mouth moved, whispering something I couldn’t hear. My chest burned where my heart should be.
I woke up gasping, my whole body shaking. The moonlight through the window was brighter than before, almost blinding.
Outside, I heard wolves howling. But underneath the sound was something else.
A whisper.
My name.
“Kamari…”
The voice wasn’t human. It crawled down my spine and made my wolf stir awake.
I stumbled out of bed, the glow spreading again across my arms, my collarbone, my chest. It didn’t hurt this time. It felt like it was calling me.
The next thing I knew, I was standing at the balcony, staring into the woods.
And there he was again. Reis. Watching me. His eyes glowing, his chest heaving like he’d been running.
But he wasn’t alone.
Someone was behind him a shadow, taller, broader, with eyes that burned gold.
When the moonlight hit, I saw the mark across his throat, a rogue mark.
The stranger smiled.
And then everything went black.
- Writer
