THE MOONLESS WEREWOLF

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER TWO (I AM CHOOSEN)

We walk to the headmaster’s office. It is destroyed and papers are everywhere...There is a blood everywhere.

Lira finds an old book on the floor. it is big and old and the pages are yellow. She opens it with shaking hands.

“500 years ago,” she reads, “the Moon Goddess split her power. She made two kinds of protectors.

Full Moon Werewolves... to guard the world in the light.

And one New Moon Werewolf... to guard the world in the dark.”

She looks up at me.

“The New Moon Werewolf only wakes when the world needs him. When the Voidborn return and when the moon dies.”

My mouth is dry.

“That’s not me,” I say. “I’m just... me. I’m nobody...

Lira closes the book.

“You are the Guardian, Kayden. You were not cursed. You were chosen.”

The word hits me in the chest.

Chosen.

No one has ever called me that before. They called me cursed. they called me mistake. They called me Moonless.

Not chosen. meanwhile in the outside, we hear a sound.

_Tear

". There is another one. ... I sense that is far from here..."

".I hear that more Voidborn are coming." i said ..

Lira stands up and she walks to me.

“The headmaster named me your handler before he died,” she says.

“I am supposed to protect you and to train you. so I can make sure you don’t lose control.”

She pauses. “And I am supposed to tell you that the moon is dying.”

“What?”

“The moon is fading,” she says.

“Astronomers saw it. in 30 days, there will be no moon at all.

There is a 30 days of darkness. They call it the *Eternal New Moon*. If it happens, the Voidborn will take over the world.”

". 30 days. It means I only have 30 days. “And you are the only one who gets stronger in the dark,” Lira says.

“So you have to learn and you have to get stronger. because you have to fight.”

I look at my claws. I saw the blood on them. and At the bones on my back.

“I don’t know how,” I whisper.

Lira sighs. “Then I will teach you, even if you hate me.

and even if I hate you. Because if you don’t... we all die.”

She holds out her hand. Not to hit me but to help me up.

I stare at the the girl who made my life hell.

This is the girl who called me cursed. And now she is the only one standing with me. Slowly, I take her hand I felt her warm skin.

“Okay, Teach me.”

The moon is gone and the world is dark. And for the first time in my life... I am not hiding, I am the Moonless Werewolf. And the dark is mine.

It is 4:00 AM.

The sky is still pitch black. There is no moon and ot even a star. I have not slept because I don’t think I can sleep anymore. every time I close my eyes, I see it all again.

The blood on the hallway walls. The bones tearing out of my back.

and....

Lira’s face—the way she looked at me like I was something terrifying and something broken.

We are in the training room now. it is huge and Empty.. It's Walls made of cold stone. Everywhere I look, there are scratches and old claw marks, I saw a faded scars from years of fighting.

Lira stands ten feet in front of me. her arms are crossed tight over her chest.

She is not wearing her uniform. She has on black training gear—tight, practical, like something a soldier would wear into battle, She looks sharp and dangerous.

And she has not looked me in the eyes for ten whole minutes.

“So,” she says finally. Her voice is flat. “You’re the Guardian.”

I shrug. My hands feel empty. “I guess.”

“You guess.”

She lets out a short, sharp laugh. It is not kind. “Great. The fate of the entire world rests on the shoulders of a janitor who ‘guesses.’”

Those words sting. But she is right, Three hours ago, I was mopping floors, Now I am supposed to save everyone.

“What do you want me to do?” I ask.

“I want you to not die,” she says simply. “And I want you to learn how to fight before the next Voidborn arrives. Because they will come back. Tonight. Tomorrow. I don’t know when. But they will come. And when they do, you cannot just lose control and tear everything apart.”

She starts walking and slow circles around me.

Like I am a strange animal she is trying to figure out.

“I saw you last night,” she says. “You are strong. Unnaturally strong. But you have no control and you have no skill. You just… snap. And then you kill.”

She stops right in front of me.

“If you do that in front of the wrong people—if anyone sees you and fears you more than they fear the monsters—they will hunt you down before the Voidborn even get here. They will kill you first.

I clench my fists. My claws itch under my skin and it almost coming out. I force them back in..

“I don’t know how to control it,” I say quietly. “I only turn when the moon is gone. I don’t know how to do it on purpose.”

“Then we will make the moon go away.”

I look up, confused. “What?”

Lira walks to the far wall and she grabs a heavy black cloth and pulls it across every window that the light vanishes.

It makes the room goes completely dark.

There is no moonlight. It is nothing but complete darkness...

“It’s called a blackout room,” she says, her voice coming from the shadows. “We use it to train young wolves to fight when they cannot see. Now it will be your classroom.”

A dull ache starts in my back Like something alive is pushing from the inside, trying to get out.

“Lira,” I say. My voice shakes. “I don’t think I’m ready—”

“Too late,” she says.

And then the bones break through.

I felt PAIN

It hurts more this time, because I am not surprise

Because I am waiting for it.

Crack. Crack.

Two sharp pains down my spine Then four. and they tear through skin and fabric.

There is a Long, black, jagged bones—like wings, but it is sharper and deadlier.

My vision shifts and I saw everything goes darker and clearer. My eyes burn that when I blink, I only saw black.

My claws slide out and I stand there while breathing hard.

I can smell everything in the room. I can smell dust. Old stone and Lira.

“Good,” she says. Her voice is steady. “You’re up. Now listen to me. The hard part isn’t turning into the monster. The hard part is turning back.”

“How?” I growl. My voice sounds different.. It sounds . deeper and rough like it is not mine.

“By thinking,” she says. “Think of something human. Think of your name—Kayden. Not Moonless. Not freak. Kayden. Think of the mop bucket you push every night. Think of the small room you sleep in. Think of anything but blood. Anything but killing.

I try.

I close my eyes for a second. I picture the dirty water in my bucket. I picture the quiet hallway.

I picture—

There is a sound. Fast that behind me.

I spin around too quick I saw Lira and she holds a wooden training sword.

“Don’t let your instincts take over,” she says.

But I already moved, I swing my arm and claw slices through the wood like it is paper. The sword breaks clean in half. A Silence come between us and Lira drops the broken pieces. She stares at me and her eyes go wide—exactly like last night. She looks Terrified.

“You almost hit me,” she whispers.

“I’m sorry,” I say, rushing the words out. “I didn’t mean—I didn’t—”

I concentrate Hard.

". Go back. Go back. Please."

I scream and the bones pull inward.

It hurts because every inch of them sliding back inside.

I gasp and fall to my knees and my hands are shaking.

I become human again The Claws and wings are gone.

When I look up, I saw Lira is still standing there. But the fear is gone from her face.

“Get up,” she says. She holds out a hand. Then pulls it back like she thought better of it. “On your feet, Kayden.”

I stand up slowly.

“For the next thirty days,” she says, “you and I are stuck together. Every hour. Every minute. Daytime, you train while you are weak. Nighttime, you train while you are strong. We will sleep maybe three hours if we are lucky. And we do not fight each other. Not really. Not unless we have to. Understood?”

“Understood,” I say.

She nods. Then she does something I never expected.

She tosses me a soft cloth towel.

“Wipe the blood off your face,” she says. “You look terrible.”

I catch it.

It smells like her. Soap and something sharp,

“Thank you,” I mumble.

She does not answer. She just turns toward the door.

“One more thing, Moonless,” she says without looking back. “When we are training here… don’t call me Lira. Call me Handler. This is work. Nothing more.”

Then she leaves.