Inked by the Moon

Hunters and Hunted

The scream cut off abruptly, which was worse than hearing it continue. I burst out of my parlor to find Main Street transformed into a hunting ground. Three massive wolves circled Meg, who was pressed against the window of the closed bakery, her new tattoo bandage torn and bloody.

"Back off," I snarled, letting my wolf's power leak into my voice. "This is Shadow Creek territory."

The largest wolf, grey with a scarred muzzle, shifted to human form. I recognized him immediately—Viktor, the Blood Moon Pack's enforcer. Built like a mountain, covered in ritual scars, with dead black eyes that had seen too much violence and learned to love it.

"Beta's daughter," he said, his voice like gravel. "We're here with permission to search for a fugitive."

"Permission to search," I said, palming my silver blades behind my back. "Not permission to terrorize our young."

"She was out after curfew." Viktor's smile was all teeth. "During a security situation, that makes her suspicious."

Meg whimpered, and I saw why—claw marks decorated her arms. They'd already hurt her.

"The only suspicious thing here," I said, moving closer, "is why Blood Moon wolves think they can draw blood on our land without consequences."

Viktor laughed. "What are you going to do, little artist? Tattoo us to death?"

That's when I moved.

The first blade flew from my hand before he finished speaking, catching him in the shoulder. The second would have hit his heart if he hadn't twisted at the last moment, taking it in the ribs instead. Silver meant the wounds wouldn't heal quickly.

"Run," I told Meg, not taking my eyes off Viktor as he roared in pain. "Find Atlas. Now."

She scrambled away as Viktor's companions shifted, snarling. I let my own wolf rise, feeling my bones c***k and reshape. My wolf was smaller than theirs but faster, deadlier. The rogue hunts had taught me that size meant nothing if you knew where to strike.

The first wolf lunged, and I ducked under him, my claws finding his soft belly. He howled, stumbling back with intestines threatening to spill. The second was smarter, trying to flank me, but I'd fought multiple opponents before.

What I hadn't fought was Viktor in his wolf form.

He hit me like a freight train, his massive jaws clamping down on my shoulder. I felt bones c***k, tasted my own blood. But pain was an old friend. I twisted, using his grip against him, and sank my teeth into his throat.

Not deep enough to kill—that would mean war—but deep enough to make him let go.

We separated, circling each other, both bleeding. My shoulder screamed, but I kept my wolf standing tall. Around us, I could hear pack members gathering, drawn by the commotion.

"Enough!" Kai's Alpha command crashed over us like a wave. He stood at the end of the street, Atlas beside him, both in human form but radiating power. "Blood Moon Pack, you've violated our hospitality. Leave. Now."

Viktor shifted back, pressing a hand to his bleeding throat. "We haven't finished our search."

"Yes," Atlas said, stepping forward, "you have. Unless you'd like to explain to the Council why you attacked our Beta's daughter."

I shifted back too, biting back a scream as my shoulder realigned wrong. Definitely broken. Atlas was at my side immediately, his arm around my waist, holding me up while trying to look like he wasn't.

"This isn't over," Viktor spat blood. "The fugitive is here. We can smell him."

"All I smell," Kai said, his voice deadly quiet, "is your blood on our streets. You have one minute to cross our borders."

Viktor's eyes found mine, promising vengeance, before he and his wolves disappeared into the night.

"Get her to Luna," Atlas told Kai, but I pulled away.

"I'm fine."

"Your shoulder is literally hanging wrong," my brother said. "And you're going to explain why you thought taking on three Blood Moon wolves alone was a good idea."

"They were hurting Meg."

"And you just happened to be carrying silver blades?"

Before I could answer, Luna appeared, her red curls wild, green eyes bright with panic. "We have a bigger problem. My vision—it's happening now. They're not leaving. They're circling back with reinforcements."

"How many?" Kai demanded.

"Twenty, maybe more." Luna grabbed my good arm. "And they're not coming to search. They're coming to burn everything until they find what they want."

My blood ran cold. Twenty Blood Moon wolves could destroy half the town before we could mount a proper defense. And it was my fault—I'd hidden their target.

"Evacuate the humans," Atlas ordered. "Get the elders and young to the safe house. Fighting wolves to the borders." He looked at me. "You're going with the young ones."

"Like hell I am."

"Raven"

A howl cut through the night, not Blood Moon, not Shadow Creek. Something else. Something that made every wolf in the street freeze.

I knew that howl. It was the same voice that had whispered "please" in the rain.

Zane stood at the entrance to my parlor, fully healed, his amber eyes glowing with an inner fire I'd never seen in a normal wolf. Power rolled off him in waves, ancient, primal, undeniable.

"I'm the one they want," he said, his voice carrying despite the distance. "Let them come."

Atlas and Kai both shifted immediately, ready to attack, but I stepped between them and Zane. "Stop!"

"You know him?" Atlas's voice in my head was furious. "You've been hiding him?"

"He saved Meg," I lied. "Just now, in the chaos. He helped."

But Kai wasn't buying it. "He's been here longer than just now. You reek of his scent, Raven."

Before anyone could move, the howls started, dozens of them, from every direction. The Blood Moon Pack had us surrounded.

"Arguing later," Luna said. "Surviving now."

Zane walked forward, and I saw something impossible happen. Kai, who'd been Alpha-trained since birth, took an involuntary step back. Atlas, my unshakeable brother, lowered his eyes for a fraction of a second.

"I'll make you a deal," Zane said to them. "Help me survive this, and I'll leave. Let them take me, and they'll burn your town anyway, just for the insult of hiding me."

"Or we give you to them and avoid the whole mess," Kai suggested, but his heart wasn't in it. We all knew the Blood Moon Pack's reputation. They didn't leave witnesses.

"They're here," Luna whispered.

Viktor emerged from the shadows, fully healed somehow, leading a pack of twenty wolves. But that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was the figure walking beside him, a woman in a red cloak, carrying a staff that reeked of dark magic.

"A witch," Atlas breathed. "They brought a bloody witch."

"Hello, young prince," the witch called to Zane. "Your grandfather's debt has come due. Time to pay in blood."

Zane tensed beside me, and without thinking, I grabbed his hand. The moment our skin touched, something electric shot through me—hot, powerful, right. My wolf, who'd been cold and distant for three years, suddenly roared to life.

His amber eyes met mine, wide with shock. He'd felt it too.

"Interesting," the witch said, her gaze focusing on our joined hands. "The prince has found his anchor. This changes things." She smiled, and it was terrible. "Kill them all except those two. I want them alive."

The Blood Moon Pack attacked as one.

"Together?" Zane asked me, his hand still in mine.

"Together," I agreed, and let my wolf free, knowing that after tonight, nothing would ever be the same.

The battle was about to begin, and for the first time in three years, I wasn't fighting alone.