Inked by the Moon

The needle buzzed against skin like an angry wasp, its sound filling the small parlor with familiar comfort. I pressed harder, watching the blue ink spread beneath the young wolf's skin, forming the intricate lines of our pack crest. Outside, rain hammered against the windows of Lunar Ink, my sanctuary from the world that expected too much from the Beta's daughter. "Does it hurt?" Meg, the sixteen-year-old getting her first pack tattoo, winced as I worked on the wolf's snout. "Life hurts," I said flatly, dipping the needle in fresh ink. "This is just a reminder that you can endure it." She fell silent, probably wondering why everyone said I was so cold. Three years ago, she would have gotten a different answer, maybe even a joke. But that girl died the same night Marcus did—the night I tore out my first love's throat to save a family of humans he'd been hunting. The bell above my door chimed, which shouldn't have been possible. I'd locked it an hour ago. "We're closed," I called without looking up, my wolf senses already identifying the intruder by his cedar and mint scent. Kai Winters, future Alpha and my brother's best friend. Also, the most persistent pain in my ass. "Your brother's looking for you," Kai said, his massive frame filling the doorway. His platinum blonde hair was wet from the rain, making his ice-blue eyes seem even more intense. "Pack meeting in twenty." "I'm busy." I kept my focus on Meg's tattoo, ignoring how Kai's presence made my wolf restless. She never did like dominant males, especially ones who looked at us like we were a puzzle to solve. "Raven." His voice dropped to that Alpha tone he'd been perfecting since we were kids. Too bad for him, I'd been immune to Alpha commands since the night I killed Marcus. Another fun side effect of having your soul frozen. "Kai." I matched his tone mockingly, finally looking up. "Tell Atlas I'll be there when I'm done. Now get out before you contaminate my sterile field." He lingered, those blue eyes searching mine for something he'd never find. The girl who used to flirt back, who used to care about pack politics and mate bonds and all that fairy tale bullshit. "The Blood Moon Pack has been spotted near the borders. Your brother needs—" "My brother needs to stop sending his errand boys to fetch me." I turned back to Meg's tattoo. "I said I'll be there." I felt rather than saw his jaw clench. Kai wasn't used to being dismissed, especially not by females. But after a long moment, the bell chimed again as he left, taking his oppressive Alpha energy with him. "Is it true?" Meg whispered once he was gone. "What they say about you and Marcus?" My hand never wavered, but ice crept through my veins. "What do they say?" "That you killed him. That you're the reason we haven't had a rogue attack in three years. That you're the pack's secret weapon." I set down the tattoo gun and looked at her directly. "They say a lot of things. What's true is that I protect this pack. What's true is that sometimes protection requires doing things that change you forever." I picked up the gun again. "Now hold still. We're almost done." Ten minutes later, I sent Meg on her way with her fresh bandage and care instructions. The parlor felt too quiet without the buzz of the needle, too empty with just me and my ghosts. I started cleaning up, methodically wiping down everything even though my wolf was pacing, sensing something off in the air. The storm outside had gotten worse. Lightning split the sky, illuminating the street in stark white flashes. That's when I saw him—a massive black wolf, stumbling down the alley beside my shop. Even from here, I could smell the blood. Not my problem, I told myself. Let the patrol find him. But then he collapsed, his body shuddering as it began to shift. Human form meant he was either too weak to hold his wolf, or he was trying to show he wasn't a threat. Against my better judgment, I grabbed the emergency kit from behind my counter and headed out into the storm. The rain soaked through my tank top immediately, my black hair plastering to my face. The man—because that's what he was now—lay crumpled against my building's brick wall. Blood seeped from multiple wounds across his chest and back, too many to be from a normal fight. I knelt beside him, my fingers finding his pulse. Still alive, but barely. His dark brown hair was matted with blood, and when lightning flashed again, I saw his face clearly. My blood ran cold. I knew that face. Everyone in our world knew that face. Zane Blackthorne. The last surviving member of a pack that had been wiped out five years ago. The wolf every Alpha in the country wanted dead or captured. And he was bleeding out against my tattoo parlor. "Please," he whispered, his eyes fluttering open. They were amber, shot through with gold—unusual for a wolf. Beautiful and dangerous. "They're coming." I should have called Atlas. Should have alerted the patrol. Should have done anything except what I did next. "Can you walk?" I asked, already sliding my arm under his shoulders. He groaned but managed to get his feet under him with my help. Together, we stumbled through the back entrance of my shop. I kicked the door shut behind us, my mind racing. There was a hidden basement beneath the parlor, something I'd installed without telling anyone. My secret workspace where I kept the weapons and supplies that would make my brother's overprotective heart stop. "Down here," I said, hitting the concealed switch behind a cabinet. A section of floor slid open, revealing stairs. We made it down just as I heard wolves howling in the distance—unfamiliar voices, searching. I sealed the entrance and turned to find Zane collapsed on the cot I kept down here, his amber eyes fixed on me with an intensity that made my frozen heart skip. "Why?" he asked. "Why help me?" I grabbed medical supplies from the wall cabinet, avoiding his gaze. "Because I know what it's like to be hunted for something you had no choice in." As I began cleaning his wounds, I noticed something that made my hands freeze. There, on his left shoulder, was a marking I'd only seen in ancient texts, a crescent moon wrapped in thorns, glowing faintly silver against his skin. The mark of a True Alpha. The mark of a bloodline that was supposed to be extinct. "What are you?" I whispered. His hand caught my wrist, his grip surprisingly strong for someone who'd lost so much blood. "I'm your worst nightmare or your pack's salvation. Depends on whether you turn me in or not." Thunder crashed overhead, and somewhere in the night, wolves howled again, closer this time. I'd just hidden the most wanted wolf in North America in my basement. If Atlas found out, if Kai found out, if anyone found out... But as I looked into those amber eyes, something inside me stirred, something I'd thought died with Marcus. "Guess we'll find out," I said, and began stitching his wounds while the hunters circled above us, unaware that their prey was right beneath their feet.