The Child Of The Moon

PROLOGUE

The night of Kitara's birth, as her mother drifted into sleep, the little kitara cries stilled. Silver light poured through the thatched roof covering her tiny body with radiant glow. A figure appeared, robed in moonlight, eyes radiant.

The moon goddess.

She bent over the cradle and whispered,

" my child, you will carry both strength and sorrow. You shall have the ability to foresee the future and be overflowed with immense magic. Your powers shall be your shield. Through you, the bond of wolves shall live and die. Men will crave you, packs will bleed for you and the one Alpha who sees beyond your powers shall be delivered."

Her hand brushed kitara's brow. The baby's eyes opened and glowed gold, unnatural for a child.

From the shadows outside, wolves howled. The first Alpha felt her birth.

Few years later, Kitara grew like no ordinary girl. Fragile in body, easily sick and yet whenever danger came, something strange will burst from her. Light, silver fire and a scream that made men drop their weapons.

By the time she was twelve years old, villagers were already beware of her. She was both blessing and curse. Crops thrived when she smiled and storms came when she wept.

One evening, her mother confronted the villagers.

"She is still a girl. Do not treat her as a weapon."

And one of the villagers replied her,

"The moon child is never just a girl. She is the key to our victory. The moon goddess gifted her to our race for our salvation. And when the Alpha comes, she must be ready."

Kitara listened as her mother battled words with the villagers. And so she asked herself.

"What Alpha?"

"Why me?"

Years passed. Packs waged wars across the lands. At eighteen, Kitara's fate arrived.

The night was restless, Wolves howled in unison. The Alpha was coming after a long stay at the battle front. He was stroding triumphantly on his royal horse with his warriors trailing behind him.

The villagers were busy hailing them, jubilating their victory at war.

Kitara stood at the village market square, her body was trembling. Then she saw him.

Karl.

He was the most feared Alpha. He was not yet the man who will live across centuries, but the first Alpha of his bloodline. Tall, feral, power radiating from each move he made. As he strode through the village market square with his beta by his side, his golden eyes burned as they locked on her. His wolf growled and whispered,

"Mate!"

"You," he growled, voice like thunder.

"The bond calls for you."

Kitara shook her head fearfully, gradually backing away.

"What bond?"

"I don't want any bond. So please let me be."

"Your opinion doesn't matter. The moon chose you. You belong to me and you have no say in this." Karl said authoritatively.

Kitara's hands flared with silver fire and Karl paused, shock flashing across his face.

"The moon goddess blessed you with her light?" He asked bewildered.

"Then you are truly mine. You're indeed bound to me."

"No, I belong to no one." kitara cried, sending a burst of power that cracked between them.

The villagers gasped. They were so surprised at Kitara's action. And so the curse between the Alpha and the moon child had begun.

Kitara wailed and ran as far as her fragile legs could carry her and went to the river where she often enjoys her quiet moment. She wept heavily at the river and eventually slept off.

She later dreamt of how the Alpha warriors were pursuing her. How her mother was threatened to release her. She woke up and she realized the sun had already set. She remembered her dream and knew that was what would happen very soon as she had the ability to foresee the future.

She knelt and wept bitterly at the turns of things in her life.

The moon goddess appeared before her as she wept by the river.

"My child," the moon goddess called softly.

"Your life will never be your own. You will live, die and live again. Each age will bind you to the Alphas. One who craves you and one who needs you. You must choose again and again."

Kitara looked unto the moon goddess and asked.

"Why me?"

"I never asked for any of these. I just wanted a normal life like every other normal girl."

The goddess eyes flashed with sorrow.

"Because power must rest in fragile hands. And only the fragile hands can resist corruption."

Kitara sobbed.

"Will I ever be free?" She asked.

"Not in this life. But in another..... maybe." The moon goddess answered and disappeared.

Kitara continue weeping at her cursed fate. And as dawn broke, she looked into her reflection in the river. Her gold eyes shimmered with silver. She was both cursed and chosen.

And just as she raised her head up, she saw the Alpha's warrior ahead coming towards the river and she quickly stood up and left before they sight her as she remembered her vision. She quickened her pace as she made her way home as she knew her mother would had been deeply worried about her.

On getting to her home, she saw the Alpha's men outside her home and quickly hurried inside where she met the Alpha himself seated with her mother kneeling in front of him.

She hurried to her mother's side and when the Alpha saw her, he smirked widely.

"Wow, your daughter comes at the right time." He said.

"Kitara, go inside now and pack whatever you had to pack which I doubt if there's any. You're moving into the Alpha castle." He commanded.

"Please Alpha, she's still very young. Give me more years for me to get her fully prepared." Kitara's mother pleaded.

"She was never young to be the Alpha's mate and she's going with me now." He thundered.

Kitara held her mother's hand and smiled gently to her. She knew this was her fate and she cannot avoid it.

"Don't worry mother, I'll be fine." She said assuringly.

Her mother wept bitterly. And kitara stood up.

"I have nothing to pack and since I'm the Alpha's mate, all necessary things should be provided." She said boldly.

The Alpha nodded and smiled at her boldness.

"She looked very fragile yet bold. Very fit to be my mate." He thought.

And then they left for the Alpha castle.

Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months and months into years. Kitara's stay at the Alpha castle was hell. Due to Karl insatiable hunger, he had s*x with anything under skirt at the Alpha castle. He had tried every means to have s*x with kitara and Mark her as his mate because in that way will he be able to have access to her powers.

But kitara was never ready. At times, Karl would have s*x with a maid in kitara's presence and made her watch but none of that moved her as she never wanted the fate bestowed upon her in the first place.

As time goes on, she became more lonelier. And when Karl's younger brother, Kiren, arrived after a long time at the battle front, the both of them got closer. Kitara find solace and comfort in him, what she never finds in Karl.

The two of them were always together as Kiren saw her as a little sister because of her fragile stature and grew fond of her.

Kiren was never in support of how Karl always treated kitara but there's nothing he could do because Karl is the Alpha and he can never challenge him.

As time goes on, Kiren started developing some feelings for kitara but he kept his feelings to himself because he knew the consequences of lusting over the Alpha's mate.

Later, Karl and his warriors embark on another battlefield and with the blessings of the moon goddess, they came back victoriously.

And while he was gone, Kiren and Kitara grew more closely. Kiren had started expressing his feelings to Kitara gradually. And Kitara soon noticed his feelings her.

Upon arriving at the Alpha's castle, Alpha Karl sent for kitara to his chamber.

"Why are you not at the village market square nor at the castle gate to welcome me as my mate?" He asked her when she enters.

"I was told my place is inside the castle and not outside." She replied.

"By who?" He asked back.

"The elders." She said.

His lips curved not into a smile but something sharper.

"The elders are blind old hags. They speak of traditions but they do not see the truth."

He leaned closer but she could feel his warm breath against her skin.

"But you see the truth, don't you, little seer?" He asked.

Her heart skipped.

"I don't know what you mean."

"You dream." Karl said softly.

"You see things others cannot. You look at the moon as though it whispers secrets in your ears. So do not lie to me."

Kitara's fingers curled tightly beside her. Yes, she dreamed. Of blood in rivers. Of wolves tearing each other apart. Of her own face reflected in water. But to speak it aloud was dangerous. As the elders might thought she was wishing for their defeat at the battle front.

"I saw nothing that matters to a man like you." She whispered.

Karl's hand shot out, holding her chin. He tilted her face up until their eyes met. His grip was firm.

"It matters to me. Everything about you matters to me."

Kitara tried to pull back but Karl held her still. His golden eyes burned. Hungry for her.

"Why?" She asked.

"Because you belong to me." He said and tried to force his way with her as he could no longer hold back his hunger for her and he was also eager to claim her powers to himself.

Kitara struggled with him but she could never overcome his strength. She started crying and shouting but all fell to Karl's deaf ears. He had already torn her clothes and her bare body was exposed to him. And just as he was about to have his way with her, Kiren busted in and pushed him off her.

He lifted her up covering her nakedness with his jacket and ran out with her.

They ran as far as their legs could carry them with Karl's warriors behind them. Eventually, they were able to lose them behind.

They finally settled inside the forest at the border of their rival pack. Even though they knew that was a risk move for them to make. They knew it was better than to be at Alpha Karl's mercy.

Kitara looked up to Kiren as her savior and after some months of being together, with Kiren stopping at nothing to care for her and show her unlimited love, she finally gave herself to him.

They had a daughter together while keeping their lives simple. Kiren couldn't mark kitara as he was not her predestined mate even though he wished to do so and Kitara also wanted it. But since they've already altered fate, they wouldn't want to push beyond that. Kitara gave birth to a baby girl as a result of her intimacy with Kiren.

Some years later, their daughter was already four years old and was out hunting with her father while Kitara was home alone in their thatched home.

Karl's warriors later caught her as Karl never relent on looking for her. Since she was the only one they met at home, they attacked her and the struggle begins. She used every of her last strength to fight them and when she was already exhausted and saw she could not handle them alone, she fled, leaving behind her home.

They pursued her. She was already in their territory before she realized how far she had ran. Looking back, she saw the warriors closing up on her.

Kitara, while on the run through the forest collided into a hard chest. Her eyes meeting with a pair of golden eyes glaring dangerously at her. Kitara stood in the clearing. Her skin marked with claw-like scratches. Blood dripping from her body as a result of her encounter with the Alpha warriors.

Karl approached, his form half-shifted. His face hardened. His voice was deep almost beast-like.

"It does not matter how far you run, kitara. You were born for me. The moon goddess herself placed you in my path and you'll fulfill what you're born to do."

Kitara staggered on her feet, breathing heavily. She was thankful the warriors didn't meet Kiren and her daughter when they came to raid her home. Her palm glowing faintly with silver light. She did not look afraid. Her gaze locked into his, clear and resolute.

"No Karl. The goddess gave me a choice. And tonight, I choose freedom."

Karl growled, circling her.

"There is no freedom from me. You carry the bond already. And you knew it can never be broken. You feel it, don't you?"

Her lips trembled but she did not look away.

"Yes, I feel it and that's why it must end tonight."

The moon goddess voice echoed through the forest, unheard by Karl but burning inside kitara's heart.

"Child, your light is not for him, but your voice will echo through time. Speak it and so it shall be."

Tears streamed down kitara's cheek. Reminiscing on her happy moments with Kiren and her daughter. Worried on how they're going to take her disappearance. She lifted her hands toward the heaven as Karl lunged, claws extended. Silver light burst from her palm, striking him backward. His roar shook the forest.

"Kitara, you cannot kill me. I am the Alpha. I am eternal."

"Then hear me, Karl Draven, and tremble. A daughter shall rise from my blood, fragile yet fierce. She will hold the light to tame the beast. But if bound in chains, she will destroy what you have built."

The power of the curse rippled through the forest. Karl staggered, his strength wavering for the first time. The weight of the curse sinking in his mind.

Kitara's body crumbled. The silver glow leaving her eyes and palm. There was heavy lightening followed by heavy rain and thunder. The moon-child is gone, leaving behind a curse for them to bear forever.

Karl's voice shook with rage as he stares at her lifeless body.

"Kitara, you will not escape me even in death. If it takes centuries, I'll claim what is mine."

Above them, the blood moon burned brighter sealing kitara's curse into eternity.