Lunar Claimed

Chapter 6

I woke up burning alive.

My skin felt like it was on fire. Sweat soaked through my sheets, and my heart hammered so violently I could hear it in my ears. The room was dark, but every shadow looked sharper, every corner too defined. I sat up with a gasp, pressing my hands to my forehead.

That was when the voices started.

“Awaken…”

“The moon calls…”

“Blood of the goddess…”

I clutched my head, eyes squeezing shut. The whispers weren’t coming from outside. They were inside my skull — dozens of soft, ancient voices overlapping.

“What the hell is happening to me?” I whispered into the darkness.

My silver eye — the one that had always been slightly different — throbbed with pain. The heat under my skin grew worse, crawling through my veins like liquid fire. I stumbled out of bed and made it to the bathroom just in time to vomit.

Elias found me there twenty minutes later, curled on the cold tile floor.

He didn’t look surprised.

“Grandpa…” My voice cracked. “Make it stop.”

He knelt beside me, placing a rough hand on my back. For the first time since I arrived in Blackridge, his face showed real fear.

“It’s starting,” he said quietly. “Sooner than I hoped.”

I looked up at him through blurry vision. “What’s starting?”

Elias helped me sit up against the bathtub. His hands trembled slightly as he brushed damp hair from my face.

“You carry Lunar Born blood, Nova. Ancient blood. Your mother tried to hide it by running away, but the moon always finds its own. In two days, when the full moon rises, it will force your first shift.”

“Shift?” The word tasted foreign on my tongue. “Like… into a wolf?”

“Something more than that.” His voice dropped. “The Lunar Born are different. Stronger. Rarer. The Blackthorn twins scented it the moment you arrived. That’s why they can’t stay away. You’re their fated mate — both of them. A shared bond that hasn’t happened in centuries.”

I stared at him, stunned.

All the bullying, the possessiveness, the strange pull I felt toward them… it wasn’t random. It was fate. Or a curse.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I whispered.

“Because knowing wouldn’t have stopped it,” he said heavily. “It only would’ve made you more afraid.”

I spent the rest of the night in a fevered haze, alternating between freezing and burning. The voices never fully stopped. By morning, I felt like a live wire — every sound, every smell, every touch too intense.

I should have stayed home.

Instead, I went to school.

The moment I stepped into the hallway, I knew I’d made a mistake.

The noise was unbearable. Hundreds of voices, lockers slamming, footsteps — it all crashed into my head at once. I pressed my hands over my ears, but it didn’t help. The scents were even worse. Perfume, sweat, cafeteria food, cleaning chemicals. My stomach turned violently.

I made it to my locker before the first wave hit.

My vision sharpened painfully. I could see individual dust particles floating in the air. My hands started shaking uncontrollably. The heat returned, worse than before, spreading through my bones like they were cracking open.

Not here. Please, not here.

I turned and ran.

Students scattered as I shoved past them. I didn’t know where I was going — I just needed somewhere quiet. My legs carried me down a side hallway until I burst into an empty classroom.

The door slammed behind me.

I slid down the wall, breathing hard, trying to fight the overwhelming sensations flooding my body.

The door opened again.

Damien stepped inside, closing it softly behind him. His stormy gray eyes scanned me with sharp concern.

“Nova,” he said, voice low. “Breathe.”

“I can’t—” My voice broke. “Everything is too loud. Too bright. I feel like I’m breaking apart.”

He crossed the room in three strides and knelt in front of me. For once, there was no arrogance, no cold dominance. Just quiet intensity.

“I know,” he murmured. “I remember my first time. It feels like dying. But you’re not dying. You’re waking up.”

He reached out slowly, giving me time to pull away. When I didn’t, he cupped my face with both hands. His palms were cool against my fevered skin. The contact sent a different kind of heat through me — soothing, grounding.

“Look at me,” he commanded gently. “Only me.”

I locked onto his gray eyes. The chaos in my head quieted slightly.

“That’s it,” he whispered. “Focus on my voice. On my scent. Let everything else fade.”

I didn’t know how long we stayed like that — his hands on my face, our foreheads nearly touching. For the first time since arriving in Blackridge, I felt safe with one of them.

“You’re going to be okay,” he said softly. “We won’t let anything happen to you.”

“Why are you being nice to me?” I whispered.

Damien’s thumbs brushed my cheekbones. “Because fighting this bond is getting harder every day. And I’m tired of pretending I don’t want you.”

My breath caught.

Before I could respond, the classroom door burst open.

Darius stood there, breathing hard like he’d run across the school. His silver eyes landed on us — on Damien’s hands still cupping my face — and something dark flashed across his expression.

“Break’s over,” he said roughly. “We need to get her out of here before she loses control in front of everyone.”

Damien helped me stand. My legs were shaky, but I managed to walk between them as they escorted me out of the building. Students stared openly. Whispers followed us like a storm.

Darius stayed close on my right, his hand occasionally brushing my lower back. “We’ll be there when you shift,” he said quietly. “Whether you want us or not. You’re not doing this alone.”

I didn’t know how to feel about that promise.

I barely made it through the rest of the day.

By the final bell, I was hanging on by a thread. The moment I got home, I rushed to the bathroom and locked the door.

I splashed cold water on my face, trying to calm down. My reflection stared back at me — pale, wild-eyed, exhausted.

Then I saw it.

My left eye — the silver one — was glowing.

Not just bright. It was literally glowing with an inner light, like moonlight trapped beneath my iris. The green one looked normal, but the contrast made me look otherworldly. Dangerous.

I stumbled back from the mirror, heart racing.

“What am I?” I whispered.

The voices returned, louder than before.

“Awaken, daughter of the moon…”

“The shift is coming…”

“They will try to claim you…”

I gripped the sink, breathing hard. The heat in my bones was building again. My fingernails ached. My teeth felt too sharp.

Something inside me was waking up — something ancient and powerful.

And in two days, under the full moon, it would tear its way out.

The worst part?

A small, terrifying part of me was starting to look forward to it.