His Luna's Gift

The city reeked of silver, ash, and secrets. Lucien crouched on the rooftop ledge of an old clocktower, a specter draped in tailored darkness. The rain had slowed to a mist, leaving the streets below glistening like broken glass under neon lights. Down there, buried beneath layers of magic and machinery, someone was running. A vampire. And Lucien was in no mood to let this one live. His icy blue eyes tracked the flickering trail of heat left behind by his prey. Each step the bloodsucker took left a ghostly whisper on the pavement, visible only to eyes like Lucien’s—eyes born of old magic, blood, and war. He tilted his head, listening to the erratic heartbeat echoing faintly from the maze of alleys below. The predator's grin that stretched across his face was slow and deliberate. "You should’ve stayed in the dark," he muttered, voice a low rumble swallowed by the wind. This wasn’t just another hunt. This was a message. The vampire had broken one of the oldest pacts which was 'do not feed on humans in wolf territory'. Not only had the leech ignored it, he’d done so in public. Careless, bold or maybe just stupid. Lucien stepped off the ledge and dropped three stories to the pavement. He landed without a sound. No splash, no stumble. His coat barely fluttered. He moved through the city like a shadow drawn by moonlight, steps precise and calm. He didn’t run. Lucien didn’t need to run. The vampire was already tiring, lungs pulling ragged at the air, fueled only by desperation. Fear did most of the chasing for him. Then it happened. A flicker in the air. Not from the vampire. From her. He caught her scent like a slap_sweet, strange, and completely out of place. Not a wolf. Not a vampire. Human and a female at that. And then the heartbeat. Pure and unfamiliar. Too close. Lucien slowed. He didn’t know why, but something inside him reeled like a tether had pulled taut. His instincts screamed something he couldn’t quite name. His vision sharpened. Muscles coiled tighter. Then the vampire veered sharply and barreled into a narrow alley. Lucien followed. What he saw made something primal surge in his chest. The girl stood frozen by the dumpster, wide-eyed, headphones around her neck, rain streaking her cheeks. She couldn’t have been more than twenty. Ordinary clothes. Ordinary life. She never should’ve been here. The vampire reached her first, grabbed her by the wrist and yanked her in front of him like a shield. "Don’t come closer!" the vampire hissed, fangs bared. "I’ll kill her—" Lucien moved. No hesitation. No warning. He appeared in front of them in a blur of motion, catching the vampire’s wrist mid-threat. Bone snapped with a sickening crack, followed by a screech of pain. The girl gasped and stumbled back, clutching her hand to her chest as she pressed against the alley wall. "You really don’t know how to shut up," Lucien said coldly. "That’s mistake number three." "W-what—?" "Feeding where you shouldn't. Running where I could find you." Lucien’s grip tightened. "And showing her our world." The vampire flailed, but Lucien was done. One strike, no claws, no transformation. Just a brutal, surgical twist that shattered the vampire’s neck and ended it in an instant. The body crumpled to the ground, motionless, eyes frozen in terror. Lucien exhaled slowly, flexing his fingers as if shaking off dust. Then silence. The girl was still there. Knees shaking. Rain plastered her hair to her face. Her chest rose and fell rapidly as she stared at him like he was something ancient that had just crawled from the shadows. "Y-you... you killed him..." Her voice was barely audible. Lucien didn’t answer. He turned to leave, footsteps echoing softly in the tight corridor. But her scent lingered. Gods, why was her scent still clinging to him like smoke? Something about her pulled at him. A whisper in the dark corners of his mind. He hated it. "Don’t follow me," he said without looking back. His voice was low, clipped. Not unkind and not kind either. It was the voice of someone used to being obeyed. A person used to being feared. She didn’t answer. She just stood there, clutching her coat, eyes wide with a mixture of horror and awe. He vanished into the rain. And behind him, fate smiled quietly.