BENEATH THE BLOOD MOON
878 Words
The full moon rose, and with it, something shifted.
Not just in the sky, but in Kaelen’s bones.
He felt it before it even crested the treetops—his skin prickling, nerves thrumming, that quiet roar of the wild buried deep inside his chest beginning to stir. Tonight was the first Blood Moon of the season. And with it came risk, ritual... and revelation.
He shouldn't be anywhere near her.
And yet, as darkness settled over Crescent Hollow, his instincts pulled him toward Aria Wolfe like she was the only thing tethering him to sanity.
The Restlessness
Aria sat at her desk, flipping through a book she wasn’t reading.
It was after 10, and the quiet of the dorm made everything feel louder—her heartbeat, her thoughts, her memory of Kaelen’s voice. She’d gone over every word he’d said on the rooftop last night at least fifty times.
“You’re temptation. And one of us is going to burn.”
Why did that sound less like a warning and more like a promise?
The knock at her window made her jump.
She turned sharply, startled, only to find Kaelen crouched on the narrow ledge just outside, hood drawn low, silver eyes sharp even in the darkness.
“What are you—”
“Come with me,” he said.
He didn’t wait for an answer.
The Woods Again
He led her deep into the forest behind campus—silent, focused, always glancing over his shoulder as if something might emerge from the trees.
“The Blood Moon isn’t safe,” he said finally. “Not for you. Not when the boundary between instinct and control thins.”
“Then why bring me here?” Aria asked.
Kaelen stopped, turning to her slowly.
“Because I need you to see who I really am. And because if I lose control... you need to know how far this goes.”
The Change
They reached a clearing veiled in mist.
Kaelen breathed deeply. He took off his hoodie, baring his chest, scars running down his side like claw marks from another life. His jaw clenched.
And then—his eyes glowed silver again.
His spine arched. Muscles rippled. A growl tore from his throat—not human.
Bones cracked.
Aria gasped as his body shifted, stretched, twisted with a sickening rhythm that was beautiful and horrifying all at once. Fur burst from his skin. His face lengthened. Claws sprouted where fingers had been.
In moments, where Kaelen stood, now loomed a massive silver-black wolf—majestic, deadly, watching her.
He lowered his head, breathing heavy, nostrils flaring like he could taste her on the wind.
Her pulse thundered.
But she didn’t run.
Instead, she stepped forward, slow and steady, until she was close enough to feel the heat of his body radiating off the beast.
“You’re still you,” she whispered.
The wolf stared.
And then—he bowed.
Eyes in the Trees
But they weren’t alone.
Aria felt it. The shift in the air. The prickle down her spine.
She turned just in time to see another shadow dart through the trees—smaller, faster, watching. Then another.
Kaelen growled, low and threatening.
Other wolves.
Not friendly.
One leapt into the clearing—brindle-furred, teeth bared.
Kaelen lunged before it could reach her. The fight was brutal. Bone on bone. Fang against fang.
Aria screamed as Kaelen was knocked back, then retaliated, pinning the intruder with a savage fury.
And then—they were gone. The intruder fled into the woods, leaving blood and silence behind.
Kaelen shifted back—breathing hard, blood on his chest, body shaking from the strain.
“Aria,” he gasped.
She ran to him, catching his face in her hands. “What was that?”
“They’re scouts. From another pack,” he rasped. “They’ve been watching you. Watching me. They know now. They’ll tell their Alpha.”
“What does that mean?”
Kaelen’s eyes, still half-glowing, locked on hers. “It means the war I’ve been avoiding just found us.”
A Choice
Back in her dorm, Aria helped clean the blood from his side. Her hands trembled, but she said nothing as she dabbed the wound with a cloth. He was quiet, letting her tend to him, jaw clenched.
When she was done, she stood between his knees.
“I’m not afraid,” she said.
“You should be.”
“Why?” she asked. “Because you’re a wolf? Because of some ancient rule that says we can’t be together?”
“No.” He looked up at her like she was sunlight breaking through storm clouds. “Because if they come for you, I won’t follow the rules anymore. I’ll burn down everything to protect you. Even my own pack.”
She swallowed hard.
“Then let it burn.”
The Blood Moon’s Gift
As he left, Aria found something else on her window. Not a flower this time.
A mark.
Scratched into the wood.
A symbol she didn’t recognize—two overlapping crescents bound by a line.
She traced it with her finger.
She didn’t know what it meant.
But something deep in her bones told her—
This was only the beginning.
- Writer
