Beneath the Blood Moon (The Moon Series Trilogy#2)

"Mum?" I called as I stepped across the threshold of our front door. As usual, the cabin was deathly silent and dark as well. All the candles had been put out and the only source of light was the almost full moon that glistened from outside the windows.  "Mum? Are you home?" I asked amidst the darkness again. Though deep down I knew, that me calling her at this time would eventually be a lost cause. It was past midnight, so either she was asleep alone in her and father's bedroom, or she was out hunting with Dad. Hopefully, it was the former, because I needed her to be home. And alone. Especially for what I had planned for tonight. "Mum, are you home?" My voice came out lower this time as I slowly ascended the wooden steps towards the bedrooms. There were two of them, and mine was opposite my parents'. We lived in a cabin in the Black Woods where apparently the first werewolf had originated from. The rest of the pack didn't reside here because my father delighted in his privacy and only summoned them if he needed them to do something for him. It was my father's choice to live in these woods since he claimed that it would be better if we could interact more with nature and feel free to be our true forms wherever and whenever we wanted.  But I didn't like my wolf self. I never wanted it, but apparently, that was not my choice to decide. Carefully, I tiptoed onto the top step of the stairs and made my way to my mother's room, hoping that my father wasn't in there. Though that'd be a shock, considering that he was always out at night doing who-knows-what. That was always how it was in my family. We never stayed together in one place for more than an hour. Either it was my mother and I or it was just me. But I was content with that because I certainly did not want to be in the same confined space with my father. Not after I had found out what he had done to my mother before they had become mates plus what he was currently doing to her. The signs had all been there, added to my mother's scars - both mental and physical. Werewolves did heal - fast - but my mother had gotten scarred before my father had actually turned her into a werewolf. So naturally, they hadn't healed even though the others she had gotten afterwards had. Dad wasn't the one who had scarred her - according to Mum - because he had constantly claimed that he'd never do anything to hurt her. I ignored the pain she constantly went through because my mother had kept on reassuring me that Dad was only trying to protect us. That he had his own demons to battle. However, after the information I'd received that night on how it all happened, I had made up my mind that instant. I wasn't going to stand for any of his crazed stunts any longer. "Mum?" I whispered again as I placed my hand on the wooden doorknob and pushed it forward. Gently. It creaked a little and I winced as the sound echoed in the corridor. Peeking my head inside, I caught the unmistakable glow of candlelight on my parents' nightstand and sighed in relief when I saw my mother's lone figure lying on the bed. Cautious not to make any more noise, I slipped through the space I had created in the doorway and tiptoed to my mother's side. Watching her sleep so peacefully without any worry lines marring her beautiful face, I silently wished that I could make all her pain go away and never see those horrid lines for as long as we lived. Which would be for a very, very long time, considering the kind of beings we were. I stretched out my hand and brushed a strand of her dark brown hair out of her face. After all this time, I still couldn't get used to seeing how young and beautiful my mother was nor could I get used to the fact that she actually was my mother. Also, considering the fact that she had gotten bitten when she was twenty-two - which was just how old I was - it felt like I was looking at my twin. My unidentical twin, since I looked nothing like my mother. Except for when comparing our dark brown hair which I'd inherited from her, there were no other similarities between us. "Mum." I drew my hand away from her face and placed it on her shoulder, shaking it lightly. "Mum, wake up." She didn't respond. "Mum?" "Hmm?" she murmured sleepily before shifting to lie on her other side. My conscience growled that what I was doing was reckless and stupid. Also, I hated to wake her up when I knew that during sleep was the only moment that she ever felt at peace and free from everything involving my father. But I couldn't let her - us - stay in the same cabin with that monster. Not anymore. It wasn't that my father was an abusive Alpha. No. He didn't come home drunk then yell and beat me or my mother up for no reason. He didn't have anger issues. He didn't seek pleasure in, and by, coming into my room to touch or rape me. And he didn't come home smelling like filth nor did he harbour any female or she-wolf scent on him. Although, he did have this strong, alluring scent that seemed to follow him every time he came home from either hunting with my mother or doing whatever business he always did alone. But that wasn't the point. The actual point was that my father was a bloodthirsty killer. Every day he'd come home blood-stained with my mother right behind him, looking so frightened and as pale as sheet that it scared the hell out of me each time I saw her like that. And every time I had attempted to ask her what exactly they'd been doing or where they'd been, she would just give me a little smile and pat my cheek, then would walk away without saying a word. One time, I had even dared to confront my father and demand why he always came home looking and smelling the way he did when he was about to leave for a hunt with my mother. That very second those words had escaped my mouth, he had stopped in his tracks and had turned slowly to face me before he'd pinned me to the wall in a flash. Insanely strong hands had gripped my neck and had squeezed the air right out of my lungs as I'd fought for breath. He'd pulled my neck towards him till his lips were positioned just beside my left ear and had murmured softly, though his voice had been cold and threatening as he'd spoken. "Ask me that one more time, and I promise you, you won't ever see your mother walk through that front door again." And I'd believed him. I hadn't dared to take that risk of losing my mother because I couldn't keep my mouth shut on certain matters. But that hadn't meant I couldn't ask anyone else for answers. And after finding out discreetly - through a trusted member of my father's pack - what he'd done just to get my mother to be his, I decided that my mother and I had had enough of him. "Mum, please wake up." I shook her again, a bit harder this time.  "Wh-What...?" "Mum, get up." "What," she muttered again as her eyes fluttered open and she saw me hovering over her in the dim-lit atmosphere of the bedroom. "What's going on?" she asked groggily, eyes and voice dripping with sleep. "What're you do-?" "I'm getting you out of here." The words were out of my mouth before she could finish her sentence and I guessed that she was more than surprised at the determination laced through them. Or more so, at the words themselves. "What?" Her eyes widened in disbelief and a flicker of uncertainty gleamed in them for just a moment before she shook her head. All traces of sleep gone. "You can't be ser-" "I am," I cut her off and pulled her up into a sitting position. "I'm serious. We need to leave. Now." "But-" "Please Mum, you can ask questions later but we need to go." I grabbed her hand and pulled her onto her feet. Thankfully, she didn't protest, but rather reluctantly let me lead her towards the door. "Don't we need to take supplies?" she asked softly, though I could catch the doubtful tone in her voice. That alone made my heart twist as it pounded rapidly due to anticipation. I'm doing this for her. You're just putting her in more danger! A logical voice screamed in the back of my mind but I brushed it aside. It was worth taking the risk. She'd be in even more danger if she stayed with that monster.  "We do," I answered. "But I already have most of what we need packed and ready out..." I froze in mid-step as I stared confused and warily at the door leading out of the room. I didn't ever recall closing it. "What's wrong?" my mother asked from behind me but I couldn't bring myself to answer her. I hadn't closed that door. I took a cautious sniff of the air and all hope died inside me when my senses detected that familiar, sweet scent that I had failed to pick up earlier. s**t. Before I could warn my mother or even move an inch to protect her, a force so strong I barely had time to deflect collided fiercely with my frame and sent me crashing against the wall. Claws scraped the base of my throat as thick, muscular fingers wrapped around it. The pressure was enough to block my windpipe and my breath hitched in my throat the minute I was forced to stare up at a pair of intense red eyes. A cold smile stretched across my father's lips. "Hello, Kara."