Chapter Five: The Blood Moon Revelation
1313 Words
The halls of the Blackridge estate felt eerily quiet as Aria followed Lucien. The moon outside was full and glowing crimson—a Blood Moon. It pulsed like a heartbeat in the sky, casting a strange shimmer across the windows. Her skin prickled. Something was not right.
Lucien stopped outside a thick steel door at the far end of the east wing. She had not seen this part of the house before. He turned to her, gazing heavily.
“I’m about to show you something no one outside my bloodline has seen,” he said. “You will have questions. I may not have all the answers. But you need to see it.”
Her fingers trembled, but she nodded.
Lucien opened the door.
Inside was a circular chamber lit by torches. The walls were etched with runes—some glowing faintly in the moonlight. At the center stood a pedestal, and upon it, a mirror. But not just any mirror. Its surface rippled like water, humming with dormant power.
Aria stepped closer. Her reflection stared back… and then shifted.
She gasped.
The mirror showed her with golden eyes, her skin alight with radiant marks like ancient symbols. Her wolf looked nothing like she knew—this one was white, glowing with the same golden fire that had overtaken her the night she was rejected. And behind her stood a woman with silver hair, wearing a crown of flames.
“That’s not me,” Aria whispered.
“It is,” Lucien said. “That’s your true form.”
Aria staggered backward. “No… this has to be a mistake.”
“It’s not.” Lucien came closer. “This mirror is an ancestral relic. It shows the soul’s truth. That form—it is not just any wolf. That is the mark of the First Daughter of the Eclipse Bloodline. That is Royal Blood, Aria. Cursed blood.”
Aria’s heart slammed in her chest. “I am… I am part of the cursed line?”
He nodded grimly. “The Eclipse Bloodline was hunted and wiped out centuries ago. Except one child survived. The prophecy said she would rise again during the Blood Moon and bring balance—or destruction.”
Her voice cracked. “Why didn’t anyone tell me?”
“Because if the wrong people find out,” Lucien said, “they’ll try to control you—or kill you.”
The mirror’s surface flared again, this time showing not Aria, but a dark forest, and someone screaming.
Lucien stiffened. “That’s near the southern border.”
Suddenly, the door to the chamber burst open.
A guard stumbled in, blood coating his armor.
“They’re here!” he choked. “The Crimson Fang Pack—they have breached the boundary. They are looking for… her.”
Panic flared in Lucien’s eyes.
“Take her to the tunnels,” he ordered the remaining guards. “Now.”
But before they could move, the torches along the walls blew out in unison.
A cold gust swept the chamber.
And then, from the shadows, a voice echoed:
“Too late, Blackridge. You hid her well… but I always find what belongs to me.”
Aria turned slowly, every hair on her body standing up.
From the doorway stepped Kael.
His eyes were not the stormy grey she remembered.
They were glowing crimson.
The Mate Turned Monster
“Kael?” Aria whispered.
But the man who stepped forward was not the boy she once loved. Gone was the gentle warmth in his gaze. The man before her wore blood like war paint, his aura twisted with something darker. Something ancient.
Lucien moved instinctively in front of Aria, his body tense. “Get behind me.”
Kael smirked, his voice a slow burn. “So, this is the great Alpha Lucien. Do you know what it feels like to be replaced, Lucien? To mark her… only for her power to belong to someone else?”
Lucien’s hands clenched. “You rejected her. That power was never yours.”
Kael’s lips curled. “Oh, but it was. And she was. Until you ruined it.”
Aria’s throat tightened. “You left me to die, Kael. You made me feel like I was worthless—”
“Because you were dangerous!” Kael shouted, taking a step forward. “Your wolf is a cursed relic. I saw it. I felt it the night I marked you. You were burning me from the inside. I had to cut the bond before it destroyed everything.”
Aria staggered. “So, you broke me… to save yourself?”
Kael’s expression softened for a second. “I tried to forget you. I tried to move on. But when the Blood Moon rose, I felt it again—your power. And now I want it back.”
Lucien stepped forward, growling. “Over my dead body.”
Kael’s eyes flashed. “Gladly.”
In the blink of an eye, Kael lunged.
Lucien shifted mid-air, his wolf tearing through his clothes, meeting Kael’s beast in a thunderous clash. The chamber shook with force. Aria backed against the mirror, heart hammering as fangs tore, claws scraped, and bones cracked.
“Aria, go!” Lucien’s voice echoed in her head—mind-link.
But she could not move. Not because she was afraid. But because something inside her was awakening. Her blood burned, her skin tingled, and her wolf—her true wolf—was clawing her way forward.
She heard a whimper—Lucien’s wolf stumbled, blood dripping from his side.
Kael loomed over him.
Aria screamed.
And then…
It happened.
A searing heat tore through her chest. She dropped to her knees, light exploding from her skin. Her eyes snapped open, glowing gold.
Everyone froze.
Even Kael.
Aria rose slowly, her hair lifted by an unseen wind, her skin covered in ancient golden sigils.
Lucien stared at her, wide-eyed. “Moon Goddess…”
Kael stepped back. “No. This is not possible. You have not completed the shift.”
But Aria raised her hand.
The mirror behind her shattered, releasing a wave of energy that threw both Kael and Lucien across the room.
“Stop hurting each other!” she cried, her voice layered—hers and something divine.
The golden light dimmed. She collapsed to her knees, chest heaving.
Lucien scrambled to her side. “Aria! Are you okay?”
She nodded weakly. “I think… I think I saw everything.”
He looked at her, confused.
“I saw why Kael rejected me. I saw my past—my parents… they died protecting me. I saw the curse. And I saw the future.”
Lucien tensed. “What future?”
Aria looked up, eyes haunted. “Kael… he is not the end. He is just the beginning.”
From across the room, Kael groaned, lifting himself.
“You don’t know what you’ve unleashed,” he spat. “Others are coming for her. More powerful than me. You cannot protect her.”
Lucien bared his fangs. “Watch me.”
Kael gave a dark chuckle, blood trickling from his lip. “She will burn your world down, Alpha. Just wait.”
With a shimmer of black mist, he vanished.
The room fell silent.
Lucien pulled Aria into his arms, holding her tight. “Are you okay?”
“No,” she whispered. “But I will be.”
He brushed her hair back. “You saved my life.”
She looked up at him. “You saved mine first.”
Their faces inched closer.
But before their lips could touch, a loud c***k split the air.
The ground beneath them shook violently.
And from the ruins of the shattered mirror, a voice echoed—one that did not belong to Kael.
“She has awakened. Tell the council... the Eclipse heir has returned.”
- Writer
