Curse of the Blue Blood Moon

    Onyx growled low in his chest as he crouched over his mate, his back to the massive Sacred Willow. His mate whimpered and whined on the ground beneath him, but he couldn’t spare a glance for her now. The rest of the pack was circled around them, some on the ground whining or howling, lost in their own pain. Some stared, transfixed, at the sky, howling and muttering as their eyes and fur seemed to glow a pale silver under the stars.      Others, however, had been overcome with a strange madness. Their eyes glowed red, mirroring the now almost entirely eclipsed moon lowering over the horizon. They snarled and barked, no sense behind their sounds or movements. In them Onyx saw only chaos and, in a few, bloodlust. The smell of blood from the Luna's labor trickling along the cold stone of the mountainside seemed to make the mad wolves more feral. Without any regard for the warning growls from their Alpha, they charged towards her, but Onyx was too fast for any of them. He deftly snapped necks with his powerful jaws, battering away the attackers with his enormous claws. He was an Alpha warrior in his prime and there is nothing he wouldn’t do for Frost. Not when she was suffering. Not when the life of their pup was on the line.      Fangs and claws flashed red. The whimpers and death rattles of the fallen wolves echoed across the mountains through the snow-covered trees.      But Frost saw none of it.     When the first contractions of her labor came she was still in her human form, Marianna. Both Marianna and Frost were utterly terrified. It was too soon; almost four weeks too soon. She had collapsed at the feast celebrating the Super Blue Blood Moon, throwing the festivities into chaos. The moon rose and everyone, including Luna Marianna, was forced to shift. She and Frost tried to resist - it was so dangerous for the pup - but the will of the Moon Goddess had to be obeyed. All she knew was agony as her bones popped and shifted into place, as she tried to control the motions around her womb so as not to lose her firstborn. Onyx and the warriors of Silvermoon Pack had carried her up the mountain to the Sacred Willow, praying all the while for their Luna and their future Alpha.      Why would the Moon Goddess do this?      Onyx and his human form, Benedict, had kept up their mindlink, saying soothing things to her. He professed his love over and over, his joy to meet their pup, his belief in her strength to make it through this terrible twist of fate. She treasured every word. The Moon Goddess had given her a beautiful, loving, strong mate. Both Marianna and Frost prayed that the Goddess was not planning to take them away tonight. Not before they'd gotten to meet their pup, to share that joy with their mate.   Then the pain made her vision go white. She could hear nothing, smell nothing. Even her mate bond with Onyx seemed to vanish.     “I need her.”     Frost was standing in an open, pure white field of snow. Gone was the mountain, the pack… the pain. Above was a jet black, starless sky with the partially eclipsed blood moon huge and low, glowing with a burning red light, seeming to almost touch the earth. Marianna took a sharp breath, cowering below it, digging her hands into the thick fur of Frost’s ruff. She furrowed her brow and looked down. Frost looked up at her. But that couldn’t be. She and Frost were one and the same - how could she be standing beside her wolf? Frost immediately sensed her distress and leaned into her side, ears back, moving her snout so as to have Marianna’s hand on the top of her head.  “I need your daughter.”     Marianna looked up from her wolf and saw that now the clear line of the field of snow was broken by a single tree - the Sacred Willow. It seemed to glow like molten silver, caught between the white brilliance of the snow and the bright ruby light of the partially eclipsed moon above. Before the trunk stood a pair of figures. One was a massive wolf, easily twice the size of Frost. Her coat was dark midnight blue in color, with flecks of silver, white, emerald, amethyst, and lapis scattered across it like the stars and galaxies in the sky. The colors seemed to shift as the animal breathed, as if each breath called new stars and solar systems to life. Her eyes were wide and a glowing pure white, but Marianna and Frost where sure she was staring them down, sizing them up with the surety only an apex predator can have.      The other figure was a woman, tall and impossibly beautiful with skin that seemed to shimmer like mother of pearl. She was dressed in a long gown lined with white and silver fur, decorated with pearls and pale gemstones in hypnotizing patterns that brought to mind the Northern Lights. Atop her head was a circlet that seemed to be made of the stars themselves, dancing and twinkling happily across the woman’s brow. Her long, silver hair floated above and away from her gently, giving the impression that she was standing in a gentle breeze. But it was her eyes that caught Marianna’s attention. As she stared, the woman’s eyes seemed to shift colors to an impossible degree. One moment they were a brilliant sapphire blue, then next they had seamlessly shifted to match the ruby of the blood moon overhead. They drank Marianna and Frost in.     “I need your daughter. I will ensure her safety.”     Finally Marianna understood. She fell to her knees in the snow, and Frost cowered similarly beside her.     “Great Mistress, Keeper of the Stars, Creator of our kin. My Lady Selene, Goddess of the Moon - how may I serve you?”     Marianna felt a hand on her head and flinched. The touch was gentle, but the energy radiating off of it was intense. The thrum of it seemed to pull at her heart and soul, willing her to come closer. She looked up to see the Goddess smiling down at her, and her anxiety melted away. The eyes of the Goddess danced with happiness as she beamed at Marianna.     “Daughter Marianna, Frost.” The Goddess didn’t so much speak as made her words known. The meaning echoed in Marianna and Frost’s minds. “This night brings a moment I may only have with my race once every one hundred and fifty years. Not everyone can withstand the power I radiate this night, that I am finally able to share. But you, your mate, your line - your daughter will be special beyond compare. I will need her, when the time comes. I ensure her safety tonight; you must ensure her safety and preparedness for the challenges ahead.”     “Of course, your Majesty,” Marianna whispered, tears flooding her eyes at the radiance of the Goddess. “Please, tell me, what will my pup face? How can I prepare her?”     There was an almost imperceptible change to the Goddess’ posture, but Frost noticed it. The Goddess seemed to falter, as if almost unsure. “The future is still unwritten, but she must be ready. For everything.”     Marianna furrowed her brow in confusion. She didn’t want to question the Goddess - she knew plenty of the Goddess’ wrath - but ‘everything’ wasn’t much to go on. Should her daughter train as a warrior? That had already been the plan, seeing as she was to be heir to the Silvermoon Pack. Should she train as a sage, and become versed in the ancient, mystic ways? A scholar? A healer?      “Everything.”     The tone of the Goddess told Marianna it was not up for discussion. It was a command. She bowed her head low once again. “Yes, your Majesty.”     “Your mate fights for both your lives, and my time in the sky is ending. Both of you will live, as shall your pup. Regret nothing of this night; your family has my blessing. Walk in the Moonlight with Grace.” “Walk in the Daylight with Surety. Thank you, your Majesty.”     Frost opened her eyes with a roar and one final push. Her pup entered the world just as the dawn broke over the mountainside. Tiny cries brought every motion in the clearing to a halt. Onyx, his black coat covered in blood, looked down with joy to see his pup. What he saw horrified him. There, nursing at his mate’s side, was a half wolf, half human pup. The skin of her face, chest, arms, and hands was a light olive tone in the light of the dawn, but she had the ears, ruff, tail, and hindlegs of a Red Wolf. The bright red and gold fur was a stark contrast against the white of his mate’s. He looked at her, fear and confusion written all over his face. Through their mindlink, she laughed, “We have a lot to talk about.”