Bound by the Moon

Elena~2

I groaned as my back slammed against the tree bark, my eyes watering in pain. The werewolf paid me no mind, his jaw clenched as he regarded me carefully.

“How did you make it this far to these parts?” His grip on my arm tightened, sharp claws digging into my skin. “What are you? A hunter?”

I shook my head quickly. “No! I swear. I came looking for a Lycan.”

The shifter’s eyes narrowed and hardened as he regarded me. “What did you want to do with them? We Lycans know your kind well— you kill and you destroy.” He inched closer, his stance dominant and threatening as he rose to his full height. I trembled when he towered over me easily. “Did you think you would fulfill your goal?”

“No, you have to listen to me! I am a rights activist, and I wandered here in search of a Lycan representative to champion my cause. I would never hurt another creature—…”

The shifter rolled his eyes. “I don’t believe you. You humans, aside from being the earth’s worst traitors, also craft up wonderful lies. Also… there is no way I am leaving you alive to wander around werewolf territory.”

My blood ran cold at his words. “Please wait! You can’t—…”

Suddenly the air stilled just as an object whooshed past my ear and landed on the shifter. He groaned loudly, his eyes wide, as he dropped to his knees.

“What the F?” The Lycan stared at his hands in shock, which were drenched red with his blood. I squealed, stumbling backwards and landing on my ass. The Lycan gurgled around his words, and just as I started to comprehend him, blood spilled from the sides of his lips.

I shrieked at the gory sight, immediately rushing to his side as I tried to pinpoint the problem. It was easy enough to spot a silver bullet embedded in the man’s naked torso.

I gasped when the moonlight hit the wound. The skin around the bullet was littered with purplish blue veins. It was clearly infected, the flesh pulsing and rotting before my eyes.

“Wolfsbane.” I locked eyes with the Lycan, only to find him staring back at me. His gaze conveyed only one message, loud and clear, though it carried no sound. Help me.

Without any hesitation, I pushed my index finger underneath the bullet. The flesh gave away easily, spilling purple liquid onto my palm.

The shifter tried to muffle his groans behind his palm, his eyes scrunched in agony. I found that my heart ached for him, even though he had threatened to kill me moments before.

“Just a little more...” The second my curved finger grazed the metal structure, I began to pull. It was even harder to get out, considering the man’s accelerated healing had already begun to close up around the wound. This was the most effective way to kill a werewolf after all, by using their own natural advantages against them and trapping the poison within.

The bullet sprang out with a loud pop, landing on the grass beside us. The shifter’s face was beaded with sweat as he heaved, yet he forced his eyes open weakly.

“Thank you.”

I had just opened my mouth to respond when his head snapped to the side. It was the direction in which the bullet had come from, and I knew that wasn't a good sign.

“The one that shot me expects me to be dead. There will be more, and he will return with more hunters.” The Lycan stumbled to his feet, his hand covering the bullet wound even as it spilled blood from the spaces between his fingers. “They will not spare you simply because you are human. Those hunters kill anything that moves on sight. You will not escape these woods with your life.”

Wow, more exciting news.

“What should I do?”

“No human has ever asked me for help. What a strange one you are.” The Lycan blinked at me, his expression clearly surprised. “Come with me. If we move now, we can make it to Vale by sunrise.”

I blinked rapidly, my mind processing too many changes at once. “What about your arm?”

The Lycan gave me a glimpse of his wound. The only telltale signs that anything had happened were the dried crust of blood and the angry pink skin where the bullet used to be.

It was common knowledge that werewolves healed fast, but it was a different thing to experience it before my very eyes.

He grabbed my hand, and his touch was much gentler this time. “We must move now. Come along.”

Without hesitation, I followed the Lycan into the night.