The Truth Beneath the Blood Moon
1154 Words
The crimson hue of the Blood Moon cast eerie shadows across the academy’s ceremonial grounds. Torches blazed around the perimeter, flickering against the carved stone of the ritual circle. Ivy stood still, breath shallow, her heartbeat loud in her ears.
Her blood still buzzed from the moment she touched the silver dagger.
She wasn’t supposed to bleed like that.
Not golden. Not glowing. Not with power that made the ancient runes hum.
She could still feel Kael’s eyes on her—silent, unreadable, but burning with intensity from where he stood with the other Alphas, observing the rite.
The crowd had calmed after the flare of light and magic. But their whispers lingered like smoke.
“She’s not human…”
“No human bleeds light…”
“What did the prophecy say again?”
“I thought she was just the scholarship girl.”
Just.
They didn’t understand. Ivy didn’t understand.
She was escorted from the circle by Professor Velar and Nora, while Kael stayed back—bound by ceremony. The rest of the academy watched her every move, even those who’d ignored her until now.
“Don’t speak to anyone yet,” Velar whispered as they walked. “Let the council process this first. If what we saw was real—”
“It was,” Ivy said quietly.
Velar hesitated. “Then the academy is not the only place that will come for you.”
They returned her to her dorm, placed a warding sigil over her door, and left her alone.
Nora stayed, pacing nervously.
“What the hell was that?” she asked. “I’ve seen magical bonds, blood reactions, but that… that was ancient. Alpha Kael looked like he wanted to shift just seeing you bleed.”
“I didn’t do anything,” Ivy said, sitting on the edge of her bed. “I followed instructions. I was just supposed to prick my finger, say the vow.”
“But your blood glowed, Ivy. And those symbols lit up around the altar. That’s not normal. That’s ancestral.”
Ivy’s gaze dropped to her hand. The cut had already healed, but a faint shimmer remained—like light was trapped beneath her skin.
She barely slept that night. When she did, she dreamed of wolves with red eyes and a voice whispering in a forgotten language. Of flames consuming the academy. Of Kael lying wounded in her arms, whispering one word: “Remember.”
She woke in a cold sweat, her sheets tangled around her legs.
At dawn, a knock came at her door.
Kael.
He looked like he hadn’t slept either.
“Come with me,” he said.
No explanation. No greeting.
Just that quiet command that left no room for refusal.
They walked through the silent halls until they reached the Headmaster’s private library.
Kael shut the door behind them.
“I shouldn’t be here,” he muttered. “But I needed to see you. To ask what you felt last night.”
Ivy hesitated. “I don’t know how to explain it. I felt... heat. Pressure. Like something inside me woke up.”
“Your blood reacted to the lunar magic. That only happens when someone carries an ancient mark. A bloodline tied to the First Circle.”
She blinked. “The First Circle? That’s just a myth.”
“It’s not.” Kael stepped closer. “Only royal bloodlines could awaken the sigils etched into the ritual stones. And yours did.”
Ivy’s chest tightened.
“So what does that mean for me?”
Kael’s jaw clenched. “It means you’re not just bonded to me by accident. You were born to be a key.”
“A key to what?”
“To power. To prophecy. To something that hasn’t walked this world in over a thousand years.”
Kael handed her an old parchment.
It was a page torn from a prophecy archive.
She read aloud:
“When the blood of fire meets the Alpha born of war, the seal shall tremble, and fate will bleed into flame. One will awaken the forgotten, the other will decide their end.”
Her voice wavered. “You think that’s us?”
Kael nodded once.
“Then… which one am I? The awakener or the destroyer?”
“I don’t know yet. That’s what scares me.”
He reached out, his hand brushing her jaw lightly. The contact sent a jolt through her body, the now-familiar electricity that surged when he was close.
“I shouldn’t want this,” he said softly. “You’re human. You’re a risk. But every time I’m near you…”
His fingers slid to the back of her neck, pulling her gently forward.
“…I don’t feel like a king. I feel like a man losing control.”
Ivy’s breath caught.
“I don’t want you to lose control,” she whispered.
Kael’s lips hovered over hers.
“Then tell me to stop.”
She didn’t.
Because she didn’t want him to.
Their lips met—slow, searching, then wild and consuming. She clutched his shirt, feeling the rigid muscle beneath, the heat of him, the hunger.
He tasted like storm winds and moonlight.
But just as his hand slid under her shirt—
A knock shattered the moment.
Kael pulled back instantly, growling low in his throat.
They both turned as the Headmaster entered, expression tight.
“You shouldn’t be here, Alpha,” he said coolly.
Kael straightened. “I’ll go.”
He left without another word, but not before his eyes lingered on Ivy for one last second—silent, possessive, aching.
The Headmaster waited until the door closed before speaking.
“Ivy,” he said gently, “we need to talk about your bloodline.”
She swallowed. “Kael told me some of it.”
“There’s more.”
He pulled out a sealed letter—aged, the edges burned.
“This was delivered to the academy seventeen years ago. No return address. No scent. It was meant for you when the Blood Moon rose again.”
She opened it with shaking hands.
Inside was a single line:
“Protect the girl with flame in her blood. She carries the gift of the Moonborne.”
Ivy’s heart pounded.
“Moonborne?”
“They were the original hybrid royal line,” the Headmaster said. “Wolves born with elemental magic—fire, lightning, air. Their power was feared… and erased.”
“You’re saying I’m one of them?”
“I’m saying you may be the last.”
Later that night, Ivy stood alone on the academy balcony, staring at the sky. The Blood Moon still lingered, faint behind passing clouds.
She was no longer just a girl trying to survive.
She was a spark in a forest of secrets.
And Kael…
He wasn’t just her Alpha.
He was part of a fate far bigger than either of them.
- Writer
