Chapter Six: Secrets Beneath the Moon
709 Words
The cave was silent.
Only the sound of the waterfall echoed through the darkness.
Lena couldn't take her eyes off the glowing crescent mark on her wrist.
"This... this can't be real," she whispered.
"I've had this mark since I was born."
Kai's grandfather nodded.
"Because you were born under the Blood Moon Eclipse."
Lena looked at him, confusion filling her emerald-green eyes.
"You keep talking about a prophecy, but no one is telling me the whole truth."
The old man sighed heavily.
"My name is Alpha Alden Blackwood."
Lena blinked.
"Alpha?"
"I lead the Moon Pack."
She slowly turned to Kai.
"So... you're..."
"The future Alpha," Kai answered quietly.
The words hung in the air.
Everything suddenly made sense.
The respect...
The fear...
The secrecy...
Kai wasn't just another werewolf.
He was the prince of the Moon Pack.
Alden sat on a large stone.
"Long ago, all werewolf packs lived in peace."
He drew a circle in the dirt with a stick.
"In the center stood the Moon Pack. We protected humans and kept balance among the packs."
He drew another mark outside the circle.
"But one pack wanted more."
"The Blood Fang Pack."
Kai nodded.
"They wanted power over humans instead of peace."
"So a war began?"
Alden's expression darkened.
"A terrible one."
"It lasted decades."
"And then?"
"The Moon Goddess chose a child."
Lena instinctively touched the mark on her wrist.
"The Moon Child?"
Alden nodded.
"The prophecy says she possesses the power to restore peace..."
"...or plunge the world into endless darkness."
Lena shook her head.
"I'm just a normal girl."
"No," Kai said softly.
"You only believed you were."
The cave suddenly fell silent.
Lena swallowed.
"Tell me about my parents."
Kai and Alden exchanged uneasy glances.
Finally...
Alden spoke.
"Your mother knew the truth."
Lena's heart skipped.
"What?"
"She wasn't a werewolf."
"But she knew we existed."
Lena frowned.
"My mom never told me."
"She couldn't."
"Why?"
"She made a promise."
Alden's eyes softened.
"To protect you."
Lena felt tears sting her eyes.
"My father...?"
Alden looked away.
"I'm sorry."
"We don't know who he was."
"He disappeared before you were born."
Lena's shoulders slumped.
"So I've been searching for answers my whole life..."
"...and now there are even more questions."
Kai stepped closer.
"We'll find them."
She looked into his golden eyes.
"You really believe that?"
"I do."
There was something comforting about the way he looked at her.
For the first time since arriving in Moonridge...
She didn't feel alone.
Hours later...
The rain had stopped.
Kai walked Lena back toward town.
The forest was unusually peaceful.
"So..." Lena smiled.
"Were you born a werewolf?"
Kai laughed quietly.
"Yes."
"I thought maybe you got bitten."
He smiled.
"That's only something humans made up in stories."
She giggled.
"So... what else have humans gotten wrong?"
Kai pretended to think.
"Hmm..."
"We don't howl at every full moon."
Lena laughed.
"Really?"
"Only when my grandfather gives long speeches."
She burst into laughter.
Kai couldn't help laughing too.
For a brief moment...
They forgot about prophecies.
Forgot about enemies.
Forgot about the danger waiting in the shadows.
It was just...
Kai and Lena.
As they reached the edge of town...
Kai suddenly stopped walking.
"What is it?" Lena asked.
He looked toward the sky.
"The moon..."
Its silver glow had suddenly turned crimson.
Alden's voice echoed from behind them.
"That's impossible..."
Lena followed their gaze.
Dark clouds swirled around the moon.
The air became cold.
Then—
A scream echoed from Moonridge.
Another.
Then another.
Smoke rose into the night sky.
Kai's eyes widened.
"The town!"
Without another word, he transformed into his black wolf and raced toward the smoke.
Lena stared after him for only a second before running after him.
Something terrible had happened.
And somehow...
She knew it had everything to do with her.
Far above Moonridge, on the roof of the old church...
Viktor stood with a sinister smile.
Beside him was a cloaked figure whose face remained hidden.
"The girl has accepted the truth," the stranger said.
Viktor nodded.
"Exactly as you predicted."
The stranger slowly raised a hand.
A silver crescent mark glowed on their wrist...
The same mark Lena carried.
"There can only be one Moon Child."
- Writer
