CHAPTER TWO: THE BLOODMOON FESTIVAL
1087 Words
CHAPTER TWO
The sun bled into the horizon, and the forest of Bloodmoon Pack came alive with the glow of crimson lanterns. The air was thick with the scent of pine, smoke, and something ancient — anticipation. It was the night of the Bloodmoon Festival, when the Moon Goddess revealed mates and marked destinies.
Aderin stood by the small stream behind her grandmother’s house, her reflection trembling in the water. She had tried to calm her racing heart all day, but her wolf, Seya, stirred restlessly inside her.
“Something will happen tonight,” the voice echoed faintly in her mind.
“I can feel it.”
Aderin closed her eyes, letting her fingers graze the cool water. Her grandmother’s words replayed in her memory: Don’t hide today. You are a daughter of the moon, too.
She didn’t feel like one. She felt like an echo — a presence in a world that never truly saw her. But tonight, she promised herself she would stand tall, even if no one heard her voice.
By the time she arrived at the clearing, the celebration had begun.
Torches ringed the open field, their flames swaying like dancers. Wolves in human form moved among the crowd — laughing, drinking, flirting — their energy vibrating so strong that Aderin could feel the pulse of it through the ground.
Everywhere she turned, faces glowed with hope. For most, tonight was about love — the night they might find their mate. For others, it was a reminder of what fate could take away.
She kept close to the shadows, her bare feet brushing the cool grass. Her white gown shimmered faintly under the moonlight — her grandmother’s handiwork. It made her look ethereal, otherworldly, though Aderin felt anything but divine.
Her eyes drifted to the center stage — a stone platform carved with moon symbols. There, the Alpha, Kael Bloodmoon, stood tall and commanding in a dark ceremonial robe. His presence dominated the field, every line of his body speaking authority and control.
Even from afar, Aderin could feel the pull of him. It wasn’t just attraction; it was a gravitational force. Her wolf whimpered softly, pressing against the walls of her chest.
“He’s near.”
Aderin’s breath hitched.
The crowd parted as Kael raised his hand — the gesture that silenced all noise. He began to speak, his voice carrying over the crowd, though Aderin couldn’t hear it. She watched his lips, the shape of his words forming a rhythm of command and reverence.
He was thanking the Moon Goddess.
He was blessing the pack.
He was promising strength, unity… devotion.
She could read it all, but she couldn’t feel the meaning. Not truly.
Her gaze fell to the woman standing beside him — Selena — her beauty sharp as moonlight. She clung to Kael’s arm, every movement deliberate, possessive. The crowd adored her. The pack had long accepted her as the Alpha’s future Luna.
Aderin looked away.
The torches dimmed as the moon climbed higher — round and red as blood.
Gasps rippled through the crowd. Even without sound, Aderin could feel the shift — the thrum of excitement, the rise of energy that made her skin prickle.
The Bloodmoon was rising.
Kael stepped forward, his eyes glinting under the crimson light. Around him, couples began to glow faintly — the mark of mates being revealed. Wolves cried out in joy. Some wept. Others embraced.
Aderin’s chest tightened. She shouldn’t be here. She didn’t belong in this sea of sound and celebration.
She turned to leave.
Then — pain.
It hit her so suddenly she gasped. A sharp, burning ache spread from her chest to her fingertips, as if something inside her had caught fire. Her knees buckled, her breath shattered.
Her wolf screamed inside her, “Mate! He’s here!”
Aderin froze, eyes wide. She turned slowly — and saw him.
Kael’s golden eyes were locked on hers, glowing brighter than the torches. His expression shifted — confusion, shock, disbelief.
The crowd began to murmur.
Aderin couldn’t hear their words, but she saw their mouths forming whispers, their bodies turning, pointing. Every gaze was on her.
Her heart hammered painfully. The bond thrummed between them, invisible yet unbreakable.
Kael’s wolf, Zion, roared within him. He felt it too — the raw, primal pull of fate. The undeniable recognition of his other half.
But instead of joy… there was anger.
He stepped back, his eyes narrowing. Selena’s face twisted in horror and denial as she clutched his arm. “Kael—what are you doing?” she demanded, her voice trembling.
Aderin took a trembling step forward. Her eyes searched his lips, trying to catch his words.
“No,” he said.
“No. This can’t be.”
The world tilted.
Her heart dropped.
He was rejecting her.
Kael’s face hardened. His jaw flexed, his wolf fighting inside him. “I reject you,” his lips formed, slowly, deliberately, so she couldn’t mistake it. “You are not my mate.”
It felt like the ground split beneath her feet.
Aderin staggered back, her breath shallow. Her vision blurred as tears stung her eyes. The crowd erupted — gasps, laughter, disbelief — and though she couldn’t hear it, she saw it. Their faces told the story well enough.
Selena smirked, victorious, pressing herself against Kael’s side.
“You heard him,” she mouthed cruelly. “He chose me.”
The bond between Aderin and Kael shattered like glass. She felt it — the ripping, the tearing, the suffocating emptiness that followed. Her wolf wailed, but no sound escaped Aderin’s lips. Only silence.
She turned and ran — through the crowd, through the torchlight, through the laughter she couldn’t hear but would never forget.
She didn’t know how far she ran. Only that she didn’t stop until the lights were gone and the moon was just a pale ghost in the sky.
She collapsed by the riverbank, her body trembling violently. Tears rolled down her cheeks, falling into the silent water.
For the first time since she was a child, she wished she could hear — not the cruelty of others, but her own sobs. Maybe then she would know if she was still alive.
But all she felt was silence.
And pain.
And the echo of a bond she never asked for.
Above her, the Bloodmoon flickered once — like a dying flame.
And the forest whispered with unseen eyes,
“The girl who hears silence has awakened destiny.”
- Writer
