CHAPTER 4. The Blood Moon Dream
910 Words
The man didn’t speak.
He didn’t have to.
Luna knew him or at least, some part of her did. His presence wrapped around her like smoke: ancient, dangerous, and inexplicably familiar. He stood at the forest’s edge, half-hidden in the shadows, with golden eyes that seemed to pierce through time.
She opened her mouth, but no sound came.
Then, just like the wolf before him, he turned and vanished into the trees.
And Luna followed.
The air in the forest was colder than it had been the night before. The trees groaned above her, their limbs creaking like they remembered. Every step she took was slow, deliberate, almost sacred. The ground beneath her bare feet felt warm, as if the forest itself recognized her.
She didn’t know how far she’d gone when the silence broke.
A whisper.
Her name.
“Luna…”
She spun, breath hitching.
No one there.
But she wasn’t alone.
The wind picked up. Leaves swirled. And then
A scream.
Not human. Not animal.
Somewhere in between.
It echoed across the trees, pulling a memory from deep inside her chest one she didn’t know existed. A woman’s voice. A flash of silver. A lullaby in a language she didn’t speak.
And then… nothing.
She woke in her bed, heart hammering, soaked in sweat.
The mark on her wrist was burning, brighter than ever white-hot and pulsing.
Outside, the moon bled red.
Rhea burst into the room seconds later.
“You felt it,” her mother said. Not a question.
“The dream” Luna gasped. “It was real, wasn’t it?”
Rhea crossed the room and shut the curtains. “The Blood Moon awakens bloodlines. You’re remembering who you are.”
“But I don’t want this,” Luna said, clutching her wrist. “I didn’t ask for any of it.”
Rhea touched her cheek gently. “Destiny rarely asks permission.”
At school, the energy had shifted.
Students whispered in corners. Teachers looked tense. Even the air seemed thicker charged.
Kael wasn’t in his usual spot at lunch. His whole table was empty.
Luna found Taya by the vending machines, rifling through her bag with frantic fingers.
“What’s going on?” Luna asked.
“You didn’t feel it?” Taya asked, wide-eyed. “That Blood Moon crap messed everything up. There was a rogue attack last night border breach just past North Ridge.”
“Rogue?”
Taya leaned in. “Unaligned wolves. Wild. Dangerous. One of them got into town. No one was hurt, but the Packs are on edge.”
Luna’s heart skipped. The man. The golden eyes.
Was he one of them?
“They say Kael and the patrol chased it off,” Taya added. “No one’s seen him since.”
Luna waited until after school to head back to the forest.
Not because she wanted to but because something inside her wouldn’t let her ignore it. Like an invisible hand on her back, guiding her, nudging her toward the truth.
She reached the circle of stones again. This time, the air was thick with smoke. The runes glowed faintly under the moss.
And Kael was there.
Sitting on one of the stones, head in his hands.
He looked up as she approached.
“You shouldn’t be here,” he said.
“Neither should you.”
He exhaled, slowly. “The rogue last night… he wasn’t here to attack.”
Luna’s heart thudded. “What did he want?”
Kael looked up, eyes heavy. “He came to see you.”
They sat in silence for a long moment.
Kael finally spoke. “Your presence is drawing attention. Rogues. Dreamwalkers. Even the Council’s getting restless.”
Luna’s head spun. “Council?”
“Werewolf ruling circle. They govern the Packs. They fear prophecy.”
“Let me guess because a Moonborne heir surviving screws up their power?”
Kael gave a grim nod. “There hasn’t been one in eighteen years. They thought you were dead.”
“Well… surprise.”
Kael almost smiled. “You’re brave. Stupid, but brave.”
“I’m confused. My whole life was a lie, and now I’m… glowing and being stalked by golden-eyed forest men.”
Kael stood. “That man wasn’t a rogue.”
Luna blinked. “Then who…?”
“He’s one of them.”
“Who?”
Kael hesitated. “The Forgotten Pack.”
She didn’t sleep that night.
Instead, she lit one of her mother’s old candles and sat at the windowsill, watching the forest. The trees swayed gently under the silver-red light of the Blood Moon.
When her eyes finally closed, the dreams returned.
She stood in a temple carved from stone, surrounded by wolves kneeling before her.
A woman stood beside her tall, regal, draped in moonlight. Her eyes were the same shape as Luna’s. Her voice echoed like thunder and silk.
“Daughter of shadow and flame, you carry the mark of the lost. Rise.”
Luna opened her mouth to speak, but the woman was already fading replaced by fire. Howls. Blood. Battle.
And in the center of it all… Kael.
Eyes silver. Fur slicked in blood. Roaring her name.
Luna bolted upright in bed.
A new mark had bloomed on her shoulder just below the collarbone.
A second crescent.
Now facing the opposite direction.
Two halves of the same moon.
And the space in between them pulsed like a heartbeat.
- Writer
