THE MOON'S DESIRE

CHAPTER TWO

I lunged towards the rabbit with my paws and tore it open. Birds flew away in fear, sensing imminent danger.

I turned back to my human form. I was in a familiar place. I usually come here to roast my hunts for a good meal.

Walking towards my poorly set-up wooden spot, I picked up a few light branches and then sat on a surface in front of my setup, butt naked.

Humming the lyrics of a trap song I heard from the human hunters during their hunts in the forest, I thought about how the mundanity in their blood makes them inferior to us.

Everything was calm. I wasn’t even thinking right now. This is my breather, my safe place. The world is quiet here. Time stops here, that’s why I keep coming here.

Slicing the wood with a pocket knife, I tried to start the fire by striking the stones against each other. Who am I kidding? I grinned and got up, heading to a very large stone where I keep my stuff. I picked up the matches and a pair of underwear.

I sat back down on the surface, now in my underwear, tied the rabbit, and started roasting it on the stick.

The aroma of roasting rabbit wafted through the forest as I took deep breaths, attempting to free myself. Everywhere was peaceful, as it should be.

Then I sensed something different in the air.

Sniff sniff sniff.

No, it wasn’t the rabbit, I confirmed.

I kept sniffing and then I sensed it. Chocolate, wood, body wash? A refined balance of strength and warmth. The scent opened with smooth chocolatey notes softened by the freshness of a clean wash, then settled into a heart of deep woods. Comforting yet confident, it wrapped around you like steady hands and quiet assurance, a scent that lingered with both richness and calm.

Huh, who interrupts my me time, I thought, disgust etched on my face.

Then multiple scents hit my nostrils like a wave. Danger.

I got up in stealth mode, ready for an attack. I couldn’t turn now; it would alert them. They were like five scents all at once, so I followed it. It wasn’t long before I was met with a bloody scene. A knife freed itself from a fresh dead body, gripped with so much force. It reminded me of myself, but the scent was coming from that man—the first scent that had alerted me.

My heart started beating fast. I was ready to attack.

You and I both know that’s not why your heart is beating fast, my inner wolf whispered, and I turned in defense. That man—he had killed those four, but he didn’t look like a threat or smell like one.

He turned, and my breath caught in my lungs. Mate, she whispered, and then she took over.

Lukas POV

They made this boring for me, I thought, as I pulled out the knife from the fresh dead body of an i***t who tried to challenge me.

I could feel someone’s eyes on me, watching. Quite good with stealth mode for me to just notice, I thought as I turned.

Skin? Very clear.

Scent? She had no scent.

My eyes locked with hers as she turned in defense. She’s mine! Mate.

She stood taller than any natural beast, a towering shadow that bent the laws of nature. Her frame was sleek yet immense, stretching nearly nine feet from muzzle to tail, her shoulders brushing higher than a man’s chest. Power rippled under her fur, thick silvery-gray strands streaked with darker shadows, gleaming like moonlight caught in steel.

There was a feminine grace in her build, her lines fluid, curves sharpened into lethal elegance. Her eyes burned with a wild, dangerous beauty. Every step she took was both majestic and terrifying, as though the earth itself bent to her presence.

She was no ordinary wolf. She was the embodiment of both allure and death, the comfort of soft fur hiding the promise of claws and fangs that could shred through bone. A queen of the night, untamed and impossible to ignore.

Pretty, endearing, felt like time stopped. I could hear her heartbeat. It was fast and matching mine.

She was going to run, and she did. I turned and went after her. Why is she running from me? I felt a pang of pain, like she didn’t want me. Yet despite that, I couldn’t stop craving to reach her. I want her, Wolfie echoed and took over.

Devina POV

I had always thought myself untouchable, sharp, majestic, dangerous. But the moment he stepped into the open, the truth pressed heavy on me. He was bigger, broader, taller than I could ever hope to be, and yet it wasn’t his size that unraveled me. It was the way he wore it, calm, unshaken, as though the world already bent to him.

His fur was darker than mine, deep ash and shadow, thick and commanding. Where I was fierce and blazing, he was quiet strength, steady like stone, patient like the earth itself. Every step he took was measured, silent, an authority that didn’t need to fight to be known.

And then his scent found me, curling through the air—woody warmth, grounding, with that subtle sweetness of chocolate after rain. It sank into me, clawing at my chest, making my wolf stir with a need I wanted to deny. She wanted him. Every part of her leaned toward him, hungry, restless.

I hated it. Hated the weakness of it. Hated that while I burned loud and wild, he smoldered low and steady, and it was his fire that drew me in. His eyes were the final undoing. In his wolf form, they were stormy dark grey ocean-blue, deep and endless.

He didn’t chase, didn’t bare his fangs, didn’t need to. He simply existed, and already, my strength trembled against the pull.

Majestic as I was, deadly as I could be… in front of him, I felt the weight of wanting. And wanting made me weak.

I made a run for it against my wolf’s wishes. It felt like she was slowing me down because I bet I could run faster than this. He was going to catch up sooner or later at this pace. I kept cursing at my inner wolf, desperate for a bond.

He pounced on me with full force, and I was forced back to my natural state, pinned down. I could feel the grass on my skin and claws almost piercing me.

The most captivating dark ocean eyes stared at me, drawing my soul in. I couldn’t do much but stare as my face scrunched up in pain; his paws dug into my sides.

Then he turned, and now we were both in human form, just staring.

In his human form, his eyes were calm blue ocean eyes, steady and impossible to ignore.

I tried to free myself from his grip, but to no avail.

“Lucas Alexander,” he said, not taking his eyes off my face.

I didn’t want this. Why now? At age eighteen, I hoped to find my mate, but my attention had been diverted by all that tragedy. I thought since the Moon Goddess decided not to bless me with one, I really didn’t need to hold back anymore. I had heard stories of wolves without mates, cursed by the Goddess, so I thought myself cursed.

He got up. He was mind-linking another wolf. From there, he stood really tall. I was about to run for it when I bumped into a wall.

More like a person. I was falling from the force but then was held back.

“Easy there, Wolfie,” a voice said, also powerful yet calm, scent dripping with authority.

“Not so fast, babygirl. I don’t know why you’re running from me, but I’d like it if we could have a conversation. I’m not a threat.” He trepidated fast towards me and placed a coat on my naked body.

His scent engulfed me, and it was soothing, overwhelming, and protective.

I had no other option. From a

distance, I sensed multiple scents. My once quiet forest was packed with them, all similar, like a pack.

“I see you don’t talk much,” he said. “If you don’t mind, we are heading back to territorial grounds, but I can’t just leave you here now, can I, Miss Thelric?”

He knows my name!

“Don’t call me that,” I said sharply, freeing myself from the other man’s guard and walking in the direction of the multiple scents.

“If he wants to talk, we can talk,” my inner wolf said. “Ease up on him, Devina. He’s ours.”