CHAPTER 07: The Quarter Moon
1709 Words
“Who are you?”
She hesitated, then corrected herself.
“No… I mean... what are you?”
He didn’t answer right away. His gaze locked onto the silver cross at her neck.
“…No,” he whispered. “That’s not possible.”
Her hand flew to the necklace. “Don’t come any closer.”
He stopped instantly.
“I’m not here to hurt you.”
“Then why are you here?” she demanded.
“And how did you get in here?”
“You left the window open.”
“That’s not an answer.”
A corner of his mouth twitched, but there was no humor in it.
“What do you want?”
“I just want my necklace back.”
“…Alright.”
She slipped the chain from her neck and held it out to him.
“Here. Take it.”
Gabriel only stared at the necklace. He didn’t reach for it.
“I can’t receive it like that,” he said quietly.
“Could you put it back in the leather pouch… please?”
She frowned. “Fine.”
She stepped back to the dresser, took the pouch, and placed the necklace inside it.
“Here. Take it.”
“Thank you.”
Her heart was pounding now... not just from fear, but from something sharper.
Something instinctive.
“So… you’re not human,” she said.
His crimson eyes lifted to hers.
“And neither are you,” he replied.
“You’re not supposed to wear silver.”
She frowned. “What are you talking about?”
His jaw tightened. “You didn’t get burned.”
“Why would I?” she snapped. “It’s just a necklace.”
“You’re a wolf,” he said calmly. “I can smell it on you.”
Her shoulders stiffened. “So you really are a vampire.”
The air between them tightened.
“You said a name,” she continued. “Earlier.”
His gaze flickered.
“Why did you call me Camilla?”
“My apologies,” he said. “I shouldn’t have.”
“But you did.”
She took a step forward before she could stop herself. “Why?”
“That name isn’t yours,” he said flatly. “I thought… it was you. But you’re not.”
“Then why does it feel like it was my name?” she asked.
That stopped him.
For a long moment, neither of them spoke.
Finally, he looked away.
“Listen to me,” he said. “You need to be careful. You’re in danger.”
She let out a short, bitter laugh. “It’s not your business. I can handle myself.”
“You don’t understand ....”
“No,” she cut in. “You don’t understand. I didn’t ask for this life. I didn’t ask to be half of anything.”
He studied her again, slower this time.
“What’s your name?”
“Sapphira.”
The name seemed to settle into him.
“…Sapphira,” he repeated.
Something shifted in his expression...recognition without understanding.
Outside, the wind picked up. Somewhere far away, a wolf howled.
Both of them heard it. His eyes darkened.
“They’re already moving,” he said. “And once they decide you .....”
“Who’s moving?” she demanded, grabbing his wrist. “What are they going to do....”
The world is shattered, her visions flooded her mind.
She saw him standing beside her beneath a tree, watching the meadows.
Then the vision shifted to a different time, two of them fighting vampires, wolves, and blood everywhere.
She saw him falling. A massive brown wolf is tearing through him.
She saw herself screaming and crying. Broken.
She yanked her hand away, shaking, her breath ragged.
“You have to leave,” she said urgently.
He stared at her.
“It’s you who’s in danger,” she continued, panic rising.
“You need to go...now. Before the wolves find you here.”
Gabriel stepped back and the window opened.
“By the way,” he said, his eyes meeting hers one last time,
“my name is Gabriel Corvin.”
Her breath hitched. “Wait..."
Too late. His form blurred, bones shifting in a way that should not have been possible.
Shadows swallowed him as massive black wings unfurled, scraping the window frame.
In the blink of an eye, a huge bat launched into the night sky, disappearing into the darkness above Stonebridge.
Sapphira stood frozen, her heart hammering.
“Gabriel… Corvin,” she whispered.
Meanwhile…The wind howled louder.
Deep within the Silverpine Range, the forest gathered its own witnesses.
Whelan stood at the center of the clearing, arms crossed, jaw clenched. Around him, the elders formed a tight circle,
their expressions carved from stone.
“You acted without council approval,” one elder snapped. “You crossed a line.”
“They trespassed,” Whelan replied flatly. “They hunted near our borders.”
“You have already killed one of the royal blood,” another elder said.
“And now you’ve killed three more of their kind. That alone invites war.”
Whelan’s eyes flashed. “They attacked first.”
“You were aggressive,” an elder barked. “Reckless.”
“I was decisive,” Whelan shot back. “If I hadn’t acted, more blood would’ve been spilled.”
A murmur spread through the clearing.
“You think you can decide that on your own?” an elder demanded.
“You think your strength puts you above the pack?”
Whelan stepped forward. “No. I think protecting our territory is the pack.”
Silence followed. Then the eldest spoke.
“Effective immediately, Whelan,” she said coldly,
“you are relieved of your duties. You are stripped of your position.”
A sharp inhale rippled through the wolves.
Whelan didn’t flinch.
“If that’s your decision,” he said evenly, “then I no longer answer to this council.”
Gasps followed.
“You would abandon your oath?” an elder hissed.
“I won’t abandon what’s right,” Whelan replied.
“If that makes me your enemy, so be it.”
He turned to leave.
“Walk away now,” one elder warned, “and you walk alone.”
Whelan stopped. Then footsteps echoed behind him.
“You won’t go alone.”
He turned.
Several wolves stepped forward... men and women alike.
“We follow you,” one said firmly.
“You defended our land,” another added.
“You did what the council wouldn’t.”
Whelan exhaled slowly. “This path won’t be safe.”
“We know,” one of them said. “That’s why we’re choosing it.”
The elders watched in furious silence as nearly half the tribe turned their backs on the council.
Later, when the moon hung low in its first quarter....
Iron chains clattered inside a hidden prison deep beneath the forest.
Randall lifted his head as footsteps approached.
The door cracked open. Light spilled in.
“…Whelan?” Randall rasped.
“Get up,” Whelan said calmly. “You’re coming with us.”
Randall stared at him. “You shouldn’t be here. They’ll kill you.”
“They already tried,” Whelan replied. “Didn’t work.”
Hands snapped chains. Locks shattered.
Randall fell to his knees, breathing hard.
“You’d risk exile for me?” he asked.
Whelan met his gaze. “I’m already exiled.”
Randall swallowed. “Then I’m with you.”
Outside the prison, the loyal pack waited.
One of them asked quietly, “What now?”
Whelan looked toward the horizon...toward Stonebridge and Eldermere.
“Now,” he said, “we protect what the council refuses to.”
Randall hesitated.
“I need to see my daughter first.”
An hour before dawn, Sapphira lay awake in bed, staring at the ceiling.
Sleep refused to come. The image of Gabriel and the name Camilla kept lingering in her thoughts.
Her chest felt tight, her pulse restless, as if something beyond the walls was calling to her.
Then she heard a howl.
Low and long. Not threatening, but summoning.
Her breath caught.
Another howl answered it. Then another. Closer.
Her body reacted before her mind could argue.
Pain rippled through her veins.
She gasped as white fur pushed through her skin in uneven patches, spreading along her arms and shoulders.
Her hair lightened strand by strand until it turned pale as moonlight. Her nails lengthened, sharpening into claws.
Her ears stretched, narrowing into pointed tips as her senses exploded outward.
Not a full shift. Not human either.
The window shattered outward as she leaped through it, glass scattering into the night.
She hit the ground barefoot and running. On all fours.
Her hands struck the earth like paws, her body moving with certainty, as if she already knew the way.
She didn’t know why she was running. Only where.
The river came into view. She stopped abruptly.
Figures stood waiting on the opposite bank.
Wolves... half-shifted, neither fully human nor fully beast. Eyes glowing. Bodies tense, but not hostile.
They were waiting for her. One stepped forward.
Recognition struck instantly.
“You,” she said softly. “You’re the wolf who saved us.”
“I am,” he replied. “My name is Whelan.”
“I won’t hurt you,” he added quietly.
She hesitated, then nodded.
Whelan pulled her into a brief, loose embrace.
The moment his skin brushed hers....
The world is shattered again, in another space and time.
Another body. She stood in white beneath a foreign sky.
It was a wedding celebration. She was married to him.
Joy. Warmth. A promise sealed in blood and moonlight.
Her heart broke. She shoved him away with a gasp.
“Sapphira...”
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, shaking. “I....I can’t...”
His eyes softened. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have touched you.”
Silence stretched. Then footsteps moved through the shadows.
A larger figure emerged. Black fur. Half-shifted and powerful.
Every wolf lowered their head.
The figure stopped a few steps away.
“Sapphira,” he said, his voice rough.
“My child.”
Her heart stopped.... The night held its breath.
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