BLOOD TIES
1823 Words
The Foster Estate loomed before us, a sprawling Victorian mansion nestled among ancient oaks. An estate that I didn’t know belonged to my family. My aunt never told me about it. Well, she didn’t tell me that I was a magical creature also so I could just add this to the list of secrets she kept from me. At that point it didn’t even matter. The building had seen better days. It had paint peeling, shutters hanging from one hinge, and its gardens were overgrown but there was undeniable grandeur to its decay. Something that made it look like it came right out of a storybook.
"This is where my mother grew up?" I asked, staring up at the house in disbelief. We'd driven for hours, leaving campus behind as Ash navigated country roads with ease.
"Your ancestral home," Kai confirmed from the backseat. "The Foster pack has lived here for generations."
"Pack?" I turned to him. "There were more of us?"
Felix nodded, his usual smile replaced by a solemn frown.
"One of the original seven packs. Before the Blood Moon corruption spread."
Ash cut the engine and turned to face me.
"Your mother was the alpha of this territory. When she fled with you, the pack scattered. Some joined other packs, some tried to live as humans. Others..." he trailed off.
"Others joined the Blood Moon out of spite," Kai finished, his voice hard.
I stared at the house, trying to imagine a woman who was my mother leading a pack. I couldn’t fully grasp it.
"Why didn't she ever tell me?" I whispered, hurt lacing my words.
"I’m sure she was protecting you," Ash said gently. "Knowledge is dangerous in our world. The less you knew, the safer you were."
"Well, that worked out great," I muttered, pushing open the car door as a bit of anger seeped into me. "Let's get this over with."
We all got down and as we approached the house, a chill swept through me that had nothing to do with the autumn air. This place was part of my heritage. Something I still knew next to nothing about.
"How do we get in?" I asked as we reached the massive front door that was bolted shut.
Ash glanced at me.
"It's your house. You tell us."
I frowned, running my hand along the weathered wood. I haven’t been here before. How the hell did he expect me to get us in? My fingers caught on something. A small crescent moon carved into the door frame. The moment I touched it, a spark of recognition flashed through me.
"The pendant," I murmured. "My mother's pendant."
"What pendant?" Felix asked, perking up.
"She was holding it when she died," I explained, the memory painful but clear. "A crescent moon, just like this."
Kai and Ash exchanged significant looks.
"It's a key," Kai said. "The alpha's key."
"Do you still have it?" Ash asked urgently.
I nodded, reaching into my pocket for the silver pendant I'd kept with me since that night.
"I never understood why it was so important to her."
"Because it's more than jewelry," Ash explained, eyeing the pendant in my hands. "It contains your mother's essence as alpha. Her power, her connection to the pack lands."
I held the pendant up to the carving on the door frame. They matched perfectly.
"Press it in," Felix encouraged, bouncing slightly on his heels.
Taking a deep breath, I pushed the pendant into the carving. It fit perfectly, and for a moment, nothing happened. We all paused, expecting something big to have happened but I guess we were wrong. I was about to pull it out when the pendant began to glow with soft blue light, similar to the runes at the sanctuary.
The door swung open silently, revealing a dust-covered lobby beyond.
"Home sweet home," Felix quipped, but his voice lacked its usual levity.
We stepped inside, and it took everything in me not to gasp from shock. At first glance it looked like a normal victorian home but then when I looked closely it was obvious that a fight or something even worse had happened in it. There were claws on the doorways, strange and rampant symbols and runes carved into places that didn’t seem right, carpets that were torn to shreds among other things. It was a mess.
"This way," Ash announced, turning my attention to something else.
"You've been here before?” I asked as he navigated the hallways without hesitation. The door was locked when we got here meaning that no one had come into the house for some time so how did he know where to take us?
Ash nodded, not bothering to look at me.
"A few times. Your mother brought me here when I was young."
"Why?"
"My parents were her betas," he explained. "Before everything fell apart."
That explained the authority he carried, the way Felix and Kai deferred to him. He'd been raised to lead.
“Did they know my mother? Did you?” I asked, stopping in my tracks and urging him to answer me.
He stopped but still didn’t look at me.
“They knew her.”
“Can I speak to them then? I need to…” I didn’t even get to finish my sentence before Kai placed a hand on my shoulder to stop me.
“The Blood Moon Pack killed them. You won’t get any answers.” Ash answered, his voice even lower before moving on, not bothering to check if we were following behind or not. I mentally slap myself but say nothing more.
We reached a set of double doors at the end of a long corridor. Ash stepped aside, gesturing for me to open them.
Inside was a study frozen in time. Books lined the walls, a massive oak desk dominated the center of the room, and a large map of the territory hung on one wall, dotted with markings I didn't understand.
"Your mother's study," Kai said softly. "The heart of the pack's operations."
I walked around the desk, running my fingers over the worn leather of the chair. My mother had sat here, made decisions that affected the lives of an entire pack. Was she happy here? Respected? Loved? I shook my head. She was gone. I needed to focus on the present.
"What am I looking for?" I asked, turning to the others.
"Your mother's journal," Ash replied. "She kept records of everything. Pack history, threats, prophecies. If there's anything that can help us defeat the Blood Moon pack, it will be in there."
I started searching the desk drawers while the others examined the bookshelves. The top drawer had the normal things one would have in a study;pens, paper clips, a stapler but the bottom drawer was locked.
"This one’s locked. I need a key," I announced, jiggling the handle in frustration.
Felix frowned.
"Wouldn't it be the same key as the front door?"
I shook my head.
"The pendant is still in the door."
Kai approached, examining the lock.
"It's not a traditional Alpha lock. Look."
He pointed to a small indentation in the wood, another crescent moon, but this one inverted from the one on the front door.
"Try your hand," Ash suggested. "If you're truly the alpha's daughter, your blood should open it."
I hesitated, then extended my hand. With a deep breath, I let my partial shift take over, just enough for my nails to sharpen into claws. I pressed my thumb against the point of one claw until blood welled up, then pressed it against the moon carved into the drawer.
For a moment, nothing happened. Then the wood began to glow, the same blue light as the pendant. The drawer slid open silently and I turned to Ash. He really was in tune with everything that we needed.
Inside was a leather-bound journal, its cover embossed with the same crescent moon symbol. And beside it lay a small wooden box.
"The grimoire," Ash breathed, genuine awe in his voice. "And the alpha's tokens."
I lifted the journal first, feeling its weight in my hands. The pages were filled with what I was sure was my mother's neat handwriting, diagrams, pressed herbs, and what looked like family trees.
"What's in the box?" Felix asked, peering over my shoulder.
I set the journal aside and lifted the wooden box. It was carved with intricate patterns of wolves running through forests, moons in various phases, and countless runes similar to those at the sanctuary.
The lid opened easily, revealing a collection of items resting on velvet. A silver dagger with a moonstone in its hilt, a small vial of what looked like liquid silver, a leather bracelet with more runes burned into it, and a folded piece of parchment.
"The alpha's arsenal," Kai explained when my brows scrunched in confusion. "Tools for rituals, protection, and in extreme cases, execution."
I unfolded the parchment, revealing a letter written in my mother's hand:
My dearest Luna,
If you're reading this, then I have failed to protect you as I promised. The burden I never wanted for you has passed to your shoulders. I am sorry.
You are the last of our line, the final moon-blessed of the Foster pack. In your veins runs the power to bind and unbind, to heal and to destroy. The Blood Moon will stop at nothing to possess this power.
Trust your instincts but never anyone else. Learn what I could not teach you. Become what I could not prepare you for.
The answers you seek are in these pages, but beware. Knowledge comes with a price. Some truths are better left buried.
Your father waits where the three moons meet. Find him, and you will find your strength.
With all my love and regret, Your mother.
P.S. Remember, Luna—the moon may wax and wane, but it never truly disappears. I love you.
I looked up from the letter, tears burning in my eyes and disbelief in my heart.
"My father... he's alive?"
Ash looked as shocked as I felt.
"Your mother told everyone he was dead. That he died before you were born."
"Three moons," Kai murmured, looking thoughtful. "That could be a place, or a time..."
"Or both," Felix added. "Three full moons. A lunar trinity. That's rare, but it happens."
I closed the box, mind reeling with this new information and one thought in my mind. I needed to find my father.
"When's the next one?"
"Two months from now," Ash answered immediately. "The winter solstice will have three full moons this year."
"Then that's when we'll find him," I said with determination, my mind already made up. "But first, we need to understand what I am and what I can do."
I picked up the book again, its weight somehow comforting in my hands.
"And I think the answers are in here."
- Writer
