Moonlights and Bloodlines

Chapter Four – Moonlight Confessions

The night was too quiet. Amara was seated on her bed with her sketchbook open, but the pencil wouldn't move. Every time she tried to draw, all she could visualize was Kael's face, Kael's eyes, Kael's gentle voice commanding her to go inside. The memory of the howl still echoed in her chest.

She dropped the pencil and grasped at her face with her hands. "What are you doing to me," she whispered into the silence.

Her phone buzzed. A message from Jada asking her out. Amara typed a hasty excuse and set the phone down. She could not explain this feeling to anyone. It was not normal, was not safe but it was more powerful than anything she had ever experienced.

Restless, she tossed on a hoodie and slipped outside. The moon was full, casting silver over the wet grass. Something in her chest pulled her toward the woods. Her family would have scolded her, said the woods were no place to be walking. But her feet moved anyway.

She hadn't gone far when she saw him.

Kael stood like a half-shaded, half-moonlit figure at the tree line. His head moved as if he had caught her scent before she even arrived.

"You shouldn't be here," he said, his voice low but not hostile.

"Then why are you?" she answered, heart racing.

He hesitated, then stepped closer. Moonlight fell across his face, austere planes softened by something in his eyes. "I come here when I can't control it," he admitted.

Her breath caught. "Control what?"

He didn't answer right away. Instead, he looked at her as if deciding between letting her in and keeping her out. Finally, he said, "Everything."

The air between them became thick. Amara's heart pounded as he moved closer. She could see the tension in his shoulders, the fact that his fists were clenched as though he was struggling to keep something enormous back.

"You scare me," she confessed.

He stopped a step away, his eyes burning. "And yet you came."

The truth lodged in her throat. She had no idea why she had come. Only that she couldn't stay away.

Kael's hand lifted slow, giving her time to pull back. When his fingers brushed her cheek, fire blazed through her like a wildfire. The world tilted, narrowed to the space between them.

"Amara," he whispered, her name gravel in his throat.

Her breath hitched. "What are you?"

A pause, a single heartbeat. Then he leaned closer, close enough that she could feel the heat of his breath on her skin. "Someone you don't want to want."

But she did. God, she did.

Their lips crashed together.

The kiss wasn't soft. It was hard, frantic, like they had both been starving and had finally received what they craved. Amara's hands clawed at his hoodie, pulling him close. Kael's arm wrapped around her waist, embracing her like he would never let her go.

Heat poured through her, dizzying, overwhelming. Every nerve she had blazed with fire. She felt his control slip, his grip tighten, his breath roughen. For a terrifying, thrilling instant she thought she could feel the beast beneath his skin straining against her.

Kael tore his mouth from hers, chest heaving. "I can't," he said harshly, stepping back. "If I lose control…"

Amara's head spun, her lips pulsing. "Then don't lose it."

"You don't understand," he growled, his voice gravelly. "I'm not safe."

Her hand trembled when she reached out to touch his arm. "But you make me feel safe."

That devastated him. He pulled her back to him once more, kissing her harder this time, like he couldn't stop himself. The world melted away. The trees, the warnings, the bloodlines. All that was left was Kael's lips on hers, Kael's heartbeat against her chest, Kael's warmth spreading through her bones.

When he finally pulled away, they were both breathing hard. His forehead was against hers.

"You shouldn't trust me," he whispered.

"Too late," she whispered back.

They sat beneath the trees, breathless. Kael's eyes were darker now, his voice more brittle. "You deserve normal," he said.

Amara laughed softly, bitterly. "Normal doesn't exist. Not for me."

He tilted his head. "Why?"

She hesitated, her family's secret pressing at the edge of her lips. But she couldn't tell him. Not yet. So she only said, "Because my family isn't normal either."

Kael watched her, as if he felt the gravity of her words. She wondered for a moment if he would press her for more. He gazed off into the forest instead.

The silence was long, but it wasn't silent. It vibrated with all the things left unsaid. With all the things straining to be free.

When Amara finally returned home, her lips still tingled from his kiss. Her skin vibrated. She collapsed onto her bed, embracing her sketchbook. She did not sketch his eyes this time. She sketched his hands, the manner in which they'd encircled her as if she was both fragile and unstoppable.

Yet when she tried to sleep, her dreams were once more troubled. She dreamed of Kael in the forest, his body convulsing under the moon, his flesh roiling like it could not contain what was inside. She dreamed of yellow eyes, of pointed teeth, of claws tearing through shadow.

When she woke, her heart was pounding. She pressed her fingers to her mouth, still tasting him, still hearing his voice.

She whispered into the dark, "What are you, Kael Donovan?"

And the silence answered with a howl.