Chapter 10: Dual
1492 Words
I’m halfway across the academy courtyard when it hits me.
A pull. Sharp. Cold. Violent. Like someone hooked a chain into my chest and ripped. I stagger, grabbing the stone railing to stay upright. My breath cuts off. My vision blurs.
“Claire—” Her name tears out of me like a wound. My wolf lunges to the front of my mind, fully alert, snarling, shoving against the borders of my skin.
PAIN.
FALL.
HELP.
NOW.
“What happened?” I gasp, forcing air into my lungs. “What—”
And then— It slams into me again. Not pain. Absence. Like her magic vanished.
No flicker.
No whisper.
No warmth.
Just… gone.
My heart hammers. My claws break through my fingertips. My canines lengthen.
No.
No, no, no.
She can’t disappear like that. Not her. Not MY Luna. My wolf howls inside me, frantic.
GO TO HER.
FIND HER.
FIND OUR LUNA.
But the fear inside him— inside me— is worse than instinct. Because the bond the goddess forced open, the one I tried to pretend wasn’t forming—I feel it.
Tenuous.
New.
Faint.
But real.
And now?
It flickers.
Weakens.
Trembles.
Something happened to her. Something bad. I grit my teeth, forcing my mind to cut through the haze. “Where is she? Where—”
A pulse answers. Faint. Barely there. Like a heartbeat felt through water.
I inhale sharply. Her scent. Her magic. Her fear. It hits me all at once. But beneath it— softer, warmer— Carter. The pup is glowing again.
“s**t,” I breathe, and then I’m running. My boots slam against stone as I sprint across the courtyard. Students move out of my way on instinct alone. Magic crackles at my heels. I don’t care. I don’t think. I’m operating on nothing but wolf instinct and pure panic.
She collapsed. Her magic burst. Then faded. Faded so low I could barely feel her and that scares me more than anything ever has. Because if her magic goes silent— if she stops breathing— Carter’s power will spiral. He will break, and if both of them—No. I won’t think it. I won’t. I reach the edge of the academy grounds, teeth gritted so hard my jaw aches.
My wolf bangs against my ribcage, desperate and wild:
CLAIRE.
CLAIRE.
CLAIRE.
“I know,” I snarl. “I know, damn it—I’m going—” The pulse hits again. This time it’s stronger. She’s awake. But… Fear. Her fear hits me like a blow. Even from here, I can feel it in my bones. She’s scared. Shaking. Hiding. Hiding from me. The realization stings worse than any blade. Her fear of me is so strong it bleeds into her magic. I stop dead in the middle of the path, chest heaving.
“Claire…” I say her name like a prayer. Like a curse. Like a plea. My wolf lowers his head, whining. He doesn’t understand why she runs, why she won't trust us. I do. Because destiny is cruel. Because gods are crueler. Because the goddess told her she’s Luna—and Luna means danger and because I am the one she was warned not to run from me. Her fear claws along my nerves. And beneath it…Something darker moves.
A shadow. Hunting. Closing in.
I straighten, eyes narrowing. Someone else felt her collapse. Someone else felt the Luna awaken. Someone else is coming for her.
And suddenly—Her fear doesn’t matter. Her warnings don’t matter. Her running doesn’t matter. I turn toward her scent, every muscle coiled, every instinct sharpened.
“If something touches her,” I whisper to the wind, voice low and deadly, “I will kill it.” My wolf bares his teeth in agreement. Before the darkness finds her first.The goddess’s warning rattles inside my skull. Too late. The darkness already felt her.
And now?
I’m the only thing standing between Claire—Claire, who thinks she can face destiny alone—And what’s coming. I break into a sprint so fast the ground cracks beneath me.I don’t care if she runs when I get there, if she screams at me, hates me. I will protect her. I will protect the boy. Even if it kills me.
Claire’s pov
Something wakes me before my eyes even open.
Not a sound.
Not Carter.
Not LJ pacing the apartment like a caffeinated guardian angel.
A presence.
A ripple through the wards on the street.
A vibration in the air.
A heat under my skin—not painful, but sharp enough to make my breath catch.
No. No, no, no. He’s coming.
I feel him, not with magic—with instinct.
Like a chord tied between us suddenly snapped tight.
My eyes fly open. LJ jumps from the couch, dropping a mug. “Claire! What? What’s wrong?!”
I don't have time to answer, because Carter—sleepy, warm, curled against my chest— jerks awake in the same instant. His little head lifts. His tiny ears twitch the way they do when he hears something I don’t. His nose scrunches— once, twice—and then he whispers, in a small trembling voice: “Woof coming.”
My blood freezes. LJ whispers, “You have GOT to be kidding me.” But Carter doesn’t sound scared this time. Unlike earlier at school or when he melted half the classroom. This time…it's almost like he recognizes something.
“Momma…” he whispers, tapping my collarbone. “Big woof… sad.” My heart drops straight into my stomach. “What do you mean, baby?” I breathe.
Carter presses his tiny hand to his own chest, right over his heart. The place the moon-sigil had glowed. He taps. Harder.
“Woof heart… hurt,” he says, eyes wide and confused. “Why?”
LJ makes a strangled noise. “EXCUSE ME—your toddler is emotionally reading ALPHA WEREWOLVES now?!”
“Shh!” I whisper, panic rising in my throat. “Carter—sweetheart—what do you feel?”
He looks toward the window. Toward the street. Toward Draven and my son—my baby—whispers: “He looking for The Luna?”
My entire body goes cold. Carter looks back at me, blinking big brown eyes that flicker faintly with silver.“Momma… are you The Luna?”
The air leaves my lungs in a rush. LJ covers her mouth, eyes huge. “Claire,” she whispers, “he FELT you. He FELT YOU become Luna. He felt HIM.”
“I—no—no, that’s not—” My voice breaks. I stand so fast my knees nearly buckle. “No. I can’t— I can’t do this— I have to—”
Carter clings to my shirt. “Momma scared…” he whispers.
I swallow back a sob. “I’m not scared of you, baby, I promise—”
“No.” He shakes his head while putting his hand to my cheek. “Momma scared of… woof.”
I can’t answer. Because he’s right. A pulse shakes the air, a soft thud of footsteps outside. My wards flicker. LJ gasps and races to the window. “Oh s**t—Claire, it’s him.”
Of course it is. Why am I not suprised? The goddess basically stamped my address on my forehead and told him to follow the moonlight. I clutch Carter to my chest, heart racing.
“Claire,” LJ hisses, “your wards won’t hold if he pushes. He’s an Alpha—he’s got enough aura to rip through your level-one protections like paper—”
“I know.”
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU KNOW—”
All of suddent it hits me. Full-body. All-consuming. A pressure, a pulse, a magnetic pull that isn’t magic exactly, but something older. Something woven into the prophecy the goddess shoved between my ribs. Draven is here. My breath catches.Carter whimpers, not in fear, but in something deeper. Empathy.
“Woof… hurt,” he whispers again, pressing his forehead to mine. “Help woof?”
I nearly choke. “Baby… he’s not—he’s not our concern—he’s—”
Carter puts a tiny hand on my lips. “No more hide,” he whispers.
My eyes burn.Because I want to hide. I want to run far away. Just scoop him up and vanish into another realm. I want to keep him safe and keep myself sane and pretend none of this is happening. But Carter is right and can feel Draven’s emotions, and right now what he feels is pain. Before I can pull him closer, LJ hisses from the window: “He’s at the door.”
My heart slams against my ribs. Carter lifts his head…and whispers with a certainty that chills me to my bones: “Momma open door.”
- Writer
