The Moon’s Vow
1315 Words
Nora
The night was too quiet.
Even the wind dared not move.
I stood at the edge of the ridge, staring down at the valley bathed in silver light. Smoke from the raid still curled upward — a dark offering to the moon. The freed wolves were gone, safe beyond the river. But peace refused to come. Not tonight.
The air shimmered faintly around me. The power in my veins pulsed like a heartbeat — steady, relentless. It had been growing stronger since the Blood Moon, as if the Moon Goddess herself was trying to remind me of something I didn’t want to remember.
I closed my eyes and tried to push the energy down.
But the harder I fought it, the louder it became.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
The same rhythm that once matched his heartbeat.
Jason.
I cursed under my breath. I had buried that name in the ashes of my past. But tonight, the bond — the one he broke — was whispering again.
I turned away from the moon, gripping the hilt of my dagger so tightly my knuckles whitened. “Not now,” I muttered. “You don’t get to haunt me.”
Behind me, Kael approached, his heavy steps soft against the dirt.
“You feel it too, don’t you?” he asked quietly.
I didn’t answer.
He looked at the sky, his expression unreadable. “The Moon’s restless tonight. Whatever it’s calling, it’s not done with you.”
I forced a smirk. “The Moon’s never done with anyone. That’s how she plays her game.”
But deep down, I knew he was right.
Something was coming.
Something that had Jason’s name written in its shadow.
---
Jason
Sleep had become a luxury I couldn’t afford.
The full moon hung over Blackwood like a silver curse. I paced the edge of the forest, my wolf clawing at the inside of my skin. The pull had started hours ago — faint at first, like a thread tugging from far away. But it grew stronger with every passing minute.
My wolf growled in frustration. She’s close.
I froze. “Who?” I whispered aloud, though I already knew.
Nora.
The name burned like a wound reopening. I clenched my jaw, shoving the thought aside, but the air carried her scent — faint, wild, sharp with rain and danger. It couldn’t be real. She was gone. I had made sure of it.
And yet…
Every instinct screamed that she was out there. Watching. Waiting.
I tried to push the feeling away, to remind myself why I did what I did — why I rejected her. But my chest tightened with a pain I couldn’t name. Duty? Guilt? Or the hollow ache of something that never really died?
The forest rustled. I turned sharply, claws half-drawn, but nothing moved. Only the moonlight swayed between the trees.
I sighed and tilted my head up to the sky. “If this is your punishment, Goddess… you’ve made your point.”
But the Moon remained silent. Only the pull in my blood answered — relentless, familiar, alive.
---
Nora
By the time we returned to camp, the fire had burned low. Rogues slept in scattered tents, their breathing steady. I sat apart from them, staring into the flames.
The night should have felt victorious. We’d freed twenty captives, destroyed a slaver’s den, taken another step toward reclaiming what the packs had lost.
But my wolf wouldn’t settle.
The mark on my wrist — the faint crescent the Moon Goddess had burned there — throbbed faintly. My power was changing again.
And beneath it, another rhythm beat in time with mine.
Jason.
I shut my eyes, furious at myself.
He had taken everything — my title, my home, my heart. I swore I’d never think of him again. So why now? Why tonight?
The fire hissed, spitting sparks into the air.
I saw his face in the flames — golden eyes, sharp jaw, that cold, distant stare the night he destroyed me.
My chest tightened painfully.
“Don’t look back,” I whispered to myself. “He doesn’t deserve it.”
But the bond didn’t listen.
Because bonds never truly break. They only sleep.
---
Jason
The pull became unbearable.
I shifted, fur rippling, bones cracking under the force of my transformation. The forest welcomed me — cold earth beneath my paws, wind slicing through my fur. My wolf took over, sprinting through the trees, desperate for the scent that haunted him.
Every step brought the feeling closer.
Every heartbeat echoed hers.
We stopped at the edge of the border cliffs. The wind howled, carrying something soft, something heartbreakingly familiar — a voice on the air, too faint to be real.
You’ll regret it, Jason.
I lifted my head to the sky. The full moon blazed down, and for a split second, I swore I saw her — not flesh and blood, but a vision in silver light. Standing on some faraway mountain, her hair whipping in the wind, her eyes glowing like fire.
My wolf whimpered. Mate.
I growled low, angry at myself. “No. She’s gone.”
But the bond pulsed anyway, alive beneath my skin.
---
Nora
The power inside me surged without warning. My hands glowed faintly, silver threads of energy coiling around my fingers.
Kael saw it too. He stepped closer, concern etched on his face. “Nora—”
“I’m fine,” I said through clenched teeth.
But I wasn’t. The power wasn’t mine tonight. It belonged to something ancient — something that wanted to remind me of the past.
The moon above flared, flooding the world in white. My vision blurred. For a moment, I wasn’t in the camp anymore. I was standing in another forest, another time.
And he was there.
Jason.
He stood beneath the same moon, his wolf’s golden fur glinting like flame. We were miles apart, but I could feel him — the weight of his gaze, the echo of his heartbeat.
My wolf rose inside me, aching, furious, longing all at once.
I whispered into the wind, “Do you feel it too?”
And somewhere, I knew he did.
---
Jason
The bond came alive — raw, electric, undeniable.
My heart slammed against my ribs. My wolf howled, not in rage this time, but in recognition.
Through the moonlight, I felt her emotions rush through me — grief, power, defiance, pain. It was like drowning in everything I’d tried to forget.
I dropped to my knees, claws digging into the dirt. “Nora,” I breathed.
The name cracked the air between us.
For a heartbeat, it felt like she heard me. Like the space between us folded in on itself, and her energy touched mine.
The Moon Goddess was cruel.
She had broken us apart.
And now, she was pulling us back together.
---
Nora
The vision shattered. I gasped, stumbling backward as the power faded. My heart raced, sweat beading at my temples.
Kael caught my arm. “What did you see?”
I hesitated. “Nothing. Just the past.”
But that was a lie.
I had seen his face — older, harder, haunted.
And for one terrible moment, I had felt his regret.
That was what terrified me most.
Because even after everything… a small part of me still ached for him.
I turned away from the moon, forcing my voice steady. “Pack up. We move at dawn.”
Kael frowned. “Where to?”
“East,” I said. “Toward Blackwood.”
---
Jason
When dawn broke, the forest was silent again. But something inside me had changed.
The bond was awake.
And no matter how far she ran — or how much I tried to bury it — I knew one thing:
The Moon had made her vow.
And she would bring her Luna home.
- Writer
