Cursed Moon Rising

Blood and Betrayal

The burning intensified until Luna's vision went white. She thrashed on the bed, clawing at the collar as it seared into her skin. Through the agony, she heard doors slamming, voices shouting, and then strong hands pinning her wrists.

"Stop! You're hurting yourself!" Kai's voice cut through the pain.

"It's... reacting..." Luna gasped. "Marcus... he's here... the collar knows..."

Kai's eyes widened in understanding. "The Beta's presence is triggering it?" He turned to someone Luna couldn't see. "Get the healer. Now!"

An elderly woman appeared, her hands glowing with soft blue light as she pressed them to the collar. The burning lessened but didn't stop. "Alpha, this is beyond my skill. The collar is linked to someone in that envoy. If they come closer..."

"It'll kill her faster," Kai finished grimly. He looked down at Luna, and she saw him make a decision. "Prepare the challenge circle."

"Kai, no," Zara protested from the doorway. "You can't challenge them over a—"

"Over my mate? Yes, I can." He stood, his presence filling the room with Alpha power. "Send word to the envoy. They want Luna? Their Beta faces me in combat."

Luna tried to sit up. "No, you don't understand. Marcus is—"

"Stronger than he looks? I'm counting on it." Kai's smile was all predator. "Someone who helps frame his own sister for murder isn't going to fight fair."

Within an hour, the challenge circle was prepared. Luna watched from a window, supported by Zara, as wolves gathered. The Riverdale envoy stood on one side—five wolves including Marcus, who looked exactly as she remembered. Tall, lean, with their mother's gentle face that had fooled everyone into thinking him harmless.

"You're making a mistake," Luna whispered. "Marcus trained in secret. He's killed before."

Zara's grip tightened on her arm. "So has Kai."

The rules were announced. Single combat, shifted form, until submission or death. The winner's word would be law regarding Luna's fate.

Marcus stepped forward, his voice carrying. "Alpha Kai, you harbor a murderer and mate-killer. Return her, and we leave in peace."

"She's innocent," Kai responded. "And I'll prove it with your blood if necessary."

"She killed Jason Riverdale, our Alpha's son. Her own mate!"

"Did she? Or did someone else benefit from his death?" Kai began circling. "Tell me, Beta Marcus, who became heir after Jason died?"

Luna's breath caught. She'd never thought—

"His younger brother, Tom," Marcus answered carefully. "What does that matter?"

"Tom, who just happened to be your closest friend. Tom, who's now mated to your cousin. Convenient."

Marcus's eyes flashed. "You dare suggest—"

"I suggest nothing. I'm stating facts." Kai continued circling. "Luna gains nothing from Jason's death except a cursed collar and exile. But others? They gained quite a bit."

"Enough talk!" Marcus shifted, his wolf large and grey.

Kai's transformation was smoother, faster. His wolf was massive, pure black with those distinctive silver eyes. They clashed in the center of the circle, and Luna immediately saw the difference. Marcus was skilled, but Kai was lethal.

Still, Marcus had tricks. He fought dirty, going for tendons, using feints. He drew first blood, his claws raking Kai's shoulder.

"He's using wolfsbane on his claws," Luna gasped, recognizing the way Kai's wound didn't immediately heal.

Zara snarled. "Cheating bastard."

But Kai adapted, his attacks becoming more brutal, more precise. He was learning Marcus's patterns, predicting his moves. Then, in a motion almost too fast to follow, Kai had Marcus pinned, teeth at his throat.

Shift back, Kai commanded through Alpha power.

Marcus shifted, gasping under Kai's wolf. "Yield! I yield!"

Kai shifted too but kept Marcus pinned. "Now, let's discuss the truth. Who really killed Jason?"

"I don't"

Kai's hand went to Marcus's throat, claws extending. "Wrong answer. Your scent is laced with guilt and fear. Not fear of me—fear of being discovered."

"You can't prove anything!"

"No? Then you won't mind if I ask the Riverdale Elder to come forward. After all, she placed the collar. She would know if Luna was truly guilty."

Marcus went pale. "She's... she's unwell. Unable to travel."

"Lying," Kai said softly. "She's dead, isn't she? Has been for months. Yet the collar remains, which should be impossible unless..." His eyes widened. "Unless someone else has been maintaining it. Someone with enough magic knowledge and access to Luna to keep the connection active."

Luna's knees buckled as understanding hit. "The tracking. Every time they found me, it was after I'd contacted Marcus to tell him I was safe."

Marcus's eyes found hers, and for a moment, she saw the brother she'd once loved. "I'm sorry, Luna. I tried to protect you, but they... they had evidence about what I'd done. About my preferences. Things that would have gotten me exiled or killed."

"So you let them frame me instead?" Luna's voice broke.

"I thought the collar would just suppress your wolf, make you leave. I didn't know it would kill you. When I found out, I tried to modify it, to slow it down—"

"You modified it?" Kai's claws dug deeper. "You've been torturing her for three years!"

"I was trying to buy time! To find a way to free her without exposing" Marcus choked as Kai's grip tightened.

"Without exposing that you killed Jason."

The clearing went silent. Even the wind stopped.

Marcus's voice was barely a whisper. "He found out about me. About my relationship with Tom. He was going to tell his father, get us both exiled. Tom panicked. He said if Jason was gone, he'd be heir, we'd be safe. I didn't mean... it wasn't supposed to happen like that."

Luna felt hollow. Empty. Her brother, the one person who'd stood by her at the trial, had been her condemner.

"Tom convinced you to kill his brother," Kai said with disgust. "Then you both let Luna take the fall."

"We didn't plan that! She was just... there. Covered in his blood. It was perfect." Marcus was crying now. "I'm sorry, Luna. I'm so sorry."

"Remove the collar," Kai commanded.

"I can't! Only the Elder could fully remove it. I can just maintain—"

Kai's claws pierced skin, drawing blood. "Then you're useless to me."

"Wait!" Marcus gasped. "There's a way. Tom. Tom has the Elder's grimoire. He's been studying it. He might be able to break it."

"Then you'll help us get it." Kai stood, dragging Marcus up. "You'll confess to your Alpha, face justice, and help free Luna. Or I'll declare war on Riverdale for harboring murderers and practicing death magic on an innocent."

The Riverdale wolves were backing away, shocked by the confession. One of them, an older enforcer, stepped forward. "Alpha Kai, we... we didn't know. The Alpha needs to hear this."

"He will. Take this traitor back. Tell Alpha Chen I'll be visiting soon to ensure justice is served." Kai turned to Marcus. "If that collar isn't removed within three days, I'll hunt down everyone involved and tear them apart myself."

Marcus nodded frantically. "Tom's at the pack house. He doesn't know I've confessed. You can catch him"

He never finished the sentence. An arrow sprouted from his chest, silver-tipped and deadly. Marcus looked down in shock, then fell forward.

From the tree line, more arrows flew. Hunters—human hunters with wolfsbane-laced weapons.

"Ambush!" Zara roared, shifting.

Kai grabbed Marcus, but it was too late. Luna's brother was dead, and with him, their best chance at removing the collar. As chaos erupted around them, Luna felt the collar pulse with renewed vigor. Without Marcus maintaining it, it was reverting to its original programming, accelerated death.

She had maybe days now, not months.

Through the fighting, she saw a figure watching from the shadows. Tom Riverdale, Jason's younger brother, now Alpha heir. He smiled at her before disappearing into the forest.

He'd killed Marcus to keep his secret.

And now he was going to let the collar finish what they'd started three years ago.

Luna collapsed as the collar burned white-hot, her scream lost in the sounds of battle.