Cursed Moon Rising

Racing Death

Luna drifted in and out of consciousness, aware only of movement, voices, and the constant burning around her neck. Sometimes she felt cool hands on her skin. Sometimes she heard Kai's voice, rough with worry, demanding solutions no one could give.

On the second day, she woke fully to find herself in a different room—darker, smaller, filled with herbs and strange symbols painted on the walls. The pack healer sat beside her, looking exhausted.

"You're awake. Good." The old woman helped her sit up. "Drink this."

The liquid burned going down but eased the collar's fire slightly. "How long?"

"Two days. The Alpha hasn't left except when forced. He's currently threatening the Council to demand justice from Riverdale."

"The collar—"

"Is killing you faster now. Without someone maintaining the suppression, it's reverting to its original curse." The healer's face was grim. "Child, I'll be direct. You have perhaps three more days, maybe four if you don't exert yourself."

Three days. Luna touched the collar, feeling how it had begun embedding into her skin. "There's no way?"

"The grimoire your brother mentioned is our only hope. But Tom Riverdale has vanished, and Alpha Chen claims ignorance." The healer squeezed her hand. "I'm sorry."

The door burst open. Kai entered, and Luna's heart clenched at his appearance. His eyes were shadowed, clothes disheveled, looking like he hadn't slept since the ambush.

"Leave us," he told the healer.

When they were alone, he sat beside her, his hand immediately going to her face. "How do you feel?"

"Like I'm dying." There was no point lying.

His jaw clenched. "You're not dying. I won't let you."

"Kai—"

"No." His silver eyes blazed. "I just found you. I'm not losing you to some coward's curse."

"The grimoire is gone. Tom has it, and he's disappeared."

"Then I'll find him." Kai's thumb stroked her cheek. "I've sent trackers across three territories. Someone will locate him."

Luna leaned into his touch, too tired to resist the mate bond's pull. "Why do you care so much? You don't even know me."

"My wolf knew you the moment you crossed our border. You're mine, Luna. Mine to protect, mine to save." He pulled her against him, and she melted into his warmth. "And when this collar comes off, mine to claim properly."

Despite everything, heat pooled in her belly at his words. The mate bond sang between them, offering comfort even as her body failed.

"Tell me about Jason," Kai said suddenly. "What was he like?"

Luna stiffened, but Kai held her firmly. "Why?"

"Because someone should know the truth about him. And because talking will help you stay conscious."

So she talked. About Jason's laugh, his dreams of being a different kind of Alpha than his father. How he'd accepted her when she was nobody special, just the Beta's little sister. How excited he'd been about their mate bond, even though she wasn't the strong Luna his father would have chosen.

"He sounds like he was a good man," Kai said when she finished.

"He was. That's why I don't understand how Tom could..." She trailed off as something occurred to her. "Oh goddess. Kai, what if Tom isn't really Jason's brother?"

Kai pulled back to look at her. "What do you mean?"

"Tom looks nothing like Jason or Alpha Chen. Everyone always said he took after his mother, but she died when he was born. What if—" Luna gasped as the collar tightened, cutting off her air.

"Luna!" Kai's hands went to the collar, but touching it only made it worse.

She clawed at it, vision darkening. Through the panic, she heard Kai roar for the healer, felt his desperation through their incomplete bond.

The healer rushed in with a glowing stone, pressing it to the collar. The choking eased, but Luna could feel the damage. The collar had accelerated again.

"It's reacting to something," the healer muttered. "Almost like it's trying to silence her."

"The truth," Luna wheezed. "It doesn't want me to tell the truth about Tom."

Kai's eyes sharpened. "Then Tom isn't just maintaining the collar's curse. He created it." He stood. "If he made it, he has to know how to break it."

"Alpha," Zara appeared in the doorway. "We found something. A Riverdale wolf seeking sanctuary. She says she has information about Tom but will only speak to you."

Kai looked torn between leaving and staying. Luna pushed him gently. "Go. I'll be here."

He kissed her forehead, the gesture surprisingly tender. "Stay alive. That's an order."

When he left, Luna closed her eyes, feeling the collar's poison spreading through her veins. Three days, the healer had said. But Luna could feel the truth—she had hours at most.

The door opened again. Luna expected the healer, but instead, a young woman entered. She looked familiar—Tom's cousin, if Luna remembered correctly.

"Hello, Luna." The woman smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Tom sends his regards."

Before Luna could scream, the woman blew powder in her face. The world tilted, colors blurring.

"He wants you to know he's sorry about this. You were never supposed to suffer so long. But you just wouldn't die, and now you're causing problems." The woman lifted Luna easily, too easily. She was stronger than a normal wolf. "So he's decided to end this personally."

Luna tried to fight, but her body wouldn't respond. The collar pulsed in rhythm with her racing heart as she was carried out through a hidden door, away from safety, away from Kai.

Her last coherent thought was that she'd never told Kai she felt the mate bond too. Never told him that in just four days, he'd given her more hope than three years of survival had.

Now she'd die without him knowing.

The darkness swallowed her, and somewhere in the distance, she heard Tom's voice: "Welcome home, sister-in-law. Time to finish what we started."