The Injured Luna

Cracks in the Calm

Chapter 15 — Cracks in the Calm

Anna’s Point of View

As they returned to the safety of the packhouse, Anna couldn’t shake the feeling that the calm they had fought so hard to achieve was about to be shattered.

The courtyard was quiet, unusually so for late afternoon. The usual hum of training warriors, giggling pups, and kitchen clatter was gone—replaced by an eerie hush that prickled at her skin. She gripped Richard’s hand tighter. He noticed immediately, eyes scanning the perimeter, instincts sharp.

“You feel it too,” he murmured, voice low, a warning woven in his tone.

She nodded. “It’s like the forest is holding its breath.”

Inside, the familiar warmth of the grand hall welcomed them, but even that felt… off. A few pack members passed by with forced smiles, eyes downcast, murmuring rushed greetings. No one lingered.

Anna’s boots echoed on the polished floor as they made their way toward the alpha wing. “This isn’t just nerves, is it?” she asked, casting a glance at Richard.

He hesitated before answering. “No. Something’s wrong.”

The silence thickened between them.

Once in their suite, Richard pulled out his phone and fired off a series of texts to the patrol captains and the Beta, Johnny. Anna peeled off her jacket and sank into the armchair near the fireplace, absently tracing the pattern on the cushion.

Minutes later, the knock came.

Johnny entered without waiting for a reply, his expression grim. “Richard, we need to talk. Now.”

Anna sat up straighter. “I’ll go—”

“No,” Richard cut her off gently. “Stay. You need to hear this too.”

Johnny ran a hand through his disheveled hair. “Scouts picked up movement along the western border. Not rogues exactly—too organized—but not any pack we recognize either. And…” He hesitated.

“And what?” Richard growled, already halfway to shifting into Alpha mode.

Johnny glanced at Anna, then back at Richard. “They were asking for her.”

Anna’s breath caught. “Me?”

“Yes. By name. And title. They asked for the ‘Princess of the Blood Moon.’”

The words hung in the air like a thunderclap.

Anna’s stomach dropped. “But that’s not possible. Hardly anyone knows—”

“They know,” Johnny said. “And they’re coming.”

Richard crossed the room in two strides, placing himself between Anna and the door, protectively. “How many?”

“Two dozen. Maybe more.”

“That’s not a scouting party,” Anna whispered. “That’s a retrieval team.”

Richard’s eyes flickered with rage. “Or a kidnapping unit.”

She stood, fire rising in her chest. “They’re not taking me. Not again.”

“I won’t let them,” he vowed, eyes dark with fury.

Johnny cleared his throat. “We’ve doubled patrols. Gamma Charlie is with the border team now, holding them at a distance, pretending we don’t know what they’re after. But they’re not backing off. They said they’ll wait until dawn.”

Anna’s fingers dug into the armchair. “Why wait?”

“Because they know what I am,” she said softly, the realization chilling her. “They want to see what I’ll do. What I’ll choose.”

Richard’s eyes locked with hers. “You’ve already chosen, Anna. You’re Blue Moon now.”

She swallowed, nodding. But somewhere deep inside, a memory stirred—flashes of a hidden past, long-buried oaths, and a silver crest that once sat on her mother’s crown. Blood Moon may have cast her out, but they hadn’t forgotten her. And now, they wanted her back.

“Maybe this is what the Moon Goddess warned us about,” she whispered. “This moment. This test.”

Richard drew her into his arms. “Then we face it together.”

She clung to him for a breath, before stepping back. “I want to talk to them.”

Johnny blinked. “What?”

“If they want me, then I want to know why. I want to see their faces. Hear the lies or truths from their mouths. I won’t hide in a tower waiting for war.”

“No.” Richard’s voice was hard, absolute.

But Anna met his gaze evenly. “You said I’m Luna now. Let me act like one.”

He clenched his jaw. A muscle twitched in his cheek. Then finally, he gave a slow, reluctant nod. “At dawn. With me at your side.”

“Of course.”

---

The next morning came far too quickly. Anna barely slept. Dreams churned in her mind—visions of thrones drowned in blood, whispers in the dark, her mother’s eyes weeping moonlight.

Dressed in ceremonial white, Anna stood tall at the edge of the clearing, flanked by Richard and a ring of warriors. The forest ahead was silent, and then—a rustle.

They emerged like shadows: twenty-two wolves in black and silver, each bearing the crest of the Blood Moon. But their leader was no stranger.

Anna gasped. “Elias?”

The man stepped forward, older now but unmistakable. Her cousin.

“It’s been a long time, Princess,” he said. “We’ve come to bring you home.”

“I am home,” she snapped.

“Your kingdom lies in ruin. They need you.”

“You abandoned me!”

He flinched but stood his ground. “Your parents were betrayed from within. We only discovered the truth recently. But now we rise again. We need a true heir. The lost princess. The marked one.”

Anna hesitated. “And if I say no?”

He looked past her at Richard, then back at her. “Then you become the enemy. And we are not a pack that forgives lightly.”

Richard growled low in his throat, but Anna raised a hand. “I will not return to be your pawn. Blood Moon died with my parents. I was reborn here.”

Elias’s eyes narrowed. “Then you’ve chosen your fate.”

Anna took a deep breath, her aura flaring unconsciously, a shimmer of power rising around her. Her wolf stirred.

“I don’t need a crown to lead,” she said. “I have a pack. I have love. I have power. And if you force my hand, Elias, you’ll see what the Moon Goddess gave me.”

The tension in the air was electric.

Without another word, Elias turned and motioned for his wolves to retreat. “At the full moon, we return. With force.”

And then, like ghosts, they vanished into the trees.

Anna exhaled, trembling.

Richard wrapped an arm around her. “We’ll be ready.”

She leaned into him, and for the first time, truly believed it.