The Moonblood Prophecy

LYANNA’S POV The night the prophecy awakened, the moon hung lower than it ever had, lurking like an eye waiting to blink. I should have known something was wrong the moment the coven circle grew unnaturally quiet. Witches never stay silent. Not during rituals, not during celebrations, and definitely not when the moon is full enough to make even the timid ones feel powerful. But tonight, the air vibrated with an unease that scraped against my skin. “Lyanna, step forward,” the High Priestess commanded. Her voice was steady, but her fingers trembled where she gripped her staff. The entire coven stood around the clearing in a perfect circle, their blue flames flickering in bowls at their feet. The usual warmth they brought to our ceremonies felt cold tonight, cold enough for me to feel it through my boots. I took a breath and walked into the centre. The moment I crossed the boundary of the circle, the wind stopped. Completely. Even the leaves froze, suspended mid-rustle. “Blood of the Vale,” the priestess said. “Heir of the Witch Kingdom. Tonight you reaffirm your bond to your lineage.” I’d done this ceremony every year since I turned eight. It was always simple: a chant, a glow, a blessing. Nothing dramatic. But the moon was watching us differently tonight. It felt… hungry. The priestess lifted her hand, signalling the others to begin. Chants rose around me, low and rhythmic, like a heartbeat pulsing through my bones. Blue flames stretched upward, bending toward me as if I were pulling them in. Then the ground beneath me shifted. At first, I thought it was my imagination. Then the earth cracked faintly, and the blue flames flickered red for a split second. That had never happened before. “Lyanna,” the priestess whispered. “Show your mark.” My throat tightened. I didn’t need to look at my wrist to know something was wrong. My birthmark, normally a faint silver line that glowed softly during rituals, felt like it was burning. Still, I pushed up my sleeve. And the forest gasped. The mark wasn’t silver anymore. It was blazing. Bright enough to paint the faces of every witch in the clearing. Bright enough to cast shadows on the moon. Something inside my blood roared awake. “What… is happening?” I whispered. The priestess stumbled backward, her face drained of all colour. “This cannot be. The Moonblood Prophecy” She didn’t finish. A violent pulse ripped through my arm, up my shoulder, and across my chest. It stole my breath away. My knees buckled, and the chants around me dissolved into frantic whispers. “Hold her!” Blue light shot from my skin, and several witches were thrown back. My vision blurred, heat tore through my veins, and then. A scream. I didn’t know if it was mine or someone else’s, because at that exact moment, something else tore into my senses. Not something. Someone. A presence. A heartbeat. A life. Far away. Fast. Panicked. Hurting. It crashed through me with the force of a storm. My breath hitched. My palms hit the dirt. The world spun. And I felt it, felt him, as clearly as if he were standing right beside me. Pain. Sharp, brutal pain, slicing across flesh that wasn’t mine. A roar echoed in my mind, deep and wild. My vision flashed, and for a heartbeat I saw through someone else’s eyes: trees racing past, claws digging into the earth, blood trailing behind. Then it vanished. The connection snapped like a whip. I collapsed into the dirt, gasping. “Lyanna! Speak!” The priestess knelt beside me, frantic. “What did you see?” I couldn’t answer at first. My lungs felt tight, my pulse uneven. My mark dimmed into a dull silver again, but my skin still trembled from the force of whatever had just happened. “I saw…” I swallowed hard. “Someone. A man. No—not a man. A wolf.” The coven inhaled sharply. Whispers ignited instantly. “A wolf?” “Impossible.” “The prophecy…” “She’s marked.” “She’s bound.” My heart hammered. Bound? Bound to what? The priestess grabbed my chin, forcing me to meet her eyes. They flickered with something I’d never seen in her before. Fear. “What you felt is forbidden magic,” she whispered. “A bond that should not exist. A bond that cannot be allowed to exist.” My skin crawled. “What bond?” She exhaled slowly, as if saying the words might summon death itself. “Your life just touched another’s,” she said. “A wolf’s life. Your pain reached him. He reached you. That only means one thing.” The circle of witches leaned in, breathless, terrified. “You are soul-bound.” My chest tightened. “That’s impossible,” I whispered. “Soul-binding only happens between witches.” “It once happened between a witch and a wolf,” the priestess said, her voice barely audible. “Long ago. And it ended in devastation so great it birthed a prophecy of warning.” I tried to stand, but my legs shook. “This is a mistake,” I said. “My mark…maybe it malfunctioned, or…” “Birthmarks do not malfunction,” she snapped. The ground trembled gently, as if reacting to her fear. “You were chosen by the Moonblood Prophecy,” she continued. “And the prophecy only awakens when the soul-bound pair has been born.” The clearing fell into a suffocating silence. I felt cold all over. “Why me?” I whispered. “I’m not even strong enough to…” “Strength doesn’t matter,” she cut in. “Fate does.” The circle parted as she rose to her feet, gripping her staff. “We must hide this,” she declared. “If the witches learn you are bound to a wolf, they will imprison you. If the wolves learn of it, they will hunt you.” My heartbeat stuttered. Imprisoned? Hunted? All for a connection I didn’t even understand? “But I don’t know who he is,” I said. “I only felt…” “That is enough,” she said. “And that is already too much.” The wind returned, swirling around us like a warning. The priestess stepped closer, lowering her voice so only I could hear. “If the prophecy is correct,” she whispered, “your soul-bound partner is destined to either unite our worlds… or destroy them.” A sharp chill slid down my spine. My life had changed tonight, even though nothing visible had moved. A wolf had felt my pain. And I had felt his. Whoever he was… Wherever he was… The bond between us had awakened. And there was no going back.