The next morning arrived with a heaviness in the air. The sun barely broke through the dense gray clouds blanketing the sky, and the forest outside the cabin stood eerily still. No birds chirped. No wind stirred. It was as if nature itself was holding its breath—waiting.
Luna Everleigh sat on the edge of the bed in the rustic room Kieran had given her. Though her body rested on soft fur blankets and she wore clean, warm clothes, her mind was anything but settled. Her fingertips grazed the bite mark on her neck, still tender, still throbbing with heat, as though it pulsed with some strange new power.
She hated herself for remembering the way Kieran's lips had felt against her skin, for the way her body had responded even in fear. It wasn't just physical. Something had changed. Something inside her was stirring, clawing its way to the surface—and it scared the hell out of her.
She needed answers.
Luna stood and stalked across the room, yanking open the wooden door with enough force that it creaked on its hinges. The scent of pine and smoke drifted in with the morning air. She followed it, barefoot, down a short hallway until she reached a living space where Kieran stood at the stone hearth, shirtless, his muscular back turned to her as he stoked a crackling fire.
"Don't sneak up on me," he said without turning around. "I could've mistaken you for a threat."
"You're the threat," Luna replied, her voice low and clipped. "Don't forget that."
He turned then, slowly. His golden eyes swept over her with quiet intensity, lingering just a moment too long. His torso glistened with a sheen of sweat, the rigid muscles of his chest and abdomen flexing as he shifted his weight.
"You're awake early," he said, his voice like gravel wrapped in velvet. "I thought you'd sleep longer after the... shift."
"Don't play coy," Luna snapped. "You bit me. You marked me. You said I'm your mate. What the hell did you *do* to me, Kieran?"
Kieran sighed, dragging a hand through his dark hair as he crossed the room toward her. She backed up instinctively, bumping into the wall, her heart thundering in her chest. His scent enveloped her again—smoke, pine, and something darker, dangerous.
"I didn't just mark you," he said, his voice lower now, more intimate. "I saved you. Your wolf was dying inside you, trapped. I freed her."
Luna's eyes flashed. "You don't get to decide what I needed! You took away my choice!"
Kieran's jaw clenched. "You never had a choice, Luna. That's what you don't understand yet. This curse—it's ancient. You were born into it, just like me. The moment you hit your twenty-fifth birthday, the blood moon marked the beginning of your transformation. If I hadn't claimed you—your wolf would've gone feral. You would've died within days."
She stared at him, trying to piece together his words, her anger warring with a creeping horror. "Why me? Why now?"
"Because your bloodline carries the key," Kieran said, stepping closer. "Your mother was from the lost line of the Moon-Blessed. Women with dormant wolves, powerful enough to bind or break curses passed through generations. And your father—he was one of us, though he died before he could tell you the truth."
Luna staggered back. "You're lying. My father was human. A soldier."
"No," Kieran growled, his eyes flashing gold. "He was a warrior. A rogue Alpha. A deserter from the Bloodfang Pack. He fled the curse—and left you vulnerable. That's why you were targeted."
She shook her head. "Targeted?"
"Your kidnapping wasn't random, Luna," Kieran said, his voice darkening. "Someone knew what you were. Someone powerful. Someone who wants to finish what the curse started—annihilate the Moon-Blessed line before it can destroy him."
Luna felt like the floor had dropped from beneath her. Her life—everything she thought she knew—was unraveling.
"My whole life…" she whispered. "Was it a lie?"
Kieran took her chin gently in his hand, tilting her face up. "No. It was protected. Hidden. But now, your wolf has awakened. The curse is stirring. And we have little time before others come for you."
A silence fell between them. Tense. Loaded.
Then Luna stepped back, shoving his hand away. "I don't need your protection. I need the truth. All of it."
Kieran studied her for a long moment. Then he turned toward a heavy, locked chest beside the hearth and knelt. From it, he pulled a leather-bound book—worn, ancient—and handed it to her.
"This belonged to your mother," he said. "It's the Grimoire of the Moon-Blessed. It contains the history of the curse, the prophecy, and your birthright."
Luna took the book with trembling hands. As her fingers grazed the cover, a warm hum ran up her arms, like recognition.
"I've kept it safe for years," Kieran added. "Waiting for you to be ready."
She looked up sharply. "You've been watching me?"
His jaw tightened. "Protecting you. Ever since your parents died. You just never knew."
The realization hit her like a punch to the gut. "So you've been stalking me my entire life?"
His silence was answer enough.
Luna turned away, clutching the book to her chest. Her hands shook. She didn't know whether to scream or cry.
"I should hate you," she whispered.
"But you don't," Kieran said behind her.
She closed her eyes. The worst part? He was right.
"I need space," she muttered, storming out of the cabin and into the woods.
---
The forest greeted her with cold, misty silence. Trees loomed like sentinels. Luna's bare feet moved over the mossy ground as if guided by instinct. She clutched the book tightly, her mind spinning with everything Kieran had said.
Half-wolf. Moon-Blessed. Cursed bloodline. Her entire life—ripped apart.
She sank onto a fallen log, flipping open the book with shaking hands. The text inside was handwritten, pages filled with diagrams, symbols, and passages in a language she barely recognized. Yet somehow... she could read them.
> *"The curse of the Blood Moon shall fall upon the last child of both worlds—human and wolf—when the blood of betrayal runs through the soil and the moon burns red. Only a true mate's bond can awaken the sealed wolf and unlock the power to break or bind fate."*
Luna traced the words slowly, her heart thudding louder with each line. The curse. Her wolf. The bond.
Her eyes burned. She didn't want to believe it. But deep down, something inside her *already knew*.
The sound of snapping branches broke her concentration. She looked up—and froze.
It wasn't Kieran.
A man stood at the edge of the clearing. Tall. Pale. Dressed in black with silver eyes like ice and a cruel smile playing on his lips.
"Well, well," he said smoothly. "So you're the little Moon-Blessed runt the Bloodfang Alpha has been hiding."
Luna leapt to her feet, clutching the book tighter.
"Who the hell are you?"
The man bowed mockingly. "Call me Silas. I'm here to return you to your rightful place... before Kieran spoils what's left of your potential."
A low growl echoed through the woods. Then Kieran burst through the trees in wolf form—massive, dark, monstrous—his eyes locked on Silas with a murderous gleam.
"Touch her," he snarled through his shifting voice, "and I'll rip your throat out."
Silas merely smirked. "You're too late, Draven. She's already starting to remember. And once she fully awakens... she'll destroy you too."
With that, Silas vanished into the mist.
Luna stood frozen as Kieran shifted back, panting, his chest rising and falling.
He reached for her, but she stepped away, clutching the book.
"What the hell is happening, Kieran?" she demanded. "What does he want with me?"
Kieran's expression darkened. "Not *what* he wants. *Who.* He wants to awaken the other side of you. The darkness. The power of the curse."
Luna's voice trembled. "And what if I can't stop it?"
Kieran stepped closer, his hand wrapping around her wrist, anchoring her. "Then I'll stop it. Even if it means destroying myself."
Their eyes locked—his burning with purpose, hers with uncertainty. The prophecy was no longer a myth. The enemy was real. The curse was awakening.
And Luna Everleigh had just become the key to war.