Chapter 2 First Blood Moon

The morning light came into Elara's bedroom through the curtains. It made shadows on the floor. Elara woke up suddenly. Her body hurt a lot. It felt like she had been running all night.

She remembered what happened that night. It was all very painful. She saw eyes that glowed in the mirror. She heard a howl. It sounded like it came from inside her body.

Elara sat up in bed. She rubbed her head. She tried to tell herself it was a bad dream. Maybe it was because she drank too much coffee. Maybe it was because she read journals before she went to sleep. She wanted to believe it was a dream.

The scratches on her arms told a story. These were scratches, they were red and looked like she had scratched herself. She was. She got dressed quickly. Then she went downstairs. She wanted to forget the things that happened by keeping herself busy with work. The kitchen was the same as she had left it.. The back door was not closed all the way. There was mud on the tiles. It looked like someone had walked in from outside. Had she gone outside. Then come back in? She did not usually forget things. Have blackouts. This was not like her.

At the Gazette Harlan put a pile of reports on her desk. He said "We have information about the attacks. This time the person who was hurt was a hiker. They found this hiker near the place where you live."

Elara's stomach did a twist. "Is it near my house?"

The Sheriff wants to keep this quiet. I need to get the information. The Sheriff is trying to keep it under wraps. I have to get the details from somewhere. I really want to know what the Sheriff is hiding so I will try to find out what is going on with the Sheriff.

She spent the day talking to people who saw things trying to figure out what happened. The hiker was found all torn up with some parts missing like something had eaten them. People in town were talking about luck and curses but nobody really knew what to believe. By the time it got dark she was really tired. She wanted to know more so she went to see Elder Miriam at her cabin. Maya had told her that Elder Miriam knows all the stories about the town.

The way to Miriam's place was all grown up with vines and stuff they were over the path.

Miriam's cabin was made of logs. It had a lot of dreamcatchers and carved things on it.

When I got to the door Miriam answered it she had a face with a lot of wrinkles and her hair was silver her eyes were really sharp, like a hawks eyes Miriam's eyes were very sharp.

The woman said "You are the Voss girl." She did not ask this. She said "Come in. I have been expecting the Voss girl."

Inside the house the air was really thick, with the smell of herbs and incense. Miriam was making tea. She was doing it very slowly and carefully. She said "Your parents came to me one time. They wanted to talk about the family problem."

Elara leaned forward. "What is this affliction thing? I was reading these journals. They talked about blood calls. What does that even mean?"

Miriam sighed. "The lunar curse is a problem. It gets passed down from family to family from a time ago. When the moon is full the beast inside of you wakes up. You get strong and fast. The lunar curse takes something away from you: control over what you do. The lunar curse is not easy to deal with."

Elara laughed in a way. She said "Werewolves are things you read about in stories, for kids. That is not real."

Miriam looked at me with a face. She said that fairy tales are based on things that happened. Miriam told me that my parents tried to fight against something. The forest took them away.

The words really hit Elara hard. She remembered what happened with the "accident". Their car was totally smashed up and the bodies were nowhere to be found. Elara thought about it. Then she asked "You think the people in the accident... Actually changed into something else?"

This is what it is about. A pack leader really wanted to have their territory. Darius Kane is the one who's in charge. Darius Kane is the alpha now. Darius Kane rules the shadows.

Elara's mind was totally spinning. This was completely crazy. She could not forget the pain she felt last night and those eyes. She really needed to know so she asked "How do I stop the pain and the eyes?"

You do not stop trying to deal with this feeling. You learn to live with it. Herbs can make the feeling less strong and rituals can be helpful.. If you try to ignore the feeling, for too long the feeling will take over your life. Herbs and rituals can only do much to help you and you have to be careful not to let the feeling consume the herbs and the rituals and you and your life and everything that herbs and rituals are supposed to help with which is you.

Elara was leaving with a pouch of dried leaves that she was going to use to make tea. She was feeling really unsure. I'm a little scared. When she was driving home her phone started ringing. It was Maya. Maya wanted Elara to go out and have some drinks with her. The message on the phone said "I need to unwind" and Elara thought about the dried leaves, for tea that she had with her.

Elara was at The Howling Wolf, a cool bar that was not very bright. She thought it was funny that it was called The Howling Wolf. Elara and her friend Maya were hanging out drinking beer and talking. Maya is a good friend. She is always happy and honest. As the night went on Elara saw a man she did not know. The man was really tall. I had big shoulders. He had hair and really blue eyes. The man was sitting by himself drinking whiskey. He seemed like someone important like people should notice him. Elara noticed The Howling Wolf was getting louder. She kept looking at the man. The man at The Howling Wolf was interesting, Elara thought.

"Who is that?" Elara asked.

Maya looked over. She said the new guy is named . He is renting the Miller cabin. Maya thinks that Thorne says he is a photographer. Maya believes that Thorne seems like a really quiet and mysterious person.

Thorne's eyes met Elara's eyes. It was like a shock to her body. It did not feel like fear, it felt like something was buzzing inside her. She turned her head away. Tried to focus on Maya but now her senses were really sharp. She could hear Thorne's heartbeat all the way from across the room. She could smell the smell of Thornes cologne mixed with the smell of earth.

Later as they were leaving Thorne came up to the reporter. "You are the reporter who is asking about the attacks."

Elara nodded slowly and cautiously. ". Who are you?"

Thorne Blackwood. I think I have some information that you need to know. We should meet up tomorrow at the edge of the forest.

Before she could say anything he just disappeared into the night. Maya gave her a push. "This guy is really mysterious is he not? You need to be careful, around him Maya said to her, referring to the man.

Elara made Miriam's tea. The tea was bitter. It helped calm Elara's nerves. As midnight got close the moon looked really big again. Elara started to feel pain. It began in her joints like an ache.. The pain got worse and worse until it was really bad. Elara tried to fight it and she held onto the counter. Everything got fuzzy. Her hands even looked weird like they were getting longer. Elara was still holding onto the counter. The pain from her joints was getting to her and her vision of the tea and everything else was blurry. The pain was bad, the moon was big. Elara was struggling, drinking Miriam's tea was not helping her that much now.

No she thought, this cannot be real.

The change happened fast. Her fur started to grow. Her muscles got bigger. A loud growl came out of her mouth. When she was in wolf form everything seemed real. The colors were super bright. The smells were really strong. She ran out of the door and into the woods feeling really free. The freedom of being a wolf was a feeling that was flowing through her veins. She was a wolf. She loved the feeling of freedom that came with it.

Time just went by fast and everything felt great: I was running after rabbits. Yelling at the stars.. Then I smelled something: a person, someone I knew. Thorne was standing in the trees with a crossbow, in his hands.

Her eyes locked with his and her wolf knew that this person was a threat. The man fired his gun and the bullet just barely touched her side.

Pain snapped her back. Then the rage took over the pain. The woman felt her body get ready to fight. She lunged at them with her teeth bared, ready to strike at the people who hurt her. The rage made her want to hurt them.

And in that moment, a deeper howl answered from the depths, drawing closer.