Chapter 9 Lunar Lullabies

Sleep in the abandoned mine was less a restful escape and more a series of fitful dozes punctuated by the baby's insistent demands and the unsettling feeling of being watched by golden eyes in the perpetual gloom. Elara felt like she hadn't truly slept since... well, since her entire life decided to take a hard left into Crazy Town.

The baby, whom she'd started affectionately (and slightly hysterically) calling "Goldie," was a surprisingly demanding roommate. Turns out, even half-whatever-he-was newborns needed constant feeding, burping, and the kind of gentle rocking that was hard to achieve on a lumpy bed of moss with a giant furry creature as your headrest.

Lucien, in his magnificent wolf-adjacent form, wasn't exactly Mr. Congeniality either. He kept sniffing the air like a furry, four-legged security system on high alert, his golden eyes darting into every shadowy crevice. It was slightly unnerving, especially when his snout got a little too close to the baby's head.

"You know," Elara mumbled, bleary-eyed as she tried to coax a burp out of Goldie, "for a supposed apex predator, you're surprisingly... domesticated."

Lucien, who was meticulously grooming a patch of his dark fur with his surprisingly dexterous tongue, just flicked an ear. His version of a witty retort, probably.

As dawn painted the hole in the cavern ceiling a pale grey, a new sound echoed through the mine – a faint, mournful howling. It wasn't the panicked cry of the thrallhound; this was deeper, more resonant, carrying a note of both sorrow and something ancient.

Lucien's head snapped up, his golden eyes narrowing with an intensity that made Elara's blood run cold. He rose to his full, impressive height, his muscles bunching beneath his fur.

"They're tracking us," he rumbled, his voice losing its earlier hint of gentleness. "They know you're alive."

"'They' as in the silver chain gang?" Elara asked, clutching Goldie tighter.

Lucien shook his massive head. "No. That... that is the call of the wild. The primeval. It knows its kin was... injured. It will be seeking retribution."

"Great," Elara sighed. "So, we've gone from bad Airbnb to a monster movie sequel. Just what I needed."

He turned his intense gaze on her. "This place is no longer safe. We need to move. Now."

Moving with a newborn who seemed determined to voice his displeasure at every bump and jostle was a challenge. Lucien, however, proved surprisingly adept at navigating the treacherous terrain, his large form creating a shield against loose rocks and uneven footing. He even seemed to have a knack for finding the least dusty paths, a level of consideration Elara hadn't expected from a creature who could probably rip her in half without breaking a sweat.

As they ventured deeper into the labyrinthine tunnels, the mournful howling grew fainter, replaced by an eerie silence that felt just as threatening. Elara couldn't shake the feeling that they were being hunted, that unseen eyes were watching them from the shadows.

Suddenly, Lucien stopped, his body going rigid. He sniffed the air, his nostrils flaring.

"Something's wrong," he rumbled, his golden eyes darting around the narrow passage. "The air... it carries a different scent now."

Before Elara could ask what he meant, a low growl echoed from the darkness ahead. Not the deep rumble of the primeval, but something smaller, more feral.

Then, a pair of glowing red eyes appeared in the darkness, followed by another, and another. They were surrounded.

Small, wolf-like creatures, their fur matted and their teeth bared in silent snarls, emerged from the shadows. Their eyes glowed with an unnatural intensity, and they moved with a predatory hunger that sent a shiver down Elara's spine.

"What are they?" Elara whispered, fear clutching at her throat.

Lucien's low growl deepened. "Ferals. Creatures twisted by dark magic. They hunt in packs. And they are drawn to... fresh blood." His gaze flickered to Goldie, who had thankfully fallen silent, sensing the shift in the atmosphere.

"Oh, for crying out loud," Elara muttered. "Can't a new mom catch a break?"

The feral creatures began to circle them, their low growls growing in intensity. Lucien positioned himself protectively in front of Elara and the baby, his own teeth bared in a silent warning. The air crackled with tension, the silence of the mine broken by the menacing growls and the frantic beating of Elara's heart. Their escape had just hit another snag, and this time, they were outnumbered and cornered in the suffocating darkness.