Chapter 4 Secrets of the Moonblood

Ava didn't sleep that night. The howls still echoed in her ears. Aiden's warning played over and over in her mind: They know where to find you. What did that even mean? She stayed up, cross-legged on her bed, staring at the mark on her wrist. It pulsed lightly beneath her skin, glowing only under the moonlight. She tried to scrub it off, but it didn't work. She tried ignoring it; that didn't work either.

••••

At dawn, she gave up on sleep and walked to the campus temple. An old stone building at the edge of the east woods. People hardly went there. It was quiet and peaceful.

Inside, candlelight flickered across the walls. There were old wolf statues carved into the corners, their faces worn with age. A large mural covered the ceiling, painted in deep blues and silvers. Wolves dancing under the moon.

She sat in the last row, silent, until she heard the soft sound of footsteps.

An older woman entered. Her hair was as white as snow, skin lined with time. She wore a long robe marked with silver embroidery.

"You're not from around here," she said, her voice calm but sharp.

"No, ma'am," Ava answered.

The woman's eyes narrowed slightly. "What's your name, child?"

"Ava... Ava Craine."

The woman walked closer. Her eyes dropped to Ava's wrist.

Ava tried to hide it, but it was too late.

The woman inhaled slowly. "Moonblood."

Ava blinked. "What?"

"You carry the mark of the Moonblood line," the woman said, her voice almost a whisper now. "It hasn't been seen in over a century."

"I don't even know what that means."

The woman sat beside her and pointed to the mural above. "Long ago, there was a line of wolves born with the Moon's fire in their blood. Not Alpha, not Beta. Something older and wilder. They were protectors... and destroyers."

Ava shook her head. "That can't be me. I don't even know who my parents were. I was raised by a human woman in a rogue town."

"Blood remembers, even when the mind forgets," the woman said.

Ava looked down at her wrist again.

"Be careful, child," the woman added. "The Moon doesn't mark lightly. And it doesn't make mistakes."

••••

That evening, Ava sat under the trees behind her dorm, her heart heavy.

Moonblood?

Why her?

Aiden found her there, not as a wolf, but as himself.

"You went to the temple," he said. It wasn't a question.

"You're spying on me now?"

"You shouldn't have gone."

"Everyone keeps saying what I shouldn't do, but no one tells me what the hell is going on!"

He stayed silent.

Ava stood and faced him. "You knew, didn't you? That I'm not... normal."

"I had a feeling," he said. "When I touched you. Even before I knew you were my mate. Your scent. Your aura. It was... different."

"And that's why you rejected me?" she asked, her voice tight.

He flinched. "I rejected you to protect you."

"That's such a damn lie," she snapped. "You did it to protect yourself. Because you were afraid of what I might be."

There was silence again.

He looked away. "You're right."

Ava's breath caught.

"I've trained all my life to be the next Alpha of Shadowmoon Pack," he said. "I've fought wars. Buried friends. Carried this weight. But when I saw you, the girl no one had ever heard of, carrying a fire I couldn't explain, I panicked."

She stared at him.

"I didn't want to be weak," he whispered. "But rejecting you made me weaker."

Ava didn't know what to say.

Then, as if the universe hated stillness, a loud screech ripped through the air.

A fireball crashed into the trees nearby, exploding on impact. Both of them ducked.

Then came the howls. Closer this time and louder.

Ava's blood ran cold. "They're back."

"No," Aiden said darkly. "That's not just rogues. That's something else."

From the trees, a figure stepped out. Tall, cloaked, wearing bone armor and a wolf skull for a mask.

Ava felt her knees weaken.

The figure pointed directly at her.

"The girl is marked," a voice rasped, inhuman and cold. "The Moonblood must die... before the blood moon rises."