Chapter 1 Love at the Edge of a Blade

"Why do you odor like a person else's blood?" Luna's voice trembled as she stood inside the dim glow of the overall moon, her eyes locked on Kaelen. The air became tense, the simplest sound being the faint rustle of leaves beneath her naked feet.

Kaelen's jaw tightened, his massive shoulders rigid. He stood some paces away, his silver hair catching the moonlight; however, his eyes were piercing, and inexperienced eyes she'd usually trusted averted hers. "You're imagining things, Luna. Go again to the den."

"Don't misinform me." Luna stepped closer, her coronary heart pounding. The steel tang of blood clung to him, sharp and unfamiliar. "I understand what I mean. Whose is it, Kaelen?"

He became away, his voice low, nearly a growl. "You don't want to understand. You wouldn't understand."

"Wouldn't understand?" Luna's voice cracked, her fingers balling into fists. "I'm your mate! Your soulbound! If you're hiding something, I deserve the truth!"

Kaelen whipped around, his eyes flashing with something dark, something she didn't recognize.

"Truth? You need truth?" He stalked closer to her, his presence overwhelming, like a typhoon approximately to break.

"You're too vulnerable to address it. Too soft. Always clinging to me, whining for answers."

Luna froze, her breath catching. "What... what are you saying?"

He stopped inches from her, his voice losing to a venomous whisper. "You're now no longer enough, Luna. Not for me. Not anymore."

The terms hit like a blade to her chest. "Kaelen, why are you doing this? This isn't you."

"Isn't it?" He smirked, a merciless twist of his lips that made her belly churn. Before she wanted to respond, his hand shot out, claws extended. Pain seared through her arm as his claws raked in some unspecified time in the future of her skin, drawing blood.

Luna gasped, clutching her arm. Warm blood trickled amongst her fingers, staining her sleeve. "Kaelen!" Her voice modified right into a combination of wonder and betrayal. "Why-"

"You can't even combat back."

She stumbled, her knees vulnerable; however, her coronary heart clung to hope. This wasn`t her Kaelen. It couldn't be. "Please, inform me what's wrong. Whatever it is, we can repair it. I love you."

"Love?" Kaelen laughed, a harsh, guttural sound that echoed inside the clearing. "You assume love matters? You're not anything, however, a liability.

" He lunged, shoving her to the floor with a pressure that knocked the air from her lungs.

Luna hit the dust hard, aching, taking pictures through her back. She scrambled to her knees, her arm throbbing, her thoughts reeling. "Kaelen, stop! This isn't you! Something's wrong; someone's executed something on you!"

He loomed over her, his shadow swallowing her whole. "Keep telling yourself that. Maybe it'll make you sense higher whilst I'm gone."

"Gone?" Her voice changed into slightly a whisper. "What do you mean?"

He didn't answer. Instead, he grew to become and walked away, his boots crunching towards the floor. "Stay out of my way, Luna. Or subsequent time, I won't maintain back."

She reached out, desperate. "Kaelen, wait! Please, don't do this!"

But he changed into already moving, his shape mixing into the shadows of the trees. Luna drove herself to her feet, her arm burning, her coronary heart-shattering. She couldn't permit him to go any longer like this. Not without answers.

"Kaelen!" she screamed, jogging after him. The wooded area closed in around her, branches snagging at her clothes. Her heightened senses picked up his scent; however, it changed into tainted, combined with that identical overseas blood. She drove harder, her naked feet pounding towards the earth, her breath ragged.

"Stop jogging from me!" she shouted, echoing through the trees. "You owe me an explanation!"

A low growl replied to her. However, it wasn't Kaelen's. Luna skidded to a halt, her eyes darting through the darkness. The air grew heavy, charged with the presence of some other predator. She spun around, her coronary heart racing. "Who's there?"

Silence. Then, a couple of sparkling yellow eyes seemed among the trees, observed via way of means of some other. Werewolves. But now, she is no longer from her pack. Their heady fragrance changed into wrong-wild, unfamiliar.

"Kaelen?" she whispered, hoping in opposition to wish he changed into nonetheless nearby. But the simplest reaction changed into the snap of a sprig in the back of her.

She whirled, catching a glimpse of Kaelen's silhouette within the distance. He changed into looking at her, his posture predatory, his eyes cold. "Kaelen, assist me!" she called, her voice breaking.

He didn't move. Instead, he tilted his head as though analyzing her, then became and vanished into the shadows.

The different werewolves closed in, their growls vibrating via the air. Luna's pulse thundered in her ears. She subsidized away, her injured arm trembling. "Stay back," she warned, her voice shaky, however defiant. "I'm now no longer terrified of you."

One of the wolves stepped forward, its fur bristling, its tooth bared. "You need to be," it snarled, its voice guttural and human-like. "Your Alpha's deserted you. You're truthful sport now."

Luna's belly dropped. "He wouldn't... he didn't abandon me." But the phrases felt hollow. Kaelen's bloodless laughter rang in her ears, and his claws burned in her memory.

The 2nd wolf turned around her, its claws scraping the floor. "Run, little mate. Let's see how a long way you get."

Luna's eyes darted among them, her thoughts racing. She couldn't combat werewolves- now no longer injured or alone. But she wouldn't beg. She wouldn't break. Not yet.

She bolted, her legs burning as she sprinted through the forest. Branches whipped at her face, tearing at her skin; however, she didn't stop. The wolves` laughter chased her, their paws pounding the floor at the back of her. She may want to sense their breath, warm and close, their starvation palpable.

"Kaelen!" she screamed one ultimate time, her voice raw. "If you're out there, please!"

But the best solution changed into the howl of the wolves, sharp and mocking, as they closed the distance. Luna's imagination and prescience blurred with tears; however, she saved running, her coronary heart clinging to the fading desire that Kaelen change into nevertheless the person she loved; this changed into a mistake.