Chapter 9 Blood Moon Rising

As Kael and I stood hand in hand, our bond stronger than ever, the changed Moonstone Pavilion buzzed with leftover energy. Responding to the electricity coursing between us like liquid starlight, the crystal walls around us pulsed with golden light. I let myself believe for a brief second that we had prevailed-that love had vanquished the shadows tearing us apart.

Our great moment of success, however, is extremely brief.

Approaching footsteps-dozens of them-echoed through the crystal framework. The coordinated march of trained soldiers, not the hesitant footsteps of curious pack members.

Marcus spoke darkly, his improved hearing picking up what we could not yet recognize. "They're coming," he added. His normally composed attitude had shattered; his face was white. "The other Alphas felt the surge of power from miles away.

My stomach sank like a rock. "How many?

Marcus's expression was serious as he strolled toward the pavilion's edge, his nostrils flaring to catch the evening air. "Five packs, possibly six. And they're not arriving to negotiate-I can smell their battle preparations from here.

Through the see-through walls, we could see dozens of torches weaving among the trees in strategic patterns like angry fireflies, moving through the forest. They had come prepared for battle; the sour smell of fear and aggression floated on the wind, combined with silver and wolfsbane.

"This is my fault, " I murmured, guilt grinding down on me as a physical weight. "They're here because of what I am, what I did-"

Kael's voice was harsh as he turned to confront me, his hands holding mine. It is precisely what they wanted-for you to blame yourself, to feel guilty for existing. You are not the monster here.

Still, I could see the deliberation in his eyes as he spoke, the Alpha mind already analyzing situations and deeming all of them insufficient. Outnumbered, outgunned, and confined in a crystal cage that had become our prison as much as our haven.

Kael's Alpha instincts kicked in, "We must go," he said. "The forest provides better concealment than this glass house. In the thicker forests, we might lose them; next with my pack-"

"No one is going anywhere.

My blood felt like it was turning to ice as the voice passed like a knife across the evening. Not because of what was spoken, but because of the people who uttered it.

I breathed, turning toward the entrance of the pavilion,

she emerged from the shadows like a phantom, her exquisite beauty was unchanged yet her expression was frigid like winter stone. Now gazing at me with the detached interest of a scientist examining a specimen, the woman who had said to know my difficulty offered direction and kinship.

She was not alone, either.

Three figures behind her drove my newly activated senses screaming in fear. I knew them from the blackest pages of the pack files: the Crimson Alphas, the most brutal supernatural hunters on earth. Their red eyes shone with predatory hunger as they examined the scene, and the air around them seemed to pulse with barely contained violence.

I said once more, my voice cracking: "Seraphina, what have you done?

She said, her voice lacking the warmth I had come to rely on, "What I should have done centuries ago. She spoke each syllable clearly, as though she were rendering a formal decision. "I have called the experts.

The head Crimson Alpha came forward, and I saw why lesser supernaturals hurried at the mere mention of their kind. Tall and thin, his silver hair seemed to absorb light rather than shine it. His presence made the air itself tremble with danger; when he grinned, I saw fangs that looked to be crafted from bone.

He said, his voice carrying the weight of utter authority, "Aria Silvermoon, you are bound to turn yourself over for urgent containment by the ancient laws that govern all supernatural beings.

Kael grumbled, his body already starting to change. I could sense his wolf raging through our link, ferocious, protective, and frantic.

The hunter continued, never wavering, "The Celestial comes with us willingly or we seize her by force; the choice is not yours to make, young Alpha. Either way, she quits this place tonight.

As my Celestial energy got ready to defend itself, silver light dancing around my fingertips indicated my increasing power in response to the threat. But there was something amiss. So much a part of me, the energy that had felt so natural just before, felt tired and subdued, like trying to run through water.

"What is going to happen to me? I gasped, my knees about to give way as faintness consumed my body.

Seraphina presented a little crystal vial, its contents glowing with a sickly green light that was hard to bear. "Celestial suppressant," she said matter-of-factly, developed by the Crimson Council centuries ago, odourless, colorless, and totally effective when spread via the air. Her gaze met mine, and for just a moment, I noticed something that might have been sorrow. "I'm sorry, child. But you're too hazardous to live free.

The globe slanted as the medication started to work, and my eyesight blurred at the margins. Through our link, I attempted to reach for Kael, yet even that relationship seemed remote, muddled by the mystical poison in my body.

"You betrayed me," I whispered. The pain in my voice made Seraphina flinch.

"I protected the planet from you," she answered, but her words lacked conviction at present; "just as I should have protected it from myself centuries ago.

I could barely make out Kael's agonized roar as he lunged toward the hunters, his partly shifted form moving with desperate speed. But the Crimson Alphas were ready for him-they had been hunting supernatural beings for millennia, and they knew every trick, every weakness.

Crackling with electricity, silver nets flew through the air to entangle Kael, causing his body to convulse. He struck the crystal floor forcefully, his human form reasserting itself as the silver flared against his skin.

No! I tried to sprint toward him, but my legs would not cooperate. The suppressant was traveling throughout my system like fire, consuming my vitality with every beat.

Marcus made his own frantic lunge, but the second Crimson Alpha moved like liquid shadow, appearing behind him and striking a pressure point that fell the mighty Beta like a rock.

"Sleep now, little star," Seraphina mumbled as darkness crept into my vision's perimeter. "When you wake, everything will be different.

In the growing mist, I saw Kael fighting against the silver nets; his eyes were frenzied with terror as he witnessed my descent. Our mate bond grew thin as consciousness faded, yet I could still feel his desperation, his rage, his absolute reluctance to let them take me.

His furious face was the last thing I saw: blood pouring from burns from the silver; his mouth forming words I couldn't hear but somehow knew, "I'll find you. I'll always find you.

Viktor's laughter reverberating throughout the forest, rich with dark humor and terrible promise, chilled me to my very core in that last second before oblivion claimed me entirely.

It was exactly what he had wanted: a sound told me of betrayal, capture, seeming defeat.

This was not a closure.

This was only the beginning.