The Alpha's Mate Is A Bloodmoon

Eliana's POV

Branches whipped against my bare arms as I tore through the forest, my lungs burning, my legs aching, but I couldn't stop.

Not now.

Not when the pounding footsteps behind me were getting louder.

My shaky breath came in gasps, every inhale laced with the sting of fear.

Dirt clung to my face and smeared my arms.

My long auburn hair tangled around my shoulders, catching on low-hanging branches. I didn't care, I just needed to move.

To disappear!

I could hear their voices as they chased after me.

"Did you see that?" one of the men shouted behind me. "Her eyes!"

Another voice snarled. "She's a Blood Moon. Get her! We have to catch her!"

No. No no no, if they got a hold of me it would be game over, goodness knows what they'd make me do.

I was a blood moon, a rare kind of werewolf born only when the full moon is red.

I had the abilities to summon creatures called Lunaris beasts.

Mom and I had always kept this a secret. But earlier today, something that wasn't supposed to happen, happened.

My eyes had accidentally glowed red while I was in the marketplace and these men saw it, and now they were after me!

Blood moons were the only creatures whose eyes could glow red and so, they now knew my little secret.

I pushed harder, my heartbeat thundering in my ears louder than the shouts behind me.

My hazel eyes darted through the trees, searching for any opening, any place to hide but it was too late.

They'd seen me, they knew.

They saw my eyes glow bright red earlier, I couldn't control it.

The heavy thud of boots on wet leaves echoed through the dark woods. Shadows flickered under the twisted branches.

The night sky above was thick with clouds, swallowing the moonlight whole.

It was as if the forest itself wanted me caught.

Shit!

"Leave me alone!" I screamed, turning my head for just a second to glare at the men behind me.

But that was a mistake.

"She'll be a great asset for the Alpha," one of the men growled. "For our pack. Don't let her escape!"

They were faster now.

I stumbled over a root, caught myself just in time, and then sprinted harder. Something in me pulsed, something hot and wrong and alive right beneath my skin. A strange glow flashed across my arms, fading just as quickly. My breath hitched.

Not now, please not now. My nerves were acting up, I was panicking. If I summoned these creatures now, it would be terrible.

I broke through a cluster of trees and my foot slipped on mud. I lost my balance down a small slope and crashed to the ground at the base of the hill. Pain exploded through my ribs.

But there was no time to cry, no time to think.

I scrambled to my feet, my chest heaving. But it was too late, something. No, someone was there.

A dark figure stood just a few feet away, tall and motionless. His eyes locked onto mine, glowing faintly in the dark. A powerful presence rolled off him like heat.

"Found her," he murmured, voice low and unreadable.

I backed away, panic choking me. But my body refused to move fast enough. That strange heat surged through my veins again, and my vision tilted.

A scream caught in my throat.

My vision swam as I came to, my head spinning from the fall. The forest was silent but only for a second.

Then boots crunched into the dirt, the rest of them were catching up!

The man stepped out of the shadows in front of me. He was tall, broad-shouldered, a jagged scar running across his brow. He was one of the ones who had been chasing me.

His eyes gleamed with cruel satisfaction as he looked down at me.

He stepped closer, and before I could scramble away, his hand shot out and grabbed a fistful of my hair, yanking my head back roughly.

"Why would you run from your own pack huh?" he sneered. "So this was why you and your mother left the pack and became rogues. You should be honored, blood moon. You belong with us, with your people."

I gasped in pain, trying to twist away, but his grip was iron.

"Imagine it," he continued, his voice thick with feverish ambition. "You, standing beside our Alpha. You summon your beasts, those huge creatures that I've only read about in ancient literature. You and our Alpha will rule, becoming the strongest Alpha in the land. We'd be unstoppable."

He leaned closer, his breath hot on my face.

"Don't resist, come with us. Walk with us, it's where you belong."

I clenched my jaw, fury rising like fire in my throat. Then fast and desperate, I twisted my body and sank my teeth into his hand.

"AGH!" he roared, stumbling back.

I scrambled to my feet again, but before I could run, two more men crashed into the clearing, breathless from the chase. Their eyes landed on me with vicious intent.

One lunged and kicked my hand, hard. A sharp, bone-deep pain shot up my arm and I dropped to my knees, screaming.

"Leave me alone!" I gasped, tears threatening to fall from my eyes as I glared up at them through strands of my tangled auburn hair. "I said leave me alone!"

I stared at each of them, my hazel eyes blazing with hatred. But they just laughed.

The man who I had bitten earlier took a step forward, pressing his hard spiky boots on my hand.

I screamed as the excruciating pain spread from my hand to every part of my body.

He retrieved his foot and crouched to my level, he was Titus, gamma of my former pack.

"What are you going to do?" he taunted. "Summon your beasts?"

Another one snorted.

"You wouldn't dare. You wouldn't risk showing the world what you are. You know what would happen. More packs would come for you. More power-hungry freaks like our Alpha. You'd be hunted down like an animal."

My lips curled into a trembling snarl. "Don't test me," I growled, voice low and shaking with fury. "Don't you dare."

They scoffed again, like I was a joke.

Then Titus reached for my hair again but this time, his hand never reached my scalp.

Because...my eyes snapped at him, and they were no longer hazel.

They were red.

Glowing, fiery, blood red!

Eliana's POV

Titus stumbled backward, his hand still stinging from my bite, but it wasn't pain that twisted his face now it was pure, stunned fear.

My eyes were no longer hazel, they were bright glowing red. Like wildfire trapped in a crystal.

The other men froze, exchanging uneasy glances. Some took a step back. Some looked confused, trying to make sense of what they were seeing.

But most of them looked...terrified.

Then my body began to shake, violently. My arms trembled, my knees buckled but not from weakness. Something was stirring inside me, it was something massive, ancient and untamed!

I clenched my fists, gritted my teeth, and through the crackling energy around me, I screamed one word.

"SCARLET!"

The forest exploded in red light.

A pulsing orb of energy tore open the space in front of me. A swirling mass of red and golden mist, spinning and expanding, rippling like a storm in flame. The men's eyes followed the impossible sight, rooted to the ground by sheer dread.

And then they heard a snarl. It was low, primal, and so deep it made the ground vibrate beneath their boots.

From the heart of the swirling light... something stepped out.

No no..something emerged.

A Lunaris Beast!

It looked like a lioness carved from blood and golden light, but it was twice the size of a horse. Its body rippled with sleek, powerful muscle, every step making the earth quake. Its eyes were the same color as my glowing blood-moon red, before eventually turning to a bright gold.

But its most striking feature was its wings.

Large, menacing wings that had feathers only at the tips, folded behind its back. The feathers shimmered like gold under the sunlight, flickering with an ethereal glow, as if they weren't entirely from this world.

They whispered against the air as they moved, and in that moment, the men felt small.

Utterly powerless.

Powerless against this creature, this creature their fathers told them about as stories but never got to see.

These creatures were twice the size of a full grown wolf. They exude confidence and an overpowering aura. One bite from this thing and it's goodbye to their flesh.

They know they didn't stand a chance!

The beast snarled again, baring long, silver-edged fangs. The air grew cold and time seemed to run too slow.

It stepped forward once, and the men flinched.

The Lunaris beast, Scarlet, stood firm in front of me. It was massive, winged, and growling with a sound so primal it rattled the trees.

My glowing red eyes flickered between the trembling men like a predator choosing her next kill.

"Don't take a step closer," I warned, my voice sharp and burning.

A few of the men had already taken my advice, turning and bolting into the shadows, crashing through the trees without shame.

They didn't want to die just yet, but Titus stayed.

Blood still trickled from the bite mark on his hand, but he didn't care. His jaw clenched, his pride roared louder than his fear.

He glared at me. "You wouldn't dare."

I didn't flinch. My chest rose and fell fast, but my voice was steady.

"Try me."

Titus stepped forward, a challenge in every movement.

And that was all I needed.

"Scarlet, don't let him come through!"

The beast moved.

In a blur of red and gold, Scarlet lunged with shocking speed. Her claws, longer and deadlier than any werewolf's, raked across Titus's neck with a deep, savage, and merciless slash.

He hit the ground hard, gasping, a spray of blood splattering across the dirt.

Scarlet loomed over him, her teeth bared, another snarl rumbling from her throat and the scent of blood filled the air.

Titus writhed, one hand clutched to the wound. "This... isn't over," he choked out. "I'll come for you... Blood moon. I will get a hold of you."

Then he scrambled back, dragging himself into the woods, stumbling away in pain and fury.

But I wasn't watching him anymore.

My breathing hitched, it seemed as though I was struggling to breathe.

A strange, sharp ache pierced my chest. I staggered back, hand clutching my ribs.

Sweat trickled down my face as my skin instantly went pale like I had never been under the sun.

Something wasn't right.

Scarlet snarled again but it sounded... weaker this time.

Titus paused for a second and turned his bloodied face back to me when he heard me cough.

He froze.

Because the beast in front of him was... flickering.

Her outline blinked, fading in and out of reality like a candle caught in the wind.

Titus's eyes widened.

I fell to my knees.

I couldn't hold it, not anymore. I had never been able to summon more than one Lunaris, it was only Scarlet.

Each time I summoned her, I could never hold her out for more than five minutes. My body would instantly feel uneasy, I'd find it difficult to breathe and Scarlet would eventually fade away.

Scarlet, my only summoned beast was starting to vanish.

I gritted my teeth, sweat beading on my forehead. My power, incredible as it was, I haven't mastered it yet. Five minutes was all I ever had before my energy drained like water from a cracked vessel.

Sometimes I just felt a surge of energy, sometimes it's mild while sometimes it's wild. Earlier in the market today my eyes had accidentally glowed red. Everyone knew only a blood moon could do that.

These men saw me, and began to chase me like I was some kind of criminal.

And now Scarlet was blinking, shimmering like she would disappear any minute, which she would.

"No...no, not yet," I whispered.

But it was too late.

Scarlet let out one last growl before her body began to dissolve into sparks of crimson light.

I was left there, kneeling in the dirt with a man who had a devilish look on his face and was out for me, I was weak and vulnerable.

Eliana's POV

I gasped for breath, each inhale sharper than the last. my chest burned like it had been hollowed out with a burning spear, still aching from the strain of summoning Scarlet.

I stumbled forward, dragging me feet across the thick grass. The woods around me blurred. Branches reached out like claws, scraping my arms and legs, painting lines of red across my already dirt-covered skin.

I glanced over my shoulder, I saw no one. The only sound I could hear was the sound of my own wheezing.

I puIled forward again this time faster, despite the ache in me foot but then, I froze.

I heard a crunch and then another. Slowly I turned my eyes, only to find Titus.

He was limping, bloody, but alive. And worse of it all was that he was healing fast

I stared at the deep gash that Scarlet had ripped into his neck, and the scratch on his leg, horrified to see the muscle stitching itself back together.

Slowly, but enough. His teeth were gritted, blood smeared across his neck and chin like red paint.

His eyes locked onto me with disgust.

"Seems you don't have full control of your beast yet," he snarled, his voice thick with contempt. "That's not bad... You're still worth more alive than dead. We could train you, you know." He spat blood to the side.

"A real asset to the Alpha, once you're broken in properly."

My lips trembled. my voice cracked as I whispered "Scarlet..."

my eyes flash red just for a second but dimmed instantly back to their usual hazel.

Nothing happened!

The fire inside me was gone.

I was empty and burned out.

A soft whimper escaped my lips as my knees buckled. I tried to crawl, to back away.

But Titus was already in front of me.

He grabbed me by the hair in a fist, yanking me back so hard my neck snapped upward. Before I could react, he slammed my body against a thick tree trunk.

The bark scraped my back.

And then, his claws elongated, glinting silver in the moonlight.

He pressed them to my throat.

I felt a sharp sting as warm blood slid down my neck.

"We'll take you to the Alpha," he hissed near my ear. "He'll want to make an example out of you first. A good beating, maybe more. Then we'll take what we need from you."

His breath was foul and his grin was twisted.

I clenched my jaw, blinking back the blur in my vision.

"It didn't have to be this way, Blood Moon," Titus sneered. "You could've just come with us, now? You'll beg for chains."

Suddenly, my hand shot up, my fingernails elongated to claws and scratched the gaping wound at his neck.

"Argh!!" he roared, stumbling back.

Blood goshed out in hot streams, splattering his chest and dripping down to his waist. The flesh tore back open as if my strike had undone all the healing that had begun. He clutched his neck, choking on pain, screaming into the night.

I didn't wait, I had no time to waste nor spare.

I gathered myself barely, my legs threatened to give out, but I forced them to move.

Taking one shaky step after, I ran.

Tears blurred my vision, and the world spun around me like a nightmare. The wind laId against my bloodied skin, and my lungs burned with every breath.

I spotted a large rock ahead, almost like a boulder split in half by time. I dove behind it, crashing into the earth with a gasp.

I curled behind the rock, my arms over my head, blood trickling from my throat. My heart pounded like a festive drum. Everything ached, the world tilted, in fact it was spinning.

I was on the verge of passing out.

Titus was still alive, I could hear him.

"Wmee could you run?" he hissed, voice strained. "You're weak and bleeding. I'll find you...and when I do, I'll take you with me."

I could hear him sniffing the air like a beast.

His footsteps grew closer and closer. Then suddenly I heard a howl.

A long, deep, echoing sound not from a distance, it sent chills down my spine. It seemed to ripple through the trees, like the forest itself shuddered at its call.

Titus froze.

"No..." he muttered.

I heard anotme step toward me, then a low growl.

"No...not you."

That was the last thing I heard from him.

Because suddenly, Titus screamed. It was an agonizing ear piercing scream.

I could hear bones cracking, flesh tearing. The wet, sickening sound of organs being cruId. His agonizing cries split through the trees, louder than the wind, louder than me own heartbeat.

Even the birds flew away at the sound of his screams.

I sat behind the rock, stiff and frozen. My body wouldn't move, it couldn't move.

My vision was blurred but I didn't dare peek, I didn't dare turn me gaze or lift me head to look.

The sounds were too awful to witness. Something was killing him and it wasn't me.

All I could do was tremble, sweat clinging to me skin, and listen.

And then suddenly tmee was... silence.

No more screams, no more bones cracking or blood spewing, no growls and snarls.

Just slow, deliberate footsteps coming towards me.

My body tensed up, but I couldn't move.

I could barely breathe, let alone scream or even fight.

The footsteps were getting closer and closer, they were steady.

I wanted to run but my limbs were dead weight.

My heart beat wildly in my chest as the steps stopped right in front of the rock.

And then, the shadow of a tall towering figure stepped into view, blocking the moonlight.

I could barely keep my open, I was slowly slipping into unconsciousness but before the darkness claimed me completely, I saw one thing.

His eyes.

Glowing blue! They were piercing, unblinking and watching me.

And then the world went black.