Blood and Moonlight: Luna for the Two Alphas

Elara Wynn

The first snow of winter had finally fallen in Black Hollow.

Tiny flakes drifted down slowly, carried by a gentle wind that swept the ground in silence. The pine forest, usually dark in the distance, was now cloaked in a thin veil of silver mist, as if the night itself was holding its breath. The sky was gloomy, and the scent of wet earth mingled with a faint metallic chill that made my skin crawl.

Still, that was where I needed to go. The forest was always the safest hiding place in moments like this. If I was lucky, by tomorrow I’d already be across the border on the other side of the woods. But this first snowfall…

I clenched my fists tightly. I couldn't turn back now!

My name is Elara Wynn. And tonight, because of my carelessness, I left without a coat. I had panicked and rushed out too quickly. Now I regret it, wearing only a gray scarf pulled tight around my neck to shield my face from the cold… and from any watchful eyes.

It’s now or never!

I moved swiftly on foot. A small backpack with simple supplies clung to my back. I held tightly to the bow and arrows slung over my shoulder. I had to pick up my pace if I didn’t want to freeze to death here—or worse, be caught.

I’d planned this escape for a long time. I had to run as far away as I could from the territory ruled by the Bloodfang Clan. I didn’t want to look back—to the nightclub where I worked, the place I was hidden, the prison I’d been in for four years without chains.

Black Hollow was a place not found on any map. Beyond ancient forests and a silver lake forever shrouded in mist, wolf clans lived by their own laws. There were three dominant clans here: Bloodfang, Ashclaw, and Moonveil. No humans lived here. Only wolves who could walk as men.

In the southern end, the Bloodfang Clan ruled with an iron fist. This was where I was now. We were led by Alpha Ronan Voss. In this place, power was measured in blood and teeth. Under Ronan’s rule, even your breath could be counted as debt.

I ran so fast I was almost gliding as I reached a sharp bend. Below was an old silver mine, long abandoned. My body trembled harder than before when a bright light from a large vehicle’s headlamps beamed straight at me, forcing me to stop.

About fifteen meters away, a foreign steel truck stood still. In front of it, a man stood calmly under the dim light, wearing a long black coat and leather gloves.

Two other shifters unloaded something from the truck bed—a large dark sack. Blood dripped from its edge, streaking the pure snow with a stark red.

First blood on the first snow.

I froze. My breath caught. Then I realized what was inside the sack.

A corpse.

My hand gripped the bow and arrow tightly. I didn’t want to use it. Slowly, I stepped back, trying not to make a sound. I only wanted to turn and leave quietly. But then, the man in black gloves turned. His eyes...

Pale blue. Frozen. Like a deep sea waiting for its next victim.

His gaze pierced straight through me, making me feel exposed, read, and marked.

I tightened my grip on the bow, took a stance, and ran as fast as I could. But—

“BANG!”

A gunshot shattered the night air.

A hot pain tore through my shoulder. I fell, tumbling down the steep edge. Luckily, my backpack cushioned my fall and kept me from sliding further. But the pain was searing.

I could feel and hear it. Footsteps following. Three wolves. It had to be them.

I waited, but they didn’t shoot again. As if they were purposely letting me run? They really knew how to hunt. Like I was a deer they let run, only to make the capture sweeter.

I pulled my scarf tighter around my face and ran toward the woods. That was the safe place.

“Alpha Draven...”

“After her!”

I was just a stranger in Black Hollow. I wasn’t even born or raised in the Bloodfang Clan. But I knew every tree and trail in this forest. I knew every alpha and boss that dealt with the Bloodfangs.

But Alpha Draven? I’d never heard of him. If he was a foreign alpha and dared to kill in Bloodfang territory without Ronan’s permission, then he wasn’t just some ordinary man.

I kept running, enduring the pain in my shoulder, breaking through the woods until I reached a small lake beginning to freeze. I glanced back and picked up speed. My mind raced, mapping the fastest way to escape.

Just because I didn’t have a wolf didn’t mean I was a fool.

I had trained my steps to be light, leaving barely a trace of snow falling from the branches I passed. Blood from my shoulder soaked into my jacket—no tracks left behind. I was used to being invisible.

One of my pursuers clicked his tongue.

“She… vanished?”

No answer from their leader.

“Maybe she’s a ghost woman?” one shifter asked.

“Ghosts don’t bleed when shot, idiot,” the first shifter replied.

“But… she left no trail at all. Not even a scent…” they sounded confused and hesitant.

I remained still, hidden in a blind spot they didn’t know about. And they didn’t find me. For now.

They looked baffled, even started glancing around nervously. I tucked myself deeper into hiding.

“Should we keep chasing her, Boss? She saw us.”

And from my hiding place, I could see clearly. The alpha stood as if nothing had happened. He pulled out a cigarette, lighting it casually. Smoke drifted from his lips and nose. His blue eyes narrowed as he gazed at the city in the distance, glowing brightly in the middle of the night. Even from here, I could see those eyes. If I wasn’t mistaken, he thought I had run toward the city.

He smiled. A smile filled with menace.

“We’ll find her. Capture her. And finish it.” He dropped his cigarette onto the snow and crushed it with arrogant finality.

Once I was sure they had gone, I began crawling out of my hiding spot. The gunshot wound on my shoulder was bleeding more than I had expected. I looked toward the city. It was clearly not safe for me—and not my destination anyway.

After that incident, I spent ten days hiding in an old wooden cabin deep in the forest, long abandoned by its owner. I had been so close to making it out of the forest and reaching the border. But I had to heal first.

This shouldn’t have happened… if my wolf hadn’t left me four years ago. Damn it!

I first got my wolf when I was eighteen. I was overjoyed and felt truly alive. I thought I would finally be free from this place and wander on my own. But then, something happened.

Only three months—no more—and the wolf disappeared one morning, just like that.

I grit my teeth remembering it.