Chapter Two

“Miss?” A heavy pressure fell onto my shoulder. “Miss Lunaris?”

My eyes shot open to see tall, bushy trees brushing the star-spotted sky until a face popped into view. It was the driver. “Miss, we’ve arrived at your destination.”

I pushed up from the backseat to find the car door wide open where my head had been resting. 

The driver rounded the car to retrieve my luggage, revealing where I would now call home. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

I shifted closer to the open door to get a better look, blinking profusely as if what I saw would spontaneously morph into something better.

But no matter how much blinking I did or how many times I repeated under my breath, “This is not happening,” the dark, horror-book-worthy castle still stood firmly erect in front of me. When I lifted my gaze, I could see small, black shapes shooting back and forth over the tiled roof of the castle. “Are those bats?” 

Just then, a lightning bolt came crashing down on the ground beside the car. Tiny sparks of flames ignited the dry, needle-like grass, followed by an echoing boom. I jolted out of the vehicle in a screech of panic, diving in behind the driver for shelter. 

Considering the driver was a frail old man—it wasn’t a promising choice. The driver peered over his shoulder at me in surprise. “I’m so sorry, miss, but I can’t help you out of this situation. It is regrettable, it is, indeed.”

“Are you sure we are at the right place?” I asked as the giant doors in front of the castle creaked open. “This looks like a vampire lair.”

“Very sure, miss. This is Mooncrown Falls Preparatory.” Though told by the look on the driver’s face as an enormous figure approached us, he didn’t look too sure of himself. 

I hunched down slightly behind the driver like a coward as the figure stepped into the light, and I immediately straightened, releasing the driver, whom I hadn’t even noticed I was clinging to. 

“You don’t look like a girl.” The tall, broad-shouldered man stated in a bored voice, as his icy blue eyes narrowed onto the driver. 

I could hear the driver gulp before he replied in a shaky tone, “I… I’m not the girl. I’m simply the driver.”

I nearly toppled into the man as the driver stepped away and pushed me forward. I was halfway about to face-plant into the ground when tattooed, muscular arms shot out and caught me. 

When I glanced up to meet his gaze, I knew I should be running for the hills, screaming. Because I immediately recognized him for what he was; a Darkclaw Hunter. 

He was darkness embodied. From his dark, ripped jeans, black short-sleeved shirt, revealing bronze skin covered in tattoos. They climbed up to his neck, disappearing into the short, trimmed hair on the sides of his head. His hair was longer at the top, swept to the side, and styled in a mass of perfect inky tones. 

It wasn’t the color itself he seemed to prefer to wear like a badge of honor, but his mere presence screamed darkness. It was the tell-tale sign of his kind. You’d know the moment you stepped into the presence of a Darkclaw Hunter. 

I’ve also been told that you’re damned lucky to walk out alive, too. I sucked in a breath, trying to remind my brain—and body—of the danger I was in, but it seemed everything of me physically pulled toward him.

He didn’t let me go. Instead, a taut frown formed on his forehead, and he stared at me for a long, hard moment as if he was trying to figure something out. Then, without warning, he pulled me against him, planting my cheek against his chest, and his hold tightened around me. 

In an instant, my body combusted in heat, and an unfamiliar yet pleasant sense of dizziness overcame me. It was at that moment that a little voice told me that I was screwed. Not in the mind of; this-man-was-going-to-kill-me. No. This was something else—the connection I thought I had with Raymond was minuscule to what I felt in his presence. Despite my brain fighting against the logic of what this was, I felt it in the core of my being. It was inscribed into my existence and a gift from the moon goddess herself. Though, she must have been on crack or something when she thought this was a good idea.

He was a Darkclaw Hunter, of all things. The fear of his kind was drilled into my brain since birth. Oh, but I’d been told the horrors of what they were capable of.

Yet, here I stood, wrapped tightly in the arms of my destined mate. 

Sometimes we get to choose. Sometimes, the goddess herself chooses for us. I landed on the latter. And as messed up as it was supposed to be, everything felt right then. 

“I s…suppose I should go, then.” The driver, who I had forgotten about, cleared his throat. “You have a lovely evening, miss.” 

I wanted to turn around and shout at the diver not to leave me here, but damned by the moon goddess, I lifted my arms and held on to him like a love-sick puppy. 

“What’s your name?” His voice was barely a whisper, but hell, if the sound didn’t weaken my knees. 

“Lana,” I managed as he traced his hand down the back of my head and pulled back the hair by my neck. He tipped my head to the side and leaned down, burying his face into my neck. 

He took in a deep breath. “This is unfortunate.”

“Very,” I wasn’t going to argue over that fact. 

His lips brushed the sensitive skin in the hollow of my neck, and every inch of my body went haywire. My grip on him tightened involuntarily, wanting more. More of whatever it was to offer. 

Then, just like that, shock rippled through my body as pain shot through my skull as he forcefully pulled me from him by the hair. He glared down at me, his expression ridden with hate so pure it was enough to tear me from whatever moon-struck reverie I had been trapped in. 

“You’re a bloody damned Lunaris?”