Chapter 5: The Red Moon

***Third Persons POV***

Nora raised her head from the sink and walked to the towel hanger at the side of the sink. She picked a blue cotton towel and dried her face with the towel by dabbing.

Her eyes locked on the red moon outside the small glass window in the bunker. Her eyes glinted in anger as she mumbled

"The Red Moon!!"

Nora's mind quickly went back to the brutal story relating to the red full moon.

Three centuries ago, a primordial Alpha werewolf, Ryker Starrk, went berserk and sexually assaulted and killed a young female vampire not knowing her lineage. Ryker Starrk was an aggressive and cruel werewolf the supernatural world has never known.

When Derrick Marshall , a primordial vampire and a master of the vampire assassin coven, heard of the untimely death of his younger sister. He blamed the whole werewolf race. He wanted their blood. His blood was boiling for revenge. He wanted to eradicate the werewolf race. Derrick was furious and became ferocious.

In anger, he joins forces with the dark witches and wages a war with the werewolves.With the help of the dark witches and vampires from other covens. Derrick slaughtered over thousands of werewolves in cold blood.

Werewolves cried out to the moon goddess at the time of their death and their souls were crying for revenge. The moon goddess heard their cry.

And in a rage, she came down from the moon and dealt with the cruel supernatural involved in this savage act. The moon goddess cursed Ryker Starrk that he would be brought back to the earth as a wolf after three centuries to face the consequences of his actions.

Ryker Starrk was killed by the moon goddess that night with an ancient silver maple stake. Which was stabbed through his heart, he died on the spot. That savage night was the night of the full moon and in anger the moon goddess turned the moon red .

The earth became extremely dark since the moon was not providing light to the earth like it always does. That night, the moon was bloody and was dripping with blood, the blood of the werewolves who were brutally killed. The precious blood of her children. The red moon serves as a reminder of what happened that night.

A new treaty was formed between the werewolves and the vampires, but the vampires were still not satisfied, so at the end, the moon goddess declared that on the night of the red moon, Vampires are free to attack any werewolves seen in the forest or the woods.

Ever since then, for three centuries now, vampires attack any werewolf they see in the woods or forest on the night of the red moon.

On the other hand, werewolves are terrified of the night of the red moon and tremble when the day of the red moon is getting closer. Since they are at their weakest and do not have their strength to fight the vampires, they go into hiding to save themselves and their family.

So, now Nora is in the bunker with all her pack members trying to protect them as an Alpha of the Blackwood pack from being at the mercy of the cruel vampires.

" That piece of shit " Nora whispered, thinking of the primordial Alpha Ryker Starrk who caused the death of over thousands of werewolves.

She walked out of the bathroom to see Elyssa asleep and snoring loudly on the couch exactly where she left her.

She laughed out loud and quickly covered her lips with her hand, attempting to suppress her laughter when she saw her best friend move in her sleep,

She picked a white covered blanket from the closet and ambled to Elyssa . Nora covered her friend with the blanket and smiled brightly at the sight of the cute sleeping form of Elyssa.

They have been best of friends for years and have each other's backs no matter what. Nora chose Elyssa as her beta because she is strong and willed and the most loyal person she has had the opportunity to cross paths with. Elyssa was the only one who treated her well, who didn't abuse her verbally. Nora felt grateful to have a friend like her.

Nora strode out of the room after turning off the light in the room. She closed the door gently behind her and walk through the hallway in between the cubicles in the bunker as she checked on the wellbeing of the members of her pack.

" Alpha! " a female voice called

Nora smiled when she glanced in the direction of her third in command, Lilly.

" How is everyone doing down here? " Nora questioned.

" The pack members are more relaxed and calm. Your mother is also in the common room with the children, sharing stories with the kids, " Lilly reported.

"Good, you must be tired. Get some rest. We will meet in the morning for pack rounds," Nora informed him.

"Okay, Alpha" Lilly responded, bowed and walked away.

"Lilly " Nora called out her name.

Lilly turned in Nora's direction.

" Great work today" Nora uttered.

" Thank you Alpha, see you in the morning" Lilly muttered, leaving the hallway with a smile on her face.

Nora walked down the hall with no destination in mind.

When she ambled to the end of the hall, she found a figure sitting on a single sofa in the small library reading a newspaper.

Nora walked quietly into the room and leaned against the wall.

" Can’t sleep? "Nora asked her father. Benedict Blackwood, who is the formal alpha of the pack. Although Nora mostly disagreed on so many things with her father, she still respected him as the man who gave birth to her.

" Just waiting for this night to be over. You know i hardly sleep on the night of the red moon", he informed and he stared at his daughter.

Nora just nodded in understanding and moved away from the wall, strolling into the room .

" What about you? What are you doing.....up?" her father questioned.

" I was awoken by a nightmare and couldn't go back to sleep afterwards", Nora murmured and clenched her fist tightly as she remembered the content of her dream.

She released a heavy sigh as her thoughts went back to the handsome man in her dream who was always asking for help .

When her father realized Nora was not going to speak, he asked,

" What was your dream this time? Is it about the same man? Is your dream the same one you have been having for the past three years?"

Her father bombarded her with questions in a deep voice with a frown on his face.

" Yes and No" Nora replied, her father running her fingers through her hair.

" What do you mean by yes and no?" her father queried as his frown deepened.

" It is the same man but this time the dream was different. The man in my dream was in great pain and his cry for help was urgent. In all the dreams, the faces of the two other men were unclear, but this time I saw the faces of the two brutes", she announced.

" Who are they? Do you know them?" Benedict questioned, not waving his gaze at his daughter.

As he held his breath, waiting for her reply anxiously.

" No dad, Everything about the dream seems strange. I don't know any of these three men, including the man I have dreamed of for the past three years", She replied as her mind was in an uproar.

" Elyssa thinks that man in my dream could be my mate. The one I have been searching for for the last three years", she sighed and continued

" But I doubt that, since my wolf Nelly didn't react at the sight of him in any of my dreams", Nora finished speaking.

" I also do not think that the mysterious man is your mate. I only believe the moon goddess wants you to help him out of his problems and torments", her father stated, and added. Benedict didn't like what he was hearing, so he diverted the conversation to Nora's betrothed.

" Talking about mate, your betrothed, Mason, sent me a message in the afternoon. He will be visiting tomorrow", her father announced.

Nora felt her blood crawling at the mention of the man she hated to the core. She aloof her betrothed so much.

He is a good for nothing arrogant bastard who thinks everyone should bow to him because he is the son of an alpha.

" what does he want?" Nora asked her father in disdain.

" What kind of question is that? He is visiting you, of course. Are you forgetting he is your fiancé ?" her father asked, gazing at his daughter.

" How I wished I could forget about that stupid treaty" Nora muttered.

Her father growled lowly at her statement.

Nora didn't shudder, she didn't even care about her father's attempt to intimidate her, since it was not working on her.

" You will respect your elders, child. This treaty was made between my best friend, Alpha Elias, and I. I promised you to his son. " Benedict growled, causing Nora to growl loudly in return.

" You will also respect me, father. May I need to remind you who I am? I am the Alpha of this pack and I make my own decisions " she roared in an enraged tone.

Nora's eyes blazed, making Benedict shiver in fear.

Benedict stood up from his seat and took a few steps towards his daughter. They both stand at the same height, 6.5 feet.

Benedict stared into his daughter's eyes with a cold expression trying to dominate her, but Nora didn't back down. She had a cold look of her own and released her Alpha domineering aura which made the whole room cold and darker than it previously was.

Her father cowered, taking a step back as his body and wolf wanted to submit. He opened his mouth, saying

" You will be marrying Mason in two months' time, so prepare" he revolved around, walking towards the exit.

" We will see about that " Nora shouted behind her father.

" wait until I find my mate" she gritted her teeth and added, " if not, I will find a man of my own choosing. I will never be tired down to that power-hungry fool" she whispered in anger.

She sighed, rubbing her temples.

And turned to the door, walking out hoping morning would come quickly so that she could get out of the stuffy bunker..