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306. Spirit
Last Updated:
2025-03-04 04:50:19
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Once A Luna, Now A Stealer? 307. Disturbing
TheonThe spirit flits through the trees at its slow pace, and silently, we follow it.As we go further into the forest, the feeling of discomfort persists, making us take breaks constantly. Haden and I don’t transform yet, instead, we wait until the spirit leads us to the devil.I don’t know if the spirit is telling the truth when she said that she saw a man and a girl walking through the forest. There could be many pairs of men and girls walking through the Hoia Baciu forest.I have a hard time believing that after everything we went through in the past few days, it would be this easy to find Callista.There has to be a catch here.“You got any idea where we’re going?” I ask Hunter who is traveling next to me.“No clue,” she shakes her head, tapping vigorously on her phone. “My GPS doesn’t work, and neither does the internet. Which means not even the compass app works.”“Apparently neither does the real compass,” Leita sidles next to us, holding an actual compass.As we stare at it,
Last Updated : 2025-03-04Once A Luna, Now A Stealer? 308. Deadzone
Theon“The man and the girl,” the Headmistress says after the spirit ends their conversation, “had gone towards the circle within the forest where nothing grows. But before they could reach it the girl had tried to run away.”My heart clenches upon hearing that. Callista had really tried to escape. Had the devil allowed it to happen?“But the man had done something to the forest, making it bend to his will,” the Headmistress’s lips purse into a thin line before she continues. “This isn’t the first time he’d made the forest act in such a way. For a while, the spirits here had thought the devil was a God.”“But that was until they saw him kill two clueless tourists.”“What?” I find myself uttering, although I don’t know why the fact that the devil is killing two tourists is making me feel shocked.The man had massacred the entire Galdine pack, and many others too I assume throughout the centuries in which he’d been alive.And that was roughly thirty centuries.A chill that has nothing t
Last Updated : 2025-03-04Once A Luna, Now A Stealer? 309. Engraved
CallistaXaveraq finds me as I lie on the ground, wearing an expression of pity. To be honest, I never thought that his facial muscles were even capable of morphing into such an expression. I don’t remember seeing it on his face before.“Oh, Callista,” he tsks, shaking his head. “I told you that trying to escape is of no use. It is time for the Devouring.”I want to scream and lash out at him; I want to use my overgrown nails to claw at his blood-red eyes. The anger that rushes through me makes me want to attack him, to hurt him. To make him feel at least an ounce of the pain I do, the fear and desperation.I want to see my fingers wrap around his neck and squeeze the life out of him, in the same way, I once wanted to do to Valencia.A low growl flits through my mind.Was Qaetanya feeling the same anger that I did? If so, good.But I control myself. I can’t fight with him and expect to win. Rather than waste my energy on something meaningless, I should be saving it for later.But for
Last Updated : 2025-03-04Once A Luna, Now A Stealer? 310. Tyrant
TheonThe day turns to night as the darkness encroaches on the forest from all directions, and the wind starts to howl. The frozen twigs of the trees rustle, rubbing on one another.The spirit of the woman whines low in her throat before she rushes towards the trees to vanish into the dark.“Well, fuck me to hell,” Haden exclaims next to me, the wind rippling through his hair. “Did you seriously just summon the devil?”“That was the plan,” I yell back.“And it’s working!” Leita screams. “Holy shit, he’s such a dramatic bastard. Poor Callista had to put up with this? She must be halfway to the nuthouse.”That’s when a voice boomed.“Well, hello, Alpha King,” Xaveraq’s voice echoes through the trees, making shivers run up and down our spines. “Fancy seeing you here. Of all the people I expected to step foot into the forest, you were the last in my mind.”“For some reason, I doubt that.”A low chuckle rings through the forest.And that makes my anger spike.“You got my mate imprisoned in
Last Updated : 2025-03-04Once A Luna, Now A Stealer? 311. Her
Theon“Oh, how noble of you,” the devil sneers, circling me. “Half-transformed already, I see. So, how do you plan to take me down this time? If I remember correctly, the last time you tried it, you failed.”He glances at the rest of the team.“In fact, all of you failed. Even you, famed Headmistress.”“True,” the Headmistress admits. “But you must’ve heard, people tend to learn from their mistakes. They rarely ever repeat them.”“What have you learned then?”The Headmistress smiles in a way that is totally foreign to her usual demeanor.“Oh, you will see soon enough.”The devil raises his brows, still facing her so that he doesn’t see what comes from behind.It’s too late when he turns because the absolute blizzard that hits him is so damn powerful that it knocks him clean off his feet.The snow flurries around him, making the surroundings blurry. In the chaos, vines shoot out from the forest, latching tightly around his hands and legs. Ophelia pulls her hands back, and the vines yan
Last Updated : 2025-03-04Once A Luna, Now A Stealer? 312. Demise
CallistaI don’t know what the devil used me to bind to the throne with.They look greyish-brown, and when I try to move my hands, they wiggle similarly. But they are solid and so damn strong. They wrap around the armrests of the throne and my hands, my torso, and my legs.Even though I know the effort is useless, I still struggle against them, because I can’t just sit here and do nothing as the pillars start to move.The stones with the symbols, torishique, engraved on them start to rearrange, slotting into different other spots as if they are enchanted Legos. A vague figure starts to appear, and upon understanding what’s about to happen, I go still on the throne.Special meanings.Voishcol.How did I not put two and two together before?!“Theon, Haden, take cover!” I scream at them from the top of my voice. “Get out, get out before they attack you!”The pillars around us groan.“Attack us?! What do you mean, what are they?” Theon demands.“They’re under spells, he’s using them to de
Last Updated : 2025-03-04Once A Luna, Now A Stealer? 313. Gateway
CallistaI don’t faint this time after I get teleported yet again by the devil, but the vertigo I experience is so much that I nearly throw up.But due to the lack of food in my stomach, as I had eaten nothing but a packet of chips last night for dinner, I only dry heaved to the side, clutching these protrusions that jut out from the walls in the strange chamber we occupy.“Fucking…warn me…before you do that,” I wheeze, catching my breath.The dizziness slowly fades, along with the loud rush in my ears.From a distance, I can hear the sounds of battle in the throne room. It doesn’t seem that far away, as if the throne room is down the passage.Wiping my lips, I turned around to see where the hell I was.It’s a tiny chamber that seems squat compared to all the other rooms in the temple I’ve been in. It's so short as well, like, if I jump up with some effort, I can touch the ceiling.It’s circular in shape, and the torishique that are carved on the walls are smaller in size than the one
Last Updated : 2025-03-04Once A Luna, Now A Stealer? 314. Monsters
TheonA pillar monster falls right in front of me, nearly crushing me, but I jump away just in time. The sheer force of the fall breaks its stone arm in two, and the eerie silverish glow in its eyes subsides. The pillar monster stops moving.“I think he died,” I tell Haden, who is panting on the other side of the fallen monster.This is the only one that we managed to fall, and by the looks of it, kill.“Holy shit, did that actually work?” Kiran screeches.He was the propellent of bringing the monster down. Now, he jumps back to the ground from the shield he’s been standing on and jogs closer to the pillar monster.Tentatively, he reaches out and touches its cracked shoulder, where some of the previously seen symbols are visible. I remember them running all around the pillars before the monsters came into being, glowing.I look at him and nod, trying to confer my thoughts via body movements.Yes, I think it actually worked.“Guys, we managed to bring a monster down!” Kiran yells back
Last Updated : 2025-03-04
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Once A Luna, Now A Stealer? 322. Epilogue
CallistaTen years later.I stand in front of Lily Lane Pup Daycare after ending my workday at Rexellen University, holding a stack of books in my arms trying to shove them into the backpack I’ve taken with me.It’s three in the evening, and the kids should be out in a few minutes.It’s summer again, the weather is pleasantly warm, and everything brims with life. There are bees flying everywhere, suckling nectar out of the numerous fully blossomed Leanderrs.The Rexellen pack town is as busy as ever, with people bustling around after clocking off from work, going on their errands, and their outings.Everyone seems happy, and they’re open and very friendly.Upon noticing me, everyone who passes greets me with a simple.“Good evening, Luna!”“Good evening to you too!” I always greet back.Some parents stop by near the daycare to collect their children, and we start pleasantly conversing with each other.I’ve been the Luna Queen of the Rexellen pack for ten years now, and honestly, those
Once A Luna, Now A Stealer? 321. Ceremony
CallistaFour weeks later.I walk down the shoveled path with a single lily flower in my hand, a smile on my lips, and my heart overflowing with joy.I’m dressed in an ankle-length, heavy-set gown that accentuates my form as if it had been sewn with me in my mind.It’s a silverish white in color in accordance with tradition, and a million tiny rhinestones create spiraling patterns all over the skirt. The long sleeves and the woolen cloak that accompany them give me warmth on the cold winter night.On my neck, there is a white gold necklace with a diamond as the pendant, the only piece of jewelry I wear, which is a gift from the witches who'd arrived a day before to celebrate the ceremony.The mating ceremony for Theon and me.In the background, a string quartet, comprised of two maids of the Rexellen pack castle and two guards, plays a tune that I can't quite name but can’t help but think is so apt for the situation.On either side of me, my closest friends whom I consider my family s
Once A Luna, Now A Stealer? 320. Gift, not Curse
CallistaA week later.Valencia Everhart was sentenced to life in prison by the Supernatural Council for assisting the devil in his criminal endeavors such as kidnapping and harboring a werewolf, orchestrating a pack takeover on the orders of the devil, attempted killing of two pack members of the Rexellen pack and the biggest crime of them all, assisting the devil in massacring the entire Galdine pack.I thought the last one was a bit harsh because Valencia never really did know about that charge, but as Valencia had confessed in the court, she’d given the devil the location and information regarding her pack.She had been under the impression the devil was going to protect the Galdine pack from Theon’s retaliation against the pack takeover, but she’d been lied to.We attended the court on the same day as Valencia did, and I’m sure that the cries that ravaged her as she learned the horrible fate that befell her pack would never stop haunting my nightmares.I felt sorry for her, and a
Once A Luna, Now A Stealer? 319. Afterlife
CallistaQaetanya and Xaveraq reached the afterlife together.One was willing, the other was not. One sacrificed herself, while the other, well, I had to kill the other.Xaveraq’s soulless body lays in the circular chamber, and I don’t look at it again as we exit the room, both of us still in wolf forms.I feel numb as we stumble out of the temple as soon as possible after I release the devil’s and the deviless’s souls into the gateway.None of us speak, although I could feel everyone except Theon patiently waiting for the right moment. They look stunned as we walk through the doorway. For a moment I’d been afraid the doorway wouldn’t be present because of it being only shown with the blessing of a devil and all, but fortunately, it stands.As soon as we all exit the temple doorway, it starts to shudder. And then the most bizarre thing happens.Numerous high-pitched screams ring through the air, and greyish white mist starts to shoot from all directions towards the doorway, getting su
Once A Luna, Now A Stealer? 318. Defeat
TheonI can’t process half the things that are happening as I stand outside the little circular room, trying and failing to get in.One moment, Callista is being choked by the devil, and the next moment, in the place of Callista, stands a majestic white wolf! The wolf shimmers as if she were the Moon Goddess herself in wolf form, stepping down from the moon to aid us in our time of need.But when the wolf looks at me for the briefest moment and howls in ecstasy, I realize that this wolf is no Goddess.That’s my mate!After months, no, years, of agonizing, Callista has finally found her wolf.But then she turns towards Xaveraq and leaps towards him with no hesitation.My scream deafens my own ears, wondering what the hell she was doing. I witness the whole scene as if it’s unfolding in slow motion.As Callista nears the devil, whose shadows are closing in on her to consume her, a flash of blinding white light erupts from her, filling the room with a glow akin to the sun.I shield my e
Once A Luna, Now A Stealer? 317. Amazed
QaetanyaHer wolf is beautiful, reminiscent of the first wolfwoman I met in the forests of Gaul all those years ago.She is larger than most wolves, were-creature or otherwise, and when she stands, she cuts a majestic figure, even in the confines of the squat, circular room. Her coat is a silverish white, and it glistens as if it was created by moonlight, as if the Goddess molded the wolf herself.Her emerald eyes shine as she stares at Xaveraq in confusion, and amazement, stunned to her very core.She can’t still process that after years of hope and dream, she’d finally transformed into her secondary form.I had watched her wolf grow from a pup to an adult within her as I was trapped in her mind ever since she was born. Throughout the three thousand years I’ve been with Callista’s bloodline, I’ve witnessed hundreds of pups being born within the babies, but never have I seen a wolf as beautiful as this one.Even I was in awe when she first appeared, sleeping soundly, growing along wit
Once A Luna, Now A Stealer? 316. Shift
CallistaThe very first time I witnessed a werewolf’s first shift I was just five years old.It was at a birthday party, and of course, it was for Ruelle.Naturally, almost everyone from my adoptive parents’ families was invited. I liked my relatives because they didn’t favor Ruelle over me to the extent my parents did. At this time, all I had were Ruelle’s hand-me-downs. Her clothes, her toys, her books…The only thing I had for myself was a pair of shoes because Ruelle’s feet had always been smaller than mine, and there was no way my feet could fit in her shoes.I loved those shoes so much.That didn’t mean I never got gifts. My parents’ relatives would always give me presents of my own when they came to visit. It didn’t matter if it was Ruelle’s birthday or mine.It didn’t matter if it was a special day, a holiday, or even a plain, random visit to see how we were doing: clothes, shoes, toys, and new books; everything a little girl could want.Granted these things would be taken awa
Once A Luna, Now A Stealer? 315. Goodbye
Callista“My, my, Qaetanya, you’re actually stronger than I thought. Here I thought that you wasted it all by giving that werewolf a special scent,” the devil taunts the deviless as he circles us, his eyes set on us as if he’s a predator.“I was blessed by the Goddess,” arrogantly, Qaetanya declares, flexing her digits so the electric sparks flicker around them. “Such a power cannot be hindered by anything, least of all you!”“All except the summer solstice,” Xaveraq grins before hurtling another wave of shadows towards her.Qaetanya ducks them swiftly, and the shadows hit the wall behind us, getting absorbed into the stone. Using her momentum, Qaetanya attacks Xaveraq with a light wave of her own, which Xaveraq detracts by a shield of shadows.“I told you that information because I trusted you,” Qaetanya replies to the jab. “Because I believed the man I loved wouldn’t even think of hurting me with that information. But you did exactly that. You might preach about me manipulating you
Once A Luna, Now A Stealer? 314. Monsters
TheonA pillar monster falls right in front of me, nearly crushing me, but I jump away just in time. The sheer force of the fall breaks its stone arm in two, and the eerie silverish glow in its eyes subsides. The pillar monster stops moving.“I think he died,” I tell Haden, who is panting on the other side of the fallen monster.This is the only one that we managed to fall, and by the looks of it, kill.“Holy shit, did that actually work?” Kiran screeches.He was the propellent of bringing the monster down. Now, he jumps back to the ground from the shield he’s been standing on and jogs closer to the pillar monster.Tentatively, he reaches out and touches its cracked shoulder, where some of the previously seen symbols are visible. I remember them running all around the pillars before the monsters came into being, glowing.I look at him and nod, trying to confer my thoughts via body movements.Yes, I think it actually worked.“Guys, we managed to bring a monster down!” Kiran yells back
