Runa's eyes were closed but she could smell something that was absolutely putrid. She wrinkled her nose against the assault before raising her hand to rub the sleep away from her eyes. She sat up and realized she was in her own bed at her mother's. Opening her eyes immediately, remembering pieces of what had happened the night before until she had blacked out. She looked down at her clothes and held back a scream that threatened to break the silence. She was covered in blood, from head to toe. From the smell she could tell it was human. Her hair was matted, her once white blouse now crimson. She threw the comforter off her body to run to the bathroom with the full length mirror. When her eyes feasted on her reflection she finally let out the blood curtailing scream that had welled up, no longer strangling her vocal cords. She had blood smeared across her face over the backs of her hands, and down her chest and legs. She had a little dirt under her nails too. What the hell h
"There's nowhere for you to hide, Runa! You will be found and you will be put to death for what you did!" Runa heard Alpha Mike's voice in her head before she blocked him out. Tears stung her eyes as she ran through the now dead town she used to work in. She did, however, stop by the diner she worked at and took the money from the register before continuing north. She could now hear the pack behind her howling in their pursuit of her. As she entered another alpha's territory, her pack slowed and stopped at the boundary's edge. "If I don't kill you, another alpha will!" Alpha Mike growled as he came to the front and stared at her. Her wolf whimpered at him before she turned and started running again. She was sure he would have contacted the alpha of this land only he did not need to. The wolves on patrol found her and paused at the sight of her. She was at the Northeastern corner of their territory when two wolves jumped on her back. She howled as one sank his t
Runa successfully passed through another pack without being discovered. Her paws felt like they were going to fall off. She was not sure of where she was but she did notice snow on the ground, she must be closer to her destination by now. Six hours of non-stop running, she decided to rest for a minute. She found a half frozen stream and saturated her burning throat. She needed to figure out where she was. She stuck her nose to the wind trying to find the closest human town and then a map. Turning her head she scented something East. Shifting her feet in the light snowfall, she began to run. She caught some small game before she arrived in another small town. Quickly, she shifted and dressed herself. The sun was beginning to cast shadows everywhere as it fell behind the tree tops. Pulling her hoodie over her head and stuffing her hands in her pockets, she slowly made her way through the town in search of a motel. She really did not w
Runa watched as the Alpha left. She could not help but stare at the rippling muscles in his back with each stride he took away from her. Those eyes of his were terrifying but beautiful as well, she could willingly lose herself in the depths of those dark eyes. She found herself wanting to uncover the secrets hidden deep within them. She shook herself out of her daze quickly. She needed to figure out how she was going to get out of this place. She had no clue as to where she was or how she would manage to get free. Her eyes drifted over the cell she was in and found little to help her escape. Suddenly the door opened and another male walked in with a tray of food. He slid the tray through a very small door at the bottom of the cell bars, with a sympathetic look distorting his features. His body was tense as if he was scared, clearly not having seen a hybrid or their strengths. He stood and just watched her, waiting for her to grab the tray from the floor. Runa just stare
Runa opened her eyes at the sound of metal twisting and sliding along another piece of metal, as the dead bolt attached to the outside of the room door was unlocked. She saw Zachery carrying another tray of food with him with a shy smile on his lips. She stretched her arms over her head, arching her back and bringing her knees up to her chest then stretching them as far out as they would go before standing and smiling at him through the bars. This is it! She thought as he came closer to her cell. She stepped up to the bars to look into his eyes. "Lunch time already or you just couldn't wait to see me?" She laughed, he ran his hand through his hair nervously with a chuckle to match. "Yeah. It's lunch time. Did you fall asleep from boredom?" He said as he knelt down to the small door to push the tray through and grab the other sitting there empty. "Yeah I did actually. Can you sit with me for a while? The walls won't
The copper taste of blood filled her mouth and her inner wolf howled, she released her hold. His look was just as puzzled as her's as the sweet red wine of her veins flowed over his tongue and down his throat. Ciaran had never tasted anything so savory. His heart ached suddenly, staring at this red wolf. She had looked down but was now raising her gaze to his, her own heart skipped a few beats. The air around them seemed to thicken and it became harder for them both to breath while their eyes stayed locked on each other's. "What kind of trick are you playing? What was in that food?" Runa growled at him and widened her stance to lunge at him if he twitched a muscle. "It's not a trick from me I assure you!" His voice was softer, kinder with a pleading twinge to it. "Liar!" She growled before leaping forward, aiming for his jugular. He jumped out of her way at the last minute and t
They had been spending each night in the same meadow as always just outside the pack's border since her father found him barely alive when he was thirteen. Five years had passed since then and their age is not the only thing that changed, their relationship grew into something else, something more intimate, something filled with passion and devotion. She had kept his secret from everyone, including her father, the Alpha. She was the only person he trusted enough not to say anything and who accepted him for who he was, dark side and all. "Oh come on, Ciaran. Let's just run away together." She said as they sat to stare at the setting sun. "You know your father would hunt us down to the ends of the earth and have my head on a spike, Rebecca." He replied, running his hand through his hair. "So we'll keep running!" She suggested, enthusiastically. "And what's going to happen when you find your mate? You'll leave me the sam
"It happened under my first blood moon after my first shift. I was eighteen." Ciaran said, turning his gaze away from his cup to meet Runa's eyes. "How can you remember what happened? I can't remember anything from that night." Runa asked curiously. "I've known I was a hybrid since I was a child. Before my parents were taken from me. My mother was a werewolf, my father a vampire. They were mates and we lived running from all packs and covens. So I had my bloodlust under control, but the blood moon's magical pull." His voice trailed off, Runa stretched her hand to rest on his arm comfortingly. "I killed my best friend. We were practically sisters. Her mother raised me from birth. I found her body mutilated where we stopped to watch the blood moon rise." She spoke slowly and quietly as she held his stare. "I'm sorry." His voice was kind. "Yeah. Me too." She whispered back. "How did you get this
Hello Fans, I hope you enjoyed reading the story but fret not, because the story continues with new characters in a sequel and possibly with more books to come. So, without further delay, here is a small exert from the sequel called "Blue Moon" Catch you on the next page!FelishaBlue Moon ExceptHer skin prickled all over her body as she stood at the window of her office while she looked out to her twins jumbo play set in their backyard. She knew she was being watched, yet even with her heightened eyesight, she could not spot the suspect who had her flesh on fire. The thought of going out to investigate has never really scared her before, yet this time things were different. Half of her was thinking something was wrong and the other half was leaping for joy at the excitement of something new to discover. Facing the inner battle head-on, she decided to check things out to be sure things were fine."I'm stepping outside for a minute. I'll be right back." She told her husband as she wal
A year and a half later.So much has changed in the pack in the previous year. Runa had really stepped into her roll as Luna. She broke ground on a new playground for the children. She had drawn out plans to build onto the hospital to make room for better equipment and technology so more tests could be run with sooner results. Runa would not let Ciaran know, but she had been quite concerned about her health lately and was growing curious to know more about her hybrid blood. Ruby had informed her on what medical machinery would surrender understandable results, and she would leave a note on Ciaran's desk. She and Ciaran had another scare, no to long ago. They almost did not make it. If not for Ruby's extensive knowledge about modern medicine, they both would have died just from a walk through the woods around the territory. They had had a run in with some hunters, she had been shot five times and he was shot seven. The blood loss they both sustained was critical. So, Runa and Ruby h
The pack heard the roar and raced through the yard when no one could find the Alpha or Luna. Everyone followed the sound of battle and found their leaders out numbered twenty to one. Jackie was the first to shift and jump in the fight as she saw Runa take a heavy blow to the head from a vampire who had picked up a fallen tree limb to use as a bat. It did not take the rest of the pack long before they were all shifting to save their Alpha and Luna. Hisses and growls filled the night and silenced the crickets and critters. Tristan let out another monstrous roar before jumping into the night sky, vanishing though not completely. The sound of his wings helped to pinpoint his location. Though with so many fighting on the ground, it was still quite a challenge. Runa regained her senses just in the knick of time to dodge another swing of the makeshift bat. Her eyes caught sight of a wing flap as Tristan crossed the moon's glowing surface, he planned to dive into the fight. Tristan tucked
The following day was hard on the pack as a whole, having lost many good members of the pack. Family and friends gathered around the funeral pier, each holding a candle stick. As each person walked up to pay their last respects to the dead, Ciaran and Runa stood tall in front of everyone. "We've lost many in our battle. Each one a valued member of the Blood Moon pack. May the moon goddess shine your path into the eternal light at her side in the heavens." Ciaran's voice was husky with emotion as he raised his hands towards the rest of the pack members. "If anyone wishes to say anything about our bravely fallen brothers and sisters please step forward and speak now." No one stepped forward. Every pack member was either holding someone else or being held themselves. Grief, loss, two emotions not so easily to work through even for those who have lost so many. Empathy was shown to many around the clearing, as was love and loyalty. "Families of the fallen, please
Ciaran ducked, dodged, and leaped over fallen bodies, both wolf and vampire, as he slew his own victims in his search for the true prize. The one they were all looking for to end this war. The Queen. He could hear the thunder of her wing beats. Could sense her deadly presence, but not her exact location. He continued to shred through the pale and blood red of the undead. Soon he realized the vampires were not alone.Alpha Tobias and his pack sounded their war cry with a deep long howl as they arrived upon the scene. The one eyed alpha was running head on towards Ciaran. His blonde wolf collided with Ciaran's pure white beast. Guttural growls erupted as teeth gnashed and powerful paws slashed at each other. Tobias locked his jaws around Ciaran's shoulder and shook viciously, dislocating it from its socket. Ciaran ignored the pain in his shoulder as he twisted out of his jaws and snapped his own around the back of Tobias's neck, over his spine. Ciaran jerked straight as he st
Early the next morning, around three a.m., Runa woke from her nightmare of the night she mutilated her best friend. Images of teeth ripping open flesh and tearing away bones still painted her mind in vivid color. Suddenly the days events flooded back to her, Jackie was on her mind. "I have to go to her! I have to explain what happened." Runa was in hysterics as she bolted upright in the bed, startling Ciaran out of his slumber. "What is it?" He said, sleepily. "I have to go talk to Ms. Jackie. She has to know what happened." Runa replied as she jumped out of the bed. "Give her time. You don't need to stress your self this way. There is always another day to talk to her. She's part of our pack now. Besides, it's three o'clock in the morning." Ciaran reached for her, trying to hold her close. She pushed him away."You don't understand! She was the mother I wished for myself. The mother I didn't have. And I killed her only child. The only family she ha
"Why do I feel like we're going to become lab rats for out own pack?" Runa asked after she and Ciaran stepped out of the shower after their little scare before the ritual. "Let's hope it does not end as badly as you make it sound." He was pulling a white button down shirt around his shoulders to lay flat over his white slacks, while she slipped into a golden red gown with a slit that revealed her hip if she stood just right."Is there anything else I can wear? I feel just a little bit exposed." She fiddled with the plunging neckline of her dress trying to close the gap as much she could with little success around her bust."I think you look gorgeous." He stepped up behind her, the buttons on his shirt forgotten as the two halves fell open around her while his hands found themselves at her waist and he pressed his lips tenderly to her neck."I never did like these ceremonial traditions. To formal for me." She confessed."Me neither but think of it this way,
"Ok, around about how many people are we going to be cooking for?" Sascha asked as she bounced the toddler sitting in her lap."An army." Runa replied with a grin. "There is maybe a hundred and sixty, hundred and seventy people in my old pack and, what, three hundred here?""Three-seventy five, actually." "So yeah an army." Runa giggled again and made a funny face at the little girl playing peak-a-boo around the back of the stool Sascha sat in, absently rubbing her belly. "We certainly have our work cut out for us, don't we?" Sascha smiled, as she rubbed her nose to the toddler's in her lap. "Yep." Runa popped the 'p'. "Wonderful thing we have these two little rascals to help taste test everything." Sascha said and the children's faces lite up with excitement. "I want first bite!" the little girl behind the chair piped up, raising her arm as far in the air as she could reach. With a smile on her face, sadness filled Runa's heart. She was al
{Author's Note: This chapter contains mature content. If you do not wish to read, please continue to next chapter. Thank you for your support and time for reading my story.}Time seemed to pass slowly, waiting for another battle to present its self, though life still moved forward. The snow thickened and the temperature dropped further as the days became shorter. The female's in the pack were kinder toward Runa with each day, though she was unsure of their reasons behind the new found acceptance. Sympathy or gratitude, which ever the case may be, she was grateful she no longer had to deal with their dirty stares. She was able to convince Ciaran that Tristan posed no threat to the pack and was released from the jail cell he occupied for a week. Ciaran was still unsure, however, and had someone shadow his every move. Alpha Mike's pack had submitted to Ciaran with his death, though they remained in southern Ohio. Jake was appointed as the overseer of the territory until more p