Page 77 of The Red Moon

Natalia didn’t stop once she was outside the perimeter. No, the wolf inside her saw it fit to trek as far as Samara, and when her scent only skims the border of the city, I thank the gods something kept her from going in. The last thing we need is the Russian government mobilizing their forces when we have dozens of soulless following our every move. They haven’t caught up yet, but we can’t keep running. Not for much longer.

You are leaving them behind.

I know. I’ve known for the past ten miles. Kind of hard not to notice when the quartet of heartbeats reduces to low thumps in the distant background. Clément matched my pace for as long as he could, but even the alpha eventually fell to the back with the rest of his pack. His pack. Can I even call it that now? An entire den of Duval wolves fell, and for what?

Nothing. We’re no closer to stopping my father than when I asked for Clément’s help. Now, his pack is dead and my father brought them to the brink of extinction without sacrificing a single pawn of his own. He didn’t just add new pieces to the board, he played a different game entirely.

You couldn’t have known the lengths Vlad Vostik would go, my wolf’s voice rings in my ears but does nothing to sway the guilt cramping my stomach. Good intentions or not, I am responsible. I brought them here. Promised redemption for our kind. And their reward? Disemboweled fucking lawn ornaments. I should’ve known. I was stupid to think my father wouldn’t predict my every move, and because of me, a bloodline as revered as the Duval’s has been reduced to an alpha, his daughter, and two pups. I am responsible. I didn’t just invite death to their house, I sat him at their fucking table.

A heavy snarl rattles my body. Blaming yourself won’t change anything now.

He’s right. It won’t. But that doesn’t change the fact I’ve continued to underestimate the monster I’ve spent my whole life trying to please. It’s only now that I see I was never meant to be loved by my father. Not really. Not when being born challenges his claim over the packs, and more than that, the one thing he loves most. Himself.

The last hint of moonlight spreads a delicate scarlet shade over the field, toppled grass and weeds carrying the faintest scent of her. Her wolf began to slow here, and whether it was out of fatigue or the effects of the blood moon waning off, I’m not sure. All I know is we’re closing in on her, and fast. When she shifts back to her human form, I can’t imagine she’ll have the strength to keep running while fighting to stay conscious. Where she is running to is the question. The thing pushing me forward when every muscle in my arms and legs screams for reprieve. There is something else, though. Another scent. One that isn’t hers.

I haven’t heard any signs of the soulless horde in miles, but that doesn’t mean they’re not still out there. A wolf might chase their prey across entire continents, but I don’t know enough about those things to assume they hunt the same way we do. And when roars echo from behind me, my heart lurches as what’s left of his pack stops altogether. Bones crack. Monstrous growls fill the air. I have to rake both of my claws into the earth to slow myself down, and when I finally do, I race toward them, preparing for another fight. It’s only when I close the distance that I notice the wolves aren’t being attacked despite their bodies thrashing in torment. They’re shifting.

Clément and Jade are the first to shed their forms, scratching away the wolf to reveal a human body beneath. Then, the rest of them do the same. A chorus of distorted voices ring out. Flesh drops to the dirt in ribbons. Their claws retreat, and once their wide jowls split down both sides, the skin breaks apart to reveal four distressed faces. Most drop to their hands and feet, gasping for breath while Clément is the only one able to remain upright. His bare chest heaves. Anger twists his features. And when his eyes lock with mine, a rage unlike anything I’ve seen from the alpha becomes strikingly clear.

Fire engulfs my insides as I shift back, letting the wolf skin fall off in pieces and land at my feet. With each discarded piece of flesh, my blood paints the yellow grass beneath me bright red. My heart rate spikes as my human form takes hold, and I ignore the need to double over, strangling down what little air I can.

“Where are the rest?” he seethes, waving a hand to Jade and the two pups incredulously. His voice is low. Menacing. And when I don’t respond, he screams with unbridled fury. “Where is my pack?”

I lower my head. “We’re all that made it out.”

“Did you know?” The alpha stomps toward me, every muscle in his arms and neck tensing. “Did you know he was working with them? You better choose your next words carefully, Vostik.”

“I. Didn’t. Know.” I raise my voice and wince at the migraine hammering away at my skull. “I didn’t know those things even existed. And I couldn’t have known he’d turn the captives we shipped here into some soulless fucking army.”

He pauses a few feet away, his jaw ticking. “What do you mean, captives?” The murderous tone in Clément’s voice softens.

“I saw them, Clément. I chose some of them for the godsdamn hunt myself. When they arrived at my family property, they were still very much human.”

A stern huff. “Newly turned vampires. A brood of newly turned vampires slaughtered my entire pack.” He nods and chuckles, but the sound is nothing short of disgust. “He wanted to spit in my face one last time by using the same creatures I tried to warn him about. The reason every other pack turned their backs on us. Un-fucking-believable.”

I step forward. “We need to keep moving. Who knows if they’re still⁠—”

Clément waves his hand and cuts me off. “No need.” He points to the sun slowly rising behind the mountains overlooking the barren field. “They won’t be following us now. Sunlight. One of the few things that kills them. They will have buried themselves or found a rock to crawl under.”

Sunlight? I find it hard to believe something as simple as sunlight would be able to stop a monster capable of reattaching limbs. “What else kills them?”

“Conversation for another time. Let’s focus on getting the hell out of—” He stops and scans the barren field. “Where are we exactly?”

“Fifty miles outside of Samara, give or take. And our ride is almost here.”

It wasn’t difficult to keep an ear on the military vehicle trailing us from the Vostik property, and while the other wolves might not have noticed, I picked up on the distinct hum of a drone following our movements overhead. Dimitri and Alexey. They made it out much to my relief and gods do we need them right now. When the truck becomes a small dot in the distance, the rest of the wolves stagger to their feet.

Dimitri at the wheel, he parks the truck and jumps from the driver’s seat.

Alexey stumbles out behind him and hunches forward, one arm cradling his stomach. “There’s a crate of clothes in back, big man. I planned ahead for nakedness this time.”

Dimitri does so without a complaint, though I’m sure he’s thinking more than a few curses in his head. I grab the first shirt and sweatpants I find and slide them on, my muscles screaming in forfeit.

When I’m clothed, Dimitri wraps me into a bear hug and squeezes, only proving the night was more taxing on my body than I originally thought. “Glad to see you alive, moy brat.”

I return the gesture, clapping my palm on his back. “You too, brother.”

Clément and the rest of the wolves take turns clothing themselves, heads hung low, and the unmistakable look of grief in their solemn features. Jade hasn’t said a word since she shifted back. None of them have besides Clément.