344- Blood Under the Moon
POV Viktor Averwyn:
“It seems they got scared by the traps and the losses.”
Ionut helped himself to the food Daciana had brought us earlier to the office. It was the second time he was having dinner. He settled at the table, satisfied.
“Or they’re regrouping, making new plans.” I scanned the monitors on the north side again—nothing new.
“Yes. In either case, it’s possible they won’t do anything else tonight.”
“The sensor showed movement to the west, but very little.” I turned just one of the cameras toward it, observing the empty forest. Something unsettled me.
“It could be a scout or a lone spy, checking if there are more mines. Find anything?”
“Not yet.”
“Go home, Viktor. I’ll stay on watch and let you know if anything happens.”
I didn’t respond, probing a little longer.
For the past two hours, I had felt like I should be paying attention to something, yet everything remained still. My head was full of worries.
With no changes, I got up from the chair, ready to pour myself some coffee. Then another discomfort came, stronger this time. I stopped, attentive, letting it flow.
I even considered it might be some memory trying to surface, but it was different. It pressed against my chest, turning into a kind of warning.
Seraphine suddenly invaded my mind, as if calling me. Asking me to look at her. It hurt, it disturbed me.
“Call me if anything changes.” I headed straight for the door.
“Alright.”
The village was quiet at that hour, everyone already in their homes. Even the Duchess Nest had its lights off. I cast a quick glance as I ran toward the castle, tense, focusing on the human.
I lifted my head, searching for her scent, which seemed to linger constantly in my nostrils. It was weaker now, and that bothered me.
I sped up when a thought struck me and pissed me off. Fuck! Had she gone back into the abandoned mine again? Didn’t she learn her lesson?
I felt like throwing her over my shoulder and spanking her ass. Like a brat, acting without thinking! She and Adelina were driving me insane!
The irritation was suppressed by that sense of urgency, growing stronger as I stopped before the castle gate. I turned my face toward the direction leading to the mines. Something was calling me, agitating me.
The guard opened the gate and I stared at him.
“Is the human inside?”
“No.” He straightened up. “She left with Adelina a while ago.”
My instincts screamed, and I knew that meant serious shit.
“How long?”
“More than an hour. Maybe more than two. They said they’d take a walk and then go to the village center.”
I ran to the left without waiting. I sharpened my sense of smell and caught the mix of scents—my daughter’s and hers. Hers stronger, clinging to me in that strange way.
I ran like a madman, because suddenly the feeling turned into a scream of warning inside my chest.
Ideas flashed through my mind—that Adelina had been raised here, knew many paths, overheard things. She wouldn’t be capable of that!
Seraphine’s scent led me to the closed trapdoor that was no longer used. On the other side of the gate, the entrance was much more accessible and direct. Of course, they wouldn’t go that way with guards watching.
I snarled furiously, ripping the heavy wooden cover from its fittings and rushing down the stairs. The scent grew stronger—and so did my terror.
Idiots! Clueless about anything—the danger, the risks to both of them with our territory under attack, the threats Lucian and Konrad represented.
I used my absurd speed along the path I knew by heart, aware of where my daughter would go if she wanted to reach the forest between Averwyn and Cyndrael—the easiest way to get there. And I followed their scent through the correct corridors.
I focused entirely on that, because I was much faster than her, and the fact that Seraphine was human would slow them down. I needed to reach them before they entered Konrad’s property or were found by other wolves. Desperation drove me.
It was a real and immediate risk. My wolf roared, the sound echoing through the rocky walls, both of us on the edge of terror.
I climbed the stairs, shoved the trapdoor open into the woods, and slammed it behind me. I shot through the trees. The scent was stronger, sharper. My heart pounded so hard it felt like it would burst out of my mouth. Shivers ran down my spine, and I sensed danger.
I prepared for the worst, fangs and claws emerging, hatred swallowing me alive. And fear too—for them. For what lurked and threatened their lives. I didn’t think anymore—I just acted, giving everything I had.
It was after a cluster of fir trees that I felt the scent and the dread intensify. The smell of wolves, of them, a breath of imminent danger.
And then I saw the scene ahead, in a clearing bathed in moonlight. My claws grew longer, my eyes scanning everything.
The two of them stood there, backs to me. In front of them, Konrad emerged from the vegetation, surrounded by four of his wolves.
He didn’t have his usual calm gait, nor the simple demeanor of a shepherd unconcerned with worldly matters. His posture was aggressive, furious, his expression heavy, his long strides turning into a run in an instant—especially when his eyes met mine.
“Attack Costantini!” he shouted to his pack, but he didn’t come for me. He lunged toward them.
It felt like slow motion. Seraphine turning toward me, pale, frightened. Adelina looking at me uncertainly. And him shifting, focused on them. The four beasts charging toward me.
There was no time to fight. Urgency hit hard, and my wolf sensed before I did what he intended. Not to capture them or take them away. He was ready to rip them in half—that’s why he transformed, that murderous look in his eyes.
I jumped. Not toward the wolves—they would slow me down. Any second lost could be fatal. I leapt onto the trunk of a nearby tree, pushed off it with my feet, launching myself even higher, soaring over the beasts and crashing into Konrad so violently that we rolled together, snarling, claws raised.
I heard screams and brought my hand down hard on him, tearing skin and flesh from his chest, creating deep wounds as he tried to turn and attack me, mad with pain and rage.
I got distracted, glancing back in terror that the other wolves might attack them—but they were coming for me.
Konrad slashed the side of my face and neck, but I pulled back before he could hit anything vital, blood spraying over both of us. I growled, ready to tear him apart—but two wolves leapt onto my back.
“Dad!” Adelina screamed.
We rolled, all four of us. I kept them from biting my neck, roaring as I grew even larger, throwing my arms back. My transformation intensified, aggressive, thick fur covering my face, the seams of my clothes bursting as my muscles swelled.