Chapter 46 Warm blood;
Meanwhile, the clouds of the curse hanging over the townspeople had begun to part. The sacred bloodline of the Börü race was slipping free from the curse that had been shackled to their bodies like iron chains.
The first to feel this change on New Year's morning were the youngest wild bloods of the town. These teenagers, some just crossing the threshold of adolescence and others newly come of age, had been pulled from their warm beds by the influence of the blood moon. They had run barefoot into the forest, their minds unraveling as their bodies stirred awake once more to the pulse of the wolf.
The town's doctor, Lily, had joined the worried families and search parties in the early hours of the morning. But she knew exactly what they were dealing with.
Even if she didn't want to admit it, she could feel that fire burning inside her too. The wolf race had returned.
But had it dragged the other supernatural races along with it?
Or had it come in peace?
That, it seemed, only time would tell…
Eva Rose, despite being far from welcome, was glad to be at her husband's side.
The effect of the blood moon still moved through her body. It was as though her blood coursed like a warm serpent beneath her skin. And the new wolf body was taking hold of her slowly, steadily, as if it had a consciousness of its own.
When she noticed Kael and Rai deep in conversation, she decided to watch from a distance. Then her eyes drifted to the sacred oasis, and she could have sworn she heard a low hum emanating from it.
She had entered this oasis before. She had felt its power. Seeing it soaked in blood now filled her with sorrow. Then, as if drawn into a trance, she found herself being pulled toward it without fully realizing it.
Eva approached slowly, feeling the wet texture of the grass beneath her bare feet. She extended her fingers toward the oasis.
Kael saw her and shouted, "No... stop, Eva! Don't touch it!" But it was already too late. Eva dipped her slender fingers into the water, and in that instant she crumpled to the ground as a cold like poison spread through her body. The oasis's memory collapsed into her mind like a black nightmare, and she began to witness that night in its full, brutal entirety.
Eva struggled to cope with the emotions flooding her mind.
Jack's body, dragged and brought in… The terrible agony she had felt the moment the oasis was defiled…
Then her eyes caught on a dagger.
She recognized it. But her present consciousness couldn't quite make sense of what it was. A moment later the stone set into it began to glow, and all the memories of the Rose women poured through her mind like a flood.
She remembered now.
Someone had used the Rose witches' sacred spirit dagger to kill a wolf from the Börü race's ancient pack, right here in this oasis.
But why?
Even through her fear, Eva pushed her memory harder and kept chasing the visions.
Then another scene tore through the darkness.
From the depths of a pitch-black void, a pair of deep crimson eyes slowly opened. And then that face began to emerge into the light.
What Eva saw filled her with horror.
Because the face before her, blood trickling from its lips, vampire fangs gleaming, was Kael's face.
The moment Eva saw her husband's face on the creature that had risen from that oasis, she felt as though she might lose her mind. She threw herself away from the visions as if trying to flee from her own thoughts. She ran…
And at last, she managed to tear herself free from those dark images.
When she opened her eyes, she found herself in the shelter of Kael's muscular arms. He was stroking her hair, studying her face with deep concern.
"Are you alright?" Kael murmured.
"My God, Eva… why did you do that? Are you alright?"
Eva's lips trembled.
"That… was you," she whispered. "It looked just like you. That thing… it looked like you. Kael, how is that possible?"
Rai was watching them from slightly above. After a long silence, he rumbled,
"You need to tell her, Kael."
Eva's brow furrowed. Her heart was still racing, her anger pulsing at her temples like a second heartbeat.
"Tell me what?" she muttered.
In that moment, a deep shadow fell across Kael's face. As though he was afraid of what Eva would think of him once the words left his mouth.
But everything had already begun.
Back in the town, the search efforts had intensified considerably. The children of the town were being searched for deep in the forest.
A short while later, on a mountain trail near the waterfall, the unconscious bodies of the children were found scattered at various points.
Their families tried desperately to shake them awake.
And yes… they were all alive.
They simply appeared to be sunk in a deep sleep.
The town's doctor Lily checked each one of them in turn.
"They're all in good health," she muttered.
But the town sheriff's brow had already drawn into a hard frown.
He was a tall, blond man with an unkempt beard and sharp eyes that roamed through the forest.
"Not even a day has passed since New Year's," he muttered, "and already the town has turned into some cursed village. What are we going to do, Lily? We need to put a stop to this."
Lily understood exactly what Sheriff Arthur meant. Her brow tightened.
"What are you thinking, Arthur?" she said in a cold voice. "That we pick up axes and spears and go hunting the things we fear, like it's centuries ago? Is that what you want?"
Arthur caught her implication.
"I gave up judging people by their blood a long time ago, Lily," he said in a heavy voice. "I'd advise you to do the same."
Then he stepped closer and spoke through his teeth.
"But I want you to know this… If the day ever comes that your hands are stained with blood, it doesn't matter if you're a child of this town or a grown adult , you'll find me standing in your way."
He leaned in and whispered into her ear.
"Or should I say… my claws, Lily?"
Lily drew a long breath and watched Sheriff Arthur's back as he walked away.
It seemed a great pack had awakened in the town.
But they had no Alpha yet.
And she knew just as well as anyone, they couldn't survive that way for long…