Chapter 159: Moonsick

Luna’s POV

2 months later

Something was wrong with Crescent Valley. It was not secretly wrong anymore. It was openly wrong. The air itself felt infected.

By Monday morning, rumors had spread through the school faster than gossip had ever before.

Three hikers had gone missing near the North Forest Trail. And a farmer claimed something killed six of his animals overnight without eating them.

Students whispered about hearing growls outside their windows and someone said the woods were getting bigger.

And the worst part, was that nobody was laughing about it. I stood at my locker trying to ignore the pounding in my skull. Every sound felt too sharp, with lockers slamming, shoes squeaking and heartbeats.

Especially heartbeats. I could hear them. All of them. Too clearly.

My nails dug into my palm. They were not nails. They were claws just for a second.

Thin silver-black tips slid from under my fingers before snapping back painfully.

I jerked my hand away instantly. No one saw. I hoped.

“Luna.”

I looked up sharply. Kai was already watching me from down the hallway. Tense and alert. Like he felt it too. And maybe he did. Because the moment our eyes locked, the pull between us hit violently. Not emotional, but physical.

My chest burned.

The mark near my collarbone flared hot under my shirt and Kai inhaled sharply. His eyes darkened instantly.

Oh no. Not here. Not now.

I turned away quickly and slammed my locker shut. “We need to talk,” he said quietly beside me seconds later.

“You always say that.”

“And you never listen.”

I started walking. Too fast, too irritated, and too ,angry for no reason.

Or maybe there was a reason. Because lately everything inside me felt wrong. Too hot, too aggressive, and too ,alive.

People moved aside as I passed them down the hallway.

Not consciously, but instinctively. Like animals sensing a predator.

That should’ve terrified me. Instead, a art of me liked it. I hated that part.

Kai grabbed my wrist gently before I could disappear into the crowd.

The second he touched me….Something snapped inside me.

Heat exploded through my body. And a growl ripped from my throat.

It did not sound human.

Several students froze nearby and my vision sharpened violently.

I could smell fear. Actual fear, sweat and adrenaline and blood under skin.

My pulse slammed wildly.

“Luna,” Kai said carefully.

Too carefully. Like approaching something dangerous.

That realization made panic surge. As I yanked my arm away from him.

My claws came out fully this time. Gasps erupted nearby.

Someone screamed and everything stopped.

My breathing turned ragged. Oh God.

No.

No no no….

The claws were real. Long and silver-black.

Shaking slightly under the fluorescent lights.

A girl near the lockers stumbled backward in horror.

“Kai…” My voice cracked.

He moved instantly. Stepping between me and everyone else.

“Everybody back away,” he ordered sharply.

But students were already staring. Phones coming out and whispers exploding.

“What the hell…”

“Did you see her hands?!”

“That’s not fake…”

The lights above us flickered violently and my head pounded harder and every heartbeat around me became unbearable. Too loud and too close.

I grabbed my head with shaking hands. Wrong move. Because someone behind me shoved through the crowd suddenly, and the scent hit me. It was blood. Fresh blood.

It was a tiny cut on someone’s wrist. But my body reacted like starvation.

A violent instinct surged through me with hunger and my pupils expanded instantly. Kai saw it and his expression changed immediately.

“Luna.”

That was a warning and fear.

I stumbled backward breathing hard. “I can smell them,” I whispered horrified.

The hallway went silent and Kai’s jaw tightened.

“Everybody leave. Now.”

Nobody argued this time. They ran and the fear scent intensified.

And God help me….I wanted to chase it. My body trembled violently fighting the instinct, but Kai grabbed my shoulders hard. “Look at me.”

I couldn’t. Because his scent was destroying me too.

He smelled of forest, rain, wolf, and mine,.

The thought slammed into my head so hard I gasped. Kai froze.

He heard that. The bond. It was fully open now.

“No,” I whispered.

But it was too late. Something ancient inside me had recognized him.

And it wanted him. Not gently and not romantically. But completely.

My breathing became ragged and Kai’s voice lowered.

“Luna, listen to me carefully.”

I shook my head violently. “I can’t control it.”

“Yes, you can.”

“You’re lying.”

My claws dug into the wall beside me accidentally.

Concrete cracked instantly and several students screamed again farther down the hall. Great. Fantastic. Totally normal Monday. Then the fire alarm exploded overhead as red lights flashed across the hallway. And suddenly every instinct inside me snapped loose completely with noise, heat, movement and hear,tbeats. Too much.

My vision shifted gold and bones cracked painfully under my skin.

I collapsed to one knee with a cry.

“LUNA.”

Kai caught me before I hit the floor. But the moment he touched me again…The transformation surged harder and silver-black fur spread partially across my arms and my teeth sharpened painfully. Gasps echoed everywhere and people were recording now. Teachers shouting, running and chaos.

The supernatural world wasn’t hidden anymore.

Not after this and not after me. Then, I heard a familiar voice cut through the panic.

“Everybody get away from her!”

It was Ethan. He pushed through the crowd holding something in his hand.

A blade covered in strange glowing symbols. Kai immediately snarled.

“What did you do?”

Ethan ignored him completely. His eyes locked onto me. Terrified and determined. Almost desperate.

“I can stop it,” he said.

And that scared me more than the transformation itself. Because his voice sounded certain. Like he’d prepared for this.

“You used forbidden rituals,” Kai growled.

Ethan’s expression hardened. “I used whatever I had to.”

The blade glowed brighter and the mark on my chest suddenly burned violently in response. Pain exploded through me.

I screamed. And deep under Crescent Valley….Something answered.

The entire school shook, windows shattered instantly and students panicked.

Teachers screamed. And outside….From somewhere beyond the walls…Hundreds of wolves howled at once.

Not one pack. All of them.

Every hidden creature in Crescent Valley responding to the same call.

Mine.

Selene’s voice suddenly echoed from the second-floor balcony above us.

Calm, cold and victorious.

“It’s started.”

Everyone looked up. She stood there watching the chaos like she’d been waiting for it. And maybe she had. “You did this?” Kai snarled.

Selene’s silver eyes shifted toward him. “No,” she said softly.

Then she looked directly at me. “She did.”

The ground under the school cracked violently, as silver light burst upward through the hallway floor. Students scattered screaming.

The walls trembled. And somewhere under us. Something ancient began waking completely. I looked at Kai in terror. But his expression terrified me even more. Because he already knew there was no stopping this anymore.

Crescent Valley had just crossed the point of no return.