The Cursed King

Two

I flinched, pressing my spine as flat against the dirt as humanly possible. I hoped against hope that it would create even a millimeter of distance between us, but escaping was completely out of the question. I was entirely caged beneath his massive frame. One wrong move, one sharp breath, and I was dead. Not that I wasn't already standing squarely at death's door anyway.

The wolf-man- let's just call him that for my own sanity- glared down at me, analyzing me with terrifying precision. It was the exact look a seasoned predator gives its helpless prey. Let me tell you, finding yourself at the absolute bottom of the food chain is a deeply humiliating feeling. It left a bitter, metallic taste in my mouth, accompanied by a wave of sudden, sharp regret. If I had known my life was going to cut to black this early, I definitely would have spent less time at the precinct and enjoyed myself a little more.

Suddenly, the wolf-man let out a ferocious, rib-rattling growl, baring a row of dagger-like teeth. I screamed, squeezing my eyes shut tight. This is it, I thought. I'm dead.

"No magic," the monstrous voice rumbled.

I paused, opening one eye. Huh? Magic? What the hell is he talking about?

"Who are you?" he demanded. His voice was the most haunting thing I had ever heard- a deep, unnatural echo that seemed to vibrate inside my own chest.

Honestly, I felt like I should be the one asking "who are you"- or better yet, "what* are you?" How did a creature like this even exist outside of a big-budget horror movie?

Sniff. Sniff.

The giant snout twitched, and he suddenly began aggressively sniffing my neck. Oh great, I panicked internally. Do I smell bad? Am I about to get eaten because I smell like sweat and adrenaline? Or worse, what if I smell delicious to him? What if he has some weird, supernatural OCD about keeping his territory clean, and his plan is to gobble me up, poop me out, and hurl the remains into a distant galaxy? Is that what my life is worth? A cosmic bathroom break?

The beast let out another sharp growl.

Man, he really loved to growl. At this point, it felt like psychological torture. Wait, a horrific thought crossed my mind. Don't tell me he's a total sadist who likes to build up massive amounts of tension and terror before he finally dispatches his prey.

I risked another peek and noticed something bizarre. The creature was clutching the side of his massive head with one giant, clawed paw.

"WHO ARE YOU?" he roared.

Before I could blink, his fist came down, punching the earth mere inches from my left ear. The impact shook my entire body. When I looked at the ground where his fist had landed, I nearly fainted right then and there.

There was a hole. A massive, deep, terrifying crater in the dirt. If his aim had been just a few inches to the right, my skull would have been obliterated into a million tiny pieces. Smashing my head would have been as effortless for him as cracking open a ripe watermelon. His strength was absolutely terrifying.

"A human!" I squeaked, my voice barely cracking through my tight throat. "I'm just a human!"

"Lies!" he roared back, his eyes flashing dangerously. "Humans do not possess the power to project their thoughts!"

I blinked, totally bewildered. Project my thoughts? What kind of voodoo, sci-fi nonsense is he spitting right now? Is mind-reading actually a thing here?

My internal spiraling must have pushed him over the edge, because the next thing I knew, his razor-sharp claws extended, glinting in the violet light as he raised his hand to strike.

Well, Jesus, take the wheel. Here I come.

I watched in absolute, slow-motion horror as the claws swept down toward my neck. But less than an inch from my skin, they stopped. Dead in their tracks.

I stared up at him, entirely bewildered. Not that I was complaining- I definitely didn't want my head separated from my torso- but I was genuinely curious. It's not every day an apex predator halts its fatal blow halfway through. Was he playing with his food? Did he have a funnier way to kill me planned out?

"Stop thinking, for f**k's sake! Your mind is incredibly loud! I won't kill you," he huffed, pulling his hand back and shaking his head in sheer annoyance.

Oh. So he actually knew words other than growls. Good to know.

"You're... you're really not going to kill me?" I asked, desperately seeking verbal confirmation.

He gave a sharp, reluctant nod. I was still incredibly skeptical- rule number one of being a detective is never blindly trust a suspect- but right now, I was entirely out of options. I had zero leverage and zero escape routes. So, I decided to believe him. Just a tiny, microscopic bit.

"Then... can you at least tell me where I am?" I asked, trying to get my bearings. If I was going to plan an escape later, I needed a map.

The creature took his sweet time answering. I waited for what felt like a whole damn eternity, watching his expressionless, lupine face. Was it really that hard of a question? Or did he just think I was a spy?

"Moonland," he finally grunted. One word. Short, sweet, and entirely unhelpful. Clearly, he wasn't a fan of small talk.

"So... I'm literally on the moon?" I asked, frowning.

The wolf-man slowly turned his head and gave me a look of pure, unadulterated judgment. It was a look that practically screamed, 'Are you actually this stupid?'

"Right. Okay. Just because it's called Moonland doesn't mean we're literally orbiting Earth," I let out a breathless, incredibly nervous laugh. My nerves were tied in absolute knots. Oddly enough, now that the immediate threat of being shredded to pieces was off the table, my detective instincts were on high alert. I had interrogated way too many psychopaths in my career to just take a monster's mercy at face value. What was his angle?

Seriously, Aelia, stop overthinking, I scolded myself. The beast literally just told you your thoughts are giving him a headache. You're going to get yourself killed via monologue.

"That is the Moon," the creature said, lifting a massive arm and pointing into the sky. "This is Moonland."

I followed his line of sight. Hanging in the sky was a moon so staggeringly massive, bright, and close that it felt like I could reach out and touch the craters. It was breathtakingly beautiful, but given my current situation, I felt zero romance toward it. In fact, I felt a deep, burning resentment.

It's because of that stupid, glowing rock that I'm stuck in this nightmare, I cursed bitterly inside my mind. If only I hadn't looked at it. If only I hadn't listened to that creepy voice...

GROOOOOWL.

The wolf-man snapped his jaws, a low rumble vibrating in his chest.

What now?! I thought, panicking again. What did I do this time? How did I manage to offend him by looking at the sky?

"Do not disrespect my mother," he warned, his voice dropping into a dangerous, lethal register.

I raised my hands in a placating gesture. "Okay, okay! But when did I ever mention your mother?!"

"Who is your mother?" I asked, genuinely baffled.

Without a word, he pointed his massive claw right back up at the giant glowing moon.

A startled, completely inappropriate laugh bubbled up in my throat before I could stop it. "So... your mom is the literal moon?" I chuckled, the absurdity of the situation temporarily overriding my survival instinct. "Who's the dad then? The sun? Are you guys a solar system family?"

I really, really should have kept my mouth shut.

Before the joke could even fully leave my lips, the creature let out a deafening roar. In a blur of motion, his massive hand wrapped around my throat, lifting my entire body clean off the ground like I weighed absolutely nothing.

"No one disrespects my Mother!" he bellowed into my face.

His grip was like a steel vise. The pressure on my windpipe was instantaneous, cutting off my oxygen entirely. I thrashed weakly, my hands clawing uselessly at his furry wrists. My vision began to blur, dark spots dancing across my eyes. Just as darkness was about to claim me, he violently hurled me back down into the grass.

I choked, drawing in huge, desperate gulps of air, coughing violently as I clutched my bruised neck.

When I finally managed to look up, his eyes were flashing a brilliant, terrifying electric yellow. But what came out of his mouth next wasn't another roar. It was a bizarre, heartbreaking sound- somewhere between a fierce growl and a pained, pathetic whimper.

I tilted my head slightly, my detective brain instinctively trying to read the strange creature before me. He had been a split second away from crushing my windpipe, so why did he sound like a wounded animal now?

Looking at his rigid, defensive posture, a realization washed over me. He wasn't crazy, and he wasn't playing a game. He was entirely serious. The moon really was his mother.

"I'm sorry," I gasped out, my voice raw and raspy. "I'm sorry. It's just... where I come from, the moon is an inanimate object. It doesn't reproduce. I've never heard of anything like that in my life, and I genuinely thought you were just messing with me."

The creature seemed to absorb my apology. Slowly, the terrifying yellow glow faded from his eyes, returning to their deep, gloomy darkness.

Good to know, I noted mentally. His eyes flash neon when he's about to commit murder. Noted.

"My mother is the Moon Goddess, Selene," he stated, his tone heavy and solemn.

"A Moon Goddess?" I repeated, the word sounding foreign on my tongue. "Like... ancient mythology?"

The wolf-man looked genuinely baffled by my confusion. "You humans... you truly know nothing of the Moon Goddess?"

I shook my head slowly. "I can't speak for the entire human race, but this is definitely the first time I've ever heard of an actual goddess ruling the moon. I was never a religious or spiritual person, so gods and goddesses aren't really my area of expertise."

I looked past him toward the massive, decaying stone structure in the distance. "Do you... do you live here all by yourself?" I asked quietly.

The moment the question left my mouth, I regretted it. The creature's entire demeanor shattered. The fierce, terrifying aura vanished, replaced by a sudden, heavy dampening of his posture.

But what shocked me more than his reaction was myself. How on earth was I able to read his emotions so accurately? His face was that of a literal wolf- it should have been completely expressionless to a human eye. Had I completely lost my mind? Did I suffer a massive concussion when I jumped from the car?

"I live alone," he whispered.

There was a profound, crushing weight of loneliness in those three words. It echoed in the air, cold and hollow, and without warning, it tugged violently at my heartstrings.

I gasped, pressing a hand against my chest as a sudden, sharp ache throbbed right behind my ribs. I frowned, looking down at my own body in absolute confusion and discomfort.

What is this pain? Why does it hurt so bad?

This wasn't my anxiety. It wasn't the pain from falling out of a moving vehicle or being choked. This was entirely external. A heavy, dizzying wave of sorrow that didn't belong to me.

It's his pain, the thought echoed clearly in my mind. I am literally feeling his heartbreak.

~•~