The Cursed Luna

Cards

Cara

Two Months Later

"Oh, fates!"

Correy's excited yell brings a few glances to us briefly. I place the set of cards down on the table and look up at him, goading his excitement. He's a regular customer, a younger Beta who's never found his fated mate and is determined to discover where she is. Every week it's the same question. But who am I to complain when his payment earns me my place in Magda's little cottage and takes care of my feeding?

The men who come here are all rogues, and today is just like any Saturday night. Laughter and beer dominate conversations all around us, but Correy doesn't seem to notice. He's concentrating on the cards. I make it very clear to the clientele that I'm not a witch. Whether they believe me or not is their choice.

I found out days after she saved me that Magda is a Ruined too. Banished from her pack for killing the Alpha who had almost succeeded in molesting her right in front of her fated mate. She was rejected and almost put to death, but Magda had used her magical abilities to escape. Ther's a barrier of strong magic around the cottage. And also, the area is a safe zone, run by a self-appointed sheriff, an outcast Alpha who is not afraid to use his rifle to take out anyone who challenges him.

Something I've witnessed a few times. When the man says to follow his town rules, you damn well better follow them.

I've been in this cottage for two months, hoping and praying each day that either Leora or Hana would somehow be among the customers walking into the cottage, looking for their big sister. But as each day passes by, that hope has dwindled. So, I do what I know best. Sell fortunes to people who want to hear to make a living. And as long as I keep my predictions vague, those who believe in fortune tellings will make my words fit their circumstances. I stay cloaked when in public and never get close to anyone should someone from the Red Moon pack travel into town.

The candle on the table suddenly flickers despite there being no windows, and the scent of sandalwood is stronger today for some reason.

"Pick a card," I instruct Correy. Magda moves about silently, serving the men the beer she'd concocted the night before with magic.

Correy reaches over, and his hand hovers in the air over the line of cards, waiting for his instinct to select one. His finger falls on one, and he pushes it across the table toward me.

I flip it over to the image of a man lying on a bed with nine swords in his back.

Correy hisses and leans back into his chair, nervously running a hand through his short, golden hair. "That's bad, isn't it?"

"No card is ever good or bad. This card represents fear, so that's stopping you from finding what you really want."

He studies me, then gives me a slow nod. "What else? Can you look deeper?"

"Of course," I answer, knowing when he asks me that question, he wants to hear the words about finding the woman of his dreams. I mean, don't we all want the answers to the universe? I want to find my sisters and not stay up most nights worrying so much about them that I can't sleep. But no cards in the world will give me that answer.

My fingers dance over the card, and I close my eyes, taking a deep inhale to give him the impression of meditating. I should feel guilty for cheating these men out of money, but I don't. Not when I know that none would stop at anything to hurt me if given the chance. I've come to learn that in life, there is a "no fighting" rule. Especially when you're an Omega. Break it, and you're leaving in a body bag. Since arriving here, I've started to discover so many things about the world no one ever told me. Like not all Alphas outside the Red Moon pack are rogue. That the northern part of Romania is a mecca for all kinds of packs from around Europe, with no one Alpha in charge of the whole territory. Part of the reason has a lot to do with the fact that witches live in these lands too. They are feared by all.

Another deep inhale, and I shuffle in my seat to find comfort.

The air feels thick, like mud, and a little sticky. Or it might be from me having a restless night, or crying by the river this morning, worrying that the worst has happened to Hana and Leora.

That's why last month I hired someone to search for them. I figured if I'm mingling with monsters, I might as well hire one to work for me. Cage, and Alpha and Magda's grandson, insisted he has ways to find lost people. Of course he didn't elaborate, just like I didn't expand on how I could help get him through the Poisonous Woods as he requested. If he finds and returns my sisters, I will guide him into the enchanted forest layered with magic traps, which I can detect. It's good to know the only ability my mother taught me will come in handy.

A whisper comes from my left.

I stiffen and crack open an eye, seeing nothing but Correy leaning in. His jaw is squared, and his eyes are anxious.

"Did you see something?" he asks.

"Yes," I lie, which perhaps is my new secret power, seeing as I excel at telling fibs.

His breath catches, but I close my eyes for a bit longer to authenticate the experience.

A growl slips into my right ear, coming with a blur over my mind, and suddenly I'm lost to darkness, lost to images that collide into my thoughts.

Something is very wrong, and the hairs on my arms lift.

In a sliver of a second, I'm ripped away from the room and now stand in the middle of the woods surrounded by lofty firs heavily ladened with leaves. Something trickles along my arm, and when I look down, I'm clutching a blade stuck in the soft flesh of my chest. I do a double-take, and as if reality catches up, so does the agonizing pain, and my panic. I scream, but my voice strains, and my body stiffens, as every move is hell. I stumble back into a tree, barely able to draw a breath. Blood rolls down my arm, covering my clothes.

What is going on?

A snarl comes from somewhere in the thick woods, the sound deepening.

I jerk my head up just as Hana runs to me from the shadows. She looks like she's been running a healthy mile, and her clothes are ripped almost to shreds. She shakes me violently. "Help us, Cara. Help, Leora!"

Behind her, there's a gutteral growl, and I scream when a large wolf steps out of the darkness, its jaws clamped around Leora's tiny body. Leora writhes about, tears streaming down her face.

Instantly, I go down on my knees, clasping my hands together. "Please...please leave her alone."

But my begging only seems to aggravate the wolf even more. It threw Leora into the lake and rushes at Hana, knocking her down. Blood pours out of Hana's head through an open wound, and my heart twists with guilt and agony. "No...no...no..."

She can't be dead... she can't be.

I hit the ground on my side, my chest seizing, and the last thing I see is the wolf, taking long strides till it stands in front of me, its red eyes gleaming. Telepathically, it said, "this is all your fault. You couldn't save them, and now...now they're gone."