Daughter Of The Moon

CHAPTER 5 - THE MARK OF THE MOON

The night of the full moon is always something to get excited about in a wolfpack. That’s when your wolf feels it’s most powerful. I always loved going for runs in the forest with my friends, when I had friends and I didn’t have to leave them behind.

But tonight was different. My brothers were all out in the backyard; I could see them from my window. They all shifted, one by one, and even though they aren’t identical quintuplets, they did have identical tricoloured wolves. But their scent was different, so people could tell them apart.

I knew that they were waiting for me, but I rushed to the bathroom and turned the tap on. The mark that I got on my wrist the other night from my dream—it was glowing. But not just that, it was burning. It was stinging beneath my skin and I couldn’t make it stop, no matter how much I tried.

A sharp pulse ran up my arm, spreading through my veins like fire. My reflection flickered in the mirror, and for a heartbeat, my eyes weren’t my own—they glowed a deep silver, almost white. My wolf stirred beneath my skin, restless, uncertain, like she didn’t know whether to fight or surrender.

I managed to make it downstairs and went out the back to where the four were waiting for me, but I waved them on ahead, telling them I was on my way. They all took off into the forest. A lot of other wolves were running around at the same time. It sounded like a party of wolves out there, and they were having the best time. But all I could hear was the steady thrum of that mark, calling to something—or someone—I didn’t understand yet.

I sat back down on the chair on the patio grabbing my wrist, hoping to the goddess that it would stop burning.

I even walked into the yard and I concentrated with everything I had to try and shift, but I couldn’t. My wolf couldn’t come forward. I could hear her and feel her in my head, but she couldn’t force her way through. Something was stopping her.

I then fell to the ground grabbing my wrist with another sharp burning pain. It was like nothing I had ever felt before. I didn’t know what was happening to me.

I looked around and saw that there was no one around. No wolves, nothing. I was completely alone. So I ran towards the fence and I jumped over it and straight into the woods.

I didn’t know where I was going or what I was doing really. I just needed to run. Something was wrong with me and I didn’t want to be at the house when it happened.

My wrist burned so bad that I thought my whole hand was going to explode. The pain crawled up my arm, hot and relentless, like liquid fire under my skin. My heartbeat echoed in my ears, wild and uneven, and every step I took made it worse. I could feel the energy inside me twisting, fighting to break free, and yet it stayed trapped. I stumbled, catching myself against a tree, gasping for air as the forest spun around me.

I was desperate to try and calm whatever energy was running through me, but the faster I ran, the worse the pain got. Nothing helped. I couldn’t do anything to stop it. It was like my blood was on fire, like something ancient was trying to claw its way out of me. My lungs burned, my vision blurred, and every heartbeat echoed like thunder in my ears.

Talon was in the woods that night. He hadn’t shifted for some reason, but he did pick up on my scent. He had followed it from my house, but he’s always watching me, so I wasn’t surprised by that. He said later he could feel the pull before he even saw me.

He followed my scent all the way into the forest, deep into the forest, away from my house until he found me collapsed under a ray of moonlight that was streaking through the branches of the tree that was up above me.

Talon kneeled down beside me, saying my name. He was shaking me, panic rising in his voice as he lifted my head to make sure that I was still breathing. Suddenly, my eyes snapped open.

Talon’s head snapped back in surprise as my eyes were glowing silvery white, casting out a light that wasn’t anything but natural. The air shifted, vibrating with energy. Cracks in the ground around us started to appear, jagged lines splitting the earth as though it were responding to my presence. All the trees near us began to bend toward me, their leaves rustling violently, as every wolf in Crescent Ridge started howling at the same time, their voices echoing through the night like a warning—or a calling. The sound was deafening, raw, and unyielding, carrying a power that made the hair on Talon’s arms stand on end.

They were in the distance but there was no mistaking it. It was every single one of them. The noise was distinct, even from where we were, vibrating through my chest and rattling my teeth. Talon started getting mind links from a lot of high-ranking members of the pack. They were all being forced to kneel. But they didn’t know what they were kneeling for. They didn’t know what was happening to them.

His father, the Alpha, was being forced to kneel to some unknown power, a sight that seemed impossible to comprehend. Talon just watched in awe and fear as I started floating off the ground, light pouring from my hands. The air around us crackled with energy, thick and electric, like a storm waiting to strike. I could feel the ground trembling beneath me, the trees bending as if bowing to something far greater than either of us. Every breath felt heavier, charged, and alive, as though the forest itself was watching, waiting to see what would happen next.

I could see everything that was happening. I knew what was going on around me, but I wasn’t scared. I don’t know why I wasn’t scared.

Maybe it was because something deep inside me recognized the power, as if my wolf had been waiting for this moment. I didn’t know why this was happening to me. I didn’t understand how this could be happening to me.

“Kaia.” Kael screamed in the forest, his voice raw with panic.

“Where are you? Kaia!” Ryn yelled, his tone breaking as branches snapped beneath his boots.

They found me in the same spot, suspended above the ground, light pouring from my hands like liquid fire while Talon remained on his knees, staring at me in shock and awe.

I could hear them screaming for me, but I couldn’t really hear them. It was like their voices were muffled, distant, echoing through water. I wanted to respond, to tell them I was okay—but I couldn’t. My body wasn’t my own.

The moon began to bleed across the sky, turning a deep crimson that caught the attention of everyone in the pack. Wolves howled in confusion and fear, the air thick with power and the scent of burning ozone.

Talon and my brothers looked up at the moon just as everything went black, swallowing the forest whole.

When I opened my eyes, I was in my own bed, the sheets twisted and damp with sweat. My parents and brothers stood around me, faces pale, tension radiating off them.

Then I saw him—Alpha Alaric—standing in the doorway, two warriors at his side, glaring at me like I was a monster.

“What the f**k are you?” He growled through gritted teeth.