Arielle
Damien's voice shook the space so hard, it drew everyone's attention in the food court and all eyes fell on us.
—Or more specifically, all eyes fell on me, and I knew that my problems had just jumped from the hands of a
demon to the devil himself.
"Why is that witch still alive?"
"Alpha Damien is wasting time! She should be dead!" Murmurs erupted from amongst the people as they
slowly rose from their seats and came to gather around us, watching to see what would happen to their favorite
abomination.
"Do not make me repeat myself, Raymond!" Damien added as he started walking to us.
"I— I was only trying to reprimand her terrible habits." Raymond let out with a nervous shake in his voice.
"You don't have any problems with that, right?"
"What habits has she exhibited?" Damien growled as he snatched me away from Raymond's hold.
"T—the elders made it clear; that she is not meant to be seen in public spaces less her curse would spread to
everyone! I was only trying to punish her for continuously breaking the simple rule."
Even a child could tell that Raymond had made that rule up but of course, Damien and the crowd accepted his
bluff as rumours erupted amongst them.
"Punish her! Brand her with fire!" They yelled and my heart sank. I could take whatever form of punishment
but fire— I wouldn't survive that.
"Please, I — I didn't know… I was only hungry… I just came for food. Please do not brand me, I beg of you!"
Tears filled my eyes as I tried to plead with Damien.
The panic was starting to make me see things. For a second, I could have sworn I saw Damien's eyes flash with
sympathy, but as I blinked, it was gone, like it never existed.
His forest green eyes moved to Raymond with a silent glare. "Branding her is a splendid idea!" He announced
and the people screamed in excitement, but he raised his hand, silencing them.
"But we risk killing her and with the hex still on her that is something I wouldn't do. Rather I will punish her
dearly by the public whip!" He grinned mischievously.
The little hope I had of being spared died down almost instantly, drowning under the excited screams of the
audience around us.
I stuttered. "P—Please, don't do this. I didn't do anything; I don't deserve this—"
"Silence!" Damien roared. He looked to his Beta. "Get me the whip, I'm going to flog her myself," he spat.
"With pleasure, Damien." He grinned and disappeared.
Damien pulled my arm and dragged me to the podium just outside the food court. Tears blinded me and my
panic rose as my own mate tied my limbs up to the stakes.
"Damien, the whip. Please, enjoy yourself, my lord." Raymond happily handed him the long-jagged wires and
my heart froze as my body began to tremble.
There was no way I could handle that.
"Please, please don't do this! Damien. I'm begging you; I didn't do anything wrong!"
He hissed at me. "You don't have any rights! You don't deserve to speak back at me."
"Please— It's just like you said, I have no rights and someone like you shouldn't waste their time flogging
me—"
Ignoring me, he rolled up his sleeves, and the pain began as the whip heavily descended on my back.
I lost half my sense of vision, sound, and feel. My consciousness instantly began to slip as the pain was more
than any I had ever felt before. I could barely keep track of what was happening to me.
"I hope this teaches you never to sneak into public spaces again!" Damien yelled as he struck me again.
This time the sensation was numb and distant, but I knew the pain would come. And as it finally washed over
me, my vision blacked out.
---
My eyes flew wide open, but I was quick to shut them back as a sudden white light flashed before me. When I
reopened them, a frown formed on my face.
"Where am I?" I wondered aloud as I took in the strangely familiar setting.
I looked closely and I recognized my father, Alpha Rudolph with some elders having a heated discussion when
the door to the room they were in suddenly barged open.
It was the priest and her apprentice.
"I am sorry to interrupt your meeting, but the moon goddess has asked me to come to relay a very important
message," she said, and the room immediately dropped into thick tension.
"It is rare to see you in the manor. This must really be important," My father said, offering her a seat. "What is
this important message?"
Her eyes suddenly turned white, and she began to tremble as her consultation began. "A child will be born on
the next blood moon… This child will bring forth peril and doom."
The council's expression became horrified, and my father was the first to jump to his feet in concern. "Is there
no way to stop this from happening?"
"This child is too powerful. But there is a way—" The intensity of waves coursing through her became more
violent and as she struggled to speak, the worse it became. Soon she collapsed on the floor, leaving the room in
shock.
"What do we do now?" Someone yelled as everyone rose to their feet with worry etched on their faces.
"What happened to her? Is she okay?" My father asked as he hovered above her body.
The priest's apprentice waved their staff above her and they shook their heads, sadly. "I am sorry Alpha. The
priest has fallen into a coma… She was in the realm of spirits for too long."
"So when can she wake up?" My father's eyes were wide with worry.
"I am afraid I can't say. This state might take days, weeks, months, or even years… Only the goddess may
decide when she wants to release back to us… We must leave immediately."
As soon the apprentice carried the priest out of the room, the elders erupted in questions.
"What are we going to do?"
"We should kill all pregnant women!"
"We should burn them before they birth this curse unto the world!"
"No, we cannot do that!" my father roared. "The blood moon is still three months away. Let us wait till then!"
My heart started racing as the scene slowly began to make sense.
"Rudolph, what about Amelia, the Luna? She is also pregnant… what are we—" George, my father's beta—
Damien's father began to say.
"My mate's due date is in a month. The blood moon is in three months!" My father hissed, glaring at George.
"There is nothing to worry about."
But before I could grasp more of their conversation, the scene shifted to the night of the blood moon. My father
was in another meeting with the elders when a guard hurried to his side.
"The Luna is in labor!" The man announced and a commotion broke out amongst the elders as my father rushed
out of the room.
He began to pace outside a door with panic written all over his face. When the door finally opened, the mid-
wive stepped out and bowed.
"It is a girl… but my king, someone has already leaked out to the people that your child is the one in the blood
moon prophecy…"
My father's eyes widened in shock. He didn't even wait to listen to more before rushing to my mother who was
in tears.
"Rudolph what are we going to do?" she cried.
"Your lives matter to me more than anything… I will not let any harm come your way. We shall run…"
The scene changed once more as my father hurriedly packed a book that had been hidden in a secret
compartment. Then he took his wife and child, and with the help of George, they escaped from the angry pack
members after them.
Their journey was almost successful but as they got to the border, the very man who helped them get this far,
betrayed them.
"I am sorry, I can't let you pass," George mumbled, his eyes glowing with greed.
"George! You traitor—"
"Shut up! Power is only for the strong! Not the weak! I shall take this power that belongs to you because you
were too weak! I shall make it mine and rule this land the way it truly fits it!" He pointed a flare gun upwards.
"Don't do that!" Father outstretched his hands, but it was too late.
George released the trigger and as the flare lit up, the angry mob easily found them.
My father ran with Amelia through the woods with the enemy following right behind them. But it was difficult,
her body was still too weak.
"Rudolph! We won't make it! Take the child and run! I'm slowing you down!" She cried out.
"Impossible! I can't do that! I will never leave you to the enemy!" He roared.
Several armed men sprung behind the cover and plants and pointed their spears at them.
"Circle them!" The enemy roared.
"Stay behind me, Amelia!" He covered Amelia with his right arm.
The men charged forward, but he was quick and defended bravely by transforming into a wolf. He fought them
off, but the numbers weren't on his side.
"No!" I screamed and held my arm out when a man plunged a spear into my father's side. But I was only a
spectator, I couldn't intervene, no matter how hard I tried.
As he breathed his last breath, I watched as he placed a forbidden spell over the child his wife— my mother,
carried. A hex that could protect her against her enemies.
Then they both died, their bodies, disintegrating into fine dust as it floated into the sky. An honorable exit as it
was for every Alpha and Luna who served the true goddess.
"Let's kill the child too!" The mob yelled, but anyone who dared harm the child dropped dead.
Many tried but, in the end, they all stayed away not wanting to come close to the poor girl.
"What do we do now? Rudolph's spell worked. We can't kill her. The Hex has been activated!"
"Let's leave her here in the woods!"
"Throw her in the next pack. Let someone else suffer the blood moon curse!"
The crowd complained but George took the front row and hovered above the child. "We should keep her close
so that we can kill her once the Hex wears off—"
"And when will it wear off?" A woman in the crowd asked.
George's eyes glowed as he calculated his evil plans. "It will wear off on the next blood moon after she comes
of age, unlocks her powers, and finds her mate… we just have to wait…"
The woman satisfied with his answer, stepped out from amongst the crowd and picked up the baby. There was a
paper with a name written on it and it said one word.
Arielle.
I was the blood moon curse.